CWR Blog
Christianity Without The Religion BLOG hosted by Brad Jersak.
It’s Not Over Until It’s Over – by Greg Albrecht
Friend and Partner Letter from April 2023
Christmas, at least in its popular celebrations, centers on the birth of a baby. Who doesn’t love and adore babies? What’s not to like about feasting, music, decorations and presents? But Easter? In large part Easter is celebrated with eggs, chocolates, bunnies, flowers and Easter bonnets because that’s the way the secular world has dolled it up.
But by contrast with the warm, fuzzy and heartwarming story of Christmas, the deeper meaning behind Easter involves the haunting specter of a cross, with agonizing ...
CWR Video – Triumphal Entry – by Brian Zahnd
https://player.vimeo.com/video/152020549
Short Video by Brian Zahnd
Crucified Identities
"How are you?" is a common greeting. Even when the person who says those words really wants to know how we are, and while how we are is important for the here and now, who we are is critically important on this and the other side of eternity.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR475.mp3
April 2023 CWR Magazine
CLICK HERE to read now
Brad Jersak: Logos, Light & Lamb – pg. 2
Greg Albrecht: Everything Happens for a Reason? – pg. 4
Greg Albrecht: Nailmarks, Scars & Doubts – pg. 7
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
March 30, 2023 - Quote for the Day:
“We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus in a Christ-centered way, for it is about Jesus’ own personal, victorious bodily resurrection – the resurrection is about him. In and through him we have new life now! He is alive – he is our risen Lord!
But Jesus’ resurrection is also about our own future resurrection, and for that matter, the resurrection of the entire cosmos, when a new order of things will begin. The new order of things is by him and for him. At his Second Coming we will be bodily ...
Resting In Christ Alone
Christ-less religion explains that we must work first, and then God will give us his rest. But, as it so often is, the truth of the gospel is the precise opposite! The invitation of Jesus is to his rest, in which he then empowers us to work and become the workmanship of God.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR403.mp3
Did God Tempt or Test Abraham? If so, how and why? – Greg Albrecht
QUESTION:
I really appreciate your daily CWR Unplugged programs. Recently you made a comment about Genesis 22, and you remarked that God was not testing Abraham, but he was revealing the love of God to him. So, I am struggling with this. God asked Abraham to sacrifice Issac, but what, it wasn't really a test on Abraham but a show of God's love, I guess not requiring the sacrifice?
But when I read in Genesis 22, it clearly is described in verse 1 as a test, and in verse 12 that Abraham had passed the test. Can you help me understand this ...
The Best Wedding Ever!
To know Jesus is to know and experience new wine, the dynamic message of God's grace that frees us from confining and restrictive old wine skins of stale, musty and oppressive institutionalized religion.
Does God Save Us from God? Brad Jersak
Twitter statement: “God saves us from God. The One who mercifully drags us out of the rebellious city is the same One who rains down fire upon it.”
Thus wrote a popular tweeter whose handle I’ll withhold out of respect and concern.
God saves us from God? How so?
Penal substitution continues to be the most popular Western answer to the question, “Why did Christ die?” and is the default interpretation for Scripture’s assertion that “Christ died for our sins.” Rather than treating it as one of many atonement theories, major denominations are now ...
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
March 28, 2023 - Quote for the Day:
“The Cross of Jesus Christ is a consummate, far-reaching symbol of God’s love for all creation. Out of his eternity, God came down, vertically intersecting our horizontal existence on a planet where we are subjects of time and space. Because of the Cross, which fully reveals the love of God, we are united with him, in this once-and-for-all demonstration of his forever love. Jesus then was raised from the dead as a symbol of the undying love and the eternal victory of good over evil."
Originally published in: ...
It’s a Covenant, NOT a Contract!
While many make the mistake of assuming the relationship God offers each of us is more like a contract than a covenant, we should not make another mistake by assuming covenants don't involve counting the cost.
Have I Truly Accepted Christ? – Greg Albrecht
Question: When I asked for salvation at a younger age, a part of me wondered if I was truly accepted by Christ. I held to some bad theology and thought I’d committed the unpardonable sin in the past. I literally cried for forgiveness (wondering, “Is it even possible for me!”). But I was still not 100% completely convinced Jesus’ sacrifice would apply to my particular sin.
I believed in him entirely as the King and Source of salvation. I believe he died for our sins. I also looked to him in faith and begged for his help.
So was asking that enough to be ...
The Supremacy of Jesus Christ
Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, Jesus is the one "who is, who was and who is to come" (Revelation 1:8). Jesus is supreme, the author of our salvation, the center of all that we believe and the completion of our faith.
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
March 26, 2023 - Quote for the Day:
“God does not need nor is he obligated by our religious performances. Sadly, it’s virtually inevitable that the production of religious stuff makes people feel that God is obligated to them. Many religious people feel that God must reward their religious trophies, blue ribbons, diplomas, certificates and commendations. And that attitude leads to pride, the antithesis of the attitude of Jesus, which is humility. The humility of Jesus is the impoverishment of the human spirit.”
Originally published in:
B...
A Jesus Kind of Church — by Greg Albrecht
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." —Luke 4: 18-19
No Country for Old Men
Out in the endless, desolate desert of west Texas, a hunter looking for antelope stumbles on a crime scene. Abandoned cars and trucks are pock marked with bullet holes, and a half dozen or so dead bodies are scattered around.
In that odd and somewhat glib euphemism ...
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