Don't Lead with Wrestling
By Ryan Matthias
01/30/26
6mins

Don't Lead with Wrestling

When we consider our own end, it will not bring us into a final wrestling match with the messenger of God, but into the embrace of the Messiah of God.
The Callings of Jesus
Jason Oakland
Jason Oakland
01/29/26

The Callings of Jesus

What do such callings look like? They are ordinary and everyday.
Why Christian Tradition? Why Absolution and Mercy
Donavon Riley
Donavon Riley
01/28/26

Why Christian Tradition? Why Absolution and Mercy

This is the third in a series meant to let the Christian tradition speak for itself, the way it has carried Christians through long winters, confusion, and joy for centuries.

All Articles

Chad Bird
Chad Bird
01/09/14

Chewing on the Bible

But unlike fish, there was actual pleasure in the prolonged chewing of this food. For the longer it remained in my mouth, the better it tasted, the more pronounced became its flavor, the more nourishment I received from each bite. This food is the bread on which Jesus survived during his forty days of temptation in the wilderness.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/26/13

God Doesn't Celebrate Thanksgiving: A Turkey Day Reflection

Eat, yes, but season your turkey with the ashes of repentance as it preaches just how little your faith is, just how little you trust God, just how little you believe the Father is good to you.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/25/13

Dying to Pray

The reason is much simpler than that: to learn to pray, you must first die. The language of prayer is taught in the school of death.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/07/13

Barefoot Before God: Holy Space for a Holy God

The place where God appears or dwells ceases to be common ground; it becomes holy. Dust, rocks, vegetation, wood, metals, everything roundabout soaks in his sacredness.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/03/13

Bloodshed at the Altar: The Genesis of Worship Wars

Why would God reject from Cain what he later accepted from and mandated of his people? So as far as the material itself, neither Cain’s nor Abel’s offering was superior.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/24/13

The Angels Carry a Concealed Weapon: A Sermon on St. Michael and All Angels

Their tongue is our shield, for the weapon of angels is the word of their Lord. Revelation 12 says Michael and his angels fought against the Dragon and his angels. And how did they overcome him? By the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/09/13

'Your Church Is Too Sexy": the Sedlec Ossuary, Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church, and the Theology of Church Architecture

In accordance with their views of what a church is, or what a church ought to be, they planned and executed each of these sanctuaries. In other words, theology designed architecture, and architecture signaled theology.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/04/13

"All of Scripture, Everywhere, Deals Only with Christ"

Jesus is thus not only the fulfillment of the Scriptures of Israel; He is their fullness. He fills them with words, people, actions, and institutions that testify of Him.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
08/14/13

"Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate": The Fourth Commandment and the Creed

When the angel told Mary she had become a mother, she replied simply, ''Let it be to me according to your word.'' Therein is a grateful acknowledgment that the Creator had formed life in her womb.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
06/10/13

"I Sure Hope SHE'S listening to this sermon!"

She against whom I preached, in her unexpected response actually “preached” to me three truths I have never forgotten.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
05/14/13

The Spirit of the Old and New

The Spirit, who endowed the tabernacle architects with wisdom from on high, overshadows Mary's womb, the new holy of holies, where Wisdom is incarnate below.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
05/14/13

Why Christ Poured out the Spirit on Pentecost: The OT and Rabbinic Roots of Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks

Though the theophanic elements at the Jerusalem Pentecost were not as diverse as those at Sinai, there is one prominent commonality between the two: divine speech out of divine fire.
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