509 results for tag: Brad Jersak
Q & R: Is Christ IN all people or only IN Christians? Brad Jersak
Brad Jersak
Question:
Is Christ in all people or is Christ only in Christians or only in some Christians?
Response:
Full disclosure: my response comes with a two-fold agenda.
To say that we can find a good number of verses that make "in-ness" exclusive (e.g. believers are in Christ), but those passages do not negate the truth of the inclusion texts (i.e. humanity is in Christ). Both Scripture sets are true. They are simply referring to different truths.
To say that neither inclusion-focused believers ("Trinitarians" for example) nor exclusion-focused believers (Evangelicals for example) need to force all the ...
Q & R: Friendly Pushback on Baptism – Brad Jersak
Question:
Emily Jersak (Brad's grandmother) baptized in Czechoslovakia (17 years old).
I just read "Baptism and the fate of the unprepared." Overall a great message. I did want to push back slightly on your point of "why not?" Here's my push back:
I once knew someone who waited decades (plural) to get baptized. His hangup for so long was that he would be alienating his very religious but non-Christian family - to the point of being disowned - if he were to be baptized. I wonder if the point ("a point") of baptism was that it was meant to be a "low barrier" into the community of faith - i.e. Judaism required circumcision to join the communi...
POLARized: the Idolatry of Ideology – Brad Jersak
“Ideologies put the polar in polarization.”
In the Apostles’ Footsteps – Part 7 – Brad Jersak – “A Better Paradise”
In this installment of "In the Apostles' Footsteps," we revisit her with an allusion from Jesus' message to the Ephesians in the Revelation of the Apostle John.
Good Ideas for Other People – Brad Jersak
Do you ever inadvertently blurt out a line that sounds so clever you smirk to yourself in self-satisfaction? No? It’s probably best to admit it before the pride creeps in and inspires you to blog about it. Alas, for me, too late.
Somewhere recently, the words “good ideas for other people” crossed my lips ironically, and I found myself chuckling and thinking, “a good title for an aging rocker’s album… or a CWRm article!” Why the latter? Because all too often, the shadow side of religion is that it’s so liberal in spouting, shouting, or imposing its “good ideas” at and on other people… And when I’m more mindful, I ...
In the Apostles’ Footsteps – Part 4 – with Brad Jersak from Hierapolis to Laodicea
In this installment of following the Apostles' footsteps, we're still in Turkey beginning with a beautiful sunrise balloon ride over the healing hot springs of Hierapolis and a day tour of Laodicea.
In the Apostles’ Footsteps – Part 3 – with Brad Jersak & Marc Schelske at Colossae
With Brad Jersak and Marc Schelske at Colossae
CWR Video – The Gospel in Chairs – by Brad Jersak
Brad Jersak explains the Gospel in Chairs.
https://youtu.be/hVmKc_Jv9CE
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“Tender to be Human” – Brad Jersak
"What a tender experience it is to be human."
~Vincent Lin
In the Apostles’ Footsteps- Part 1- at Mars Hill – Brad Jersak
Series Prologue:
Brad Jersak on Mars Hill. Backdrop: Athen's Acropolis
Follow Dr. Bradley Jersak, PTM’s pastoral scholar, as he walks the ancient streets of biblical cities across Türkiye and Greece—sites where Christ’s apostles once trod. Knowing that Paul the apostle or John the beloved disciple traversed those same stones is a profound experience that brings the words of Scripture to life. In this series, Brad offers reflections on key locations he visited with students and friends of St. Stephen’s University.
Part I – Mars Hill and the Acropolis in Athens
Scripture — Acts 17:22-31 (note ...
The Likely Cause of Addiction: Disconnection – reflections on Johann Hari by Michael Peterson & Brad Jersak
"The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. It is human connection."
- Johann Hari
In his Jan. 2015 article, entitled, "The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You Think," Johann Hari (author of Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs) presents a strong case for believing that addictions are rooted, not in chemical hooks, but in disconnection or alienation. The best treatment, he proposes, is human connection. I.e. love.
Dr. C. Michael Peterson and Brad Jersak reflect on these findings.
Michael Peterson
Two ...
Q: Has the Resurrection made Death our friend? (pt 4/4) Brad Jersak
This article completes our series on the question of whether or not Death is now our friend (click here to begin at part 1). So far, we've seen that while we must all pass through a process of dying that culminates in the event or moment of death, the resurrection of Christ radically changed the nature of death itself. It is no longer a destination or destiny to be feared in some dreary grave or gloomy underworld. Death in that sense has died and dying is a transition into the joy of the Lord.
In this article, we explore surrender: a posture towards disease, dying and death:
What if we never have to ...
Jesus’ Resurrection made Death our friend (pt 3/4) Brad Jersak
In this post, part 3 of our series asking if Death is now our friend, we will discuss Dying.
Unlike death, our defeated foe, dying is an inevitable reality we can come to accept:
Dying is not the same as death. Dying is a process prior to death. In our previous posts on death, we suggested a distinction between death as a moment or event that we all experience and death as a defunct destiny or destination that we need no longer fear.
To that distinction, let's add two more important clarifications:
We can now regard the event or moment of death as part of the dying process.
And we can treat ...
Insults Redeemed – Brad Jersak
Jesus and Insults:
“You have heard it said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,...” But I tell you that … anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”(Jesus, Matthew 5:21-22)
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!...
Woe to you, blind guides!... Woe to you, fools!... You snakes! You brood of vipers!” (Jesus, Matthew 23:15-17, 33)
I’ve long wondered about the apparent discrepancy between Jesus’ dire warnings against the use of insults—a sin worthy of judgment—and ...
Q: Has Jesus’ Resurrection made Death our friend (pt 2/4) Brad Jersak
In this post, we will explore how Christ and the NT as a whole describe a fundamental shift in the nature of death in two essential ways as a result of Jesus' resurrection.
(CONT'D from Part 1, which is posted HERE).
How have the death and resurrection of Christ fundamentally changed the nature of death itself?
a. One approach is to say that death itself has changed. Death used to mean “consigned to the grave” (whatever that meant) but then with Paul, death came to mean “present with the Lord.” Death as our destiny shifts radically with Christ’s conquest of hades and the emptying of ...
Q: Has the Resurrection made Death our friend? (pt 1/4) Brad Jersak
QUESTION: Has Christ’s resurrection made death our “friend”?
RESPONSE: I have reservations about calling death a friend. But I think it's worth doing an autopsy on death to explore the way Christ’s work changed not only our relationship to death, but changed the nature of death itself.
I want to ask first, how is death not our friend, then how it might now be our friend and finally, how might we talk about death.
So first, and easiest, why is the statement “death is our friend” not true? Most obviously, in 1 Cor. 15—dubbed “the resurrection chapter”—Paul calls death an enemy, and in fact, the last enemy to be destroyed, ...
“HOW could this happen?” Brad Jersak
"HOW could this happen?"
The first words that burst from a traumatized heart are often either "Why?!" or "How?!" How could such a thing happen?! To us, to me, to my family, to my city?! When we witness devastating events or receive devastating news, the how and the why give voice to our shock. When we cannot get our heads around the tragedies and evils we experience, even second-hand, our hearts cry out, "How could this happen?"
We call these howls of the afflicted "lament." And I take some comfort that the Hebrew Scriptures have a book titled "Lamentations" that give voice to those in misery. In fact, the Hebrew title comes from the ...
“American Jesus” – Beck Underwood
Source: Vimeo: "American Jesus" by beck underwood
At PTM, we hear in this animation a pseudo-gospel preached from too many pulpits across the land. Yes, it's overt, excessive, and ultimately ludicrous, but it does bear the common, essential elements of so many evangelistic sermons: fear of retribution, conversion by coercion, and rote confession under the ultimatum of eternal fiery condemnation. For those whose gospel is not retributive, coercive, or demanding,... congratulations! You may be proclaiming good news. But it's worth checking. Does our gospel rely on the fear of punishment or the promise of rewards to incite conversions?
Jesus' ...
Interpreting the Old Testament: 3 Layers – Brad Jersak
Question:
I grew up in a Christian tradition where literal interpretation is the only way to read the Bible. I have always loved stories such as Elijah's confrontation with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18) and how God came to him after Elijah fled for his life (ch. 19). But there is a lot of violence in so many of these passages that I am truly not sure how to view them as anything but literal accounts.
Response:
Drawing from my book, A More Christlike Word, when we read the Bible, we certainly do begin with a literal reading. This is just the first or surface reading, bearing in mind that the Scriptures have layered meanings as ...
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