CWR Blog
Christianity Without The Religion BLOG hosted by Brad Jersak.
deliver us from evil
Hijacking Christianity
Religious legalism may seem to have the same external signs as authentic Christianity, but it’s going a different direction. A hijacked plane still has all of the external signage outside that identifies it as an airline with a commendable mission — but internally, a different mission is being planned. There is more to real Christianity than meets the eye.
July 2025 Plain Truth Magazine
The July 2025 Plain Truth magazine is now available for your reading pleasure. Check out the articles and items linked below.
Articles:
Beyond Mere Civility – pg. 1
Christ Is Our Encouragement – pg. 2
Free in Christ – pg. 5
Heaven – More than a Memory – pg. 7
Quotes & Connections – pg. 8
CLICK HERE to read now
We hope that our articles and resources bring comfort, hope, encouragement, and healing to our readers. If you’re experiencing that, please subscribe freely, share freely, and, if you’re able, please consider ...
July 2025
CLICK HERE to read now
(PDF Format)
Articles:
Beyond Mere Civility – pg. 1
Christ Is Our Encouragement – pg. 2
Free in Christ – pg. 5
Heaven – More than a Memory – pg. 7
Quotes & Connections – pg. 8
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
June 25, 2025 - Quote for the Day:
“Christ-less religion convinces its followers that they have a need to be right on all the issues, and further, according to religion (especially fundamentalist religion) its followers believe that they need to categorize all those who differ with them as having less religious value than themselves. Out of such warped thinking comes terms like heathen, heretic, unsaved, unbeliever and pagan – words that are used to describe the ‘other side.’”
Originally published in:
Spiritual Soup for the ...
Prayer — Experiencing God
Christendom is filled with talk of “prayers that work.” But what about prayers that don’t “work”? Is there more to prayer than convincing God to give you what you want?
CWR Video – The Religious Version of the Prodigal Son – by Greg Albrecht
The Religious Version of the Prodigal Son
For other video shorts, with Greg Albrecht, Brad Jersak, Lucy Peppiatt, Brian Zahnd, Steve McVey, and others, visit CWRvideo.
We hope that our articles and resources bring comfort, hope, encouragement, and healing to our readers. If you’re experiencing that, please subscribe freely, share freely, and, if you’re able, please consider donating freely toward paying it forward by clicking the blue giving at the top of your screen.
What’s Love Got to Do With It?
God’s love is so much more than the popular definition of love that often leads to roller-coaster-ride like relationships that rely solely on infatuation and sexual attraction. Worship with us as we reflect on the love of Christ — a love that loves us into loving.
The Gathering Storm of Fundamentalism – by Greg Albrecht
It is one of the most explosive issues facing our world in the early years of this 21st century. Political and religious agendas around the world are bullied and coerced, reacting to a virus-like spiritual plague of religious fundamentalism. The Islamic fundamentalist reaction to Western imperialism and decadence is said to be a counter-attack on the "great Satan's" of our culture (materialism, immorality, secularism, humanism, science and technology), all of which are blamed for taking our world to hell in a hand-basket.
Though the eyes of the world are currently ...
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
June 23, 2025 - Quote for the Day:
“1) In terms of your relationship with God, do you think of what you do as more important that what you are?
By God’s grace, we are friends of Jesus. He offers us that intimate relationship so that we can…bring forth fruit (John 15:16). We are enabled to bring forth the fruit Jesus desires because he is our friend. Our flesh is capable of bringing forth fruit. But, if we are not friends of Jesus then any fruit we produce is not worthy of him – it will always fall short of the kind of fruit he ...
Breakfast with Brad – Inclusion: A More Christlike God
In which Brad prepares for a day of teaching in Sunriver, Oregon over a gourmet breakfast. Oh, and teases something about our inclusion in Christ's redemptive work.
https://vimeo.com/1007837820
We hope that our articles and resources bring comfort, hope, encouragement, and healing to our readers. If you’re experiencing that, please subscribe freely, share freely, and, if you’re able, please consider donating freely toward paying it forward by clicking the blue giving at the top of your screen.
Jesus — And Now — Someone Completely Different
During his earthly ministry Jesus was not what anyone expected. More than that, the risen Lord who is ever present with us continues to turn our human expectations upside down.
Treasures, Gifts and Rewards – Greg Albrecht
Grace alone, faith alone and Christ alone is a way of stating our unrelenting focus on the grace of God in the ministry of CWR/PTM. Our good works are the evidence that we are saved by the grace of God, they are evidence that Christ lives his risen life in us. Good works are the result of God’s grace, the product of Christ living in us, for indeed, apart from him we can do nothing of eternal virtue and good (John 15:5). Our good works, the gifts of God, the fruit of God the Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23), involve our participation, our willing ...
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
June 21, 2025 - Quote for the Day:
“…the most popular religious messages on billboards across the United States are statements attributed to a direct quote from God: 1) ‘Don’t make me come down there,’ and 2) ‘You think it’s hot here?’ (usually found in the south and in sunbelt states).
Legalistic religion is selling us a bill of goods. Performance-based religion is convincing us that God is angry, and of course that’s easy for us to believe because we already believe God has every reason to be angry with us. We know Jesus Christ ...
Is the Bible Inspired? – Paul Dazet
The Bible is inspired not because it is inerrant, but because the Spirit still breathes through its human words to lead us to Jesus, and form us into people of love.
Wrestling With What That Really Means
What is the Bible?
That question might be the most important one facing the church today.
It sits underneath nearly every major conflict, whether we’re talking about LGBTQIA+ inclusion, women in ministry, immigration, politics, or how we talk about justice, war, or identity. So much of our disagreement comes down to how we read the Bible, and what we ...
Jesus Is Looking For You
Consider the lengths to which Jesus goes as he looks for each and every one of us. Give glory to God who brings Light into the dark places of our lives.
Tender Mercies: “Isadore’s Secret” – by Ruth A. Tucker
Bless the Lord who crowns you with tender mercies (Psalm 103, NKJV).
When we contemplate love and care and tender mercies bestowed upon another, we usually imagine the person to be alive. But throughout history—particularly among Christians—there has been special care accorded the dead. Jesus' body was perfumed with spices and laid to rest in a tomb set aside for burial. Generations later Christians stayed behind in Alexandria during a pandemic to nurse the sick and bury the dead. Pagans, fearing for their own ...
John’s Delectable Double Meanings – Brad Jersak
The Gospel of John is an amazing showcase of double entendres. A few of my favourites are:
John 1:4-5
“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (NIV)
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (NKJV)
John 1:9
“The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.” (NIV)
“That was the true Light ...
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
June 19, 2025 - Quote for the Day:
“Some say that they are mad at God because, in spite of everything they have done for him (!?), he hasn’t given them what they feel they deserve. Is that what we want – really? Do we want God to give us what we deserve?”
Originally published in:
Christianity Without the Religion magazine, August 2021
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CWR Video – Reading the Old Testament with Jesus as Our Rabbi
In this CWR Video, Brad discusses a Jesus-centered approach to reading the Old Testament.
https://vimeo.com/1018411077
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“But Even If He Does Not…”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego -- it’s a revered story we all know — but what is the real moral of this story we read in the book of Daniel?
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