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

By the end of this prayer of wrestling, David finally has the strength to claim victory over his lying enemies.
"When God has his say, have confidence that his Word and sacraments bestow precisely what he says."
The “Chalking of the Door” is a way to celebrate and literally mark the occasion of the Epiphany and God’s blessing of our lives and home.
Ambrose's preaching continues to ring out in churches around the world, especially during Advent when we sing his magnificent, proclamatory hymn, "Savior of the Nations, Come."
The crucified and risen Christ comes to renew, restore, and build up.
One Christ rules over all of it. He is the constant, the root that nourishes every estate and every vocation.
No matter how many times we hear this good news, it never stops being good news.
Mary looms large in our theology, our liturgy, our confessions and creeds.
To preach Christ and him crucified is to keep the message simple and accessible.
John inspired me to see each sermon as an apologetic opportunity.
In his resurrection, God says "Yes" to Christ, and all those in him.
Jesus has instituted his living-breathing disciples, his shepherds in his church, to declare the full forgiveness of sins.