God can handle grief, rage, and cries for justice. God can handle the victim who cannot yet forgive. God can handle the prayer that comes out jagged and wounded. The good news is that God is holy and merciful enough to handle all our prayers.
But while scholars are right to focus on the bond between Martin and Hans, the evidence of Martin’s own words suggests their relationship may not have been as troubled as some suppose. For Hans Luther was not a cartoon villain but a normal human being attempting to make his way in the world and raise his children to the best of his ability.
Jesus offers something infinitely better. He tells us to put down our gavel—not because sin isn't real, but because the only Judge who has the right to condemn is the very One who was condemned for us.

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This is an excerpt from the third chapter of By Water and the Word: God’s Gift of Baptism for You by Brian Thomas (1517 Publishing, 2026), pgs 52-60.
May we, as preachers, rise and proclaim that Jesus Christ is sufficient for all our spiritual hunger.
This is an excerpt from the first chapter of Being Family by Scott Keith (1517 Publishing, 2026), pgs 1-6.
Jesus didn’t enter the water because he was sinful; he entered the water because John was sinful, as are we all.
The resurrection means your ultimate problem is no longer ahead of you. The grave is not waiting for you. It is behind you.
The Pharisee valued fasting and giving tithes, but could not find value in his fellow sinner.
One great thing about our post-denominational age is that it has opened up opportunities to make common cause with other Lutherans who, despite their differences and eccentricities, can agree on some of the most important things.
The Church’s unity is not uniformity in every matter of her well-being. It is faithfulness in what constitutes her being.
For many years, I held piety as my god.
The Supper doesn’t depend on the faithfulness of the Church. It depends on the faithfulness of Christ.
Christian faith is never a solitary possession. When the congregation confesses, the old speak for the young, the strong for the weak, and the clear-voiced for the trembling.
When we despair of ourselves, we repent of these self-justifying schemes and allow ourselves to be shaped by God, covered in Christ’s righteousness, and reborn with a new heart.