546 results for tag: Brad Jersak

CWR Video – Progressive Revelation in the Bible

In this CWR Video, Greg and Brad discuss the topic of Progressive Revelation in Scripture. https://vimeo.com/1013235827 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

When “God cares” doesn’t cut it – Brad Jersak

I remember the day when the assurance that “God cares” no longer cut it for me. Worse, it felt offensive. It particularly seems trite when we’re faced with the unmitigated affliction of children who suffer war, abuse, disability, disease, and painful death. God cares? How so? The image that gnawed at my mind and heart and evoked anger was a divine king, seated on a throne, telling me, “I care,”… as in, “I have this caring feeling in my heart toward you,” while failing to provide protection, provision, consolation, or healing as families searched through the rubble of homes flattened by earthquakes or hellfire missiles. God cares? So ...

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 suffering, I never see God offer a philosophical argument that solves the problem, ...

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

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?

The Unforced Love of God – Brad Jersak

Intrinsic to the all-inclusive claims of passages such as Philippians 2:10-11 and John 12:32 is the companion truth that God honors human freedom and our voluntary faith response to Jesus’ work of reconciliation. To harmonize the twin biblical emphases on human freedom and ultimate redemption, we must acknowledge that our rejection of Christ is rooted in a dysfunction of the will, a blindness of our spiritual eyes. But through the gospel message, personal encounter, and an ultimate face-to-face with Christ, our eyes are healed and our wills are freed so that we are restored to our natural state: a joyful and willing “Yes!” to God’s ...

Abp Lazar Puhalo on the “More Christlike” Trilogy

"I am not at all sure I see the value in all of the 'high theology'. Much of it is really theological philosophy. It is of value for keeping false images, potentially idolatries, from developing, but Christians really need a simple faith. That is why I think your 'More Christlike' series is of such great value. Much theological writing is really for an intellectual elite. It can discourage the faithful because of its complexities. Of far greater value to the faithful is the presentation of a simple faith - a presentation that is guarded by the boundaries set by the Fathers, but presented in a manner comprehensible and meaningful to everyone. ...

Breakfast with Brad – The Land of the Law & the Land of Mercy

"Breakfast with Brad" - farmer sausage, hash browns & onions wrapped in savory crepes ... OR pirogies for break! ... and a few words on "The Land of Mercy & the Land of the Law" https://vimeo.com/1007815087 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.

Hyperbole that’s Truer than Facts – Brad Jersak

Q & R with Brad Jersak: In whom and when does the Holy Spirit “enter” us?

Question:  Thanks, Brad for bringing so much needed clarity to the issues in your blog posts. I would love to see more information in regards to the work of Holy Spirit. When does he enter, manifesting his presence as sons, etc.? Response:  That’s an excellent question, the answer to which has filled volumes of books for two millennia. My brief response will cover just the two major features of your question: First, “When does the Holy Spirit enter”? Some say we all “receive” the Spirit when we first come to faith in Christ, others say it happens at our baptism, while still others associate the ...

A Good God Who Doesn’t Always Heal? Brad Jersak

In A More Christlike God, I describe the self-revelation of God in Christ, who is self-giving, radically forgiving, and co-suffering Love. That image of God is cruciform, uncontrolling, but still deeply caring. So how do we hang onto the image of God as a loving heavenly Parent when (1) Jesus told us to pray with boldness and faith, but (2) many of those prayers seem to go unanswered? What gives? What follows is a dialogue with a friend about these complex and difficult issues: AF: Hi Bradley:  I have a nagging subject that I found myself questioning a lot. You wrote about it in this article:https://www.ptm.org/qr-if-go...

Confessing “Jesus is Lord” – Brad Jersak

Confessing “Jesus is Lord” The Bible makes four profound claims about confessing “Jesus is Lord” that defy doctrinal certitude but function to invite faith.  Romans 10:9 — Those who confess “Jesus is Lord” will be saved. “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” 1 Corinthians 12:3 — No one can confess “Jesus is Lord” except by the Spirit.  “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 7:21 — Some who confess “Jesus is Lord” will not enter the kingdom.  ...

Advent Hope – Beyond Wishful Thinking – Brad Jersak

In modern culture, the word hope is normally used as a subjective, psychological state of feeling hopeful—and measured on a scale from hopelessness to confidence. It can be used as an adjective for optimism or, more negatively, wishful thinking. Today, “I hope so” can even be a euphemism for “I doubt it.”  To a great degree, that inner sense of hope that good things are coming is crucial to our mental and spiritual health. On the other hand, we know from hard experience that attaching ourselves to outcomes is also perilous. And since we fear disappointment, people of my disposition are wary of ...

“Turn the Other Cheek” – Brad Jersak

“To turn the other cheek is to turn our faces from past pain and toward the face of Christ.”

CWR Video – Agape Means Respect

In this CWR video, Brad and Laura explore how the Greek word for love, Agape, also means a keen value or worth of the other, or in a word, respect. https://vimeo.com/1038672199 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

The Virgin Birth is a Christological Faith-Claim – Brad Jersak

"For us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven and was Incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary." Gospel claims to Mary's virgin birth (or conception) of Christ are far more than borrowed mythology, co-opted from a host of earlier hybrid-god myths. The historic Christian faith received the story as a revelation delivered via the Gospels of Luke (1:26-38) and Matthew (1:18-25). Yes, we know that the original Hebrew prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 was not about an actual virgin (and can be rendered "young woman") nor even, initially, about Mary or her Son. That said, the LXX (the Greek translation of the OT) does use the term parthenos or ...

New – Questions & Response Page

Keep checking back for more questions. Plain Truth Ministries and Christianity Without the Religion have received thousands 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 - (Questions & 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 Questions & Response feature addresses actual questions on various topics sent to us from all over the world. Greg Albrecht and Brad Jersak answer as many ...

Q&R: How can David killing Goliath be Christlike? Brad Jersak

Question: I’m reading through your books, which are faith-saving! The gospel is indeed beautiful. But after 40 years as an evangelical, I’m finding some things hard to read Jesus into… for example, David killing Goliath. I’ve heard one teacher say that God had to use violence in the culture of the day but will redeem it in the final judgment. He also says that Jesus on the Emmaus Road refers to the broad sweep of Scripture, not every last bit of the Old Testament. In a more Christlike view of God, how is David’s victory over Goliath Christlike? Response: The clarity of your question is extremely helpful. The Jewish Scriptures record this ...

Sometimes Waiting Is Hard – Brad Jersak

Advent is a word I was unfamiliar with as a child growing up in my Baptist tradition. But in my years with the Mennonites, I became familiar with the ritual of lighting candles on the Advent wreath in anticipation of Christ’s nativity. Advent, I learned, meant arrival, but intrinsic to that word was the waiting, the anticipation, and the longing of God’s people for his appearance and especially his deliverance. As a little boy, I relived that expectant hope as the calendar slowly edged forward to Christmas. Sometimes, Waiting Is Hard I think most children find waiting for the climax of Christmas morning difficult… but they may also ...