Psalm 12, Part 2: The Saint Fails, The Word Purifies
By Steven Paulson
01/16/26
18mins

Psalm 12, Part 2: The Saint Fails, The Word Purifies

God makes us pure saints by planting us back in the earth we imagined we needed to escape.
Psalm 12, Part 1: Set in Salvation
Steven Paulson
Steven Paulson
01/15/26

Psalm 12, Part 1: Set in Salvation

Salvation is not merely to be put in “safety” but to be put into Christ.
Welcome to My House
1517 Guest Contributor
1517 Guest Contributor
01/14/26

Welcome to My House

Bringing your family to church to receive “the one thing needful” (Luke 10:42) in Word and Sacrament honors and pleases God.

All Articles

Chad Bird
Chad Bird
01/19/15

Losing that Holy Feeling

It’s like I’m eavesdropping on the two friends and the stranger who walks with them. Something about the way they hang their heads, something about the desperation in their voices, and certainly something about the stranger, has me grasping hold of every word as if gold is spilling from their lips.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
12/30/14

When the Psalms Pray Me

Yes, I pray, but it is the Spirit who prays for me, in me, through me. I no more make up my own prayers than I made up the English language.
Mark Jasa
Mark Jasa
10/08/14

My God, My God

I explained to her that Jesus was quoting Psalm 22 and pointing us to the prediction of His crucifixion. She then replied, "Isn't there more to it than that?"
Steve Byrnes
Steve Byrnes
07/15/14

How I Overcame My Fear of Christian Freedom

St. Paul talks about faith that is weak and by his description of what it looks like, I lived there; I've been the weak brother. It appears that a firm faith is that faith that trusts in the goodness of God for you based on something outside of you – not on some special, superior knowledge, but having your name known and loved by God.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
06/21/14

The Suicide of a Friend

There is hope and healing for you in Jesus Christ, the God who immersed Himself so deeply in our sufferings that He, too, wept over the death of a dear friend.
Steve Byrnes
Steve Byrnes
05/05/14

Christian Drinking: Wine that Overflows

The wine of communion is a gift from God and the blood of Christ we receive at the rail an inebriant that encourages and frees us.
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.
Jeff Mallinson
Jeff Mallinson
02/19/14

Ethos Matters

Ever experience a congregation with the word "Grace" in its name that was nonetheless ironically ungracious and legalistic? I have.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
07/11/13

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Lies

On that day the mourners were shocked to discover that behind the veneer of her bright smile lurked a fathomless darkness, whose depths she made manifest only when she despaired of life in this world.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
06/27/13

Praying in Tears, Snot, and Screams

I was full of pain and empty of speech, babbling like a baby who knows he hurts but can’t explain where or why or what he needs to assuage the anguish. Here was the sheer helplessness of being unable to communicate with God in this moment of deepest desperation.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
06/16/13

When Fathers Are Failures

I lack the wisdom, and the experience, to counsel those who have been hurt so deeply. There is no pain like the pain of being mistreated by those who, above all others, you expect to love you unconditionally.
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.
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