515 results for tag: Brad Jersak
Women on Trial (Numbers 5) – A More Christlike Reading – Brad Jersak
A MORE CHRISTLIKE READING OF NUMBERS 5 -
QUESTION:
Many things still trouble me in the Old Testament. For instance, the treatment of women under the law, such as we see described in Numbers 5. I would like to be able to hear your perspective on that passage.
RESPONSE:
This is such an important question that I decided to do a deep dive on Numbers 5:11-31. Without presuming to claim an answer, I will do my best to respond.
My first instinct was to compare the passage across several translations, with special attention to Jewish translations, including the Septuagint (LXX), Philo of Alexandria, Robert Alter’s The Hebrew ...
Blessed are Those Who Wrestle – Brad Jersak
"Those who believe that they believe in God, but without passion in their hearts, without anguish in mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, without an element of despair, can in their consolation believe only in the God idea, not God himself." (Miguel de Unamuno)-
Jacob, the Wrestler
So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.
Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless ...
Q&R: What does “trusting God” mean in our suffering? Bradley Jersak
Question:
Can you help me understand what it means to trust in God? I trust that at the end of this life, God will save me from the consequences of sin. Is it about happiness? fulfillment? meaning? And how does trust relate to those, like me, who experience the suffering of chronic illness?
Response:
That is such an important question, and I can see serious answers already embedded in your question. I can also see how you're asking warns against speaking of trust in platitudes.
Let's just start with the assurance that in and after death, God will raise us and heal us and receive us in the End... that assurance will ...
Q&R: “Why does God allow…?” Brad Jersak
“Why does God allow ...”
Anger as Sacrament – A Response – Paul Fahey
Greetings, Brad. I read your article, "Does God feel anger?" It was great. I wanted to share with you an additional facet of God's anger that has been on my heart for the past several months.
A couple of years ago, the previous pastor at my parish, acting from his own trauma and insecurity, publicly and falsely accused me and several other former parish employees of grave sin. This was the public culmination of years of his narcissistic behavior that happened behind closed doors. The whole experience wrecked my relationship with the church, a relationship God had been slowly rebuilding in the years since.
In any case, last fall, I was ...
“Be Sure Your Sin Will Find You Out” – Brad Jersak
Be sure your sin will find you out. It's not getting caught that creates the shame. It's the secrecy itself.
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 ...
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