The Consuming Fire and the Holiness That Comes Down
By Bradley Gray
10/02/25
23mins

The Consuming Fire and the Holiness That Comes Down

He doesn’t consume us, even though that is what we deserve. Instead, Jesus comes down to us and consumes all our sin by taking it on himself.
When Pastors Are Abused by Their Congregations
Donavon Riley
Donavon Riley
10/01/25

When Pastors Are Abused by Their Congregations

This article is the first part of a two-part series. The second part will take a look at when pastors abuse their congregations.
An Excerpt from Untamed Prayers: Psalm 123 and Psalm 136
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/30/25

An Excerpt from Untamed Prayers: Psalm 123 and Psalm 136

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

All Articles

Chad Bird
Chad Bird
01/05/15

I Am Not Unbroken

I thought I had it all together. I had my life figured out. Even though outwardly I was serving God, inwardly I served only the god named Ego. My heart was the shrine at which I bowed the knee.
Dan van Voorhis
Dan van Voorhis
12/24/14

Death and Christmas

I know it’s a rite of pious holiday passage to complain about the commercialization of Christmas and to remind everyone to keep the “Christ” in Christmas. And don’t forget the secular “war on Christmas." Whatever.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
12/10/14

Heaven's Gaze in a Child's Eyes: An Eight-Month-Old Teaches Us How God Loves the Outcast

As God is prone to do, He sometimes shows us who He is through people whom we would never think of as teachers, much less imitators of God.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/26/14

Dumpster Diving for Good Deeds

One of the sad truths I realized about myself long ago is that I do nothing from completely spic-and-span motives. I mean nothing. When I hear someone say that they’re “utterly sincere” or they’re doing something “from pure motives,” I smell a lie.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/03/14

Can God Count? A Children's Story for Sinners

The son asked, ''What else does God count?'' The father said, ''When we get sad, or hurt, and we cry, God counts our tears.'' ''Every tear?'' the son asked. ''Yes, every tear,'' the father answered.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/17/14

The Grateful Dead

Dead men don’t get taught. Dead men don’t get un-lost. Dead men don’t heal.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/15/14

The Two Most Important Days in Your Life. And Why Mark Twain Was Wrong

Your primary purpose in life is having something done to you. God created you in order that He might have someone to give to, to bless, to love, to nurture, to save, to give Himself to.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/08/14

A Letter from Demon to Demon on the Art of Temptation

Over time, any inclination the cupbearer might have to speak a good word to Pharaoh on Joseph’s behalf will seem less and less of a moral necessity.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/03/14

"You Can Get Used to Damn Near Any Stink": Acclimating to Evil

Have you ever found yourself looking back on a time in your life when you were thoroughly enmeshed in something wrong, and now you hardly recognize the person you were then?
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
08/24/14

I Stab it With My Steely Knife but I Can't Kill the Beast Within

That all being said, come to think of it, I’ve never gone 24 seconds without sinning.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
08/19/14

Do I Really Matter? Does My Existence Mean Anything?

As I floated in the Gulf of Mexico, I spoke these truths, but it was not the waters or the heavens that needed to hear them.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
07/24/14

Men, What Are We Trying to Prove?

We like to define ourselves, and to have others see us and talk about us, based upon our accomplishments.
1517 is a Christian non-profit (501(c)3) multi-media organization. Our mission is to declare and defend the Good News that we are forgiven and free on account of the death and resurrection of Jesus alone.
1517.org
Search
Academy
Donate

1517 grants permission for our free online resources to be printed, photocopied, and otherwise used freely for private and church use. We require that authorship and source (1517.org) are referenced and maintained. These resources may not be sold or included in any publications for sale.