Luther, the Turks, and Islam
By Adam Francisco
07/14/26
10mins

Luther, the Turks, and Islam

Theology at War: Understanding Iran Begins with Understanding Twelver Shiism
Adam Francisco
Adam Francisco
07/10/26

Theology at War: Understanding Iran Begins with Understanding Twelver Shiism

Understanding Iran therefore requires more than studying military capabilities or diplomatic strategy. It requires taking theology seriously. Christians understand this because the gospel shapes lives, cultures, and civilizations. Our calling is not merely to analyze those competing stories but, more importantly, to proclaim the true King whose kingdom comes not through revolution or coercion, but through His death and resurrection.
Meditation: Chewing on the Word
Russ Lackey
Russ Lackey
07/14/26

Meditation: Chewing on the Word

The Christian does not meditate because life is calm. The Christian meditates because life is anything but calm. Trials teach us that we cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

All Articles

Jessica Thompson
Jessica Thompson
05/08/15

Inexhaustible Grace for Exhausted Women

Moms, your worth is not determined by what present you get on Mother’s Day. Everything that is true about you was said on the cross thousands of years ago.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
05/05/15

The Night We Defeated God

His name’s Jacob. He’s not my first choice. I don’t care for Jacob. Never have. He’s got too much of me in him. He’s a liar and a cheat.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
04/28/15

Called and Ordained Sheriff of the Word

What is most amazing to me is not that Jesus welcomed public transgressors into his company. What astounds me is that they came to him with the full expectation of not being turned away.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
04/22/15

Graffiti and Grace

When I’ve dipped my brush in the midnight black of lust or greed and smeared those sable sins all over the walls of my life, he’s come along with a bucket of paint and covered over that black with a white so bright it blinds the eyes.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
04/15/15

Married to the Cross in Divorce

In divorce God married me to the cross. I didn’t want it; indeed, I hated it. But upon my shoulders God laid it. The ring of nails. The veil of darkness. The kiss of death. When we are stripped of all the good we think we are and have, we come face to face with the evil within. We fight and wrestle and gasp and die and become nothing.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
03/11/15

Tapping Snake Cages

Premeditated or not, you and only you invited this venom into your body, this evil percolating in your soul, and now you don’t know where to turn.
RJ Grunewald
RJ Grunewald
03/09/15

Jesus Wins the Fight

A quick look through the best-selling books will quickly reveal our obsession with strategies for fixing our current problems: a new strategy for dieting, a new plan to fix our ailing marriages, or another scheme to help us achieve financial success.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
03/03/15

What Bible Story Has CSI’s Fingerprints All Over It?

If Abel’s blood is spilled all over the ground or if a mere speck had been lodged in the fabric of Cain’s shirt, that blood cries out. It has a voice and it will speak to whomever is willing to listen.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
02/27/15

We Need Less Goliath, and More Bathsheba

When I was a kid, I roamed the alleys and nearby fields with a pocket full of pebbles and a slingshot in hand. My grandfather had carved me the slingshot from the fork of a mesquite tree, native to our New Mexico soil.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
02/26/15

The Dark Sacraments in My Jail Cell

I don’t mean simply that I “loved the darkness rather than the light because my deeds were evil,” as Jesus says (John 3:19). While that is true, there was deeper magic at work. I loved the darkness because I feared all the good things in the light.
Sam P. Schuldheisz
Sam P. Schuldheisz
02/26/15

Sundays are for the Walking Dead

There are several reasons why I nerd out when it comes to AMC’s The Walking Dead.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
02/24/15

The Bible Story That Goes All Wrong

His reaction was totally wrong. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. When I’d finished confessing, he didn’t start yelling. Out of his mouth came words like forgiveness, grace, Christ, clean slate. He was saying all the wrong things.
1517 is a Christian non-profit (501(c)3) multi-media organization. Our mission is to declare and defend the Good News that we are forgiven and free on account of the death and resurrection of Jesus alone.
1517.org
Search
Academy
Donate

1517 grants permission for our free online resources to be printed, photocopied, and otherwise used freely for private and church use. We require that authorship and source (1517.org) are referenced and maintained. These resources may not be sold or included in any publications for sale.