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
Why did the church dedicate a day to St. Michael anyway? Who is he, and what does he do?
The Antichrist offers another continual presence. It is every whisper that tempts us toward autonomy, that tells us to carry it alone, that insists suffering is meaningless.

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The following is an excerpt from Law and Gospel in Action written by Mark Mattes (1517 Publishing, 2019).
The prophet Jonah longed for one thing: to see the Assyrian city of Nineveh utterly destroyed by the wrath of God. His wish eventually came true
We all know that Jesus can save sinners, unbelievers, pagans and heathens, all of them great or small; sinners who have been very good at being sinners. You’ve likely seen it yourself or at least heard of it happening.
This plague is no new thing. A dreaded deformity of disobedience clung to every soul since Adam and Eve.
I have this really terrible habit. A habit that involves my car and days-old coffee and a willpower so weak that nine out of ten coffee cups get left behind.
John’s message doesn’t inspire religious leaders to repent. Instead, John’s message provokes them to resentment and rage.
Psalm 51 teaches two things: mercy and sin. But aren’t we already experts in sin? Why do we need God to teach it to us?
I apologize for my part in making Christmas necessary. I have learned that Christ is NOT the reason for the season, I am.
Do any of you have one of “those” kids? Every family should have at least one. They humble you.
I’m a life-long New Yorker, and I have the pleasure of working minutes from the neighborhood I grew up in as a boy.
The following is an excerpt from Handing Over the Goods: Determined to Proclaim Nothing But Christ Jesus & Him Crucified - (A Festschrift in Honor of Dr. James A. Nestingen), edited by Steven Paulson and Scott Keith (1517 Publishing, 2018). Edited and used with permission.
In the beginning, we read about the invention of religion. It begins simply enough in Genesis 3