There is indeed a responsibility for the church to share the gospel in the world, but never at the expense of the church’s charity and mercy for those neighbors who are nearby.
The only hope for idol-addicted sinners who are utterly incapable of decluttering their souls is Jesus, the one at the heart of the gospel, and the only one who stands before the Father with an undivided heart.
More than a friend, Amsdorf was also an important figure in the work of religious reform, providing counsel to Luther on key occasions, shepherding the churches, and defending the faith until his death.

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Sacrifice is the beating heart of the Scriptures, but also of our Christian faith.
I’m still laughing now as hard as I laughed back then. And the salve that he gave me in that moment still works some strange magic on me to this day.
Who should we baptize and when? How old does the person have to be? What if we get it wrong? Will something terrible happen to us?
Old Testament narratives foreshadowed the gifts that our Father gives us in baptism.
Have you ever grown despondent from trying so hard to stop behaving in certain destructive ways, but always failing?
Like any language, the liturgy has syntax—a structure that provides order and intelligibly communicates meaning through all that is said.
As the story unfolds we see Luther’s Heidelberg theses on display, even before the Fellowship leaves Rivendell.
What Jesus did and gives on these two Thursdays encapsulates his whole life and mission.
If you want to find God, he’s hiding in plain sight. Christ is in the very things that we would never select as a vessel befitting divinity.
By Philip Melanchthon (from the 1535 Loci Communes), translated by Scott L. Keith, Ph.D.
But I remember that that’s how it ended. Words. Wine. Blood. A sudden halt to the conversation.
The guys Jesus chose to be His disciples have always fascinated me. The first two who were called into His posse were Andrew and John, friends who were just following a freak in the wilderness who was dressed in camel hair while eating locusts and honey.