This article is the first part of a two-part series. The second part will take a look at when pastors abuse their congregations.
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
Why did the church dedicate a day to St. Michael anyway? Who is he, and what does he do?

All Articles

Like Luther and like Hannah, we also receive God’s promise.
Advent is something of a liturgical speed bump that slows us down lest we rush to Christmas but forget that the baby born in Bethlehem will return with glory and power to judge the living and the dead.
The LORD God had promised He was coming, and they were certain there could be no better time for Him to fulfill His promise.
Human history and especially the Christian life have a shape and Jesus is its shaper at every point.
God is holy, nothing I say or do or pray is going to make God any more or less holy. So what are we praying when we say, “hallowed be your name”?
Life will not go as planned nor as we would hope, but "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
Jesus overcame sin, death, and Satan on the cross. His bloody suffering and death marked this sinful world's defeat.
Love continues to gently but endlessly pursue the narrator, despite his persistence in pulling away in the opposite direction.
The “New David” will manifest the power of the LORD and will not set Himself in opposition as did the false shepherds.
Jesus has the best Dad ever, but He doesn’t keep His Dad all to himself. Jesus shares His Heavenly Father with everyone who believes in Him.
Although theirs is an impressive show of faith, the display of God’s faithfulness to them is far greater. After all, faith is only as strong as the object in which it is placed.
The following is an adaptation from "Law and Gospel in Action" written by Mark Mattes (1517 Publishing, 2019).