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.

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How the pumpkin patch has a lot to teach us about the love and work of Christ
Confession and absolution offer more than assurance, they gift real and genuine Divine promises.
Human solutions to problems, important as they are, are inadequate to meet our deepest needs
Finding rest in God when the “what ifs”come calling
We know that death does not have the last word in Christ.
The issue is not the existence of so-called inner rings, but our desire and willingness to spend our lives in order to gain from an inner ring what is freely promised in Christ: hope, security, and identity.
I’ve experienced firsthand the promise that God never leaves a congregation empty-handed.
God’s published will offers us anchorage, the anchorage of Jesus Christ, in the midst of chaos, reminding us that there is a greater purpose to our lives than the pursuit of worldly success or fleeting pleasures.
If Jesus did not rise, then religion is just religion — a mere anthropological phenomenon.
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.
The Holy Spirit unleashes his power through us, his vines, and we then get to watch as his fruits blossom and ripen.
Everything in Scripture is God revealing himself to his people, you and me.