CWR Blog
Christianity Without The Religion BLOG hosted by Brad Jersak.
Religion Attempts to Overthrow Grace
The early New Testament church quickly learned that they could not deceive or manipulate God. The relationship he offered them, and that he offers us, is one that we can only receive, not gain or earn. We have nothing to offer God that he doesn't already have.
CWR Video – by Brad Jersak – “Spreading Hospitality”
Short video by Brad Jersak about spreading hospitality as Christians.
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.
The Unsolvable Problem of Evil – Brad Jersak
QUESTION: How do you solve "the problem of evil?"
RESPONSE: I don't. We can't.
To clarify for readers, the problem of evil refers to the question of how we can reconcile the reality of evil and suffering with belief in an all-powerful and all-loving God.
Unlike 'apologists' for faith (Christian or otherwise) who try to calculate their way to a solution and imagine they can harmonize divine goodness and human affliction, I don't believe there is a rational solution to the problem of evil. We call such attempts "theodicies." While God does respond to human ...
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
January 23, 2025 - Quote for the Day
“In both his behavior and his teachings Jesus reached out to the downtrodden, offering healing and grace to all those in bondage. He pierced through the crippling aggression of the rich and the slavery of religious power brokers. Jesus flipped the script of what is fair and just, upending traditional ethical assumptions and religious traditions. The Beatitudes then seemed so illogical and counter-intuitive and they still do. Jesus’ teaching reveals the eternal and divine value of vulnerability in the ...
Downward Mobility
Jesus disciples all wanted to be rich and famous, but the kingdom of heaven is founded on an opposing value -- serving others rather than serving ourselves.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR262.mp3
Sample One of Our Daily Audio Messages
"Downward Mobility"
Jesus disciples all wanted to be rich and famous, but the kingdom of heaven is founded on an opposing value -- serving others rather than serving ourselves.
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.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR262.mp3
Links to Our Daily Radio
February 2025
CLICK HERE to read now
(PDF Format)
Greg Albrecht "You Don't Love Me!" – pg. 2
Richard Rohr God, the Lover of Life – pg. 5
Brad Jersak "God is Love, but..." Nothing! – pg. 7
Growing Beyond Our Expectations
What did Jesus mean when he said, Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me?
When Christ-less Religion Meets God’s Grace – by Greg Albrecht
All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.—John 16:1-3
What happens when fear, shame and guilt meet God's unconditional love? Human history is a record of titanic struggles and classic confrontations. Biblically, we think of Moses and the seemingly defenseless Israelites, hemmed in by the mountains, with the Red Sea at their back, being pursued ...
Q&R with Greg Albrecht – “Law or Grace: A Debate”
Question 1:
I have read repeatedly in the Bible about the “wedding garment” – most importantly, the passage where the man in heaven is seated at the table of the feast and is found not to have a wedding garment on. He is asked why and is speechless. So he is bound and thrown into “the darkness, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 22:13). How do I know if I will have a “wedding garment”?
Response 1:
Great question! A study of wedding garments in the New Testament reveals that only Jesus can provide the wedding garment. The wedding ...
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
January 21, 2025 -Quote for the Day
“When truth is fixed, reality adapts to unequivocal, eternal verities. When truth is no longer truth, and every opinion equal, then subjective decisions are more likely to be accepted and tolerated. Every generation that seeks to right all wrongs, finds itself battling with the unsettling reality that others in the past differed, and the notion past generations may have had it more ‘right’ than we do now is not only inconvenient, it is a painful and disconcerting possibility. So why not reject such ...
Making a Difference in Christ
Greg explains the real difference between the sheep and the goats of Jesus parable in Matthew 25.
Sitting With Others
As we remember the extraordinary legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. we think of how instrumental he was in bringing people of different races and cultures together. We consider Ezekiel's example of sitting among captives and exiles, and most of all the example of Jesus who became one of us, living among us, sitting with us.
Breakfast with Brad – Agents of Judgment or Messengers of Invitation?
In which judgment makes Brad defiant rather than repentant ... adding sour cream and salmon flakes to his Kraft Dinner. What if God understands that dynamic, too?
CWR Video – Entrances and Exits
In this CWR Video, Ed reflects on Luke 4 and the beginning of Jesus' earthy ministry.
https://vimeo.com/1013232364
If this post has helped you, please subscribe and share it freely. We also invite you to help us continue to help others with a donation. Click here if you're able to partner with us
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
January 18, 2025 - Quote for the Day
“In a sad but twisted irony, religion not only seduces and deceives its followers (addicts and slaves), but it assures them that they need to endure misery and abuse in order to please and appease God. What a travesty! Religious legalism has turned many of its followers into the walking dead.”
Originally published in:
Unplugging from Religion – Connecting With God
-------------------------------------
Help Us Help Others - Give Now
Can You See His Hands?
Join Greg as he considers the difference between an open hand, like that of Jesus on the cross, and a clinched fist.
Times Like These – Stuart Segall
These words (from Psalm 23:3) and imagery powerfully remind us of hope and guidance, even in the face of pain and devastation caused by events like catastrophic raging wildfires. My mother loved this verse - she had it embroidered in my bedroom. She understood the power of the image and the words of this verse. She often did not have the right words for my painful times as a youth, but she would often sit me down to face the framed words that hung in my room.
Sometimes for me, it takes loss, death, setbacks, and grief to have my attention focused on these timely ...
Looking Ahead or Looking Back – by Greg Albrecht
As the covered wagon rolled and pitched
Along the prairie track, One sat looking forward
And one sat looking back. One searched the wide horizon For a bright and better day:
And, one saw the disappointing road
Til’ it too slipped away. &nbs...
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
January 16, 2025 - Quote for the Day
“… running around in circles, so consumed with doing and fulfilling religious duties that there is little time to do anything else, let alone think, does not equate to following Jesus Christ… One can think that the highways and byways of Christ-less religion are paths of pleasing and appeasing God, while being absolutely deceived about who God actually is. I was once making excellent progress on a narrow road that was in reality the broad road Jesus spoke of, but in terms of following Jesus I was going nowhere ...
Plain Truth Ministries | Box 300 | Pasadena, CA 91129-0300
