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?
The Antichrist offers another continual presence. It is every whisper that tempts us toward autonomy, that tells us to carry it alone, that insists suffering is meaningless.

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Did the Apostle Paul just say that “he fills up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ?" That seems a little at odds with Jesus’ statement, "It is finished."
To be human is to be preoccupied with averting pain and despair. But despair gets a bad rap.
In honor of the anniversary of Philip Melanchthon’s Birthday, the following is an excerpt from Meeting Melanchthon written by Scott Keith (1517 Publishing, 2017).
The history of the early Reformation in the New World is both a tale of pirates and the battle of catechisms.
Scripture is clear: God’s Spirit pursues sinners from conception to the grave with his life-giving Gospel and gifts.
The Scriptural pictures of atonement offer every Christian comfort and hope against sin through the power of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
In our democratic society we love to talk about freedom. But anybody out there ever tried to be perfect? Ah, shucks. Turns out we’re not as free as we thought.
We all know that Jesus can save sinners, unbelievers, pagans and heathens, all of them great or small; sinners who have been very good at being sinners. You’ve likely seen it yourself or at least heard of it happening.
This plague is no new thing. A dreaded deformity of disobedience clung to every soul since Adam and Eve.
We are a people always seeking, always moving, always striving for more: it is the American way.
We expect God to try us, not for our crimes, but for our better moments.
Jesus is the heart of the Gospel, and the Gospel is Good News. But it is always Good News that comes to us best on the lips of another.