1763 results for tag: Greg Albrecht

March 2021

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Articles: The Crux of Our Faith – pg. 1 A Far, Far Better Rest – pg. 2 When I AM Lifted Up – pg. 5 Places I've Been – pg. 7 Quotes & Connections – pg. 8

Christianity = Freedom from Human Regulation

How do you define Christianity?  Most people, Christian and non-Christian alike, would answer with a list of restrictions and taboos, but that's not a biblical definition of Christianity.  Christianity = freedom from human regulations.  Greg discusses what Colossians 2 tells us. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0288.mp3  

“Is There Something Specific I Can Pray For You?” – by Greg Albrecht

Has anyone ever asked to pray for you? Isn’t that great when that happens? I mean, the very idea that another person who is not your mother or father or grandmother praying for you! But in many cases a serious rub follows. After you say, “sure” or “certainly” or something like that, a person who has been indoctrinated in a particular way will often ask you “great, can you tell me something specific about you to pray for?” Immediately you are taken aback. Or, at least I am. First the person wanted to pray for you. Wonderful! Now they seem to want you to volunteer some juicy stuff so that they can pray about “something specific.” ...

Progress Is God’s Most Important Product – Greg Albrecht

Friends and Partner letter dated February, 2021 Before Ronald Reagan (the 40th president of the United States) became involved in politics, he was an actor. Some of you may remember in the early 1960’s Reagan was the host of the General Electric Theater, then an anchor of Sunday night television. The slogan of the General Electric Company (G.E.) was “progress is our most important product.” The introduction to the General Electric Theater (underwritten by G.E.) included the line: “In engineering, in research, in manufacturing skill, in the values that bring a better, more satisfying life,at General Electric, progress is our most ...

The Suffering Judge

by Greg Albrecht … If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.—Romans 8:31-34 You probably have heard of honor killings. An "honor killing" is the term used to describe a practice in which one or more males murders a female relative who, according to their perspective, dishonored ...

The Exclamation Point of God’s Love

Greg Albrecht and Brad Jersak Greg Albrecht: Hello everyone, this is Greg Albrecht. We're going to remember and discuss our Lord's ultimate sacrifice for us and reflect on his life, death, burial and of course the significance and meaning of his resurrection. Helping us with his insights and observations is Brad Jersak. Brad is Editor of our magazines and a Christ-centered professor, speaker and author. Brad, in one sense it seems to me that these two events, the crucifixion and the resurrection, are the crowning jewels in God's demonstration and revelation of his love for us. When I think of the resurrection specifically, I often think of ...

Love – No Fear

by Greg Albrecht Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.—1 Corinthians 13:4-8 1 Corinthians 13 is a chapter many have come to know as the "love chapter" of the Bible. 1 Corinthians 13 is arranged in three separate sections, two of which we will briefly examine: The first section, in verses 1-3, is about love as being indispensable. If you've ever been to ...

Lighten Up – Trust Him – Be Free!

by Greg Albrecht Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will ...

February 2021

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Greg Albrecht: Christ or Nothing– pg. 2 Richard Murray: Intellectual Honesty– pg. 5 Brad Jersak: Pastoral Perspective – pg. 7

The New Math of the Gospel of John

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God (John 1:1). In the first verse of this first chapter of the Gospel of John, we discover three phrases used to describe the totality, complexity and wholeness of the Word of God.  The context leads us to conclude the Word is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the second person of the Triune God. In the beginning was the Word, and 2) the Word was with God, and 3) the Word was God. Three phrases describing one of the three divine Persons of the One Triune God.  One yet Three.  Is it 1+1+1=3 or is it 1+1+1=1?   Three is a number of harmony and ...

It’s Either Old or New – It Can’t Be Both – Greg Albrecht

By way of introduction to It's Either Old or New—It Can't Be Both! I would like to introduce two special guests. Before going any further, I should explain that our special guests will appear as caricatures—in the form of a communication that they might have had with each other—so that there is, as far as I know, no actual resemblance to anything they've ever said to each other, if indeed they ever had a one-on-one conversation. I hope that clears me—that's my disclaimer. Our first guest is Martha Stewart. Martha Stewart has come, over the past few decades, to symbolize the paragon of a dutiful, skilled, energetic and creative homemaker. ...

Jesus Is Our True Compass – Greg Albrecht

Friends and Partner letter dated January, 2021 Hundreds of ideas, inventions, innovations, explorers and pioneers are considered as “world changers.” Lists of historic world changers vary, depending on who is making the list, but the compass invariably ranks high on most lists of the greatest world changers. As you know, a compass is a device used for navigation and orientation. A compass provides location and directions helping someone who is lost find their way to safety and of course it helps those who are traveling arrive at their intended destination. A simple compass has a magnetized needle that points to “true north” based on ...

It’s Either Old or New – It Can’t Be Both

by Greg Albrecht Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your ...

The Law was Given Through Moses – Grace and Truth Come Through Jesus Christ

by Greg Albrecht For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. —John 1:17 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the ...

How God Chooses His Team

By Greg Albrecht Remember those times when you gathered with a group of your friends and schoolmates to participate in a game that involved two teams? My memories are of two captains who were popularly chosen, or who, by virtue of their size, age and ability (or all three) appointed themselves. Then the captains started choosing people for their teams. They always chose those who they felt would help them win—that's logical. Games are all about winning. So when sides were chosen the fastest, strongest, most popular and most athletic were chosen first. As each person was chosen they walked over and stood next to their captain, until ...

Warning: Thinking May Be Hazardous to Your Religion

By Greg Albrecht Aristotle is credited with saying that it is a mark of an educated mind to entertain a thought without accepting it. That same attribute is one of the hallmarks of a life in Christ. There are two central facets involved in a Christ-follower entertaining a thought without accepting it: 1) the spiritual dynamic of the Spirit of God living in us who "will teach you all things" (John 14:26), and 2) the human dynamic of critical thinking. I'm sure that every generation laments that it seems its youth have lost the ability to think, and let me join the parade. But let's not just make this a rant about young people. Lack of ...

Q&R with Greg Albrecht – What about the Rapture?

Question My question is about the Rapture. I was baptized in the Free Methodist Church.  I now attend a community church. I watched several prophecy preachers when I was first saved. They helped me a lot, but now I have doubts about the Rapture. What is your opinion about the Rapture? My grandchildren are asking me about this and I want to speak the truth. Is there going to be a Rapture of the church before the tribulation, after the tribulation or none at all? Also, if the Rapture is to be after or during the tribulation or not at all, why did Christ die?  I know we could never be good enough for heaven and without Jesus’ ...

The Dragon and the Baby – Greg Albrecht

“A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born” (Revelation 12:1-4, my emphasis). Chances are you will not see or receive a Christmas card depicting the nativity in ...

January 2021

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Articles: Learning Pandemic Lessons – pg. 1 Here Comes the Dreamer – pg. 2 I Must Confess – pg. 5 My Sister Claretha – pg. 7 Quotes & Connections – pg. 8

What’s Missing? Unplugging from Christless Religion – Greg Albrecht

  Christianity in America Today There was an enormous long-range impact on Christianity when the United States broke free from the throne of England and declared itself a sovereign democratic republic, a confederation of states that eventually gave expression to the capitalism we know today. The American constitution made no laws governing the exercise of religion. The state guaranteed freedom of religion, as this land eventually called the United States had already become the home of individuals fleeing religious oppression and bondage.   By the 20th century, Christianity within America had fragmented, breaking into many constituent ...