503 results for tag: blog

Why are Christians so Divided and Polarized? by Greg Albrecht

QUESTION: Why does it seem so many people (including and especially Christians) are divided and polarized? RESPONSE: Most churches and ministries publish a statement of beliefs – you can find ours under “About” on our home page (www.ptm.org) under the heading “We Believe.” Our statement is short, deliberately, because we believe the focus of our faith and our ministry is Jesus Christ alone, and that there are many non-essential issues (about which we believe people of faith may differ). But when an issue is made of peripheral non-essentials, those topics can end up being exalted beyond and even instead of Jesus Christ. In ...

Giving – the Heart of God by Greg Albrecht

World famous comedian Jack Benny, known for being a tightwad, once related that he had been confronted by a thief on a dark, metropolitan street. The thief gave Benny a choice, “Your money or your life!” Jack Benny didn’t respond immediately, so the thief yelled, “Didn’t you hear what I said?” Benny responded, “Sure I did. I’m thinking. I’m thinking!” Jesus told the rich man (Matthew 19:16-29) that becoming a follower of Jesus Christ involves surrendering both our money and our life. God wants all of us—not just a part of us. When Jesus told the rich man to give away all that he had, he was simply telling the man to ...

The Gathering Storm of Fundamentalism – by Greg Albrecht

It is one of the most explosive issues facing our world in the early years of this 21st century. Political and religious agendas around the world are bullied and coerced, reacting to a virus-like spiritual plague of religious fundamentalism. The Islamic fundamentalist reaction to Western imperialism and decadence is said to be a counter-attack on the "great Satan's" of our culture (materialism, immorality, secularism, humanism, science and technology), all of which are blamed for taking our world to hell in a hand-basket. Though the eyes of the world are currently focused on Islamic fundamentalism, the seeds of radical religious fundamentalism are ...

Standing With the Great or Sitting With the Broken – Stuart Segall

When I was a young man, I craved (for my own ego and self-acceptance) to stand or sit among the "great." Oh my, whether it was church, college, where I worked - I just hoped my lottery ticket would come through and I could sit, dine, have a beer or walk with (you name it). I just wanted to be in that sphere and hope for osmosis. You see, I was hoping I would be transformed into that greatness. Is this just me? Or is there anything in you that resonates with these statements? I realize some people are shy and would never see themselves this way. If so, no problem, but be reassured there are a lot of us out there from coast to coast, and ...

The Religious Version of the Prodigal Son – by Greg Albrecht

The Religious Version of the Prodigal Son   For other video shorts, with Greg Albrecht, Brad Jersak, Lucy Peppiatt, Brian Zahnd, Steve McVey, and others, visit CWRvideo.

The Best Father’s Day Gift – by Laura Urista

Father’s Day has always had special meaning for me. I was born on Father’s Day. At the time of my birth my dad had moved away from North Carolina to Ohio to start a new job. My mom had been advised by her doctor not to travel, so she and my four siblings remained in North Carolina, near most of my dad’s family. The day I was born, Dad’s sister, Aunt Bea, called my dad to let him know he had a new baby girl. But I was born with low birth weight, jaundice, lung trouble and I needed blood transfusions. The doctor was afraid I wouldn’t make it. That was the beginning of a special bond between me, my dad and our heavenly Father. Dad ...

The Real Love Story – by Greg Albrecht

  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.—John 3:16-17         It's been said that love is the most powerful force in the universe because it alone can conquer the human heart. But God's love does not coerce. God's love works in our lives by our consent.         Many people suffer with a warped and twisted view of God's love. They have a perverted idea of God's love ...

Man the Conqueror by Stuart Segall

It is said “God without man is God. Man without God is…nothing”  That is true, but for me, man without God is a world history of problems. Aaah, man! Yes, the natural, ungoverned man loves his power.  In the business world he shoots for the top, and then……goes after it. Man, the hunter often loves the thrill of the conquest. Then there is government.  The guy who wants to be the Mayor, Governor, congressman, senator, all the way up to the president of the United States. Man on his own wants to dominate and lead.  His intentions are sometimes good in these pursuits, but do you think they last long once the ...

Fools, Foolishness and Grace – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter From June 2015: The left side of his body appeared to be paralyzed, so that his thin left arm dangled, looking as if it had atrophied. The right side of his body, with the aid of a cane held firmly by his muscular right arm, dragged his inert left side after it. He didn’t walk – he shuffled. Karen and I had just entered our local grocery store, and as we started down one of the aisles the crippled, grizzled man was ahead of us, hobbling along, in the company of a bigger and stronger companion.  As we stopped to select items to place in our cart, we heard him bellowing at his much larger friend and at other ...

He Wants You: Dead and Alive – by Greg Albrecht

      What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done ...

“Dark Nights Will End—The SON Will Rise” – Sermon by Greg Albrecht – Excerpt from Spiritual Soup Vol. 3

  1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—   2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.   3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder   4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across ...

Everything Happens for a Reason? – by Brad Jersak

Everything happens for a reason. But sometimes, that reason is you’re stupid and you make bad decisions.—Demotivational Meme Thought Experiment Response: “It was meant to be. Everything happens for a reason.”Thought experiment: Describe the scenario that led to the response. In our hypothetical scenario, something bad happened. Maybe not truly tragic—but somewhere in the flat tire to romantic break-up spectrum. Or if you’re gutsy, you could go as severe as bankruptcy. Or as irrelevant as a traffic jam. “It was meant to be.” A kind word of consolation. “Everything happens for a reason.” An appeal to a bigger ...

What’s So Bad About Religion? – by Greg Albrecht

      Some of our readers and listeners can't bring themselves to believe that religion is as bad as we say it is. They say things like, "you spend too much time talking about the negative things and too little about the good things." One person said, "What's so bad about religion? If you had more grace you wouldn't harp on religion so much."       If you have ever visited a prison, you walk away realizing it's a horrible thing to be incarcerated. When you are locked up, you are a slave, you have no freedom. If you know anything about institutionalized incarceration you will also know that inmates ...

Freely Have You Received, Freely Give – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from June 2022: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took me in, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these my brothers ...

What is the Gospel? – Part 2 – by Greg Albrecht

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?   We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.   If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves ...

“Without the Shedding of Blood” – Brad Jersak

“Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Heb 9:22). The prosecution rests, your honor.A blood sacrifice is required or there is no forgiveness.That should end the discussion. Well it shouldn’t. But it did … for me. See, God can’t just forgive freely … that wouldn’t be ‘just.’ Sin must be paid for. How? Only by the shedding of blood. Because why? Because a blood sacrifice is what God requires, what God needs, what God wants … and by blood, we mean death. Death of the sinner, or alternatively, a ram, lamb, bull … or a Son. And so we taught, “Sin cannot simply be forgiven. ...

Q&R: God in the Old Testament

Question I have one quick theological question (but it may not be a quick answer!). I am trying to read about God in the Old Testament through Jesus revelation that God is nonviolent and non-vengeful. What is your opinion on the destruction of the prophets of Baal by Elijah? Is that just an accommodation of God to man’s expectation? Response I would suggest starting with my book, A More Christlike Word. I don't address Elijah's massacre of the prophets of Baal in the book, mainly because it's not one of the most difficult stories to deal with. I say that because, in that particular story, there is no indication at all that God ...

What is the Gospel? – Part 1 – by Greg Albrecht

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written, "The righteous will live by faith."—Romans 1:16-17 Paul 1) categorically states that he is not ashamed of the gospel, 2) defines the gospel as the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, and 3) asserts that the gospel inherently includes a righteousness from God—a righteousness by faith—precluding any sort of righteousness which may come, or seem to ...

Fabric of Our Life – Stuart Segall

Isn’t this amazing…. I was captivated when I saw this. It was like a sunset, a landscape, a wondrous seascape. Yet, when I imagine what this dress is made of and the work that went into it, I understand the heart, soul, and emotions involved in the final touch of the artist/tailor/seamstress that finished it. When you weave different fabrics together like silk or satin you get an amazing fabric. They are not durable and must be handled with care, but when that is done, you get a look of beauty and richness that is second to none. It is all about what the weaver and the tailor choose to create. As a boy, I worked in a tailor’s shop ...

A Renewal of Compassion – by Ed Dunn

The times in which we live have been, in a word, tough. The last two years have seen radical changes in our health, both mentally and physically, our nation, politically, racially and economically, and our world, as we try to move around it. It’s been easy of late to take up a position on any number of topics, to stop listening altogether to different points of view, and to see large groups of people as “other.” I know I’ve felt a strong pull towards this polarization, and the harmful attitudes that come along with it. I take public transportation to every destination I can’t get to on foot. Given my eyesight condition, I gave up my ...