Ash Wednesday's purpose is not to motivate our resolve to redouble our efforts to do better.

Rightly distinguishing between law and gospel, as Paul helps us see in 2 Corinthians 3, is, quite literally, a matter of life and death.

The gospel's message is the scandalous announcement that Yahweh has stooped to our frame, to where we are.

Maybe, just maybe, our goal for 2023 should not be to live more but to die more.

In Memory of My Friend, James Arne Nestingen

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

Carson Wayne Bird, father of Chad Bird, died on October 31. He was eighty-one years old. At a small, family gathering on November 4, Chad spoke these words to his mom, sister, and the other family members of Carson, who gathered to mourn and remember this beloved child of God.

Jesus remakes us, rebuilds us, and resurrects us so the demons that hide in the cracks cannot get ahold of us, the devil cannot break us, and hell will never know us.

There is no true “self” apart from God. Anything so surmised is caught up in the meaninglessness that is death.

If you are going to lose your life for the gospel’s sake, you must begin by hearing it.

There is only one antidote to the venom of sin and death: the Savior who becomes the serpent so that every snake-bitten-sinner might live.

At its heart, this is what Deacon King Kong is all about: the paradox of Jesus carving his victory out of the last thing we expect, not our triumphs but our defeats.