This article is the first part of a two-part series. The second part will take a look at when pastors abuse their congregations.
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?

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A friend recently told me they had never seen the movie A Christmas Story. “What?!” I exclaimed. “Well, you need to fix that this year.”
My nonfiction reads took me into Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and various varieties of Protestantism. Some of my favorites didn’t fall into neat and tidy categories, such as Jordan Peterson and Richard Selzer. It was difficult to narrow the list down, but here are my 12 1/2 favorites of the year.
God’s name is no different. It, too, carries power. The power of a promise only God can make.
Advent is the season when the Church declares to a world overwhelmed by excuses, lies, and cruelty that their Savior comes.
Zechariah’s prophecy about John’s ministry also comes to us in the fullness of our time.
Often, when we talk about the Old Testament, we talk about God's promises and work for his chosen people, Israel.
He was a beggar on the streets. And, he was as good as dead if he didn't receive a blessing. The words, "you're cursed" haunted his mind.
What does it mean to be a child of God and to carry his image? This is a theological question, but it is a question necessary for our self-understanding
Consolation is the breath of life filling our lungs, hearts, and minds with the fresh, incorruptible air of the new creation.
But there is something far more serious and important: being reconciled to our Father in Heaven.
It is only when individuals are bound together in community that they become fully human.
I am often haunted by my past. I am daily haunted by what I should be doing.