83 results for tag: Letters to My Friends

Our Eternal House – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from September 2024: For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile, we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling… and we would prefer to be away from the body and present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:1-2, 8). When I turned 50, along with nearly everyone else my age in these United States, I started receiving literature from the AARP (American Association for Retired Persons). I was surprised – to be honest, I was offended. What? My 50th birthday meant I needed help crossing the ...

Finding Jesus or Being Found – by Greg Albrecht

But now that you know God – or rather are known by God… Galatians 4:9 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. – John 1:11 When we read John’s summary statement about Jesus being rejected by “his own” we normally think of the historic Jewish culture, race and religion into which Jesus was born… something that happened a long time ago, in the “olden” days. But consider this: If Jesus arrived on earth today, many people who sincerely believe they are following him wouldn’t even let him in their church buildings.  I have a friend who is a Hindu, who in the spirit of our lighthearted ...

Walls and Bridges – by Greg Albrecht

Think with me for a moment about the contrast between a wall and a bridge. Walls exclude and reject while bridges invite and include. Walls are built to limit access – to prohibit adversaries or threats from what is deemed to be worthy of protecting and securing.  Bridges are constructed because of a need and/or a desire to increase traffic from one side to another – bridges are built because of inhospitable, formidable obstacles, a valley or a body of water that inhibits or prevents safe crossings.  Both walls and bridges have their role in our world, but a bridge is by far and away a better illustration of the relationship ...

Spiritual Assisted Living – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from July 2024: Many of you are well aware, perhaps painfully and heartbreakingly so, that in our North American culture “assisted living” describes the extra services needed by seniors living in  communal homes who need more “assistance” with daily tasks than other residents.  Now that I am closer to 80 than I am to 70 (that’s as much as I will divulge in this letter!) I don’t need to be convinced that aging happens and when it does, capabilities, abilities and agilities start to diminish.    Perhaps we don’t fully realize what it means to get old(er) until we pass 60 or 70, or ...

The Grace of God Is Immoral? – by Greg Albrecht

A familiar captivity is frequently more desirable than an unfamiliar freedom. – C.S. Lewis When many who are comfortable with their cherished religious practices and ceremonies hear about CWR (Christianity WITHOUT the religion) and how we as a ministry champion “religion-less” Christianity, they often accuse Christianity WITHOUT the religion and “religion-less” Christianity as being nothing less than permissiveness and immorality.  It’s a serious accusation – one the organized religion of Jesus’ day used to condemn him. As you know, the religious leadership of Jesus’ day insisted that Jesus was spending too much time ...

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 ...

Forgiving Obnoxious Stinkers – by Greg Albrecht

  Old dogs care about you even when you make mistakes. God bless little children while they’re still too young to hate. – Tom T. Hall, Old Dogs, Little Children and Watermelon Wine  His mother told the little four-year old boy he should learn to forgive those who trespassed against him. Her son had never heard the King James word “trespass” – but he realized trespass must be something someone did/does that is really bad. He “translated” the word “trespass” into one of the worst things he had been taught not to do. A few days later, when he was having dinner with his parents, his mother asked him what he had learned ...

God or the gods…In Whom Do We Believe? – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from May 2024: The god of this age has blinded the mind of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4). Caught in traffic after leaving his office, Dave arrived at his son’s first Little League game a little late. His son’s team was just leaving the field after finally getting the other team out. Dave could tell his wife sitting in the grandstands was not happy with his late arrival, so hoping to make some amends he walked down by his son’s dugout and called him over. “What’s the score, Johnny?” His ...

Believing is Seeing – by Greg Albrecht

Doubting Thomas said he would not believe Jesus had actually been resurrected unless he could see and touch Jesus and thereby “prove” the resurrection. Thomas had to see in order to believe. Jesus, in one of his post-resurrection appearances to his friends, accommodated Thomas, telling him,  “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God.” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” – John 20:27-29 Living in this scientific and ...

Lived Briefly, Died Violently, Rose Unexpectedly – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from April 2024: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 4:18). The Romans had many ways they executed criminals, from decapitation to being eaten by animals in the arena before bloodthirsty mobs – but crucifixion was the worst of the worst.  Crucifixion was the most humiliating method of warning everyone against “crossing” the power and might of Rome – the public, graphic, fear-inducing depiction of the absurd futility, from Rome’s perspective, of opposing its might and supremacy. The cross ...

Doubt, Faith and Hope – by Greg Albrecht

According to an old story, years ago there was a severe drought in the farm country of Texas. The people were in despair, so they asked the pastor of their little church to pray for rain. The pastor decided to have a town-wide meeting and invite everyone – even people who were not members of his church – to come and pray for rain.  On the day of the prayer service the little church building was packed to the rafters with desperate people. The pastor climbed into the pulpit and looked out on the assembly.  He asked, “Why are we all here today?” A woman cried out, “We’ve come to pray for rain.” Another person said, ...

Coming Home – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from March 2024: No doubt you have heard someone say, as they prepare to tell a story which others might have been heard or read before, “stop me if you have heard this before.” You are well aware of this story I want to rehearse, so don’t stop me please! This is one of the best stories ever!  Let’s enjoy this brief re-telling again, together!! Once there was a father with two sons. He loved them both, with all his heart. The youngest of the two sons was a “free spirit.”  He was a party waiting to happen, the life of every gathering, a handsome playboy who felt his father owed him a living.&...

A Road Paved With Good Intentions – by Greg Albrecht

Those who attempt to please and appease God via their own accomplishments, good deeds and virtues find that it’s a long and bitterly disappointing never-ending road. People who struggle down the broad road (Matthew 7:13) of Christ-less religion are dragging a ball and chain, because their best efforts to convince God to love them will never be enough.  I lived on that road for almost 40 years – I often call it “40 Miles of Bad Road” after an old Duane Eddy song (released in 1959, but who’s counting?!?). I discovered that the road to hell can be paved with the best of intentions.  Those who trudge down the road of ...

The Tyranny of Numbers – by Greg Albrecht

Perhaps as never before seen in the history of planet earth, we in our advanced, so-called “first world” of 2024 are a culture that worships at the altar of numbers and measurements. If something or someone can be studied, measured, analyzed, weighed and tested then the presupposition is that scientific analysis can improve something or someone. One of the central beliefs of our Western world is that improvement, advancement, gain, and development can be achieved by improving numbers and data that measure progress and growth. This, I believe, is part of the tyranny of numbers! In our society and culture productivity, higher yields, longer ...

Pioneers and Illuminators – by Greg Albrecht

Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind... – lyrics from “Windmills of Your Mind,” the theme song from the 1968 movie, “The Thomas Crown Affair.”  In the era when European ships were too slow and too heavy to travel very far, Prince Henry of Portugal started to explore the African coast, a world largely unknown to Europeans at the time. Following his vision of discovering new vistas and opportunities Henry became a pioneer in the construction of the caravel – a new and lighter sailing ship able to travel farther and faster.     Now known as Henry the Navigator, the patron of Portuguese ...

Don’t Underestimate the Peace of God! – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from January 2024 As this New Year of 2024 begins, North America (as well as Europe, the Middle East and Ukraine, not to mention the entire world), is tired and weary of war, conflict, poverty. epidemics, pandemics and crises of one kind or another. It is an understatement on a grand scale to realize this second decade of the 21st century has introduced colossal upheaval in individual lives, mentally and physically. So much that what once seemed settled and secure is and in a state of agitation, stress and even conflict. We are sick and tired of being sick and tired!   Of course, many now realize the ...

The Real Story of Christmas – by Greg Albrecht

Many customs and traditions that surround Christmas are flights of fancy promising unrealistic escape from the here-and-now into a never-Neverland of endless fun, frivolity and feasting.  But the real story of Christmas is far from an idyllic fantasy filled with “stuff and fluff.” The real Christmas story is about the pits, foxholes and dark places of our lives – to which our Savior comes, to be with us and one of us. The real story of Christmas is that Jesus comes to us – he joins us where we are. Jesus does not rapture us away to “somewhere over the rainbow.”  Matthew 2:13-23 tells us the story of a murderous despot ...

The Beginning of the End – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from December 2023: Every year we celebrate Christmas in the last week of the last month of the year.  Is December 25 the end or the beginning? Are we celebrating the end of a passing year or the beginning of a New Year… or are we celebrating the beginning of the end?   For the past three years we have battled deadly foes, unseen like COVID and visible like the tyrannical Putin of Russia and the unspeakable brutality of war, most particularly in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Dare we hope that December 2023 is the end of some really difficult years, and that relative peace and prosperity is on the way for ...

Standing On Others’ Shoulders – by Greg Albrecht

 If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. – Isaac Newton, 1676 -  Hearing or observing someone giving credit to those who helped him/her in the past (or even the present!) is an incredibly beautiful and gratifying experience.  I am forever thankful for the sacrifices made on my behalf, starting with parents and grandparents, who gave so much. Simply being able to know I stand on the shoulders of many, in so many ways, is one of my enormous blessings for which I give thanks. As Christ-followers, the Cross of Christ represents the ultimate sense in which we stand on anyone’s shoulders. On ...

Thanking God for the Riches of His Grace – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter for November 2023: Teddy, only eight years old, was dying in the hospital of a rare blood disease. He was admitted two weeks before in critical condition, and his health had steadily gone downhill since then. One or both of his parents had been at his bedside for these two weeks, and then yesterday his doctors told them it seemed like Teddy’s condition had stabilized and he might have 4-6 weeks to live.  Teddy’s mother and father felt they could both go home for a day and take care of some pressing matters, and then return the next day. But during the day when his parents were gone, Teddy’s health ...