1763 results for tag: Greg Albrecht

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

June 6, 2024 - Quote for the Day: “God is not impressed with the lofty, ornate cathedrals humans build. God doesn’t assume that those religious monuments are more holy than little humble church buildings out on some windswept plain or desert. For that matter, God is not impressed with any building we can build and dedicate to him – as Acts 7:48 tell us: …the Most High does not live in houses made by men. Worshipping God inside a building that calls itself a church does not exalt you before God. Your presence inside a building that calls itself a church is not the basis of God’s love for you.  God is not impressed with ...

Why Cults are Successful — Part 2

The message of Jesus Christ has been perverted and twisted into unbelievable ideas yet tens of millions of people are caught up in these cultic beliefs, in part, because cults use manipulative bait-and-switch tactics. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0333.mp3

Why Cults are Successful — Part 1

It's been said many times -- cults and cultic ideas are the unfinished business of the church -- that if the church did a better job, cults wouldn't be growing so fast. Do you agree? Just why are cults so successful? Don't miss this first of a 4 program series on cults. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0332.mp3

Can War Ever Be “Just”? – Part 1 – Greg Albrecht

Question: I am a long-time reader and listener. I cannot tell you how much PTM and CWR have helped me and how much this ministry means to me.  October 7, 2023 reminded me of my long-term struggle with the morality of warfare. Immediately after October 7 I was appalled by the evil unleashed by Hamas, brutalities including barbarous rape, torture and capture of hostages. But then as the war has continued, as Israel tries to free the hostages, all the while the staggering suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza intensifies. I realize there is another “side” of this war.   My struggle with war is not ...

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

June 4, 2024 - Quote for the Day:  “The chief opposition and objections to God’s grace do not come from those who do not claim to be Christians at all, like Buddhists or Muslims. The chief objections to God’s grace come from those who call themselves Christians but are trapped by legalism, and are in the swamps of Christ-less religion. No one hates God’s grace so much as those who work hard to convince God that their efforts are holy and righteous. It was religion that hated Jesus. We must not compromise with God’s grace, my friends. We must not allow God’s grace to be watered down. Each of us will either be children of faith, ...

The Deadly Fruit of Legalism, Part 2 – The Problem and the Solution

Legalism can turn us into hard hearted, narrow minded, spiteful and judgmental people. It's a serious problem for Christians because it separates us from the intimacy with Christ and others we were meant to have. In this program Greg talks about the good news that Jesus Christ is.

The Deadly Fruit of Legalism, Part 1 — Legalism’s Disguises

Greg counts himself as a survivor of legalism. In this first of two programs he reveals from his own experience some of legalism's disguises and the harm lurking under those disguises.

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

June 2, 2024 - Quote for the Day:  “Mention the Book of Revelation in a conversation, and even Christians will generally react in one of two extremes. Some think that Revelation has nothing of importance to offer. They see the book as archaic, grisly and grotesque first-century writing with no relevance for today. On the other hand, some Christians seem to think that Revelation (and any other part of the Bible that is related to it or used to interpret it) is the only part of the Bible worth reading and studying. Many are virtual prophecy junkies, addicted to ‘updated interpretations’ of Revelation, because they see this book as a ...

Christians You Don’t Recognize — Part 2

Fact:  Many Christians think they are better than others; there are other Christians they don't even recognize.  Fact:  Some church and religious movements have persuaded their followers that they are superior to others.  Fact:  Being better and superior is not the gospel of Jesus Christ! https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0294.mp3

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

May 30, 2024 - Quote for the Day:  “The church is not a building. The church is not identified by a sign outside of a building or by a steeple that soars above a building. The church is not a legally incorporated entity.  One may be a member of a church and not be a member of the universal body of Christ, which is the church that really counts. One may be a member of the universal body of Christ and thus free in Christ (Galatians 5:1) to affiliate with a church. But one’s membership in a church is not required or a necessary prerequisite for membership in the universal church founded by Jesus Christ. Christ-followers are the church – ...

Christians You Don’t Recognize — Part 1

Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.  Protestants don't recognize the Pope as the head of the church and Christians who believe alcohol is a sin do not recognize each other in a liquor store.  If there are other Christians you do not recognize, you need to listen to this program. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0293.mp3

After Grace — Then What?

Grace is totally unmerited pardon. It is forgiveness of our sins no matter what we have done -- it can't be earned in any way. But what is life like after that? How then should we live?

God Is Making All Things New – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from June 2024: He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch and old one.  Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.  And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins” (Luke 5:36-38) Wine “bottles” in Palestine in the day of Jesus were made of skin, usually that of a goat or sheep.   After new wine was poured into a wineskin, as it fermented, it gradually ...

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

May 28, 2024 - Quote for the Day: “Dietrich Bonhoeffer, widely regarded as a 20th century martyr, put to death by the Nazis before the end of World War 2 because of his faith in Christ, once said, ‘Jesus calls men, not to a new religion, but to life.’  Jesus did not come to this earth to start another religion, but to save the world from religion! The mission of Christ-less religion is sin management. Christ-less religion is all about making bad people better. Jesus is not interested in cosmetic improvements.  He did not, in the ultimate demonstration of love, give his life on the cross for a behavioral modification program. ...

Wine Into Water

Jesus changed water into wine. It was the best wine and it was saved for last. People have been trying to reverse the process and change wine into water ever since. Why is the story of this miracle in the Bible? What should we learn from it?

Religion is Counterfeit Christianity

Jesus came to save us from religion, the belief that if we work hard and long enough God will like us -- that we must obtain salvation through our own efforts. Religion is one reason Christ died on the cross.

How Big Is God? – by Greg Albrecht

Many Christians seem to believe that Jesus came to this earth as a kind of Plan B. They've been taught that Jesus came to this earth to save us because Adam "fell"—and further, they've been told that when Adam "fell" God had to, in effect, scurry around and come up with Plan B. This reasoning is of course, unbiblical—and beyond that, it doesn't make sense. Why would Christmas, the incarnation of God, be Plan B? Why wouldn't Christmas have been on the drawing boards from the very get-go? Why wouldn't Jesus have been planning to come anyway? Years ago I read a little book by J.B. Phillips titled Your God is Too Small. J.B. Phillips wanted the ...

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

May 25, 2024 - Quote for the Day:  “When it comes to marital love, so many people are not willing to forgive, blaming their husband or wife for all marital difficulties, and then off they go ‘looking for love in all the wrong places.’  They fail to forgive the imperfections of others and they fail to realize their own flaws and foibles and thus they start looking for their ‘soul mate’ – thinking that someone somewhere will make them deliriously happy, without stopping to consider how they might make that someone happy. ‘Dear Abby’ once concluded this short letter in her newspaper column: ‘Dear Abby: I am divorced, 50 ...

Weird Ideas Are Out There

It usually starts with a sincere desire to please or appease God. But the result is a cult -- a tight, "holy huddle" trying to keep sin on the outside and goodness on the inside. Such isolation leads to weird ideas.

Getting Caught Up in a Religious Show – by Greg Albrecht

Acts 5:1-11                      The story of Ananias and Sapphira Here's a story that might seem as if it belongs in the Old Testament rather than the New. The story related by our keynote passage begins with an idyllic picture of new Christians, living together and sharing their lives. But then, in the midst of this upbeat picture of God's favor and blessings, comes a depressing story of a man and his wife who gave an offering to God, but misrepresented the actual amount of how much they gave. In the middle of this time when God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all (Acts 4:33) God took the life of this husband and ...