1. This is an excerpt from the introduction of “Common Places in Christian Theology: A Curated Collection of Essays from Lutheran Quarterly,” edited by Mark Mattes (1517 Publishing, 2023).
  2. Some explanations are better than others, but they remain our explanations—except if we had some perspective from outside, above, and behind nature.
  3. When I finished this book, I loved the Bible, and the Bible’s author, even more. And I can’t imagine a better endorsement than that.
  4. A Christian is a man who desires to enter heaven not through his own goodness and works, but through the righteousness and works of Christ.
  5. Predestination, Jim knew, is no longer a frightening doctrine of mystery when you understand that God makes his choice about you in the simple word of God, given from one sinner to another.
  6. This is an excerpt from “The Alien and the Proper: Luther's Two-Fold Righteousness in Controversy, Ministry, and Citizenship,” edited by Robert Kolb (1517 Publishing, 2023). Now available for purchase.
  7. This is an excerpt from “The Alien and the Proper: Luther's Two-Fold Righteousness in Controversy, Ministry, and Citizenship,” edited by Robert Kolb (1517 Publishing, 2023).
  8. The lesson of Malachi reveals God’s love for his people. When the people ask for proof of God’s love, he reminds them of their election.
  9. It all starts with God; and it all ends with God. He is the alpha and omega of giving and generosity.
  10. Help comes for those who cannot help themselves. When we bottom-out and come to the end of ourselves, that is where hope springs.
  11. Preachers and church workers must also hear the gospel preached to them.
  12. This is an excerpt from the Sinner/Saint Advent Devotional (1517 Publishing, 2022), written by Kathy Morales and Kyle G. Jones.