We needn’t fear statistics and studies as palm readings into a certain future. God is God, and his Spirit is alive through his Word.
Christ does not hide his wounds. He offers them.
The church does not await a verdict; she proclaims one.

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Jesus is very difficult to bring down. That’s the power of it.
Luther’s final thoughts were not meant to bum you out or lead you to despair.
This is an excerpt from Ditching the Checklist: Assurance of Salvation for Evangelicals (and Other Sinners) by Mark Mattes (1517 Publishing, 2025), pgs. 5-7.
The liturgy ensures that the gospel is never something inward, merely a thought or sentiment of the believer.
Wisdom lurks in the outer places. Rich gratitude sprouts from the impoverished and forgotten.
"When God has his say, have confidence that his Word and sacraments bestow precisely what he says."
The gospel is best understood in terms of those two most important words: for you.
We now are the magi: we worship Christ because of who he is, but also because of what he has done for us and what he continues to do in his gift-giving to us.
Epiphany continues the work done at Christmas, bringing light and life to a dying world desperate for hope.
It's a new year, and you are still the same you: a sinner who is simultaneously perfect in every way because Christ declares it to be so.
The name of Jesus holds us fast.
Longstanding tradition must be bolstered by something outside of ourselves that also lies outside of the traditions of men.