Tongues of Fire & Breath of God
By Donavon Riley
06/27/25
11mins

Tongues of Fire & Breath of God

The Church speaks not with the cleverness of men, but with the breath of God.
Dignity is not Enough: Thinking Biblically About Assisted Dying
Amy Mantravadi
Amy Mantravadi
06/26/25

Dignity is not Enough: Thinking Biblically About Assisted Dying

I always imagined dying a faithful death for Christ would mean burning at the stake. Now, I suspect it will mean dying in my bed of natural causes.
Sigh, Cry, and Be Still
1517 Staff
1517 Staff
06/25/25

Sigh, Cry, and Be Still

How many times in our lifetime must we sigh, floundering through this world with our sins, sorrows, struggles, frustrations, fears, and foes?

All Articles

Steve Byrnes
Steve Byrnes
04/17/14

Foot Washing on a Maundy Thursday

In the pageant of Easter Week, Maundy Thursday speaks about the last time Jesus ate with his Disciples and how He washed their feet in preparation for participating in the Passover meal (John 13).
RJ Grunewald
RJ Grunewald
04/14/14

God Makes Pizza

A couple of weeks ago I ordered pizza for dinner. I didn’t pray, “Lord, give me pizza.” I called the store. The pizza did not drop down from heaven at my doorstep like manna from heaven.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
04/12/14

What Would You Want for Your Last Meal?

I am lord of all I eat. I lord it over meat, potatoes, pecan pie. I make those foods serve my body, transforming them into me. But it is not so with the meal of Jesus.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
04/09/14

What is That in My Casket?

What we confess concerning a corpse confesses much about how deep, or how shallow, is our understanding of the importance of the incarnation of Jesus, his death, and his (as well as our own) resurrection.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
04/02/14

I Haven’t Made Jesus My Personal Lord and Savior

I say I was dead before Jesus called me, but actually, I was worse off than that. Imagine a corpse who is at war with life, who is an enemy of the Life-giver. That was me.
Elyse Fitzpatrick
Elyse Fitzpatrick
03/31/14

There's My “Beautiful Mermaid”

“There’s my beautiful mermaid!” Those were the words spoken by my husband the other morning as he approached me while I waited by our car in the parking lot of the Y.
Jeff Mallinson
Jeff Mallinson
03/26/14

How to Think: Vicious Cycles

A clever skeptic named James Huber created a clever skit called “Kissing Hank’s Butt”. That’s the version he created for use in G-rated contexts. His main site uses more mature language. Many Christians will find it offensive.
Daniel Deen
Daniel Deen
03/19/14

Christian Intellectual Arrogance

Much like the 2014 Superbowl, the debate itself was lackluster and utterly predictable. However, one aspect of the debate struck me as worthy of commentary; the way Mr. Ham presented himself as a Christian intellectual.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
03/14/14

"I Love You" is an Incomplete Sentence

We love because we find in the beloved something that is lovable. We see, we know, and then we love. Or, at least, we promise to love.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
03/12/14

Adam's First Sunset: When All You’ve Known Sinks Away

For who of us, at some point in our lives, has not watched with horror and grief as our own “sun” vanishes? You stand around a rectangular depression in the ground to watch a box of wood that cradles your beloved slowly lowered into the dark earth.
Rick Ritchie
Rick Ritchie
03/10/14

Life Together Under the Cross (Part 2)

As with many teachings, the Lutheran teaching on Mutual Conversation and Consolation of the Brethren fits in with other teachings. The various teachings don’t stand alone, but they fit together as an organic whole.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
02/24/14

Smut and Smug: Secret Religious Delight in Society’s Moral Degradation

I think the chief reason that a faction within me welcomes the disintegration of the American ethos is this: it makes me feel so much better about myself. The smut makes me quite smug.
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