When Religion Becomes Obsolete, Christ Does Not

By Russ Lackey | Mark Mattes

01/20/26

19mins

When Religion Becomes Obsolete, Christ Does Not

American religion did not become optional because the gospel failed. It became optional because religion slowly redefined itself around usefulness.

Bradley Gray

01/19/26

Behold the Lamb

The Passover wasn’t just Israel’s story; it’s ours.

Psalm 12, Part 2: The Saint Fails, The Word Purifies

Steven Paulson

01/16/26

Psalm 12, Part 2: The Saint Fails, The Word Purifies

God makes us pure saints by planting us back in the earth we imagined we needed to escape.

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Ken Sundet Jones

02/06/21

Starting with Christ, the God Who Shows Up

This is an excerpt from “A Lutheran Toolkit” written by Ken Sundet Jones (1517 Publishing, 2021), pgs. 23-25.

Donavon Riley

02/02/21

A Christian is Pulled Between Two Extremes

Our anxiety about the future is a consequence of our old self’s attempts to achieve freedom for himself apart from Christ Jesus.

Tyler Cronkright

01/28/21

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

And because Jesus on the cross was sin in its entirety, God cannot look at him. He turns his face away, causing Jesus to cry out in utmost agony, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

Pete Lange

01/27/21

Why Does Our God Have Many Names?

From the womb to the tomb, from the cradle to the grave, Jesus’ name defines and describes who he is and what he is all about.

Grant Klembara

01/25/21

Death's End according to Poet John Donne

Out of great pain and suffering often comes goodness, beauty, and truth. John Donne, born on the 22nd of January in 1573, is an excellent example of that for us in his masterful work, Death Be Not Proud.

Bruce Hillman

01/22/21

The First Love of God

Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking God's love is like the love we experience in human relationships. But human love is a derivative of God's love. It is lesser.

Donavon Riley

01/21/21

His Face Shines On Us

For God to shine his face upon us is the same as saying, “Christ Jesus is with us.”

Kyle G. Jones

01/20/21

Scripture Speaks with an Accent

The accent of Scripture emphasized that Christ is for you. Yes, you. He’s not for the perfect people of our imaginations. He’s not just for Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, or Paul. Christ is also for you.

Gretchen Ronnevik

01/14/21

The Secret to Growing Your Faith

In our transactional view of our faith - “If I don’t… then God won’t.” “I need to, so God can” - we are seriously underestimating who we are dealing with.

Kevin Hale

01/12/21

Jesus Died for Life Wasters

Jesus knows you and everybody else come from a long line of life wasters going all the way back to Adam. Jesus died for life wasters! Let go of your bootstraps. Stand back up. Your Father loves you.

Bror Erickson

01/08/21

When Salt Loses it's Taste

Good works do not give us a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. Rather, good works result from righteousness given by the good work of the Righteous One on the cross.

Steven A. Hein

01/07/21

The Man Born to be King

Epiphany celebrates that we have not been left in our hearts’ cold darkness and this spoiled creation.

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