1. What we discover in O’Connor’s stories and Martin Luther’s theology is that God’s grace is elusive because the human heart is resistant to it.
  2. This is the message of Lent. We are not called to sacrifice for Jesus in order to earn our salvation. Rather, we are called to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.
  3. A Christian is a man who desires to enter heaven not through his own goodness and works, but through the righteousness and works of Christ.
  4. Reading includes, on some level, striving. Hearing, on the other hand, remains passive.
  5. The further up and further into the season of Epiphany we get, the bigger the grace of God in Christ is, the brighter the Light of Christ shines, and the more blessed we are in Jesus' epiphany for us.
  6. This is an excerpt from “The Alien and the Proper: Luther's Two-Fold Righteousness in Controversy, Ministry, and Citizenship,” edited by Robert Kolb (1517 Publishing, 2023). Now available for purchase.
  7. This is an excerpt from “The Alien and the Proper: Luther's Two-Fold Righteousness in Controversy, Ministry, and Citizenship,” edited by Robert Kolb (1517 Publishing, 2023).
  8. It all starts with God; and it all ends with God. He is the alpha and omega of giving and generosity.
  9. This is an excerpt from the Sinner/Saint Advent Devotional (1517 Publishing, 2022), written by Kathy Morales and Kyle G. Jones.
  10. If a key part of the Reformation was placing God’s Word back into the hands of the people in a clear, understandable way, then John of Ragusa can be called a “Prometheus” in his own right.
  11. When the Reformers read the Bible (especially when studied in the original languages), they found a God who was gracious and merciful for the sake of Christ.
  12. Through water, blood, and word, the Spirit never stops pointing us to Christ, and even more, giving us Christ.