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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The Father knows our needs because he knows everything. This is a comforting thought, but only if He is gracious.
The gelded Gospel is shiny and attractive and compelling, and we can perform the procedure in any number of ways.
When we pray, we should have in mind His name and His provision and His forgiveness. In other words, we ask God to do what God promises to do.
Like Mary, they (with you) are at Jesus’ feet to learn and hear from the Lord of all Creation. It is a privileged place to be if there ever was one!
My ego just couldn't accept that I preached the Christian and him improved and not Christ and Him crucified.
When Jesus told the Parable of the Good Samaritan, He was not simply encouraging us to be good citizens. He was continuing a conversation which had begun with a serious question about salvation.
I'm having one of those days. You know, the kind where you're filled with confusion, guilt, and fear? If you don't know what I'm talking about, just stop reading now.
Throughout the centuries, “Inferno” has also played a large role in the development of Christianity, particularly in the Western Medieval church.
There is God. He existed before anything existed, for he has always existed and he will always exist. He created everything that exists outside of himself, and therefore he owns it all, including humankind.
If I don't preach Christ, then there's really no reason anyone should roll out of bed on Sunday to hear anything I have to say.
Around Easter my mind often drifts back to all of the annual ‘Revival Services’ I attended when I was growing up. Every year they began the revival with the Easter service.
If I’m going to join your church, there’s some things I’ll need to know first. I need to know whether you practice a Christianity that’s primarily a to-do list.