1. In this article Amy Mantravadi give a short but helpful summary of the differences in Lutheran and Reformed thought regarding assurance.
  2. Confession and absolution offer more than assurance, they gift real and genuine Divine promises.
  3. How can he say it? How can he say that Christ is after all the entire meaning of life for him, and that death is no real worry?
  4. God knows that when we face insurmountable odds in our moments of weakness, we are more likely to turn to him in trust and reliance.
  5. We know that death does not have the last word in Christ.
  6. We have to “remember” that God remembers us. He has not fallen away. For God to remember us means he is working for our good; a restoration.
  7. Faith sees your neighbor not as a means to an end, not as a way to score points, but as an object of love: Christ's love and yours.
  8. Jesus’s story in Luke 16 draws definitive attention to whom God helps — namely, God always comes close in order to help those who cannot help themselves.
  9. It is of the utmost importance that pastors teach their congregation that through faith in Jesus Christ, they are fortified against the machinations of the adversary.
  10. This is an edited excerpt from the conclusion of The Resurrection Fact: Responding to Modern Critics, edited by John Bombaro and Adam Francisco. (1517 Publishing, 2016).
  11. Christ shows up in the middle of our storms and our nightmares. That’s where he sets up shop.
  12. This is an excerpt from “Finding God in the Darkness: Hopeful Reflections from the Pits of Depression, Despair, and Disappointment” by Bradley Gray (1517 Publishing, 2023).