442 results for tag: Brad Jersak
“Shirley, Goodness & Mercy” by Brad Jersak
Psalm 23 (NKJV)
1 The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.
My Three ...
Q&R: When Jesus ‘Spews’ – Brad Jersak
Question:
Some people in my life refer to the Bible verse about not being "lukewarm" in what feels like a really hurtful way. They leave me wondering if I am getting this faith thing right. Am I lukewarm? Will god spit me out? Is there perhaps a misunderstanding here? Can we read this in other ways that don't feel so discouraging, like either you're in or you're out?
Response:
That's such an important question. I recall the many times when it was used as a heavy-handed "clobber verse" used to contrive conviction and manipulate a response. It was a classic revivalist rhetorical technique.
It might help if we start by reading it in ...
Q&R – When were the Gospels written? Brad Jersak
Question:
When were the four Gospels written? And by whom? Some claim they were a late invention of the church, generations even after the apostles, discounting their reliability as trustworthy witnesses to the life and teachings of Christ. When I read them, is it just the religious fiction of people trying to make Jesus into a religion?
Response:
What I notice about those who set late dates for the Gospels and discount the authorship of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John is an underlying bias toward skepticism that wants or even needs to discredit the Gospels. But far from bringing an objective analysis to their discipline, they betray ...
June 2023
CLICK HERE to read now
(PDF Format)
Greg Albrecht: He Is Who He Says He Is – pg. 2
Laura Urista: 25 Father's Days – pg. 4
Brad Jersak: This God Comes Down – pg. 7
Q&R: Romans 6:23 – What ‘death’ is this?
Question:
I have often heard people quote this verse only partially and then to imply that death is a metaphor for a place of eternal conscious torment and their justification for hell. I know death represents an end of physical life, but what are the other aspects that Paul is trying to convey metaphorically, especially in light of the rest of the verse?
Response:
Thank you for that all-important question.
First of all, I'm thrilled that noted how half the verse (Romans 6:23) is so often excised in order to create a misreading that actually distorts the gospel. Let's do the due diligence of at least recalling the whole verse and ...
Sinead O’Connor: “Take me to church, but not the ones that hurt …” by Brad Jersak
"Take me to churchbut not the ones that hurt'Cause that ain't the truth"Sinead O'Connor
Just because someone has been hurt badly or offended greatly in the context of a 'church' (whatever that means) and has stormed away in anger and wailed and railed about ... does not mean they have renounced love or forgiveness or the need for a safe place to belong. It does not mean they've shut out their own conscience or have no regrets about harm they've done. It does not mean they've let go of their own beautiful song ... songs of love and joy and lament and healing.
Within Sinead O'Connor's beautiful repertoire, ...
Q&R with Brad Jersak – A More Christlike Way
Question:
I am finally getting around to reading A More Christlike Way. I’m curious about what you wrote on page 64, “We might go further to describe love as God’s heart and ours working as one because in Christ, God and humanity are united forever.”
When you say, “in Christ, God and humanity are united forever,” can we assume that includes everyone who lived before Jesus? And if so, was it true for them during their lifetime or is it only true retroactively? Maybe the root of this question is this: theologically speaking, do you think there has ever been any separation or “un-united-ness” between God and humanity—in light of the ...
New – Questions & Response Page
Keep checking back for more questions.
Plain Truth Ministries and Christianity Without the Religion have received hundreds of questions from readers like you over the years. We thought it might be helpful to bring many of these questions and their response together in one resource page Q & R - (Question & Response). If you have questions or just want to see what other people are asking about, check out our new resource page.
Click here for Questions and Response
PTM’s Question & Response feature addresses actual questions on various topics sent to us from all over the world. Greg Albrecht and Brad Jersak answer as many ...
Heretics & Whetstones – Brad Jersak
"OUR HERETICS"
For the record, I believe the word "heretic" has been weaponized as a dismissive label, a pejorative employed for condemning anyone who disagrees with the one making the accusation. As a tool of debate, we call attacks directed at the person rather than their position "ad hominem," and these are regarded as "logical fallacies." In simple English, calling someone a heretic because they don't agree with you is evidence of nothing, other than rudeness.
Before accusing someone of heresy was a way to exclude, exile or martyr those who didn't conform to status quo religion, it was at least a little kinder. For one, "heretics" were ...
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 ...
Jesus’ Resurrection made Death our friend (pt 3/4) Brad Jersak
In this post, part 3 of our series asking if Death is now our friend, we will discuss Dying.
Unlike death, our defeated foe, dying is an inevitable reality we can come to accept:
Dying is not the same as death. Dying is a process prior to death. In our previous posts on death, we suggested a distinction between death as a moment or event that we all experience and death as a defunct destiny or destination that we need no longer fear.
To that distinction, let's add two more important clarifications:
We can now regard the event or moment of death as part of the dying process.
And we can treat ...
Q: Has Jesus’ Resurrection made Death our friend (pt 2/4) Brad Jersak
In this post, we will explore how Christ and the NT as a whole describe a fundamental shift in the nature of death in two essential ways as a result of Jesus' resurrection.
(CONT'D from Part 1, which is posted HERE).
How have the death and resurrection of Christ fundamentally changed the nature of death itself?
a. One approach is to say that death itself has changed. Death used to mean “consigned to the grave” (whatever that meant) but then with Paul, death came to mean “present with the Lord.” Death as our destiny shifts radically with Christ’s conquest of hades and the emptying of ...
Q: Has the Resurrection made Death our friend? (pt 1/4) Brad Jersak
QUESTION: Has Christ’s resurrection made death our “friend”?
RESPONSE: I have reservations about calling death a friend. But I think it's worth doing an autopsy on death to explore the way Christ’s work changed not only our relationship to death, but changed the nature of death itself.
I want to ask first, how is death not our friend, then how it might now be our friend and finally, how might we talk about death.
So first, and easiest, why is the statement “death is our friend” not true? Most obviously, in 1 Cor. 15—dubbed “the resurrection chapter”—Paul calls death an enemy, and in fact, the last enemy to be destroyed, ...
Q&R with Brad Jersak – Should we fear God?
Rather, from Genesis (26:24) to Revelation (1:17), God consistently answers with a word of comfort, “Fear not!” His people “walked (i.e., lived daily) in the fear of the Lord AND the comfort of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:31). Note the both/and in that verse.
When “Never” means Never-ever” Brad Jersak
On at least four occasions, the Scriptures record God's promise, "I will never leave you or forsake you."
The first occurrences are specific to God's promise to Israel that they would find their place in "the Promised Land":
Twice in Deuteronomy 31:6-8
"Be valiant and strong, do not fear nor be afraid of them [the Canaanites], nor be terrified before them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes before you and with you and among you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." Then Moses called Joshua and said to him before all Israel, "Be valiant and strong, for you must go before this people to the land the Lord swore to ...
Plain Truth Ministries | Box 300 | Pasadena, CA 91129-0300
