440 results for tag: blog
The Already Here Kingdom Pt. 2 – by Greg Albrecht
Have you ever had the experience of frantically looking for your keys only to find that they are in your pocket, or in the ignition of the car or hanging from the lock on the back door—just where you left them? You may have looked all over the house for your hat, only to find it sitting right there on your head. As you searched and searched, it was there, on your head, all the while.
Just where is the kingdom of God? In Mark 1:15 Jesus said "the kingdom of God is near." In Luke 17:20-21 he says, "the kingdom of God is in your midst." So is the kingdom near, but not here? Is it here, but we just don't know where to look?
The Interpreter's Bible ...
Pen Pals – by Ruth A. Tucker
I once had a pen pal. A boy from Kissimmee, Florida. I was ten, he the same age. Other than that, I don’t remember anything about him, not even his name. I was reminded of him the other day when I read a fascinating story about pen pal connections that spanned decades. The article was from the Washington Post, and I was immediately taken by the fact that the one-time girl grew up in East Grand Rapids only a short distance from where I lived for most of three decades. Twelve-year-old Kristina Olson had gone door-to-door, raising money through Camp Fire Girls in order to send care packages to soldiers stationed abroad. Hers went to Ned Felder in ...
Freedom, Festival and Fireworks – by Ed Dunn
Christ has set us free to live a free life. So, take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you - Galatians 5:1, NIV
Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better – Albert Camus
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom - 2 Corinthians 3:17, NIV
We have a small town a few miles to the south of us in Pasadena, California. Technically, the town is more like a city in terms of its population, but the feel of San Marino, California is definitely small-town, especially on the Fourth of July. Its central park, Lacy Park, is shaded by a forest of towering mature trees. The ...
The Already Here Kingdom Pt. 1 – by Greg Albrecht
Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is in your midst."—Luke 17:20-21
Larry's boyhood dream was to fly. He joined the Air Force, but never became a pilot, so when he became a civilian, he settled down near the Los Angeles International Airport, so he could sit in this backyard watching jets take off and land. One day Larry had an idea. He decided that it was time for him to stop being a spectator, and become a participant. Larry decided that it ...
Who Am I — Who Are You? by Greg Albrecht
Chances are you have asked yourself one or more of the following questions: "Why am I living?" "Am I making a real difference?" "How can I be successful in my life?" "When all is said and done, will my life be regarded as significant or insignificant?"
As we try to answer these questions about what is truly important and how we can be a significant person, our world at large offers counterfeit solutions which lead us through a maze of meaningless activities. A famous musician flying in a private jet is worshipped as an idol—and accorded the ultimate honor of being called a "star" —while a farmer who works the land and produces crops for people ...
Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word – by Greg Albrecht
What've I got to do to make you love me? What've I got to do to make you care?—Sorry Seems to Be The Hardest Word, Elton John, 1976
Is God Disappointed With You? – by Greg Albrecht
There is no doubt the "disappointed God" must be included in the Top Ten Misunderstandings of God. Here's the heavenly picture this erroneous stereotype creates: the "disappointed God" sits, slumped forward on his heavenly throne, head in hands, peering down, sighing and frowning, disillusioned and frustrated with you and me. This misconception of God presents God as dismayed and despondent because of our seemingly never-ending failures. The "disappointed God" wonders whether you and I will ever learn.
Of course, dissatisfaction exists in our relationship with God, but the frustration is on our part, not that of God's. The disenchantment we feel ...
Spitting Into the Wind – by Greg Albrecht
Call me the "Quester." I've been king over Israel in Jerusalem. I looked most carefully into everything, searched out all that is done on this earth. And let me tell you, there's not much to write home about. God hasn't made it easy for us. I've seen it all and it's nothing but smoke— smoke, and spitting into the wind.
Life's a corkscrew that can't be straightened, a minus that won't add up. I said to myself, "I know more and I'm wiser than anyone before me in Jerusalem. I've stockpiled wisdom and knowledge." What I've finally concluded is that so-called wisdom and knowledge are mindless and witless—nothing but spitting into the wind. Much ...
What is God’s Plan for Your Life? by Greg Albrecht
You may have been in a discussion with someone about dilemmas they face or decisions they must make when they concluded with a comment that went something like this: “Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait to see what God’s will is.”
Recently, a little four-year-old boy, who was a cousin of a friend of ours, opened the front door of his house and walked into the front yard only to be gunned down by a drive-by shooter. Should it make a difference (and it doesn’t), the little boy was baptized and regularly attended a brick-and-mortar church. What was God’s plan for his life?
I have several friends and family members who have died ...
Eight Decades Later – by Ed Dunn
They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate – President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven - Matthew 5:44-45, NIV
If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering, enough to disarm all hostility – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
So much of the progress that would define the 20th century, on both sides of the Atlantic, came down to the battle for a slice of beach only six miles long and two miles wide – Introductory Comments, 70th Anniver...
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 ...
How Big Is God? – by Greg Albrecht
Many Christians seem to believe that Jesus came to this earth as a kind of Plan B. They've been taught that Jesus came to this earth to save us because Adam "fell"—and further, they've been told that when Adam "fell" God had to, in effect, scurry around and come up with Plan B.
This reasoning is of course, unbiblical—and beyond that, it doesn't make sense. Why would Christmas, the incarnation of God, be Plan B? Why wouldn't Christmas have been on the drawing boards from the very get-go? Why wouldn't Jesus have been planning to come anyway?
Years ago I read a little book by J.B. Phillips titled Your God is Too Small. J.B. Phillips wanted the ...
Getting Caught Up in a Religious Show – by Greg Albrecht
Acts 5:1-11 The story of Ananias and Sapphira
Here's a story that might seem as if it belongs in the Old Testament rather than the New. The story related by our keynote passage begins with an idyllic picture of new Christians, living together and sharing their lives. But then, in the midst of this upbeat picture of God's favor and blessings, comes a depressing story of a man and his wife who gave an offering to God, but misrepresented the actual amount of how much they gave. In the middle of this time when God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all (Acts 4:33) God took the life of this husband and ...
Does God Have a Strategic Plan for You? – by Ed Dunn
We are in the midst of an exciting strategic planning process here at Plain Truth Ministries (PTM). This planning process, which involves our team here in the Pasadena office, along with Brad Jersak in Canada, gives us an opportunity to take a fresh look at PTM’s mission, magazines and partner letters, books, on-line content, as well as the operations and procedures that support all we do in this ministry. As a closeknit team, we approach every aspect of this planning process prayerfully, as careful and conscientious stewards, asking God for guidance and wisdom as we look to the future. By definition, Strategic Planning is a type of planning ...
Downward Mobility – by Greg Albrecht
Jesus tells his disciples, in no uncertain terms, if you think that my kingdom is going to replicate the power-hungry, authoritarian, serve-the-big-shots-first-and-foremost kind of authority this world often sees, then think again. "Not so with you." Jesus tells his disciples that if they choose to be ministers in his kingdom then they will choose love over power.
If we want to follow Jesus, serving others in his name, then our lives will be exemplified by sacrificial love as he demonstrated on his cross rather than the crass control mechanisms of authoritarianism, whereby Christ-less religion and its leadership always gets served first, many times ...
One Day in May – by Ed Dunn
We walked slowly into the funeral home together amidst a shower of cold rain and gray ash. Following him in, I can still see the collection of raindrops and ash making a paste on the shoulders of my father’s black pinstripe suit. My best friend, Tim, had died after being struck by a car a few days earlier. He died while delivering newspapers from the back of a bicycle on his early morning paper route. We were there, on that bleak day in May, to express our sorrows, to pay our last respects, and to say goodbye to Tim.
A few days earlier, I had learned the pure joy of experiencing the natural intersection of blind chance, sport and self-disc...
Mother’s Day Cards – by Ruth A. Tucker
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 amused Dan to play with his quarry as a cat plays with a mouse, when ...
You Are Loved – by Greg Albrecht
This week is Mother's Day here in North America, and we extend a huge thank-you to all mothers, as we celebrate their role in our lives. Having said that, in the midst of all our Mother's Day celebrations we should remember that the outward trappings of Mother's Day often overwhelm the spiritual elements. Phone calls and greeting cards and flowers and lunches and gifts have come to be an expected part of observing this special time.
But sometimes grown children, free from the prompting of teachers at school or reminders from their fathers, can forget to call or send a card. Sometimes grown children resent their mothers, for one reason or another, ...
Q: Has the Resurrection made Death our friend? (pt 4/4) Brad Jersak
This article completes our series on the question of whether or not Death is now our friend (click here to begin at part 1). So far, we've seen that while we must all pass through a process of dying that culminates in the event or moment of death, the resurrection of Christ radically changed the nature of death itself. It is no longer a destination or destiny to be feared in some dreary grave or gloomy underworld. Death in that sense has died and dying is a transition into the joy of the Lord.
In this article, we explore surrender: a posture towards disease, dying and death:
What if we never have to ...
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