431 results for tag: blog
The Comfort of Christ – by Ed Dunn
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28, NIV)
The most important thing that ever happens is letting ourselves be loved and comforted by God. ‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10)” - Brennan Manning, The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7, NIV)
One of Jesus’ most precious gifts to those who follow him would have to be comfort. In using the term, comfort, I am not writing of a material comfort, as if Jesus promises his followers great wealth, perfect health, or an easy life. No, far from it. The Comfort of ...
Life, Dirt, Dust and Jesus – Part 2 – by Ken Williams
What I learned from dad and how I applied his lessons.Dad died April 17, 1982. His body was buried in the dirt, has returned to the dust he came from, and his bones are resting in his grave in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Shortly before he died, he predicted he would die soon after he turned 82, like his parents before him. I heard him but was reluctant to let him go and reminded him that Nancy was pregnant, and his youngest grandchild would be born in four months. He was confident, sensing Jesus’ gift of peace but assured me he would die before this grandson would breathe his breath of life.Grandson?
I asked dad why he ...
What’s So Bad About Religion? – by Greg Albrecht
Some of our readers and listeners can't bring themselves to believe that religion is as bad as we say it is. They say things like, "you spend too much time talking about the negative things and too little about the good things." One person said, "What's so bad about religion? If you had more grace you wouldn't harp on religion so much."
If you have ever visited a prison, you walk away realizing it's a horrible thing to be incarcerated. When you are locked up, you are a slave, you have no freedom. If you know anything about institutionalized incarceration you will also know that inmates learn to depend on and work the ...
Spiritual Sight – by Ed Dunn
Friend and Partner Letter from June 2025:
For we live by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Many of you have graciously asked me through your cards, letters, emails and phone calls about my eyesight condition and how I am doing here at PTM. I always appreciate the question, and your deep care behind the question, and so, I would like to take some time to give you an update.
You may recall, I have written previously of my eyesight condition in Plain Truth magazine articles and columns, and also on our website, www.ptm.org, through various blog posts. I suffer from a rare form of macular degeneration known as Stargardt’s Disease. This ...
What Does ‘We are Not Under the Law but Under Grace’ Really Mean? by Greg Albrecht
Many professing and church-going Christians fail to realize what "we are not under the law but under grace" means. Most agree that it's God's grace and not anything we can do that will make us right with God. Most realize and accept that Christians don't follow the rites and rituals of the Old Testament but they are often confused about the Ten Commandments. They believe that the Ten Commandments (except seventh-day Sabbath-keeping) are valid and required norms of behavior.
Here's the Christ-centered perspective we need. When Jesus died on his cross, he completed all the terms of the old covenant. He had kept its terms perfectly, and on his ...
Our True Significance – by Stuart Segall
At a time in life about 15 years ago, I felt useless. I did not know what I had left in me. Would I somehow be able to regroup, retool, and rethink? How I reflect on this when I look back and now read this quote."No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another," carries a profoundly wonderful message for folks like me. At its core, each act of kindness, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, adds value to our collective human experience. You see, our worth isn’t solely determined by great achievements or grand milestones; rather, it is measured by the way we contribute to easing another’s struggles.Charles ...
What is the Gospel? – Part 2 by Greg Albrecht
When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are ...
What is the Gospel? – Part 1 by Greg Albrecht
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written, "The righteous will live by faith."—Romans 1:16-17
Paul 1) categorically states that he is not ashamed of the gospel, 2) defines the gospel as the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, and 3) asserts that the gospel inherently includes a righteousness from God—a righteousness by faith—precluding any sort of righteousness which may come, or ...
CWR Video – Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines
In this CWR Video, Ed discusses these two terms and how they can be used in religious settings.
https://vimeo.com/1018069160
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Gratitude – by Ed Dunn
Special Partner Letter from May 2025:
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. (Psalm 100:4)
We say Grace (give thanks) before meals, and I say Grace before the concert or play, before I open a book, before sketching, painting and swimming, before walking, dancing and playing. I say Grace before I dip the pen in ink. – G.K. Chesterton
Gratitude is the quality of being thankful, and the readiness to show appreciation and to return kindness. – Oxford Dictionary
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to ...
We Don’t Need Perfect Mothers – by Rachel Ramer
When my sisters and I face relationship challenges, we occasionally say to each other, “What would Mom have done? Let’s not do that.” This may seem disrespectful, casting our mother as a horrible role model, but the truth is, we sympathize with the struggles she faced and how she dealt with them. She grew up in a world where females were openly taught to acquiesce to the will of the men in their lives. The church, the workplace and the home all reinforced this. Society taught her not to stand up for her own needs, and she passed this tendency on to her daughters. We struggled to dismantle this message for ourselves.
On the other hand, ...
Tender Mercies: “Mothers Day Cards” – by Ruth A. Tucker
Bless the Lord who crowns you with tender mercies (Psalm 103, NKJV).
One of my favorite short stories is “Mothers Day” by Octavus Roy Cohen. It was Saturday night, the eve of Mothers Day. Dan Clancy “neither knew nor cared.” He was a police detective, “square shouldered” who “thought only of himself.” But on this particular night his thoughts were on a “narrow-shouldered and furtive” drifter, “a sneak-thief” hiding under the freight cars. Of course, Dan could have picked him up willy-nilly as a vagrant and seen to it that the man received sixty or ninety days in the workhouse. But there was little pleasure in that. It ...
10 Percent Grace and 90 Percent Law? – by Greg Albrecht
Recently I was asked about a church pastor who preaches 10 percent grace and 90 percent law. Apparently this church has a clock counter on its website to show how fast people are getting to hell. This church believes that one of the methods of "saving" people is to expose their sins, and (by embarrassing them) guilt them into obeying God.
This church is but one of many which believes that the Ten Commandments (and at times other portions of the old covenant) must be preached to sinners to prepare them to accept Christ.
The idea is taught in several different ways:1) People must be convinced that they have a problem (that they are ...
CWR Video – The Wrath of God
In this CWR Video, Brad discusses progressive revelation and how the concept of Wrath has been used in Scripture.
https://vimeo.com/1015771501
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CWR Video – “Why Did Jesus Die?” – by Brad Jersak
Short video by Brad Jersak
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.
From Our Mailbox…
I’ve been reading A More Christlike God by Brad Jersak, and I want to thank you for encouraging readers/viewers/listeners to read his book. Brad’s encouragement to "pause to think" at the end of each chapter, is thoughtful. I'm sobered, humbled, by how often I allowed others to do my thinking for me.
I'm shocked to discover that some of my "old ideas" marginalized Jesus Christ and his Cross, and some of my "old ideas," carried to their logical conclusion, "separate" the Father from the Son!
I'm not ashamed to admit I was once a gentile, idolatrous heretic. Jesus ...
Breakfast with Brad – Silly but Harmful
In which Brad eats Campbell's chicken noodle soup, spouts a silly (but harmless) childhood poem, then cites an example of a silly (but very harmful) theology. For the toxic citation, see below:
https://vimeo.com/1007830344
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.
Who Is It You Are Looking For? – by Greg Albrecht
Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"—John 20:11-15
The religious lynch-mob convened an illegal trial, declared an innocent man guilty and condemned him to death. Of course, it wasn't the ...
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