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 Pastoral Prophet: Meditations on the Book of Jeremiah written by Steve Kruschel is available for preorder through 1517 Publishing. The following is an excerpt.
How we feel is so often conditioned upon what we are experiencing. Faith grabs hold of something outside our experience, something objective and true that is not changed by circumstance.
When we proclaim Jesus' death we are, at the same time, preaching that this cup from which we drink is the cup of salvation for all who believe and receive it.
The teaching of the Apostles, the fellowship of believers, the breaking of bread and prayer lay out the components of worship.
Jesus reminds us of God’s mercy to the helpless, snakebitten children of Israel, then connects that story to him being lifted up on a cross to rescue an entire human race that is snakebitten by sin.
Many Christians are walking on eggshells, living as if we are sinners in the hands of an angry God. Which begs the question: Is he? Is God angry with us?
Was Jesus really in the tomb for a full three days and three nights? If so, how does this square with his death on Friday and resurrection on Sunday? Is there a contradiction here? In this article, Chad Bird explores the Hebrew understanding of this phrase to shed light on the words of Jesus.
Jesus is the continual unending fountain humanity desperately needs. And yet, here at the cross Jesus the Living Water is humiliated to the point where He cries out, “I thirst.”
So let’s go to dark Gethsemane. For there we see that even in his greatest moment of weakness, Jesus is our only source of strength. He drinks the cup of wrath so we can drink the cup of grace.
This is how the God of Abraham has become our God, too. This is how God has fulfilled His promise to Abraham and His promise to us: by breaking open His own body and shedding His own blood.
By the blood of the Lamb God's people are given salvation and comfort. We're rescued from hopelessness.
The following is an excerpt from “The Sinner/Saint Lenten Devotional” written by Kyle G. Jones and Kathy (Strauch) Morales (1517 Publishing, 2019).