What Israel’s story makes painfully obvious is that following the Lord is a lifelong lesson in “I believe, but help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).
Faith holds on to the truth of who Jesus is revealed to be, despite our sometimes incongruent experience with God.
This is an excerpt from the first chapter of A Reasoned Defense of the Faith by Adam Francisco (1517 Publishing, 2026), pgs 1-3.

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Ultimately, Scripture does not confront fear with commands. It confronts fear with a promise.
When we consider our own end, it will not bring us into a final wrestling match with the messenger of God, but into the embrace of the Messiah of God.
This is the third in a series meant to let the Christian tradition speak for itself, the way it has carried Christians through long winters, confusion, and joy for centuries.
American religion did not become optional because the gospel failed. It became optional because religion slowly redefined itself around usefulness.
Salvation is not merely to be put in “safety” but to be put into Christ.
Christmas is not only about a cradle in Bethlehem, it’s also about a cross outside Jerusalem where salvation was won for us.
Christ did not merely urge humanity to be kind. He embodied perfect kindness by giving his life for those who neither earned nor expected such a gift.
This ancient “tale of two mothers” concerns far more than theological semantics—it is the difference between a God who sends and a God who comes.
Was Jesus ambitious or unambitious? We have to say that the answer is…yes.
This is an excerpt from this year’s 1517 Advent Devotional.
Why would David write this psalm for all to read when he was no longer God’s greatest king, but rather God’s greatest sinner?
When we fail, our first impulse is the same as that of our spiritual ancestors: to sprint headlong into the bushes.