When Religion Becomes Obsolete, Christ Does Not

By Russ Lackey | Mark Mattes

01/20/26

19mins

When Religion Becomes Obsolete, Christ Does Not

American religion did not become optional because the gospel failed. It became optional because religion slowly redefined itself around usefulness.

Bradley Gray

01/19/26

Behold the Lamb

The Passover wasn’t just Israel’s story; it’s ours.

Psalm 12, Part 2: The Saint Fails, The Word Purifies

Steven Paulson

01/16/26

Psalm 12, Part 2: The Saint Fails, The Word Purifies

God makes us pure saints by planting us back in the earth we imagined we needed to escape.

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Michael Berg

03/28/23

An Excerpt from On Any Given Sunday

This is an excerpt from the prologue of “On Any Given Sunday: The Story of Christ in the Divine Service” by Mike Berg (1517 Publishing, 2023).

Jason Oakland

03/23/23

The GOAT of goats

The needs of the people remain the same, but now the people are you and me. We still sin, and that sin causes so many challenges in our lives.

Mark Mattes

03/21/23

An Excerpt from Common Places in Christian Theology

This is an excerpt from the introduction of “Common Places in Christian Theology: A Curated Collection of Essays from Lutheran Quarterly,” edited by Mark Mattes (1517 Publishing, 2023).

Adam Francisco

03/09/23

What Nature Reveals About Ourselves and Our Creator

Some explanations are better than others, but they remain our explanations—except if we had some perspective from outside, above, and behind nature.

Philip Bartelt

02/21/23

An Excerpt from What is Christianity? by Francis Pieper

A Christian is a man who desires to enter heaven not through his own goodness and works, but through the righteousness and works of Christ.

Bradley Gray

01/31/23

Remembered and Redeemed

Even as he was dying, the heart of God poured itself out for the sake of sinners.

Robert Kolb

01/24/23

God and His Human Creatures in Luther’s Sermons on Genesis

This is an excerpt from “The Alien and the Proper: Luther's Two-Fold Righteousness in Controversy, Ministry, and Citizenship,” edited by Robert Kolb (1517 Publishing, 2023). Now available for purchase.

John Bombaro

01/19/23

True Tolerance

We assert, we herald, the truth about God becoming King of the world in and through Jesus of Nazareth alone. It is our public announcement.

Robert Kolb

01/17/23

Our Theology - Luther’s Two Kinds of Righteousness: A Personal Reflection

This is an excerpt from “The Alien and the Proper: Luther's Two-Fold Righteousness in Controversy, Ministry, and Citizenship,” edited by Robert Kolb (1517 Publishing, 2023).

Chad Bird

11/24/22

The Alpha and Omega of Generosity

It all starts with God; and it all ends with God. He is the alpha and omega of giving and generosity.

Haroldo Camacho

11/15/22

Your Son Died, You Owe Nothing

We live again, not so that we will now pay our debt, but to proclaim that we live because our debt was paid!

John Bombaro

11/12/22

Epistles: Colossians 1:13-20 (The Last Sunday in the Church Year: Series C)

The epistle text from Colossians 1 declares how the great drama of redemption and human history ends.

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