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

Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/13/15

Building Towers of Babel to the Glory of God

Here’s what lurks beneath this seemingly righteous behavior: they wanted to make a name for themselves, these tower-builders.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/30/15

When Valleys of Trouble Become Doorways of Hope

But in that quest for thou shalts and thou shalt nots, you’ll miss what really matters. You’ll trample the cross while racing for the tablets of stone. From the tale of Achan's theft, you’ll rob yourself of Jesus.
Steven A. Hein
Steven A. Hein
09/30/15

Christians Have A Secret: Good Works

Just how should we think about our good works in the Christian life of faith as we live that life before others... and before God?
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/24/15

Forgive Us Our Good Works

Good people like fist-pounding on the pulpit about the bad things that bad people do in this bad world of ours. It makes them feel better about themselves.
Daniel Emery Price
Daniel Emery Price
09/04/15

Repentance Under the Microscope

I once saw a man holding a sign that read: Divorce is an abomination. Repent! That’s it. Nothing else.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
08/28/15

The Missing Verse in the Creation Account

In Christ, we become part of the group of eight on the ark. The eight does not increase to nine or ten but swells to contain us all. God recreates us in this saving flood of baptism. We enter the new creation in Christ.
Dominick Santore
Dominick Santore
08/27/15

Our Rescue in the Darkness

If you read my posts here or on my own site, you’ll find that most of my writings lean toward the issue of dark times or brokenness in our lives.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
08/03/15

Grace is Not Dead

Grace is uncivilized, vulgar, rebellious. We make rules for it and it breaks them. Grace is a constant embarrassment to the prim and proper religiosity of the squeaky clean.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
07/14/15

When Rumpelstiltskin Teaches Bible Class

This golden age, recorded in this genealogy, is anything but straw. It is a treasure trove of grace, faith, hope, and love.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
07/08/15

On Mount Moriah You Can See the Whole Bible

Jesus was not killed in Bethlehem as a baby, or in Galilee or Samaria as an adult. He couldn’t be, for it was necessary for him to die in Jerusalem, where Moriah is.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
07/07/15

Your Future Is Behind You

In front of us, in the past, is the hill upon which God has already defeated every foe we might face. On that bloody beam the heel of Christ crushed the head of the lying serpent.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
06/30/15

When the Pulpit Apes the World

The more law-centered a church becomes, the more it and the world become kissing cousins.
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