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

Matt Kroelinger
Matt Kroelinger
11/18/16

Weak Faith in the Midst of Tragedy

Recently I’ve met many people that have suffered tragedies in their families. I know this sounds a little selfish, but the ones that stick out the most to me are the ones that affected my own family.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/16/16

Showing Mercy to Former Ministers

I don’t care why you left the ministry—moral failure, congregational politics, burnout, whatever—the Christ whom you proclaimed has not left you.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/14/16

The Sex Worker Who Teaches Us the Fear of the Lord

Hear that confession of saving faith? Rahab may have been a prostitute in Jericho, but she was secretly a virgin daughter of Yahweh.
Bradley Gray
Bradley Gray
11/14/16

The Righteous Revenant’s Revenge

As an avid movie-goer, one of the ways Scripture comes alive for me is to picture the stories as if they were scenes and beats from a live-action movie.
Cindy Koch
Cindy Koch
11/11/16

A Story of Freedom or Submission?

The Garden of Eden proved to be the first battlefield between God and his submissive people.
Steven A. Hein
Steven A. Hein
10/31/16

Human Depravity: The Doctrine on which Justification Stands or Falls

Lose trust in the free grace of the righteousness of Christ alone, and the holiness of the Church and all in her is lost.
Joel Hess
Joel Hess
10/30/16

The Reformation Will Not Be Televised

The same can be said of the Reformation. I have often heard both Roman Catholic and Lutheran brothers and sisters bemoan the celebration of the Reformation.
Donavon Riley
Donavon Riley
10/13/16

The Gardener's Blood, The Fruit of Brambles

They were incapable of covering their shame. They knew what they'd done was evil, but since they were only "like" God, there was no way for them to go back and replace evil with good.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/07/16

Reading Life Backward: Why Hebrew is the Language of the Cross

Read your life like a Hebrew, from the end to the beginning, and you will see that the last is first. The dead are alive, the cursed are blessed, the humble are exalted.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/29/16

The Secret Weapon Angels (and Pastors) Carry to Protect Us

We need pastors who carry that same concealed weapon in their mouths, who are outfitted with the same word the angels have: the word steeped in divine blood, shed for you. That is all we need, for the word does it all.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/27/16

My Favorite Dirty Word in Church

You became, for a time, ritually unclean. Not sinful. Not immoral. To be unclean meant you bore in your own body the effects of a creation in bondage to decay.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/23/16

The Beast of "Should" at the Zoo

All our little laws reveal that we are, by nature, trying to justify ourselves before others, and before God, based on what we do and who we are.
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.