The Consuming Fire and the Holiness That Comes Down
By Bradley Gray
10/02/25
23mins

The Consuming Fire and the Holiness That Comes Down

He doesn’t consume us, even though that is what we deserve. Instead, Jesus comes down to us and consumes all our sin by taking it on himself.
When Pastors Are Abused by Their Congregations
Donavon Riley
Donavon Riley
10/01/25

When Pastors Are Abused by Their Congregations

This article is the first part of a two-part series. The second part will take a look at when pastors abuse their congregations.
An Excerpt from Untamed Prayers: Psalm 123 and Psalm 136
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/30/25

An Excerpt from Untamed Prayers: Psalm 123 and Psalm 136

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

All Articles

Sam P. Schuldheisz
Sam P. Schuldheisz
08/26/14

Good Storytellers Make Good Apologists

God wired us to be storytellers. God made man in his own image and that image includes a rational mind that communicates in large part through stories.
Mark Pierson
Mark Pierson
08/12/14

The Lasting Legacy of C.S. Lewis: Why Imaginative Apologetics Matter

Imagine a world in which it is always winter but never Christmas. Imagine a place where Deep Magic from the dawn of time requires the blood of the innocent be shed to save the guilty.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
06/27/14

Anniversary of a Dead Marriage: The Painful Lessons of Divorce

Every year, when this day rolls around, I turn over the stones of remembrance that litter my mind, to see what lurks beneath.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
06/21/14

The Suicide of a Friend

There is hope and healing for you in Jesus Christ, the God who immersed Himself so deeply in our sufferings that He, too, wept over the death of a dear friend.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
05/07/14

The Phone Number that Could Tell My Life's Story: A Mother's Day Reflection

Perhaps a phone number seems an odd thing to get sentimental about, but I can’t help myself. You see, if that number, and the phone connected to it, could speak, they would tell my life’s story.
Sam P. Schuldheisz
Sam P. Schuldheisz
05/07/14

Legos and Apologetics: Imagination, Art, and Sub-Creation (Part 4)

But there’s more to this movie than excellent Lego graphics and artistic; in other words, imaginative storytelling.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
03/12/14

Adam's First Sunset: When All You’ve Known Sinks Away

For who of us, at some point in our lives, has not watched with horror and grief as our own “sun” vanishes? You stand around a rectangular depression in the ground to watch a box of wood that cradles your beloved slowly lowered into the dark earth.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
02/04/14

“There Goes My Life”: A Father's Day Reflection

One day I walked about that place I had tried to make home. I realized it was a prison cell of my own devising.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
12/10/13

Drinking with the Dead: Country Music and the Communion of Saints

The details vary, of course, but we too struggle to repair the heart broken by the tragic death of someone we love. We're dazed, angry, speechless.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
12/09/13

The Uncivilized Baptist: Why John Beckons Us to the Wilderness

Why does John make you uncomfortable? You know. It’s not just the clothing; it’s not only the hair; it’s not even really the diet. John the Baptist is uncivilized—that’s the problem.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
06/27/13

Praying in Tears, Snot, and Screams

I was full of pain and empty of speech, babbling like a baby who knows he hurts but can’t explain where or why or what he needs to assuage the anguish. Here was the sheer helplessness of being unable to communicate with God in this moment of deepest desperation.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
03/30/13

This Is the Night: An Easter Vigil Sermon

This is the night when the earth is formless and void; and the darkness of blood is over the face of Thy Son. And the Spirit of God moves out of His body as He gives up the Ghost.
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