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

Jessica Thompson
Jessica Thompson
11/30/16

Forget Not All His Benefits

I have the easiest time remembering all the good things I have done. How I was kind in the face of anger.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/30/16

Gospel Phobia

If the devil took over a church, I suspect it would be bursting at the seams every Sunday, with smiling faces, clean noses, straight morals, conservative voting, institutional fidelity
Bradley Gray
Bradley Gray
11/28/16

Green Jackets & White Robes

I don’t know much about golf, but I do know that The Masters is like the Super Bowl for golfers.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/23/16

Why Is God Punishing Me?

It was Jesus who appeared to Hagar, comforted her, and gave her the promise of future blessings. It was Jesus who came to her when it seemed everything and everyone else had let her down.
Donavon Riley
Donavon Riley
11/22/16

It's OK to Be Godless, So Long As You're A Christian

"What do you mean, 'Confess that I don't believe in God?' I'm a Christian. Of course I believe in God!"
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.
Brian W. Thomas
Brian W. Thomas
11/16/16

The Alien Fashion Sense of Jesus

The redeemed are dressed in white robes.
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.
Donavon Riley
Donavon Riley
11/08/16

The Hard Reset: Rediscovering God's Word

It's easy to forget that today, just like then, most people who laud Luther publicly as a reformer, revolutionary, and so on, secretly reject his teaching because it's too much to take.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/31/16

The Hardest Thing to Believe

You matter so much to God that he would rather die than lose you. You matter so much to Jesus that no suffering was too much, no deprivation too burdensome, no punishment too severe for him to endure to have you as his own.
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