1786 results for tag: Greg Albrecht

Our Biggest Problem

What's our biggest problem as Christians...is it religion? Is it legalism? Is it a lack of knowledge of the Bible? Is it too little obedience? You may be surprised. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0266.mp3  

Empty Your Pockets – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter for November 2024: Erma Bombeck (1927-1996) was a beloved American writer. Her humor, in newspaper columns and 15 books, was flavored with inspiration and wisdom. She concluded a newspaper column published on March 10, 1987 with these insights (my emphasis in bold): “I always had a dream that when I am asked to give an accounting of my life to a higher court, it will go like this: ‘So, empty your pockets. What have you got left of your life? Any dreams that were unfulfilled? Any unused talent that we gave you when you were born that you still have left? Any unsaid compliments or bits of love that you haven’t ...

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

October 31, 2024 - Quote for the Day: “I offer Revelation Revolution 1) as a Christ-centered remedy to the sensationalism of prophetic teaching and 2) from a compelling sense of duty in an attempt to spare others the inevitable loss of faith in God that is invariably left behind in the wake of such flawed and failed teaching. I am grieved to see that the same old broken-beyond-repair methodology of prophetic teaching continues to tease and allure millions into its destructive clutches.”  Originally published in: Revelation Revolution ------------------------------------- Help Us Help Others - Give Now

Is It Possible to OD on Grace?

Religion and legalism are uncomfortable with God's grace, claiming that the grace of God encourages people to sin. But can we have too much grace -- is it possible to overdose on grace? https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0265.mp3  

What is a Real Christian?

What do true Christians say and do -- what are they like? How righteous does a Christian have to be? Would you identify a real Christian mostly by what they don't do -- by actions and habits they avoid? https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0261.mp3  

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

October 29, 2024 - Quote for the Day: “There are those, as you know, who say that the Jews deserved the Holocaust.  I absolutely reject that insane notion. There are also those who say that billions of people will be slow roasted, for all eternity, tortured in hell, condemned by God because they didn’t measure up to his standards. I absolutely reject that notion as the epitome of un-grace. Preachers fulminate about those who will get eternal torture (what they deserve) because they weren’t baptized with the right amount of water at the right age by the right religious authority using the right religious creed. Many will suffer ...

Counting the Cost

The Bible admonishes us to count the cost before we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, but once we've done that, we're to stop counting. What do we stop counting? For one, how good we are, but listen as Greg discusses other things the Bible teaches we no longer count. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0254.mp3  

4 Ways to be Successful in Religion

This tongue-in-cheek program suggests four things you can do to be successful in religion (as opposed to authentic Christianity). These four strategies are prominent in our religious world today. See if they don't ring a disturbingly familiar bell with you. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0252.mp3  

Are You a Believer? – by Greg Albrecht

Many Christians use the word believer as a short definition of their way of life and as a way of separating their practices and teachings from non-believers. Without further qualification, the term believer can be just one more in a long list of clichés and "in-house" terminology. After all, a believer might describe someone who believes in UFOs and aliens from outer space. A believer might describe someone who actually believes in the ghosts and goblins of Halloween. So the term believer begs for further definition, doesn't it? Belief in what or who? The answer may seem to be obvious, but sadly, in many cases it isn't. Ponder with me two ...

Politicizing the Gospel – Part #3 by Greg Albrecht

In PART 1 of “POLITICIZING THE GOSPEL” we considered the last 100 years of warfare and the way in which politics and religion often intermingle.   In PART 2 of “POLITICIZING THE GOSPEL” we specifically examined ways in which politics and religion are intermarried, particularly in the United States.  In this third and last installment, PART 3 OF “POLITICIZING THE GOSPEL” we will examine five stages in which religious violence can grow, while comparing it with the parallels to political violence. In the wake of recent internal extremism within North America, Canadians and Americans are reflecting about the root ...

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

October 26, 2024 - Quote for the Day: “Many people are terrified of a God of wrath, the God they believe is just waiting for the opportunity to ‘take them out’ and ‘teach them a lesson.’ That ‘god’ is not the one, true God. That is the same ‘god’ humans believed in long before Jesus – a pagan god who is angry, vengeful, and delights in seeing people ‘get what’s coming to them.’ God has been and is horribly misunderstood. When Christ-less religion continues to proclaim that misunderstanding, it causes enormous grief. The one true God is all about inviting us to embrace his grace.  God loves us because of who he ...

Finding a Perfect Church Pt 2 – If You Find It, Don’t Join

Greg talks in today's program about the visible and the invisible church. Just what are those? In this program important to every Christian, Greg talks about some of the hallmarks of a healthy church and gives some guidelines for finding one. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0387.mp3      

Sitting Shiva – Greg Albrecht

“Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you” (Isaiah 41:10 – The Message) The book of Job begins with an unimaginable tragedy experienced by a man who “feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). Identified as “the greatest man among all the people of the East” (Job 1:1) Job experienced a financial disaster when he lost 500 oxen, 500 donkeys, 3,000 camels and 7,000 sheep, and the deaths of the many servants (laborers) who tended them.  In the wake of this financial catastrophe, a hurricane-like “mig...

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

October 24, 2024 - Quote for the Day:  “To some degree the disciples couldn’t help but think that the cross of Christ meant that Jesus was a failure – after all, if he was as powerful as they thought, then why did he let himself be crucified? And then – another miracle – the resurrection from the dead! They must have considered some, if not all of these paradoxes just as human beings are not born to virgins, just as God does not become flesh, just as God in the flesh doesn’t let himself be crucified, so too are humans not resurrected from the dead.”  Originally published in: Spiritual Soup for the Hungry Soul, ...

Finding a Perfect Church Pt 1 – What is the Church?

There is much debate about what "church" means. Many groups claim that they are "the church." What is the perfect church and how does one become a part of it? This is a vital question for every Christian to have considered and answered. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0386.mp3  

Greed

In 1985 Ivan Boesky told UC Berkeley Business School graduates, "Greed is all right, by the way. I want you to know that greed is healthy. You can be greedy and feel good about yourself." Don't miss God's perspective on greed in today's program. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0250.mp3  

Loving Legalism – No Such Thing! – by Greg Albrecht

From the time the first human beings walked the face of the earth, literally billions of people have been living lives of religious legalism—attempting to do for themselves what God has already done for them—trying to replace God's infinitely powerful grace with empty, useless human effort. After Jesus came to us, telling us about and showing us God's unconditional love, and after establishing his church, it seems we should have gotten the point. But even though Jesus, God in the flesh, came as one of us revealing the Father, religious legalism continues even among people who claim to be Christians. In fact legalism, as a counte...

November 2024

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Articles: Politics and Religion as Usual – pg. 1 Hope, Comfort, Encouragement & Healing to be Found in Christ – pg. 2 The World's Story Told Well – pg. 4 Friday Mornings with the Rabbi – pg. 5 Rehearsals – pg. 7 Quotes & Connections – pg. 8

Self-Defense and Christ Followers – Greg Albrecht

Question: We are seeing an increase in criminal activity in the area of the United States in which my family and friends live.  I don't own a firearm.   My wife thinks I should have a handgun to defend the family should criminals attempt to enter our home and place the lives of family members at risk. I know Jesus protected Israel before the people rejected his rule in favor of human kings...so they could be like other nations. I have no desire to follow the crowd. I want our Father's will to be done. My family strives to yield to Christ's authority over our lives, to yield to the Holy Spirit for understanding in all matters. I ...

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

October 22, 2024 - Quote for the Day: “Toward the end of No Country for Old Men, Tommy Lee Jones goes to visit his father, who lives in an old shack in the middle of nowhere.  He talks to his father about retiring.  His father was himself forcibly retired when he was crippled in the course of his job in law enforcement. Tommy Lee Jones is standing by an old kitchen sink in his father’s crumbling shack, drinking a cup of coffee, gazing wistfully out the window at the wastelands of west Texas.  As I recall, he turns and says to his father, ‘You know, I always thought when I got older God would come into my life.  ...