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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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.

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.

John W. Hoyum

01/19/21

What Happens When the Gospel Isn’t Threatened

Has the modern world taken too strong a dose of the gospel as its inheritance from the Reformation?

Sam P. Schuldheisz

01/13/21

A Tale of Two Professors

This tale of two professors has a common theme, plot, and denouement - the good news of the one true story, Jesus Christ crucified for you.

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.

Ken Sundet Jones

01/12/21

Conspiracy Theories, Law, and Salvation

Paul knew, and so do we: the law doesn’t change hearts or heal the world. More demands won’t do the trick.

Robert Kolb

01/10/21

He Doesn’t Make Things Like We’re Used To

God makes all things new. He refashions us from those turned in upon ourselves, turned to idols of our own choice and making, to experience the freedom He gives by pronouncing us His righteous children.

John Bombaro

01/10/21

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (Epiphany 2: Series B)

What does being free from sin, which is obviously a good thing, have to do with being free from the Law, which sounds dangerous?

Brad Soenksen

01/06/21

God Breaks the Silence

What more could God do to prove to us that he is for us and not against us than to give his own Son into this fallen world to take the cross in our place, exchanging his righteousness for our many sins.

John Bombaro

01/04/21

God's Unmasked Face

The church does well to remind the world that God is unmasked, indeed, that God has unmasked himself in the person of Jesus.

John W. Hoyum

01/01/21

Dominus Mortis

Perhaps this past year has prompted the recognition that God is not the tame projection of our highest hopes and dreams. Instead, he is the one who uses even his foes to make a point.

Ken Sundet Jones

12/31/20

The Sad State of My Backyard

The setting for Luke 2 is the first century analog to my backyard. The stage is dressed with rust and decay, guilt and shame, sin and death.

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