CWR Blog
Christianity Without The Religion BLOG hosted by Brad Jersak.
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
December 26, 2024 - Quote for the Day:
“If Jesus had come as a health-and-wealth preacher, then people would have followed him, hoping to improve their physical status in life. He wouldn’t have been despised and rejected – he would have been celebrated.
If Jesus had come predicting the end time, holding huge prophecy crusades, writing a string of best-selling ‘left-behind’ novels, then he would have sold out amphitheaters and stadiums. He wouldn’t have been despised and rejected – he would have been a best-selling author and speaker.
If Jesus ...
More Than Conquerors
Jesus threatened the religion of the Pharisees by healing a man who had been born blind. The man who Jesus healed ran into the buzz-saw of religion, complete with inquisition. Jesus was teaching us that we're more than conquerors through him -- not through religion.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0248.mp3
He’s All In – Greg Albrecht
The word story painted in the first chapter of the book of Job speaks of Satan showing up at God’s house for a visit. Details are not provided, but we get the idea that Lucifer did not bring flowers.
It didn’t take long before the Prince of Darkness started to condemn Job, one of God’s servants. Reading this story the other day, I was thinking of another way we might imagine the Evil One visiting our heavenly Father—but this visit wound up on the cutting room floor when the final version of the Bible was edited.
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Merry Christ-Centered Christmas
It’s possible to have the experience of Christmas, without coming to know its spiritual implications and significance. Join us for Christmas as we ponder a Christ-centered Christmas.
January 2025
CLICK HERE to read now
(PDF Format)
Articles:
God's Master Stroke for the New Year – pg. 1
It's All on Rails – pg. 2
Sunsets and Seasons of Life – pg. 5
"Rise Up and Walk!" – pg. 6
Mercy Drops – pg. 7
Quotes & Connections – pg. 8
Advent Hope – Beyond Wishful Thinking – Brad Jersak
In modern culture, the word hope is normally used as a subjective, psychological state of feeling hopeful—and measured on a scale from hopelessness to confidence. It can be used as an adjective for optimism or, more negatively, wishful thinking. Today, “I hope so” can even be a euphemism for “I doubt it.”
To a great degree, that inner sense of hope that good things are coming is crucial to our mental and spiritual health. On the other hand, we know from hard experience that attaching ourselves to outcomes is also ...
The First Noel – Michael North
From CWR/PTM - Enjoy this Christmas song by Michael North.
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
December 24, 2024 - Quote for the Day:
“… when Jesus was born, he was born far from the doors of any cathedral or temple made with human hands – far from any mega-church campus. The place where Jesus was born had more in common with places today where homeless people fill shopping carts with redeemable containers and poor day laborers wait for someone to hire them… When Mary gave birth, she gave birth to Jesus in a barnyard, and laid him in a feeding trough designed to feed animals. This scene was not a beautiful hospital birthing room – Jesus was not ...
The Light Enters Our Darkness
Join us as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, as we give thanks for who Jesus is and how he, the Light of the world, is with us now and forever!
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR410.mp3
“Turn the Other Cheek” – a Response to Brad Jersak by Grant Corriveau
Hi Brad,
I just read your article “Turn the Other Cheek.” When I first read Wink's analysis of these commands ("turn the other cheek," etc..), I realized he was speculating and I also wondered about the implied, all-too-human struggle therein to remain “in control.” I could see that his explanation was about how to ’triumph’ within the situation on some level and that this attitude was not actually Christlike or 'cruciform.’ You’ve clarified all this wonderfully. Thanks.
Wink's concepts around attempting to beat the oppressor at his own game ...
He Set Aside the Privileges of Deity
The birth of Jesus cannot fully be appreciated or experienced apart from the immense mystery of what God in the person of Jesus did in what is often called, in theological terms, the incarnation.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR462.mp3
I Am Alive For Ever and Ever – by Greg Albrecht
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I Am Alive for Ever and Ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."—Revelation 1:17-18
You know, almost every time that God came to someone in the Bible to tell them he wanted them to fulfill a certain responsibility, he received a similar response. Moses said he wasn't fit for the job because he had a speech impediment. Jonah of course ran away in the opposite direction. ...
Great Gifts in Small Packages – by Laura Urista
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).
Two Christmases ago, after exchanging all the other presents, our daughter gave my husband Juan and me a small beautifully wrapped package. She had saved it and asked us to open it last. At first, we were a little confused, because the contents looked like a positive Covid test, but I suddenly realized it was a positive pregnancy test. The tears started flowing as I understood that we were going to have a new addition ...
Join Us For Our Sunday Sermon
"Love Came Down - Still Does - Always Will"
Join us for our Sunday Sermon:
The Christmas story is not complete without an emphasis on its foundational focal point - God in Christ came down to us with his love - his love still comes and his love always will! Join us for our Christmas service.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/CWR567.mp3
Link to Christianity Without the Religion - Sunday
We hope that our articles and resources bring comfort, hope, encouragement, and healing to our readers. If you’re experiencing that, please subscribe freely, ...
“Turn the Other Cheek” – Brad Jersak
“To turn the other cheek is to turn our faces from past pain and toward the face of Christ.”
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
December 21, 2024 - Quote for the Day:
“I AM One of You” is the Christmas card God sends to each of us! When God, through an angel, informed Joseph that Mary would give birth to Jesus, he said: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they shall call him Immanuel, which means God with us (Matthew 1:23). God assures us, in his Christmas card, ‘How can I ever forget you? In Christ I became one of you!”
Christianity Without the Religion magazine, December 2021
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Help Us Help ...
The Vulnerable Love of God
Our tired, sin-sick old world needs far more than another message of condemnation - thus on this Christmas, as Christ followers we choose to light a candle rather than curse the darkness.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR514.mp3
CWR Video – Agape Means Respect
In this CWR video, Brad and Laura explore how the Greek word for love, Agape, also means a keen value or worth of the other, or in a word, respect.
https://vimeo.com/1038672199
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God Comes Near – by Greg Albrecht
Imagine, for a moment, that you are part of a team building a skyscraper. Your team building this "high rise" would need, of course, a great deal of expertise to ensure that a sound foundation would be laid. Considerable expense and work is involved in preparing the foundation of any edifice that eventually soars majestically, hundreds of feet into the air.
Skyscrapers are incredibly heavy, so they must be built on much more durable foundations than smaller buildings. In virtually every case, a skyscraper requires a deep foundation, with pilings, drilled shafts and ...
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
December 19, 2024 - Quote for the Day:
“The shopping malls are filled with people whose credit cards are maxed out and whose hearts and souls are empty. Simon and Garfunkel reflected – ‘the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they made.’ In Eleanor Rigby, the Beatles sang of ‘all the lonely people’ in a religious, church setting. Loneliness characterizes the lives of those who have not yet seen or embrace the light of Jesus.
I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that of course, is the meaning of Christmas. We are ...
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