Luther neither removed the Apocrypha from the Bible nor discouraged its use. Rather, he received and preserved the ancient distinction inherited from the fathers: the Apocrypha is valuable, edifying, and worthy of reading, but it is not Holy Scripture and therefore cannot serve as the foundation of Christian doctrine.
The confessors at Augsburg remind us that every generation of Christians is called to bear witness to the gospel amid the challenges and pressures of its own age. As they confessed Christ before emperors and kingdoms, so the Church continues to confess Him before the world today.
When Jesus washes you with baptismal water, you can rest assured that the Lion of Judah is on the move.

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Jesus’ forgiveness will not collapse. Jesus’ forgiveness will take us places our legs can’t take us.
I have been very busy lately, trying to understand things.
I visited a senior man at his home the other day. I'll refer to him as “Jim.”
I am not a good Lutheran. I have only been around reformation theology for a few years.
Jesus cuts right to the chase when it comes to the evil one. He calls the devil “a liar and the father of lies,”
Hurricane Florence, or any natural disaster, can serve as a painful reminder of our own mortality, the futility of human ingenuity and strength.
There was a TV show back in the ‘90s called “Dinosaurs” that I used to sneak into the living room at night to watch.
She was my friend, walking through marriage troubles. Her husband was unfaithful to her, with the technicalities and carefully drawn lines of “not technically sex” and justifying himself, which had wounded her deeply.
True preaching arises when the Holy Spirit steeps the proclaimer in its own cycle of judgment and mercy.
For on the other side of the death of forgiveness is the resurrection of joy. An easter in which we emerge from the tomb in the arms of the man whose scars glow with mercy.
Don’t say you’re beyond hope, for there is not one beyond God. Don’t say you’ve done too much evil, for there is no wrong bigger than God’s heart of forgiveness.
When those who are serving joyfully and willingly are instead encouraged to complain that they are carrying the load for the rest of the body, all hope is lost.