549 results for tag: Brad Jersak
Q&R with Brad Jersak – “What are the limits to God’s mercy?”
Question:
A friend of mine insisted, "God is merciful, but even his mercy has limits."
And I remembered a talk that you gave.
You: and his Mercy lasts how long?
Crowd: forever
You: how long?
Crowd: FOREVER
You: How long?
YOU AND CROWD: FOREVER!!
No response necessary, but I wanted you to know that many of us have that voice of mercy in the back of our heads when we hear some "wonk." Thank you.
Response:
Thank you! And while you didn't require a response, I'll just add a few beautiful texts to that antiphonal chorus. Of course, I was leading the crowd to join me in proclaiming the refrain of Psalm 136 in the NKJV, which proclaims "His mercy ...
Our Ultimate Caregiver – Brad Jersak
CAREGIVERS
For a decade of what feels like another lifetime (1998-2008), I led a faith community of which one-third of our attendees were people with mental or physical disabilities in full-time care. Their struggles included Down Syndrome, autism, brain injuries, and a host of neurological conditions and disorders that confined these dear friends to wheelchairs. Their appearance, their sounds, their smells were so attention-grabbing that one might overlook the constant, active presence of their ‘caregivers.’
These caregivers were responsible for 24-7 assistance in every area of their ‘client’s’ lives, including clothing ...
Q&R with Brad Jersak – “Eternal Punishment”? Oh, those goats
Question:
How does Matthew 25:31-46 not contradict the grace and mercy of God and God's desire that all shall be saved?
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.... 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Response:
Thanks for this important and well-stated question. In response, I think it best to start with how they DO, in fact, contradict a number of key New Testament passages, including from the lips of Jesus, IF we follow translations that use ...
Q&R with Brad: Matthew 26:28 / Hebrews 9:22 – Is “shedding blood” necessary for forgiveness?
Question:
I have a question about Matthew 26:28 and "the remission of sins" being based on the shed blood of Jesus. It seems to tie into the Hebrews 9:22 passage but as it's out of the mouth of Jesus, I would like more clarity.
Response:
Matthew 26:28 "For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
Hebrews 9:22 "And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission."
I don't actually see Jesus' words in Matthew's Gospel as problematic UNLESS we're wearing the old atonement lenses of "appeasing God's wrath" through the ...
CWR Video – The Problem of Hell – by Brad Jersak
https://vimeo.com/100964782
Turn or Burn? Elder Brother Evangelism – Brad Jersak
"Turn or Burn!"
How did the good-news invitation of God's love, revealed in the life message of Jesus, become a bad-news ultimatum, distilled crassly by "Turn or Burn" evangelists?
Sure, the hellfire evangelists love to prooftext Jesus' own words from Luke 13:5, “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” I'm not at all interested in casting aside Jesus' warnings about humanity's self-destructive trajectories, but somehow they've been twisted as if they are the gospel he preached. That's a gross misrepresentation, and I think I'm beginning to see how that error expanded into an entire pseudo-evangelistic system. A ...
Q&R with Brad: What does “the one who sins is the one who will die” mean in Ezekiel 18?
Question:
Thank you for your Christianity Without the Religion resources. I haven’t been able to find others who will discuss ideas and questions with me as I study the Bible. Would it be too much trouble for someone to give me their perspective on Ezekiel 18? Namely, that "the righteous will live and the wicked will die." All I’ve been able to find in commentaries so far are references to eternal life and eternal death.
Response:
Thanks for your intriguing question about Ezekiel 18. I'd like to offer a few thoughts that I think will help us understand that text in both its immediate and broader context.
First, if we just ...
Q&R with Brad Jersak: Was Paul wrong about Esau & Pharaoh?
...the "what if" exclusivist scenario of Romans 9 is a distorted construct of God (which stumbled Augustine and his Calvinist progeny). But in context, Paul thoroughly cuts off that error. After all, Christ revealed God as our "loving heavenly Father" rather than an arbitrary tyrant.
Why I Don’t Think I’ll Claim To Be Christian – Brad Jersak
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)
2 It is required in stewards that one be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not ...
“What is God teaching me?” – Brad Jersak
"What is God teaching me in this?"
I hear this question frequently, most often through the trials and tragedies of life. When something goes wrong and life grinds our nose in the dust, we might wonder what lesson we're to learn.
It's almost as if once you learn the lesson, you can move forward. Honestly, while the question is an expression of genuine humility, I think the question itself smuggles in extra painful assumptions that we would do well to discard. IF we think that God imparts wisdom through any circumstance, no problem. But if we view our painful circumstances and afflictions as a lesson sent by God, then God becomes the first cause of ...
Q&R with Brad – Romans 8:37-39 – “Nothing can separate WHO from God’s love”?
Question:
I have just finished reading your book A More Christlike God, and I have a question. In chapter 13, you quote Rom. 8:35-39. Do these verses apply to all of humanity or just Christians?
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?... 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, ...
The Cruciform Gospel – Brad Jersak – Interview with Corey Jolin and Josh Hawkins
The Cruciform Gospel – Brad Jersak.Interview with Corey Jolin and Josh Hawkins (Fremont Community Church).
Brad: In preparation for a weekend seminar (back in 2019) with Fremont Community Church in Indiana, the pastors ran the following questions by me:
St. Thomas style cross - India
Question: Discuss the word cruciform. What does the word simply mean? What are you wanting to portray when using it in your book?
Brad: Simply put, “cruciform” literally means “cross-shaped.”
When we speak of a “cruciform God” or a “cruciform gospel” or “cruciform love,” we’re reflecting on the meaning of 1 John 3:16 ...
Q&R – Are the Gospel Narrators Reliable? Brad Jersak
Question:
Are the stories and words of Jesus 'narrated' to us, like the Old Testament stories? How does that affect our reading of the four gospels and our understanding of God?
Response:
Thanks for the excellent question. It's very important and specifically, the style of narration is important. Here's how I would approach it:
1. First the Gospels ARE narratives. A narrative means that we have a story-line told from a particular perspective... hence, a narrator. Who the narrator is, how the narrator relates to the protagonist, who the narrator's audience is, and what agendas he'd like to put forward all impact the narration. And ...
Q&R – Does Christ ‘deny us’? with Brad Jersak
Question:
I have a question about Matthew 10:33 and 2 Timothy 2:11-12. Both passages describe Jesus denying us. This seems to be contrary to his nature and contrary to most of the theologians I find myself reading. Yet, I see these statements (among others) that seem to paint Jesus has relatively severe.
My task has been to try and see the self-giving God revealed in Jesus and yet not neglect the hard sayings of Jesus. I’ve actually found the task of Christology to be more difficult than I had imagined.
Response:
Let's start with our shared assumptions,
(1) that the God revealed in Jesus Christ is radically inclusive, unfailing Love whose mercy ...
Q&R: “Let there be light!” Brad Jersak
Question
I have had this nagging question. God said, "Let there be light." But it wasn't the physical light. Somehow, the world was already in a state of darkness & needed Light. I know Light can mean Truth, but what is your understanding?
I just want to grasp a God who Loves versus the god I learned through my church, who hates me for imperfection.
Response
What an excellent question!
Let's start with verse 1 - "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
John 1:1 reads this verse through the gospel. IN CHRIST, God created... We read in John 1 and Colossians 1 that all of creation came to be ...
Under Reconstruction: Crazy Characters, Unreliable Narrators and the Divine Architect – Brad Jersak
After Deconstruction
The last years have seen a grand deconstruction of Scripture reading and interpretation—some would say of Scripture itself. Of course, this has been an ongoing centuries-long project, but two unique elements dominate the past decade: first, the ‘New Atheists’ are actually reading the Bible—carefully and, unlike liberal scholars, they have read it literally with a view to destroying faith. “The Bible says it; I reject it; and that settles it.” And second, their dance partners in this deconstruction have been evangelicals who are finally questioning the modernist lingo of ...
“Why are Christians so …?” – Brad Jersak
Watch the video! Ouch, eh?
I guess the most positive answer is that Christ has sought out, found and gathered the worst of the worst into his family of grace. If the family of God is truly open to the those most in need of grace, then don't be surprised if those most in need of grace (the angry, the annoying, the arrogant) show up.
I guess the most negative answer is that having experienced that radical grace, we (the angry, annoying and arrogant) have not yet been transformed by it into gracious people. Why is this? Because we are an "already and not yet" people. Still ...
How is it that Jesus could say, ...
Q&R: What do you mean by “transactional” or “retributive” salvation? Brad Jersak
Question
I’ve started reading your book A More Christlike God. I’m fully with you. I do get a bit stuck with some of your theological language though. On Facebook, you used the term “transactional retribution.” Can you tell me what you mean by that?
Response
Yes, on Facebook, I posted this statement:
The great "Father’s Heart" revelation continues to face resistance from many of its own esteemed teachers, where it has not yet penetrated their commitment to transactional retribution in their constructs of God, expressed in dogmatic systems of original sin, penal substitution, and eternal conscious torment.
So long as these ...
Plain Truth Ministries | Box 300 | Pasadena, CA 91129-0300
