Wade Johnston, Life Under the Cross: A Biography of the Reformer Matthias Flacius Illyricus, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis: MO, 2025.
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.
This story points us from our unlikely heroes to the even more unlikely, and joyous, good news that Jesus’ birth for us was just as unlikely and unexpected.

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When you walk into church on Sunday, you may not notice, but there are wounded soldiers sitting in every single pew.
Jesus lives to intercede. So we needn’t bring him our feigned righteousness or our faux rehabilitation.
Our ears are opened by the Spirit through the word. Then, faith in Christ is present in us.
It’s not the disciples’ faith that invented the resurrection but the resurrection that gave birth to the disciples’ faith.
In schools and on barstools and in delis and where two or three gather, your Savior turns you loose to encounter those who are delightful and loveable.
Apathy, melancholy, and disillusionment plague the footsteps of the up-and-coming generations more than ever, especially in the realm of religion, and it’s worth asking, “Why?”
Trusting in Christ’s promise of new life and deliverance pours generosity and hospitality into the way we think and the way we experience life.
The words “sanctify” and “sanctification” have deep roots in the Old Testament. There, holiness is about nearness to the presence of God. He is the holy-maker. Sanctification is his gift. The Old Testament helps us to avoid the common misunderstanding today that sanctification is all about our life of good works.
Yes, Adam and Eve both participated in sin. This was a joint effort of the two genders of mankind. They are both sinners. But the first sin wasn't letting the serpent in the garden.
The Bible is a book for the desperate. That is its target audience. Recognizing our desperation readies us to hear the consolation that only God’s Word can offer.
Trusting in Christ’s promise of new life and deliverance pours kindness and gentleness into the way we think and the way we experience life.
Jesus Christ is our peace because he doesn't criticize us. He declares us freed from our perceptions to accept the truth about ourselves.