1. This is an edited excerpt from the conclusion of The Resurrection Fact: Responding to Modern Critics, edited by John Bombaro and Adam Francisco. (1517 Publishing, 2016).
  2. In that moment of greatest despair, we find the antidote for all our fears. We know we are beloved of God and there is salvation in Christ’s atoning death.
  3. Christ shows up in the middle of our storms and our nightmares. That’s where he sets up shop.
  4. This is an excerpt from “Finding God in the Darkness: Hopeful Reflections from the Pits of Depression, Despair, and Disappointment” by Bradley Gray (1517 Publishing, 2023).
  5. Chains may have restricted Paul, but nothing can restrict the gospel.
  6. This is an excerpt from part two of “Finding God in the Darkness: Hopeful Reflections from the Pits of Depression, Despair, and Disappointment” by Bradley Gray (1517 Publishing, 2023).
  7. It was meant to be Karlstadt’s moment to shine, but all anyone remembered was Luther.
  8. While we wait in tribulation for our white robes (or pants) to be washed in the blood of the Lamb, we confess to one another our seen and unseen stains.
  9. As Luther said, “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection not in books alone, but in every leaf of spring.”
  10. The Holy Spirit unleashes his power through us, his vines, and we then get to watch as his fruits blossom and ripen.
  11. The Parable of the Lost Sheep bursts through the confines of convention and demands that we embrace the messiness of life and the unpredictable ways in which God's grace and forgiveness operates.
  12. It’s not our eloquence or persuasive rhetoric that changes hearts, but the Word of God that pierces through the hardened shells of unbelief and breathes life into the dead bones of sinners.