513 results for tag: blog
“Be Perfect”? A Fragile Faithfulness, Fraught & Freighted Brad Jersak
Question:
In light of Christ’s revelation of God’s saving grace, how are we to understand his statement, “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect”? (Matthew 5:48)
Response:
Imagine trying to be the perfect human! Imagine striving to be perfect like Jesus was perfect! Imagine trying to be as perfect as God himself! If we were to take Jesus literally there, we’d either be deluded in our perfectionism or exhausted all the time. It’s just not possible and even seems completely pointless.
Religious or moral perfectionism makes for a fragile faithfulness … fraught with peril and freighted with crushing ...
Christ or Crake? Mortality is the Fear of Death – Brad Jersak
In Oryx and Crake, the first novel of Margaret Atwood's dystopic Maddaddam trilogy, a character nicknamed Crake argues that mortality is not merely death, but also the anxiety-inducing and violence-producing foreknowledge and fear of death. Crake's solution to mortality is profoundly catastrophic, but his diagnosis is in some ways, spot on.
Two great thinkers who've shed important light on the phenomenon of "death-anxiety" are Ernest Becker, in his 1973 work, The Denial of Death, and more recently, Richard Beck in The Slavery of Death. Both writers think about the ways we live in denial of death and how this creates deep-seated neurotic ...
Inter-faith Dialogue with Christian Atheists – Brad Jersak
In October, 2019, Paul Young and I were fielding a Q&R time at the Grand Embrace retreat in Aldergrove, Canada. It was the first time I've been asked for a response to "Jesus-following Atheists" (aka "Christian atheists"). The question was raised by another dear friend, musician Kevin Boese. He's a huge fan of the Canadian rock band, RUSH, and an avid listener of the Liturgists Podcast, which might be where Kevin first became familiar with this idea of Christian Atheists. I did my best to respond in the moment, but left unsatisfied. I feel that to engage them, I'd want to assume far less about what they believe and practice, and I'd like to ask ...
The Finished Work (before, during & after the Cross) – Brad Jersak
INTRO – “The Finished Work”
“The finished work” has become a popular catch-phrase among those who faithfully teach God’s unconditional grace. This reassuring phrase comes to us from Christ’s dying declaration of divine love’s great victory. “It is finished!” he cries with his final breath (John 19:30).
Although Christ’s last words were likely spoken in Aramaic or Hebrew, the Greek word John the Beloved uses to translate Jesus’ words in his eyewitness account is tetelestai (from teleo, the verb form of the noun telos). This bit of linguistic trivia matters because to John, Jesus was saying something far more than “it’s ...
Of Heretics, Kings and Foxes – Brad Jersak
The [heretics] act just like someone who finds a beautiful image of a king that has been constructed by a skillful artist out of precious jewels, and then breaks down this statue of the king into pieces and rearranges the gems into the form of a dog or a fox, and even then, does a poor job of it. And then they maintain and declare that this was the beautiful image of the king which the skillful artist had constructed. They point to the jewels that had been beautifully assembled by the original artist in the image of the king, but have now tragically transposed the king into the shape of a dog. And exhibiting the jewels, they deceive the ignorant who ...
Christian Polytheism – Brad Jersak
This article is an excerpt from A More Christlike Way (CWR press, 2019).
It was risky business for early Christians to hold up Christ as the image of the one true God. Their gospel confession demanded a rejection of Rome’s pantheon of pagan gods and the emperors’ demand for worship. And that meant persecution. But at least the choice was straightforward: Jesus is Lord and Jupiter is not. Jesus is Lord and Diana is not. Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not.
But today, how are we to navigate the problem of polytheism (the belief in many gods) within Christianity? Let’s say there’s still a militaristic god of war, a patriotic god of ...
Struggling with Moral Superiority – Brad Jersak
SELF-REFLECTION: Have you ever been tempted to think yourself morally superior in any way?
I feel morally superior to people who come off as morally superior. This is a big problem. I'm like a third party in the parable of the Publican and the Tax Collector praying in the Temple, and I'm saying, "Thank God I'm not like the Pharisee!" thus becoming one myself.
So ironic and similar to actor Michael Cain's line from one of the Austin Powers movies: There are two types of people I can't stand: "Those who are intolerant of other cultures ... and the Dutch."
Just as I'm becoming less intolerant of my Evangelical backstory (less shame at ...
When did the ‘Finished Work’ start? Brad Jersak
"It is finished!"
One of the beautiful catchphrases in the Christian tradition is "the finished work of Christ." We typically associated the phrase with Christ's decisive declaration from the Cross, "It is finished!" In this post, I'd like to ask what is finished and when it started.
The words, "It is finished," in Gospel context are found only in John 19:30. The full verse says, "When Jesus had received the drink, Jesus said, 'It is finished.' With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."
What was finished?
First, the word we usually translate "finished" (Τετέλεσται) is rich in meaning. It could be accurately ...
Why Ask? Why pray for gifts God has already given? Brad Jersak
“Forgive us our trespasses…”
“Lord, have mercy.”
“Come, Holy Spirit.”
The prayers of God’s people are replete with requests for that which God has already graciously and abundantly provided. So why bother? Is praying for the gifts God has already given an act of unbelief, a confusion of theology or an offense to God? Some seem to think so and in a sense, may be right. But both the question and answer are important and far more nuanced than an either/or knee-jerk reaction. What are the perils and what is the point of asking for what we’ve already been given?
THE PERILS
Two obvious perils accompany requests for ...
See How He Loves You – Greg Albrecht
There's a great story about a little boy who was trying to learn the Lord's Prayer. One night he was kneeling down by his bed, and he prayed: "Our Father who are in heaven, how do you know my name?"
St. Augustine, revered as one of the great theologians of the Christian faith, once said that Jesus loves each of us as if there was no one else to love.
Time after time we read in the four Gospels about people Jesus met who felt and experienced his radically personalized, individual affection—no one they had ever known had talked to them, treated them and spent time with them the way Jesus did.
The eyes out of which Jesus saw and ...
Grace Alone – Greg Albrecht
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who ...
“Back-to-Church Sunday” – Greg Albrecht
by Greg Albrecht
Many of the letters I receive are like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates—"you never know what you're gonna get." Recently I received a clever promotional message urging PTM and CWR to participate in "Back-to-Church Sunday."
The letter explained that Back-to-Church Sunday is a great way to get the "unchurched" and the "de-churched" back to church. The coalition responsible for the letter explained that Back-to-Church Sunday is held annually in early to mid September, taking advantage of the time when students are going "back to school." The message implored me to help this new initiative, because, as the message claimed, people's ...
Is the Lord Among Us? Ken Tanner
As Christians, we do not live in denial about the downsides of existence. We do not deny the presence of evil as pestilence, or of evil as a lack of what is good and sustaining for us as creatures, nor do we ever imagine that these depravations are needed by God to bring about the good in us or in creation (please do not listen to teachers who who say such things).
So while squarely facing the realties (with the spectrum of emotions different people feel in troubling times, none of them sinful), we once again hear the first words of the Christian story: Do not be afraid! From within the maelstrom, we trust that the saving hand of God remains with us, ...
The Crucified Jesus – Richard Rohr
They will look upon him whom they have pierced. —John 19:37
Those who “gaze upon” the Crucified long enough—with contemplative eyes—are always deeply healed of pain, unforgiveness, violence, and victimhood. It demands no theological education, just an “inner exchange” by receiving the image within and offering one’s soul back in safe return. It is no surprise that a naked man nailed to a cross is such a deep, archetypal symbol in the Western psyche. It was meant to transform all earthly suffering.
The crucified Jesus offers, at a largely unconscious level, a very compassionate meaning to history. The mystery of the ...
Dream On With Jesus by Greg Albrecht
I Have a Dream—given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963—is one of the most well known, most studied and most quoted speeches in the history of our nation. In that historic speech Dr. King used the phrase “I have a dream” eight different times as he called for freedom and justice for all people.
Daring to dream can be dangerous—particularly when your dream does not march in lock step with the political and religious establishment.
They killed Martin Luther King Jr. because he dared to dream, but they didn’t kill his dream.
Throughout history dreamers who ...
Christmas Presents, Christmas Presence – Irene Frances
CHRISTMAS IS HERE and once again the festivities of this joyous time have begun.
As I thought about Christmas I was reminded of one of my ‘must have’ presents from 2016. I wanted a book on blogging, something that would not only inspire me but would help me create the most amazing blogs ever. Well, 12 months on and this year, so far, I’ve written about three posts; I’m not much further advanced now with my blog than I was back then. Other priorities took over, in other words—Life got in the way. But then my 2016 present is reusable and will do wonders throughout 2018!
A lot of thought goes into our Christmas presents, what to give the ...
Burned out on religion? Irene Frances
MANY YEARS AGO I came across a print of Jesus, a painting by Twentieth Century artist, Richard Hook. What captured my attention was how the eyes of Jesus followed me around the room, gazing upon me regardless of where I sat. I saw in that image the love of God, the gentleness of Jesus and his invitation for us to “Come, follow me.”
Somebody once told me my faith in God is too simplistic, that there is more to him than simply accepting Jesus as Saviour and seeking to live for him. In a sense that is very true, but in another way it is not.
I am deeply concerned at how the Church makes it so difficult for the average person to understand ...
To be like Jesus – Irene Frances
One of the attributes that attracted me to Jesus was his love of people on the edge of society, those who others regarded as untouchable and unlovable. He willingly reached out and touched the leper, the woman who had been haemorrhaging for years and who was considered unclean by Jewish law, the lame, the blind and those possessed by evil spirits. He embraced everyone in their uniqueness, regardless of their situation, with compassion, kindness and care.
Many years ago when my life disintegrated into utter chaos, I believed myself to be something akin to a leper. So great was the devastation of my soul that I regarded myself as nothing but ...
In His Steps – Irene Frances
AS I HAVE continued to mull over what authentic Christian living means, my thoughts turned to the words of the apostle Peter:
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21, New International Version).
Those words reminded me of the Christian classic, In His Steps, written by Charles Sheldon in the late nineteenth century. In it he relates the story of Reverend Henry Maxwell who challenges his upper middle class congregants to live as Jesus would live, asking themselves before they did anything, “What would Jesus ...
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