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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We assert, we herald, the truth about God becoming King of the world in and through Jesus of Nazareth alone. It is our public announcement.
Rejoice with Mary as she would rejoice with you. Be blessed, like her, with humility from God, so that you may serve joyfully and willingly wherever and in whatever role God has placed you.
The good news is that with our God there is always more: more than we deserve, dare, ask, or expect, more than we can see, hear, feel, or think.
There is no true life and meaningful community apart from forgiveness.
The reason that God’s commandments are not burdensome is that Jesus has fulfilled them.
The love mentioned in 1 John 4:15-21 fourteen times (!) is a love that needs no apology but is determined at all times to sacrifice for the other.
We can appreciate what we have received from God, we can receive it all as free gift, but only when we stop investing in fool's gold.
Paul calls them the fruits of the Spirit after all
We need to hear the gospel because it is good news that is not from you, or about you, or because of you.
Do you confess Christ as God in the flesh, born, died, and raised to new life for you? Any answer of yes will do
“There,” the Queen said, “That’s so much better than talking, isn’t it?”
Increasingly, to forgive is seen as winking at evil, as shrugging one’s moral shoulders, and as being complicit.