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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This is an excerpt from “The Freedom of the Christian” written by Martin Luther and translated and edited by Adam Francisco (1517 Publishing, 2020).
After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again.
The theme of guardianship permeates Christian observances of Michaelmas, unifying this wide variety of celebrations.
This is an excerpt from “Unveiling Mercy: 365 Daily Devotions Based on Insights from Old Testament Hebrew” written by Chad Bird (1517 Publishing, 2020). Used with permission.
The kind of love we crave, that we will go to any lengths to find, is already present for us here and now. The Lord's love for us reaches into our hearts and soul.
It is impossible to obtain grace and the forgiveness of sins in any other way, manner, or measure than by hearing the Word of God about Christ and by receiving it through faith.
We vote because we are citizens, and it is our duty. We serve our neighbors in love because it is our Christian calling.
As long as our illusions of control over storms and germs persist to govern our thinking, we will never be able to take the saving work of Christ as seriously we ought.
Throughout the Gospels there is no quality more closely identified by Jesus with the life of His people than humility which echoes His own.
Solomon did not write Ecclesiastes to bum you out. He wrote it to set you free.
Everyone dreads what might happen if political control is captured by the enemy. Paranoia is the characteristic feature of this kind of under-realized eschatology.
Maybe for the first time you can begin to receive creation as a gift, a sheer gift from God’s hands. And who knows what might happen in the power of this grace? All possibilities are open.