520 results for tag: Brad Jersak

Q&R with Brad Jersak: Sweating our Sorrows

Question: My question is about what Jesus went through in the garden of Gethsemane, before his arrest. The texts say that his anguish was so intense that he was sweating blood, which apparently is a real medical phenomenon that happens in extreme stress. The most common explanation I’ve heard in the church for the stress Jesus was experiencing is that he was going to bear the sins of the entire world and because of that, God was going punish him in our place, which means that the full wrath of God was going to fell on Him. Also God was going to turn his back on him while doing it, because Jesus was basically going to become sin, and God ...

Logos, Light & Lamb – Brad Jersak

THE LOGOS (WORD) OF GOD In the beginning was the Word [Logos]. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was with God in the beginning. All things came into existence through him; not one thing that exists came into existence without him (John 1:1-3, NTE). John the Beloved opens his beautiful Gospel with an echo of the Jewish creation story: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). It’s important to note that “beginning” here means far more than “first” or “at the start.” This beginning is like laying a foundation on which everything is built and remains, or like an overture that ...

Does God Save Us from God? Brad Jersak

Twitter statement: “God saves us from God. The One who mercifully drags us out of the rebellious city is the same One who rains down fire upon it.” Thus wrote a popular tweeter whose handle I’ll withhold out of respect and concern. God saves us from God? How so? Penal substitution continues to be the most popular Western answer to the question, “Why did Christ die?” and is the default interpretation for Scripture’s assertion that “Christ died for our sins.” Rather than treating it as one of many atonement theories, major denominations are now doubling down, dogmatizing it as a non-negotiable essential to the gospel and ...

Q & R: What do you make of Luke 13:23-28? – Brad Jersak

Question: I am wondering, in light of A More Christlike God, what your take is on Luke 13:23-28. It seems like an instance of a not very Christlike Christ! Response: In the future, I plan to write something in greater detail about these type of difficult texts, which are similar to some of Jesus parables in their dire rhetoric. In the case of Luke 13:23-28, a number of interpretive factors come into play and I'm still sorting through how to weight each of them for relevance. The passage goes this way: 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter ...

April 2023

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Brad Jersak: Logos, Light & Lamb – pg. 2 Greg Albrecht: Everything Happens for a Reason? – pg. 4 Greg Albrecht: Nailmarks, Scars & Doubts – pg. 7

Are You ‘Saved’? (uh…) – Brad Jersak

A constellation of questions, common to some Christian traditions, increasingly makes me cringe. Are you saved? Is he/she saved? When were you saved? I know what is intended. They are identifying ‘saved’ with the moment I ‘invited Christ into my heart’ through the faith confession involved in ‘the Sinner’s Prayer.’ If that is how and when I was saved, I suppose you could say I was ‘saved’ when I was six-years-old. That’s when I personally and consciously responded to the grace of God. So why does that give me the heebie-jeebies? Was that when I was saved? It caused me to pause and explore how various Christians use the ...

The Evolution of Heavenly Fire – Brad Jersak

I recently came across the citation from St Athanasius (via creativeorthodox.com) that beautifully compares the resurrection of Christ to a fire that completely consumes death as if it were dry straw. The comparison reminded me of the range and frequent use of fire as imagery associated with the person or acts of God. A brief survey serves as a healthy meditation, not only on the various comparisons, but also how these evolve with our illumination by the Spirit, who is also linked with fire at times. Ancient peoples would have experienced fire as destruction before they ever learned to employ it for light or heat, and when the fire of destruction ...

Q&R: Chains, Stains & Jesus’ Judgment – Brad Jersak

Question: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." - 2 Corinthians 5:10 I wanted to ask how is it that we will be judged as believers if we have already been forgiven for our sins? If we are forgiven, why are our sins brought up again at the judgment seat? Response: Great question. That could almost sound like a contradiction! There is a very real and important sense that we were all forgiven for all our sins at the Cross. Jesus said, "It is finished," after all. Yet I wonder...&...

CWR Video – On the Word of God – Brad Jersak

March 2023

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Articles: Come Out of Her and Come to Me! – pg. 1 Confronted by Christ – pg. 2 Which Thief Are You? – pg. 5 Master Potter – pg. 7 Quotes & Connections – pg. 8

Q&R with Brad – “Why pray for forgiveness if we’re already forgiven?”

Question: The sin issue is cropping up again. I lose my temper.  I get stressed out.  I am short with my family... but I have gotten to the point where I feel as though Christ once and forever dealt with sin (alienation, darkness) at the Cross and my constantly asking Christ directly for forgiveness (again and again) for the same sins seems hopelessly pointless. Response: The reason why I regularly pray, "forgive us our trespasses," is first of all, because Jesus taught us to do so. He quite literally says, "When you pray, pray this: Our Father,..." And while some folks dismiss this prayer as "pre-cross" and "old covenant" ...

Religiosity is Adapting – Brad Jersak

In our long-term quest to pursue Christianity Without the Religion, we’ve noticed that Christless religion can adjust itself to shifts in popular culture. In other words, religiosity is quite capable of adapting to new forms and expressions, while continuing to wander far from the Jesus Way.

What is Holiness, Uncleanness? – Brad Jersak

Luke 7:11-17 (NRSV) Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son at Nain 11 Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. 12 As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. 13 When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus ...

“All Scripture is God-breathed…so that…” Brad Jersak

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. —2 Timothy 3:16-17 Perhaps the question we should be asking isn't, "Am I getting the Bible right?" but "What kind of life is our reading of the Bible producing." —Jared Byas, Love Matters More The first phrase of 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is God-breathed" or "inspired" is a wonderful truth. Unfortunately, Paul's assertion has primarily been used as a "gotcha verse" in debates about the nature of Scripture. But the question is NOT ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – Sin

Question: I have just finished reading "Out of the Embers," and you know, I never once thought about sin (at least "sin" as understood in my evangelical context). Does sin (moral or ethical infraction) mean anything to you anymore?  To God? Response: Great question! In our modern and post-modern context, the word "sin" often carries a lot of baggage and not nearly enough depth. For example, in the tradition I was formed in, "sin" generally referred to: 1. The "sin condition" I was born with, inherited from Adam's guilt... we called this "the sin nature" and were taught that when we came to Christ, we would receive a "new nature" or "new ...

February 2023

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Greg Albrecht: How Sorry Are We? – pg. 2 Ed Dunn: Our Choice of Words – pg. 5 Brad Jersak: Zaccheus Makes Amends – pg. 6

Q&R with Brad Jersak: Is Isaiah’s “suffering servant” Jesus or the Jewish people?

Isaiah 49:7 Question: I was researching Isaiah 49:7 due to the Rabbinical claim that the Suffering Servant is not Jesus, but is actually the Jewish people throughout their history of persecutions. This has always been a nagging doubt to me. It doesn't help that Isaiah 49:7 in some translations says "abhorred by the nations" which sounds like the nation of Israel is the servant, but other translations say "abhorred by the nation" which sounds like Jesus inside of Israel. I was wondering if you could point me towards more info on this topic, because it has re-assured my faith a bit. Response: I sure wouldn't make my faith at all ...

Encounter, Communion & Union: Layers of Relationship – Brad Jersak

Our Relationship with God I have been pondering the various words we use to describe our relationship with God. "Relationship" itself is an intriguing term as it invites us to consider how we relate to God, to ourselves, to others and to our world. But it also suggests that they relate to us. Healthy relationships are a two-way street... not so much transactional as reciprocal. As John says in his first epistle, we love God because he first loved us. But relationships are also complex. Three words come to mind that describe our relationship with God: encounter, communion and union.  Encounter We often use the word encounter to describe ...

Q&R “Is the Spiritual Realm more Real than the Natural Realm?” with Brad Jersak

Question: How would you respond to the statement, "The spiritual realm is more real than the natural realm"? My home church has been influenced a lot by that theme through certain charismatic ministries. They emphasize spirit over nature and parse out spirit, soul and body in a hierarchy of functioning. It all feels a little too much like Hogwarts. Response: I know exactly what you mean. Similarly, the Catholic priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, once said, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." Both these statements affirm something important but invariably over-steer into a ...

More than a metaphor: Why the resurrection matters – Dr. Cherith Fee Nordling

Dr. Cherith Fee Nordling pushes back at the notion that the resurrection (both Christ’s and ours) is merely metaphorical. The Christian faith is founded on the reality of Christ’s bodily resurrection.(Part 2 in a 6-part conversation with Dr. Bradley Jersak). https://vimeo.com/783453286