Giving Thanks to the Master – Greg Albrecht

...real thanksgiving is not determined by food or specific traditions or by travel...the absolute necessary ingredient is the Master—Jesus Christ—the One toward whom our thanksgiving is directed. Some people think they can’t experience a time of Thanksgiving without turkey, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce. Some think that they can’t experience a time of Thanksgiving (in Canada the second Monday in October and in the United States the last Thursday of November) unless they travel to a specific place and visit with specific people. Some summarize a perfect time of Thanksgiving as including the four F’s—food, family, friends and ...

This is a Football – Greg Albrecht

It’s that time again—football season is here! You can’t miss it (even if you try!). There will be high school games on Friday night, college games on Saturday and NFL games all day Sunday, Monday nights and occasionally other nights. Critics of football note that football is as close to religion as some folks ever get. Critics of religion (like me) can only say “thank God” for that. Let’s get close to God, but let’s get as far away from religion as possible. Speaking of God, religion and football, the legendary coach Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers is said to have given a “This is a football” lecture to his team at ...

Free Resources

PTM offers downloadable booklets and articles to help with relevant questions and current topics. BELIEF: I Believe We Believe Why the Cross Matters BIBLE: The Bible: What It Is and What It Isn’t 10 Twisted Scriptures Battle About the Bible Is the Bible the Word of God? God Lets His Children Tell the Story The Bible Clearly Says… Inspired, Infallible & Inerrant? How the WORD Read the Word CHRISTIANITY: Christianity Without the Religion The Last Christians Soren Kierkegaard: Father of Christianity Without Religion What’s So Christian About Christianity? CHRISTIAN LIVING: The ...

Forgiveness…Who First? – Greg Albrecht

Wouldn’t it be great if you or I could hit a delete button and send the memories of all our hurts and pains somewhere far away, into the most remote recesses of our minds, and never, ever have to think of them again? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the hard drive in our brain suddenly crashed, and no bad memories survived? As painful as our memories of being hurt are, they can fester and grow into resentment and hatred of those who either hurt us or had some part in our pain. Nasty things can and do happen when we throw a pity party, swimming laps in a pool of resentment, endlessly replaying painful moments from our past. Mo...

Living a Life of Love – Greg Albrecht

God doesn’t need us to love him, but he not only takes pleasure in sharing the essence of who he is, he produces his very love in us, empowering us by his grace to pass that same love on to others, in thought and action. We are loved, not because we are particularly lovable, but because God is love. We often make the distinction that love is not merely one of many attributes of God. The Bible clearly defines God as love. Love is the essence of who God is. Some miss the point when they think that doing good things and behaving in a moral or appropriate way is the same as sharing God’s love. Our good deeds do not transform us into ...

The Easy Way Out – Greg Albrecht

Before we are allowed to enter the way of Life, we must leave behind all of the religious baggage and traditions that are so precious to us.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)Many read these words and assume they know exactly who is on the road to destruction Jesus was talking about. Surely he was talking about the “eat, drink and be merry” crowd—those who are lazy, immoral and permissive. The broad road must be the irreligious “anything goes” ...

Death Swallowed Up (You’re Not Disposable!) – Greg Albrecht

One of the great lessons and legacies of the empty tomb and the resurrection of Jesus is that our temporary world does not have the last word. Easter tells you and me that we are not disposable. Easter tells us that even while our bodies age and shrink and wither away—there will be a day when our bodies, like the body of Jesus, will be resurrected. God will never throw us away! During the second half of the 20th century our consumer culture turned into a throw-away-culture the likes of which the world has never seen. Plastic bottles are one of the premier examples—use the bottle once and then throw it away. Paper plates, disposable diapers and ...

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 ...