Religion tells us that we should maybe just try harder, that we should pull ourselves up by your own bootstraps.

The biggest threat to Christianity isn’t apathy, indifference or its own woefully inadequate example – nor is it from Islam, New Age thought or the myriad cults. The greatest challenge to Christianity is religion insidiously thriving under the flag of Christianity.

Christianity is in a completely different category from other religions. In fact, it is opposed to all religion – including religion appropriating the name of Jesus Christ. Religion is bad news – the polar opposite of the gospel of Jesus Christ – which is by definition, good news.

Organized religion frequently tries to solve the problems of this world, encouraging involvement in all sorts of causes and even political action, but that “religion” can become a substitute for our relationship with God – for authentic Christianity.

Religion assures us that if we do stuff – if we comply with its rituals, its formulas and its prescriptions – that we’ll be able to please and appease God. Religion supplants Jesus Christ by telling us we have to be involved with and rely upon it to “make it to heaven.”

What’s our biggest problem as Christians…is it religion? Is it legalism? Is it a lack of knowledge of the Bible? Is it too little obedience? You may be surprised.

Religion and legalism are uncomfortable with God’s grace, claiming that the grace of God encourages people to sin. But can we have too much grace — is it possible to overdose on grace?

What do true Christians say and do — what are they like? How righteous does a Christian have to be? Would you identify a real Christian mostly by what they don’t do — by actions and habits they avoid?

The Bible admonishes us to count the cost before we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, but once we’ve done that, we’re to stop counting. What do we stop counting? For one, how good we are, but listen as Greg discusses other things the Bible teaches we no longer count.

This tongue-in-cheek program suggests four things you can do to be successful in religion (as opposed to authentic Christianity). These four strategies are prominent in our religious world today. See if they don’t ring a disturbingly familiar bell with you.

Greg talks in today’s program about the visible and the invisible church. Just what are those? In this program important to every Christian, Greg talks about some of the hallmarks of a healthy church and gives some guidelines for finding one.

There is much debate about what “church” means. Many groups claim that they are “the church.” What is the perfect church and how does one become a part of it? This is a vital question for every Christian to have considered and answered.

In 1985 Ivan Boesky told UC Berkeley Business School graduates, “Greed is all right, by the way. I want you to know that greed is healthy. You can be greedy and feel good about yourself.” Don’t miss God’s perspective on greed in today’s program.

There are three ways to live your life – 1. Run away from it — drugs and religion help people do that. 2. Run along with it — the way of indulgence and selfishness. 3. Let God help you run your life.

Difficult question: What is the balance between protecting our children from evil and preparing them to navigate the world we live in? In today’s program Greg takes a hard look at this question and suggests that as parents we model God’s love for our children.

Many people find themselves in a spiritual traffic jam, lives out of control, trapped in their circumstances. Is life for you same-o, same-o every day? Have you lost your zest for living? What are you running after — what is your life about?

The Bible clearly identifies sin as a mortal enemy. But there is another enemy, a very subtle enemy, which poses as the solution for sin by promising to deliver us from it by our own efforts.

Does God’s love for us depend upon our spiritual batting average? Does our spiritual batting average determine whether we’re admitted into God’s Kingdom of Heaven? How do we become part of God’s team?

Are you passing on God’s grace? Or, have you accepted God’s grace and are you passing it on to others? Greg examines the parable of the laborers in the vineyard for its lessons about the grace of God.

Letting go of hurt, anger, pain and hatred is extremely difficult for us to do, yet Christians are called not only to forgive but to have compassion as well.

We’re talking about the ultimate way to be centered spiritually, what it means to be Christ-centered, and how this plays out in our lives — what it looks like in the flesh.

In this series on the Book of Colossians we talk today about the Apostle Paul’s warnings about heretical teachings. Those teachings continue to this day and are counter to the gospel of Jesus Christ. This program is about freedom from human regulations through life with Christ.

This is the second program of our 4 program series surveying the Book of Colossians. In it we’ll see just what the gospel is, how we’re rescued and qualified and how we can be Christ-centered.

You need to be Christ-centered. That’s a major theme of the Book of Colossians and this is the first program in a 4 program survey of the Book of Colossians.

Do Christians tend to check their brains at the door of the church? Do we avoid thinking about anything that can’t be expressed on a license plate? Are Christians brainwashed? Are we out of our minds? Be sure to catch this program as Greg urges us to think and ponder.

Do you own a Bible? Do you know where it is? When did you last see it — when did you last open it? In this program Greg offers five reasons to study the Bible.

Grace is getting something we don’t deserve, mercy is not getting something we do deserve, and when you put those two together you have great news! Grace and mercy are two sides of the coin of God’s love for us.

We love stories about criminals caught in their crimes. “He got what he deserved,” we say. As humans we cheer when justice is done. On the other hand, when we do good things we feel we deserve rewards, but are we sure that we want what we deserve?

Is God a slave driver — a never-satisfied, cranky old man who can’t wait to beat up on us when we make a mistake? And are you like many people who live fearing and trying to appease God in order to make him happy?

When we appear before the judgment seat of God and he asks us why he should let us into his kingdom of heaven, what can we say? Do we cringe in fear, knowing our imperfections, or is there a basis for confidence before God?

If someone doesn’t want to be a Christian, that’s their choice. But many non-Christians — thinking to be logical and rational — base their choice not to be a Christian on one or the other of two really bad reasons.

Dr. Albert Schweitzer performed surgeries when he was 89. Grandma Moses did well over 300 paintings after she was 100. The experience of aging is not the same for everyone, but we all get older, and our gap with death narrows.

Forgiveness is one of the most important issues we can ever deal with as we understand the gospel of grace, the gospel of Jesus Christ. This second program on forgiveness explores what forgiveness is not.

Forgiveness is one of the most difficult things a human can ever do. Its monetary equivalent is the cancellation of a debt. Listen to this first program of a two program series exploring forgiveness. Today’s program deals with what forgiveness is all about.

Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father…” For some this is difficult because of negative experiences with their physical fathers, but God is a loving and faithful God with a positive objective in mind for us. Join Greg for today’s program as he talks about what God is doing with us.

In this 8th program of our 8 part series called Victory in Suffering, Greg will summarize the previous programs and discuss Biblical insights about gaining life through suffering.

There are two kinds of suffering: the kind you deserve and the kind you don’t. Yet undeserved suffering is very much a part of everyone’s life. Greg gives us the Biblical perspective on undeserved suffering in today’s program.

The storms of life with their suffering, pain and heartache are never pleasant — they make us afraid and they cause us a great deal of worry. In today’s program hear what we can learn about suffering from the story of the disciples on the stormy sea.

The real life we live as humans often has some degree of suffering in it. With Jesus Christ in our lives we can have rest in that suffering.

Don’t miss this program where Greg explores how in the midst of suffering we can be God’s tools — that in Jesus we have the victory, even in suffering.