Where Pride Fails, Grace Breaks In
By Donavon Riley
06/11/25
11mins

Where Pride Fails, Grace Breaks In

You are a soul. Not an algorithm. Not a hashtag. A soul knit together by a God who does not mock, does not abandon, and does not lie.
Why I Needed a Church That Gives Jesus: On Rooted Faith and Real Absolution
Michael Gibney
Michael Gibney
06/10/25

Why I Needed a Church That Gives Jesus: On Rooted Faith and Real Absolution

What I was missing—what so many are missing—is a Church that doesn’t just speak about Christ, but delivers him.
August Hermann Francke: A Practical Pietist
Sam Leanza Ortiz
Sam Leanza Ortiz
06/09/25

August Hermann Francke: A Practical Pietist

Though several generations removed from Luther’s generation, Francke came of age right on time for a new wave of spirituality to collide with the Reformation in the movement known as Pietism.

All Articles

Chad Bird
Chad Bird
05/10/13

We Are All Beggars

We need not look the part to elicit divine compassion. We need not be on our knees, face downcast, eyes watery, voice quivering, to make sure we get heaven’s attention. We need not play the beggar before God.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
03/30/13

This Is the Night: An Easter Vigil Sermon

This is the night when the earth is formless and void; and the darkness of blood is over the face of Thy Son. And the Spirit of God moves out of His body as He gives up the Ghost.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
03/10/13

"Fool Me Once....Fool Me Twice"

Not only does he give them a fourth chance; he risks the very life of his son in doing so. There lay three of his servants, with blackened eyes and broken bones, scarred by cuts and abrasions, and he imagines things will go better for his son?
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
02/14/13

The Temptation of Jesus

When Jesus was baptized, his Father’s voice fell from heaven, proclaiming, “You are my beloved Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased,” (Mk 1:11). But there in the wilderness it did not seem so, did it?
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
02/06/13

Two Hymns on the Transfiguration

The prophets had foretold, His coming Incarnation; The Word would make our flesh, His only habitation.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
01/05/13

Visiting the Dead at Christmas: The Fight to Forgive Family

People take off their public masks when around relatives. They let their darkness shine. That’s why Manuel spends his December 25 in the graveyard, talking to the dead.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
01/01/13

Bringing Skin to the Fore: Circumcision and Why God's Manhood Matters

Strange though it be, however, it is marvelous in meaning: for this was his way of writing his covenant into the very flesh of his people. What was not there, was a sign of what was there.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
12/13/12

Washing Down Antidepressants with Eggnog

Perhaps part of the mistake we’ve made is in forgetting that the first Christmas, the actual birthday of Jesus, started out as the worst of times.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/28/12

How a Badger Taught Me That God Has Ears

I didn’t pray for forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, or world peace. All this ten-year-old wanted was a badger. So that’s what I asked for.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/14/12

Cobwebbed Beauty

Our hearts are half Amish at times, hankering to live in the past, for we dislike the present or fear the future. But therein lies a grave danger, for nostalgia can easily become the gateway drug to despair.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/24/12

My Three-Year-Old Daughter's Sermon: Baptism Theology at Its Finest

Sometimes, the best sermons aren’t preached by preachers at all.
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