When Pastors Are Abused by Their Congregations
By Donavon Riley
10/01/25
13mins

When Pastors Are Abused by Their Congregations

This article is the first part of a two-part series. The second part will take a look at when pastors abuse their congregations.
An Excerpt from Untamed Prayers: Psalm 123 and Psalm 136
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/30/25

An Excerpt from Untamed Prayers: Psalm 123 and Psalm 136

The following entries are excerpts from Chad Bird’s new book, Untamed Prayers: 365 Daily Devotions on Christ in the Book of the Psalms (1517 Publishing, 2025), pgs. 311 and 335
St. Michael, Defender of God’s People
Amy Mantravadi
Amy Mantravadi
09/29/25

St. Michael, Defender of God’s People

Why did the church dedicate a day to St. Michael anyway? Who is he, and what does he do?

All Articles

Bradley Gray
Bradley Gray
06/10/21

The Gospel of a Fulfilled Law

Despite what the Pharisees believed and advertised, Jesus was not intent upon deconstructing the fundamental tenets of the Old Testament law. Actually, he proceeds to do just the opposite.
Tyler Cronkright
Tyler Cronkright
06/05/21

Gut-Wrenching Love

Jesus comes to you. He binds your wounds, and he pours out his body and his blood for the forgiveness of your sins.
Bradley Gray
Bradley Gray
06/03/21

Answering the Universal Inquiry of Humanity

Everyone is living as a naked sufferer who’s been duped into believing that the nakedness of suffering has to be covered up.
Donavon Riley
Donavon Riley
06/02/21

You Are Not Forgotten

We prefer God to forgive our sin by not paying attention to it. Then our prayer is not for grace but that God would overlook and wink at us from the sidelines.
Erick Sorensen
Erick Sorensen
05/31/21

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God (and That’s Not Enough)

God daily broadsides us with his abundant power and glory as we observe nature around us. And yet, as glorious as this book of nature is, it is not enough.
Bradley Gray
Bradley Gray
05/28/21

The Religion of the Sacred Cow

If you and I were to examine our own lives, we’d likely have to admit that we are frequent disciples of Jeroboam’s “bootleg religion.”
Kevin Hale
Kevin Hale
05/27/21

Mute and Muted Idols

The irony of our idolatry is that many of our idols could and would speak the gospel to us if we would listen.
Martin Luther
Martin Luther
05/26/21

Faith in a Sea of Unbelief

God bestows faith that it should deal not with ordinary things, but with things no human being can master such as death, sin, the world, and Satan.
Kyle G. Jones
Kyle G. Jones
05/24/21

The Holy Spirit: The Gift and Gift-Giver

The Holy Spirit is sent, not to talk about himself, but to point us to Jesus.
John Bombaro
John Bombaro
05/23/21

The Sermon as Linchpin

We have the Gospel in Word and the Gospel in Sacrament. Both are poised to declare the peace of the Lord, the good news of God’s forgiveness because of the life, vicarious atonement, and resurrection of Jesus the Son.
Bradley Gray
Bradley Gray
05/21/21

A King Greater Than Solomon and a Place Better Than the Temple

You and I have a God who pardons all our wrongdoing by taking all of them onto himself. He doesn’t zap us into oblivion at the first sign of rebellion.
Donavon Riley
Donavon Riley
05/20/21

God in the Arena

Sin, death, and Satan may have had more than a puncher's chance to beat us, but when God stepped into the ring, they should have admitted defeat and thrown in the towel.
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