When Religion Becomes Obsolete, Christ Does Not

By Russ Lackey | Mark Mattes

01/20/26

19mins

When Religion Becomes Obsolete, Christ Does Not

American religion did not become optional because the gospel failed. It became optional because religion slowly redefined itself around usefulness.

Bradley Gray

01/19/26

Behold the Lamb

The Passover wasn’t just Israel’s story; it’s ours.

Psalm 12, Part 2: The Saint Fails, The Word Purifies

Steven Paulson

01/16/26

Psalm 12, Part 2: The Saint Fails, The Word Purifies

God makes us pure saints by planting us back in the earth we imagined we needed to escape.

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John Bombaro

12/01/21

Advent's Double Helix

There is no other transitionary event in human history that warrants three full months of focused attention and persistent acknowledgment than the incarnation of the Son of God.

Ken Sundet Jones

11/30/21

The Antidote to "Sadvent"

If Jesus is indeed the same yesterday, today, and forever, everything his enfleshment brings is already assured: life, salvation, and forgiveness.

Chad Bird

11/26/21

Implications of the Incarnation: Christmas in the Garden of Eden

In Genesis 1-2, the Lord reveals—or, at a bare minimum, starts dropping some big hints—that he will be quite comfortable becoming a human being himself someday.

Bradley Gray

11/23/21

Jehoram, Jehoshaphat, and Jesus

The Word of Yahweh is not a trifling thing that can be visited only when it’s convenient. It’s a book of life, for all of life, that imparts life to those who believe in it and the God of it.

Donavon Riley

11/22/21

Offering the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving

That's how true faith talks. It doesn't talk about itself. It says "Thank you!" to the one who gives healing and salvation.

Robert Kolb

11/21/21

Every Apple Gives Thanks to the Lord

Thanksgiving utters a confession of dependence, an acknowledgement of the gift of something not earned or deserved.

Bradley Gray

11/20/21

A Tale of Two Cities

The youths that mock Elisha are representative of Israel’s collective contempt and disregard for all things relating to their One True God.

John T. Pless

11/19/21

Your Pastor Is Not Your Therapist: Private Confession

Forgiveness of sins does not come in bits and pieces. There are no levels of forgiveness.

Scott Landrum

11/17/21

Be Specific, Please!

“God in general” is of little use to all of us suffering the ravages of sin, the fear of death, and satanic prosecution.

Bror Erickson

11/16/21

A Q&A on the New Testament Devotional Commentary, Volume 1 from Bo Giertz with Bror Erickson

What I like about Giertz’s approach is the devotional nature of these commentaries. He’s a pastor concerned with what these texts have to say to us today.

Ken Sundet Jones

11/15/21

The Beatitudes are Ridiculous

Look the judge in the eye and pin your sin on Jesus, the divine judge’s son. Jesus knows you can’t do it, so he trades places with you and pits himself against God’s righteous demands.

Kelsi Klembara

11/13/21

On Demystifying the Church

The church is the only place God promises to lift us out of ourselves not in order to become more like God but so that we may finally be freed from our obsession with becoming little gods.

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