Wade Johnston, Life Under the Cross: A Biography of the Reformer Matthias Flacius Illyricus, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis: MO, 2025.
This ancient “tale of two mothers” concerns far more than theological semantics—it is the difference between a God who sends and a God who comes.
This story points us from our unlikely heroes to the even more unlikely, and joyous, good news that Jesus’ birth for us was just as unlikely and unexpected.

All Articles

This article is part of Stephen Paulson’s series on the Psalms.
In the Bible, we meet the God who also does not prance around naked as a jaybird.
God’s headline for his church prioritizes the person of Jesus and his purpose to demonstrate God’s power by dying and rising again for our salvation.
What we do much less of, even in Christian circles, is recognize just how pervasive sin is, such that it has thoroughly corrupted us.
Jesus will lead us through the deep waters onto the dry land of that celestial shore, where he will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
Jesus reveals to them again who He is. And that life can only be given when we feed on Christ.
What’s the big deal about Jesus’ name?
God has a hall ready for us, for us and for so many more
When the waters of anxiety and depression rise, there is One who understands.
Jesus is always interceding for us
God sees true beauty
As much as we want the glory, riches, and knowledge of Dantes, what we need is Jean Valjean's candlesticks.