Let the Bird Fly!

Wade and Mike continue their Wingin' It series on the life of Martin Luther with a look at his childhood. They explore the question “What was it like to be a kid from Mansfeld”. Wade makes the case that Luther, the Mansfeld kid, was a true Detroiter at heart. Listen in as they paint a picture of Luther’s upbringing in a religious, strict, but loving home in the mining town of Mansfeld in which the poor peasant and proto-capitalist walk down the same streets and sit next to each other in the same pews. 

Here's a bit of a starting bibliography on the Life of Martin Luther:

Martin Luther: A Life by James Nestingen

Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and His Career by James Kittelson

A Short Life of Martin Luther by Thomas Kaufmann

Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet by Lyndal Roper

Luther: Visionary Reformer by Scott Hendrix

Here I Stand: The Life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton

Luther: Man between God and the Devil by Heiko Oberman

Brand Luther by Andrew Pettegree

Let the Bird Fly! is supported by the 1517 Podcast Network, which is part of 1517.org. The 2018 calendar year has been one of tremendous growth for 1517 and plans for 2019 and beyond are well underway. In order to continue to grow and spread the message of that the death of Christ saves, 1517 has set a goal of raising $250,000 by December 31st. If you are able to help support all the great content being produced by 1517, please consider doing so with a regular monthly donation, or a one time donate. You can find more about 1517 on their website and you can DONATE RIGHT HERE. Thank you for your support!

And as always,

This Wingin' It is the first in a new series Wade and Mike are doing on the life of Martin Luther. Before getting into Luther’s family, birth, and childhood (that’s the next episode), they discuss why we should take an historical look at Luther. The great reformer didn’t just impact the church, but the whole world, perhaps in ways we don’t always realize. The guys will each reread some Luther biographies for each episode to gain a diverse perspective on Wittenberg’s most famous professor, fully aware that historical books often tell us as much about the author and his or her time as the subject itself. But this will be helpful, too, as they bring the historical lessons of Luther to our contemporary situation.

So with that in mind, here's a bit of a starting bibliography on the Life of Martin Luther:

Martin Luther: A Life by James Nestingen

Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and His Career by James Kittelson

A Short Life of Martin Luther by Thomas Kaufmann

Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet by Lyndal Roper

Luther: Visionary Reformer by Scott Hendrix

Here I Stand: The Life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton

Luther: Man between God and the Devil by Heiko Oberman

Brand Luther by Andrew Pettegree

Let the Bird Fly! is supported by the 1517 Podcast Network, which is part of 1517.org. The 2018 calendar year has been one of tremendous growth for

* 00:00 - Introduction

* 07:18 - Scripture Narrative (We apologize for Wade)

* 08:42 - Free-for-All (Life without Books or Computers?)

* 21:09 - Main Topic (Law and Gospel - Another Pass)

On episode EIGHTY-ONE of Let the Bird Fly! the guys welcome Rev. Kent Schaaf, who is currently serving at Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, to discuss those two chief teachings of Scripture: Law and Gospel. If you're a longtime listener you'll remember we discuss Law and Gospel way back on Episode 11, and of course it's a topic that we've touched on many times through the past year and a half. We are grateful to Rev. Schaaf for joining us to continue the discussion. Wade and Mike frame the conversation around August Piepers writing on the Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, which can be found in the second volume of The Wauwatosa Theology. Before getting to the Main Topic, Wade realizes that he's not Mormon, and the guys discuss life without either books or computers (spoiler: Peter's the only sane one in the room). A great big Thank You! , once again, to Pastor Schaaf for taking some time to join us. 

Let the Bird Fly! is supported by the 1517 Podcast Network, which is part of 1517.org. The 2018 calendar year has been one of tremendous growth for 1517 and plans for 2019 and beyond are well underway. In order to continue to grow and spread the message of that the death of Christ saves, 1517 has set a goal of raising $250,000 by December 31st. If you are able to help support all the great content being produced by 1517, please consider doing so with a regular monthly donation, or a one time donate. You can find more about 1517 on their website and you can DONATE RIGHT HERE. Thank you for your support!

And as always, if you are enjoying the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. You can also follow our Telegram Channel, where we post our new episodes as well as other content that we think you ...

This is the twelfth and final Wingin' It in our series on Church History, in which Wade and Mike are using Mark A. Noll's book Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity as the spring-board for their discussion. Their intention has been to use his structure as a rough guide for their conversations; so if you're looking for a book study guide, you'll need to keep looking. But it turned out to be a good excuse for Wade and Mike to record some conversations about a number of topics they enjoy; so if you're looking for something like that, you're in the right place. 

This episode serves as a rounding out of the series (while leaving some loose ends for future episodes or Wingin' It series). If you haven't listened to the rest of the series, you can find them all right here. But even if you haven't, you shouldn't have any trouble following along with the conversation (well, no more trouble than is normal when listening to the guys verbal meanderings masquerading as a podcast). If you've enjoyed this series, don't forget to share!

Let the Bird Fly! is supported by the 1517 Podcast Network, which is part of 1517.org. The 2018 calendar year has been one of tremendous growth for 1517 and plans for 2019 and beyond are well underway. In order to continue to grow and spread the message of that the death of Christ saves, 1517 has set a goal of raising $250,000 by December 31st. If you are able to help support all the great content being produced by 1517, please consider doing so with a regular monthly donation, or a one time donate. You can find more about 1517 on their website and you can DONATE RIGHT HERE. Thank you for your support!

And as always, if you are enjoying the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. You can also follow our

* 00:00 - Introduction

* 05:44 - Free-for-All (Christmas wishes and regrets)

* 21:19 - Main Topic (Advent Revisited)

On episode EIGHTY of Let the Bird Fly! Mike and Wade join forces with Pastors Brian Doebler and John Bortulin to discuss the season of Advent. You may be thinking "Hey, didn't you already do an episode on the season of Advent," and you'd be right. But we like the season so much, we're doing it again...so deal with it. This time around, the guys talk about the history of the season, what its focus is, preaching through it, and all sorts of other stuff associated with Christ coming to us. The Berg girls make an appearance in the Free-for-All to discuss what they're asking for Christmas and some of their favorite presents from years past. Wade adds a lesson learned from his own childhood as well (we're glad he got his presents back, but can understand his parents getting tired of his antics—we know the feeling!). Thanks again to Brian and John for joining us. We hope you have a blessed Advent!

Let the Bird Fly! is supported by the 1517 Podcast Network, which is part of 1517.org. The 2018 calendar year has been one of tremendous growth for 1517 and plans for 2019 and beyond are well underway. In order to continue to grow and spread the message of that the death of Christ saves, 1517 has set a goal of raising $250,000 by December 31st. If you are able to help support all the great content being produced by 1517, please consider doing so with a regular monthly donation, or a one time donate. You can find more about 1517 on their website and you can DONATE RIGHT HERE. Thank you for your support!

And as always, if you are enjoying the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. You can also follow our Telegram Channel, where we post our new episodes as well as other content that we think you might enjoy. And, of course, share us with a friend or two!

If you’d like to contact us we can be reached at

This is the eleventh Wingin' It in our series on Church History, in which Wade and Mike are using Mark A. Noll's book Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity as the spring-board for their discussion. Their intention is to use his structure as a rough guide for their conversations; so if you're looking for a book study guide, you'll need to keep looking. If you're looking to hear Mike and Wade find another excuse to record a conversation about things they enjoy, though, you're in the right place. 

This episode departs a bit from Noll's outline, taking a few of the topics after the tenth chapter of Noll's book, and combining them into a discussion of the Enlightenment. We hope you'll enjoy this  Wingin' It series. (And if you do, don't forget to share!)

Let the Bird Fly! is supported by the 1517 Podcast Network, which is part of 1517.org. The 2018 calendar year has been one of tremendous growth for 1517 and plans for 2019 and beyond are well underway. In order to continue to grow and spread the message of that the death of Christ saves, 1517 has set a goal of raising $250,000 by December 31st. If you are able to help support all the great content being produced by 1517, please consider doing so with a regular monthly donation, or a one time donate. You can find more about 1517 on their website and you can DONATE RIGHT HERE. Thank you for your support!

And as always, if you are enjoying the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. You can also follow our Telegram Channel, where we post our new episodes as well as other content that we think you might enjoy. And,

In this Bird's Eye View, Wade, Mike, Ben, and Dr. Mark Braun talk at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary about the podcast. They hit on how it began, some of its key themes, the guys' interests, the show's format, and all sorts of other related (and unrelated) stuff. It was a blast and we thank the students for having us up. If you haven't yet, check out the Episode 78 we recorded with a few students after the talk and question and answer session with the students.

Let the Bird Fly! is supported by the 1517 Podcast Network, which is part of 1517.org. The 2018 calendar year has been one of tremendous growth for 1517 and plans for 2019 and beyond are well underway. In order to continue to grow and spread the message of that the death of Christ saves, 1517 has set a goal of raising $250,000 by December 31st. If you are able to help support all the great content being produced by 1517, please consider doing so with a regular monthly donation, or a one time donate. You can find more about 1517 on their website and you can DONATE RIGHT HERE. Thank you for your support!

And as always, if you are enjoying the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. You can also follow our Telegram Channel, where we post our new episodes as well as other content that we think you might enjoy. And, of course, share us with a friend or two!

If you’d like to contact us we can be reached at [email protected], or visit our website at www.LetTheBirdFly.com.

Thanks for listening!

Attributions for Music used in this Episode:

“The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an

* 00:00 - Introduction

* 07:36 - Free-for-All (Back to School with the Johnston Kids)

* 20:20 - Main Topic (Legalism Among Us)

On episode SEVENTY-NINE of Let the Bird Fly! Mike and Wade hang in Wade’s backyard (this was record back when it was warm in Milwaukee still—too long ago!) to discuss an essay by J.P. Koehler, “Legalism Among Us.” Before getting to the discussion of the essay, Wade and Mike try to keep some of the Johnston kids focused for a  free-for-all discussion about going back to school (they are now well into the grind, but it was fresh then).

Let the Bird Fly! is supported by the 1517 Podcast Network, which is part of 1517.org. The 2018 calendar year has been one of tremendous growth for 1517 and plans for 2019 and beyond are well underway. In order to continue to grow and spread the message of that the death of Christ saves, 1517 has set a goal of raising $250,000 by December 31st. If you are able to help support all the great content being produced by 1517, please consider doing so with a regular monthly donation, or a one time donate. You can find more about 1517 on their website and you can DONATE RIGHT HERE. Thank you for your support!

And as always, if you are enjoying the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. You can also follow our Telegram Channel, where we post our new episodes as well as other content that we think you might enjoy. And, of course, share us with a friend or two!

If you’d like to contact us we can be reached at [email protected], or visit our website at www.LetTheBirdFly.com.

Thanks for listening!

Attributions for Music used in this Episode:

“The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.

“Gib laut” by Dirk Becker is licensed under...

* 00:00 - Introduction

* 08:14 - Free-for-All (Favorite Ethnic Foods)

* 28:08 - Main Topic (On Being a Seminarian)

On episode SEVENTY-EIGHT of Let the Bird Fly! the guys sit down with seminarians Adam Lambrecht, Chris Pflughoeft, and Tony Pflughoeft to discuss life as a seminarian. Wade was invited to speak to a student group at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and since Ben and Mike tagged along they decided to record an episode. (We hope to post Wade's talk as a Bird's Eye View soon, so keep an eye out for that.) Before getting to the discussion of what it means to be a seminarian, the guys force their guests to subject themselves to a  free-for-all discussion of favorite "ethnic food" (whatever that's supposed to mean). After getting past food the guys are able to have a great conversation with their guest about life as a seminarian.

Let the Bird Fly! is supported by the 1517 Podcast Network, which is part of 1517.org. The 2018 calendar year has been one of tremendous growth for 1517 and plans for 2019 and beyond are well underway. In order to continue to grow and spread the message of that the death of Christ saves, 1517 has set a goal of raising $250,000 by December 31st. If you are able to help support all the great content being produced by 1517, please consider doing so with a regular monthly donation, or a one time donate. You can find more about 1517 on their website and you can DONATE RIGHT HERE. Thank you for your support!

And as always, if you are enjoying the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. You can also follow our Telegram Channel, where we post our new episodes as well as other content that we think you might enjoy. And, of course, share us with a friend or two!

If you’d like to contact us we can be reached at [email protected], or visit our website at www.LetTheBirdFly.com.

Thanks for listening!

Attributions for Music used in this Episode:

* 00:00 - Introduction

* 03:55 - Free-for-All (Attending the Here We Still Stand Conference)

* 19:20 - Main Topic (Bo Giertz's Commentary on Romans)

On episode SEVENTY-SEVEN of Let the Bird Fly! Wade and Peter sit down with Rev. Bror Erickson at the 2018 He We Still Stand conference put on by 1517.org. We are excited to welcome Rev. Erickson back to the show to discuss another of his translations of Bo Giertz's work: Romans: A Devotional Commentary.

We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to sit down with Rev. Erickson during some down-time at the conference, and grateful he was willing to join us once again. We have previously discussed Bo Giertz with Bror on Episode 50 and Episode 51, and Bror also joined us on Episode 75 to discuss Herman Sasse. We hope you'll enjoy this third installment of Giertz as much as we did.

If you're interested in books translated or edited by Bror, here's a list of a few of them:

Bo Giertz

Romans: A Devotional Commentary

Then Fell the Lord’s Fire

The Knights of Rhodes

With My Own Eyes

To Live with Christ: Devotions by Bo Giertz translated by Richard Wood with Bror Erickson

* Hermann Sasse

Then Fell the Lord’s Fire

* Witness

The Journal Articles of Hermann Sasse edited by Matthew C. Harrison and Bror Erickson

The 1517 Podcast Network has a new series called The Soul of Christianity, that you should check out. It's a 12 part series on the Apostle's Creed, which is hosted by Debi Winrich and Dan van Voorhis. And while you're at it, make sure to check out all the great podcast in the