503 results for tag: blog

Religious Fanaticism – by Greg Albrecht

  Justine Gubar, a producer at ESPN (the television sports channel), researched and studied the reasons behind violent celebrations and protests by fans whose teams either win or lose a sporting event. While reading a summary of her book “Fanaticus,” I could not help but see the many parallels that exist between the rioting generated by sports fans and the death and mayhem inflicted by fans of religion on those who are on the opposing “team.”       Celebrations of victories and protests of defeats resulting in violence are often instigated by fans whose identity and purpose in life is almost entirely ...

Plant An Artistic Seed – by Ruth Tucker

We wring our hands over the education crisis. What’s the solution? Some would say more math and science teachers. Maybe. But what would happen if educators and heads of state all over the world put out a call for more music and art teachers? What if corporate America focused on beauty more than money? Imagine a world of harmony—musical harmony and relational harmony. How might such a world look to an artist? For Adonna Khare this world is filled with strange, albeit recognizable, animals who get along despite their differences. A lion licks a lollipop, a goat walks a trapeze, elephants are entwined with orangutans and fish walk upright...

God “Friended” Us! – Greg Albrecht

By Greg Albrecht: What a friend we have in Jesus! So goes that great old hymn—and its message is the gospel truth. In John 15:9-17 Jesus encourages us to remain in him and with him. In the Authorized King James Version the word used is "abide." Jesus is requesting that we stay with him. He's saying, "Don't move away. Don't wander away. Stay with me. Remain with me." Jesus is saying, "Keep your eyes and focus on me. Don't ever stop looking to me as the absolute center of your faith. Don't allow religious ceremonies and rituals to confuse you—so that you think our relationship (your friendship with me) depends on you." This passage is a part of ...

Show Your Cards, Not Your Trophies – by Ed Dunn

One of my close friends, Steve, is a successful business owner in the world of hospitality, event planning and catering. I was listening to a podcast recently in which Steve was interviewed on the topic of Winning in Business. During the interview, I was struck by something Steve said: In all areas of life, and not just in business, he said, I believe it’s better to show your cards, not your trophies. His phrase, show your cards, not your trophies, caught me by surprise and has been ringing in my ears since the podcast interview ended. The simple-yet-catchy wisdom within his words has offered me some real food for thought. So much of life ...

Who We Are in Christ – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from July 2023: In 1921, Albert Einstein presented his unproven Theory of Relativity at the Sorbonne, the prestigious French university in Paris. He said, “If my theory of relativity is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare I am a citizen of the world.  Should my theory prove untrue, France will say I am a German and Germany will declare that I am a Jew.” Who are we?  Do others “claim us” only as and when we are successful? Who and what dictates the essence of who and what we are and how others describe and recognize us? You may have heard the old joke ...

Citizens of Heaven – by Greg Albrecht

From the time I entered the mysterious world of adolescence, watching the 1960 political conventions on television, politics has always mysteriously attracted me. Politics has been one of my personal fascinations that I liken to that of the death wish of bugs on a hot summer night as they do their death dance, flirting with those electrified bug zappers.     Every time we have a presidential election I find this fatal attraction sucking me into the black hole of partisan rhetoric again. I don't mean to infer that it's wrong for a Christian to be politically involved. Some Christians believe that they should not only vote ...

Citizens of God’s Kingdom – by Greg Albrecht

Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"   But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?" "Caesar's," they ...

25 Father’s Days – by Laura Urista

This year marks the 25th Father’s Day since my dad passed away. It’s hard for me to imagine he’s been gone for a quarter-century. I’m the youngest of five children, and of all of us, I probably had the closest relationship with our dad.        Dad was a “career Navy man” entering the Navy at age 17 shortly before the United States entered World War 2. He ran a “tight ship” at home and was strict with me and my older siblings. When I was three years old, Dad joined a strict, legalistic church that dramatically impacted all of our lives. Church doctrines and culture further amplified Dad’s strict ...

A Father’s Gift – by Ed Dunn

I first remember seeing it when I was a small boy. My father kept it on the top left side of his dresser in his and mom’s bedroom. At the time, I was all of seven-years-old. I loved to wear it around the house, as often as my father would let me. I can still remember how my wrist was so small that it barely stayed clasped and in place above my hand. The item from my father’s dresser was a bright and shiny silver tennis bracelet. Dad’s tennis bracelet had a small silver plate in the middle of the chain that wrapped around his wrist. On the top-side of that plate, Dad’s name had been engraved in tiny cursive letters on its face. On the ...

Who Said Grace is Fair? – by Greg Albrecht

The inscription on John Newton’s granite tombstone in the small cemetery of the parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul in the town of Olney (population about 6,500), Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, reads:  John Newton, clerk [pastor], once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ preserved, restored, pardoned and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy.  Newton, who wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace,” once shared these thoughts about the wonders of God’s grace: “If I ever reach heaven I expect to find three wonders ...

The Kingdom of Service – by Greg Albrecht

by Greg Albrecht Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so ...

Experiencing His Peace – by Greg Albrecht

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.   For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one ...

Realities – Old and New – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from June 2023 Two friends had been drinking at their local bar most of the night, and now they were finishing their evening by watching the 11:00 news. The lead story was about a despondent man standing on the side of a bridge threatening to jump.  As viewers watched footage of the main poised to jump, the newscaster promised to get back to the story after a short commercial break.   Don, thinking that his friend Gary had not seen the 6:00 news which showed footage of the man eventually jumping off the bridge, said to Gary “I’ll bet you $20 that he is going to jump!” Gary enthusiastically replied, ...

Battle About the Bible – by Greg Albrecht

... we do not worship the Bible. We do not believe it to be infallible. We believe that God alone is infallible. No human or human product is infallible. The Bible helps us to know God as God reveals himself to us through its pages.

Just What Do You Mean – The Narrow Gate? – by Greg Albrecht

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.—Matthew 7:13-14 This passage is often preached from the perspective of how hard it is to obey God and keep his laws—how hard it is to "make the grade" to get into heaven—how relatively few souls will be counted worthy of heaven while the broad majority will end up in hell. Matthew 7:13-14 is one of those passages that is regularly preached to mean something altogether different than the meaning that God intends. In fact, ...

A Joy Not a Job – Ed Dunn

Our Plain Truth Ministries team was working its way through a full agenda at a production meeting a few days ago. With those of us in the office around a conference table, joined by Brad Jersak (who lives in British Columbia) as he connects via Zoom, we hold these production meetings once a month. We use this time to plan the content and timing of upcoming issues of our two magazines, partner letters, special letters, upcoming podcasts and videos, website blogs, books to be published, as well as any number of events on our PTM calendar.  The time is also enormously beneficial in making sure we are updated about each other’s activities. ...

Ground Zero of Our Faith – by Greg Albrecht

These first century A.D. Christ-followers lived in a port city, surrounded by promiscuity and permissiveness. They seemed anything but one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28) as they debated and endlessly argued some rather minor, inconsequential issues while losing sight of the BIG PICTURE altogether. Some appeared proud of tolerating incestuous sexual sin within their fellowship.  The Apostle Paul wrote two letters to this “wild bunch” of Christians in Corinth, addressing many specific problems and issues while relentlessly insisting on the BIG PICTURE of the cross of Christ. At the beginning of his first letter to the Corinthians, ...

He Can’t Stop Loving You – by Greg Albrecht

By Greg Albrecht— Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”—John 11:25 Ray Charles is one of my favorite blues singers of all time. The movie about his life, produced several years ago, won several Academy Awards, and was simply titled “Ray.” Human suffering has given birth to much of our music, poetry, literature and art. The tragedies and the traumas of human relationships were the fertile soil from which many of the story lines and lyrics of Ray Charles’ music grew. CLICK HERE to ...

My Two “Moms” by Laura Urista

My mom, Charlotte Jean (“Jeannie” to those closest to her) passed away nearly eleven years ago. If she had lived, she would have celebrated her 97th birthday a few months ago. My mother-in-law, Teresa, would have been 90 years old this year. But as I write this, she died nearly two years ago. As I think about my two “moms”—these two wonderful matriarchs I was blessed to have in my life—I am struck by the stark contrast in my unique relationships with each of them. “Jeannie” My mom and I had what would be considered a fairly close relationship, but like many mothers and daughters, we excelled at “pushing each other’s ...

One In Christ Jesus – by Greg Albrecht

By Greg Albrecht— There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.—Galatians 3:28 What exactly is a mother? What is her job description? What does a mother do? There's a story about a man who came home from a long day at work—when he drove into his driveway he saw his three children, still in their pajamas, covered from head to toe in mud, fighting and screaming. He was just too exhausted to deal with it, so he walked right past his kids, through the front door, into a house that was in upheaval. Chaos reigned supreme. The TV was blaring, furniture had been knocked over, dishes were piled ...