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

Peter Nafzger
Peter Nafzger
10/21/18

Gospel: John 8:31-36 (Reformation Observed)

So, in keeping with Mark’s focus on discipleship this Fall, your Reformation Sunday sermon on John 8 might reflect on what it means to be a disciple. As you proclaim the commands and promises of Christ, you might invite your hearers not only to believe his Word, but also to abide in it. To hear and mediate on his promises in the various ways he delivers them.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/12/18

Whose Bones are Buried Beneath the Cross?

Let’s take a walk together. And as we do, I’ll tell you a mystery.
Cindy Koch
Cindy Koch
09/28/18

Theses 22-24: The Wisdom of the Cross

A part of our series on Luther's, Heidelberg Disputation.
Donavon Riley
Donavon Riley
09/14/18

Seeing Samson's Cross-Eyed Reflection

For the past twenty years that I've been a Christian, I've not found any evidence in my reading of Judges 13-16 that qualifies Samson for the "book of faith" (Hebrews 11).
Valerie Thur
Valerie Thur
08/30/18

The Imperfection of Our Longings

Sehnsucht can echo the truth, but only Scripture reveals the God who experiences it.
Kyle G. Jones
Kyle G. Jones
08/23/18

Hearing the Gospel with Old Testament Ears

As a bass player, when I listen to music, I listen for what the bassist is doing. But, when I listen to music in my 2004 Honda Civic I have a problem: only one of the four speakers works.
Grant Klembara
Grant Klembara
08/21/18

Biblical Inerrancy in a Postmodern World

Press further on the historicity of the Bible, and we start to get fidgety.
Bruce Hillman
Bruce Hillman
08/01/18

When God Wounds

Life is certainly unfair. But in Christ, at least in part, we rejoice at such a notion. Grace, that great descriptor of God’s devotion, is a word that only finds its purpose, only exists at all, because it exists as a response to guilt.
Valerie Thur
Valerie Thur
07/30/18

What Writer’s Block Tells us About the Kingdom of God

Writer’s Block, however, entertains no such fantasies. It goes straight for my ego’s jugular and pounds home the fact that I’m not good enough.
Cindy Koch
Cindy Koch
07/19/18

Worth Your Meditation

Our meditation listens to the King of Kings when He says; it is finished.
Bror Erickson
Bror Erickson
07/12/18

Read It For the Sword Stroke

We expect that if it is God’s word, it must have fallen out of the sky on golden plates.
Bradley Gray
Bradley Gray
06/14/18

The Paradox of Pastoral Preaching

At times, evangelical Christianity can be a paradox. For as much as Protestants have spurned Roman Catholicism, they’re much more Catholic than they’d ever like to admit.
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