549 results for tag: Brad Jersak

Q & R: Reading Romans without courtroom lenses – Brad Jersak

Question I’ve been reading through Romans and am just having a hard time *not* seeing consistent affirmations of PSA (penal substitutionary atonement) and the forensic view of “justification” and “righteousness.” But I’m aware that this is because of my background, and I’m trying to unlearn it. I know that you’re able to read Romans in a completely different way and I’d like to learn how to do that. I’m aware of some concepts, like N.T. Wright's "New Perspective," but have a hard time seeing them as I actually handle the text. So I was wondering if you have recommendations that would help me handle Romans differently? Response...

Q&R re: A More Christlike God – Brad Jersak

Question 1 I just finished A More Christlike God and was hoping you could answer some follow-up questions. In the “restorative” version of the chairs gospel (chapter 14), it struck me how you used Moses as an example of how God never turns from us. But in doing so, you glossed over the 10 plagues that did so much harm to Egypt in order for God’s people to be set free. This just feels like a “God has favorites” thing to me, so I’m curious what your thoughts are on why the harm had to be done to Egypt for Moses and his people to be freed?  Response ​Yes, the plagues, and especially the 10th plague that wiped out ...

January 2021

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Articles: Learning Pandemic Lessons – pg. 1 Here Comes the Dreamer – pg. 2 I Must Confess – pg. 5 My Sister Claretha – pg. 7 Quotes & Connections – pg. 8

Q&R: What does “prepared for destruction” mean? (Romans 9:22) – Brad Jersak

Question: Romans 9:22 "What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?"  What is the tone/intent of the phrase "prepared for destruction"? Response: I don't believe we can understand this phrase in isolation from the pastoral concern, rhetorical question and assuring response in which it is embedded. That is, we need to read it in the context of Romans 9-11 after 8 chapters arguing Gentile inclusion by faith in Jesus Christ. In what follows, I am drawing from David Bentley Hart's interpretation in his short, dense ...

When Jesus seems unChristlike – Brad Jersak

What do we do with Scripture when even Jesus seems unChristlike? I can think of a good number of occasions where Jesus seems to either depict his Father as harsh and brutal (if we incorrectly read the king/master parables as straight-across imagery for God) or seems quite "judgy" himself, to the point of what we imagine as unChristlike. While many such verses can be chalked up to rhetoric, hyperbole or figures of speech, sometimes they do seem over the top, particularly in the letters to the seven churches of Revelation (chapters 2-3). If Christ reveals the nature of God as love, as cruciform (cross-shaped) and as non-retributive, then ...

Does God “use” us? Brad Jersak

In his first non-fiction book, Lies We Believe About God, Wm. Paul Young challenges a host of commonly accepted Christian assumptions that he feels need to be second-guessed, given the track record of harm they do in the real world. In chapter six, he addresses the expression, "I just want God to use me." At first glance, we might be tempted to concur with the phrase. Pretty much all people are looking for meaning and purpose in their lives. We would rather feel useful than useless and if we feel that God has a role for us in the grand scheme of his kingdom, then our sense of self-worth and importance to God grows, doesn't it? That seems so ...

The Kingdom of the Heavens – Brad Jersak

THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS & STUFF(*Lamest sermon title ever. #ScottPilgrim) Gospel text: Matthew 13 The Parables of the Mustard Seed and Yeast  31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” 33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it ...

“Crucifying the Son of God all over again” – Brad Jersak

Today's cartoon by David Hayward's reminds me of this passage from Hebrews 6: “To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace” (Hebrews 6:6). Who is it that re-crucifies Jesus? That author says, “Those who’ve fallen away.” Whatever that means. In that context, it seems like he was referring to Hebrew Christians who were renouncing Jesus and returning to their Old Covenant lives. Under extreme pressure and persecution, it was apparently a powerful temptation. The same problem faced the Thessalonian believers who were giving their old paganism a second look because, socially, ...

That I Would Be Good – Brad Jersak

Socrates - What is the good life? What is the good life?  How can I be good person? These were the questions that Socrates asked in Plato's dialogues, 300 years before Christ. Being good mattered to him. He wanted to know what being good looked like and how to become that kind of person.  His own conclusion was that the good life was to live virtuously -- that is, according to the ancient virtues of prudence [wisdom in action], justice, temperance [i.e. self-control] and courage. Not bad, I'd say. The world would no doubt be a much better place if we all lived by such standards.  You get similar lists in the Scriptures as ...

December 2020

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Greg Albrecht: God Is With Us– pg. 3 Brad Jersak: Phenomenal Cosmic Powers– pg. 8 Ed Dunn: The Season of Lights – pg. 10 Laura Urista: Christmas Presence – pg. 12 Richard Rohr: Centered in the Presence – pg. 14 Brad Jersak: Love or Syrupy Sentimentalism? -pg. 15

Is Jesus too religious for you? Brad Jersak

Belief in What Jesus Did As a young Evangelical of the Baptist persuasion, my spiritual tribe taught me a lot of beautiful things about what Christ has done for us. Our preachers sermonized week after week about salvation by grace through faith in Christ crucified and risen, almost always from Paul's epistles (or so my fading memory recalls). I don't at all regret that Baptist immersion into the saving effects of the Cross. Since then, my vision of what Christ did for us all has broadened, deepened, heightened and lengthened. It's less like an economic transaction or judicial verdict and much closer to a revelation of divine love. It's ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – Should the “Woman Caught in Adultery” be in John’s Gospel?

Question In my Bible (NIV), this story is in italics and a footnote says, "The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53—8:11. A few manuscripts include these verses, wholly or in part, after John 7:36, John 21:25, Luke 21:38 or Luke 24:53." If this story isn't in the earliest manuscripts, does that mean it shouldn't be in the Bible? Response Layers of Composition That’s a good and important question that requires us to think about how the Bible was composed, how it developed and what that means for its inspiration. Some have imagined that the Bible descended from heaven through the authors in complete and ...

Beyond “Without the Shedding of Blood …” Brad Jersak

  Beyond “Without the Shedding of Blood …” I must say, I am thoroughly enjoying Christian theology in the budding era of a post-retributive Gospel. With the Western rediscovery of the Beautiful News, I’m feeling—dare I say it—positively born again! I am in awe and worship of the Father of Love, the cruciform God enfleshed in Jesus of Nazareth. The symbol of the ‘old rugged cross’ has once again come to represent, for me, God’s essential nature: namely, his self-giving, radically forgiving, co-suffering love. And that’s good news for everyone! On the cross, in the face of human cruelty and bloodlust, God-in-Christ revealed his ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – “How can God be ‘jealous’?”

Question I have to say that the following verses about God's jealousy trouble me. Isn't jealousy a sin? How God describe himself as jealous, even Jealous as one of his names? "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;"Exodus 20:5, KJV"For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:"Exodus 34:14, KJV"For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God."Deuteronomy 4:24, KJV"Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor ...

“Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin.” Jesus didn’t say that. Brad Jersak

"Lover the Sinner, Hate the Sin." Jesus didn't say that.

November 2020

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Articles: Like Wool on Sheep – pg. 1 Descending to Serve – pg. 2 Thanksgiving for Everyone – pg. 5 Scaredy Pants – pg. 7 Quotes & Connections – pg. 8

Q: How Do We Avoid Cherry-Picking the Bible for a God of Love of Our Own Wishes ? – Brad Jersak

QUESTION: How do you respond to people who object that we are imposing our own ideology of peace onto the Bible rather than letting the Bible speak for itself? When you "unwrath God," aren't you cherry-picking according to our own wishes for what you wish the text had said rather than submitting to what it actually says? RESPONSE: I hear this objection regularly, perhaps even weekly. I need to respond often enough that a standard answer has begun to unfold. 1. First, we must acknowledge the real problem of bias when coming to the text. We must admit the importance of being mindful as to how our prejudices impact our reading and interpretation of ...

“Yield” – Brad Jersak

There’s a word we see a lot but no longer say a lot. We see the word or its symbol on many a residential street corner and it’s implied at every yellow light. But in terms of modern English, the word has narrowed in meaning and almost into disuse except among farmers. Yield. It’s also an important Bible word, used about 38-40 times depending on the translation. But a more exhaustive search of 12 different English translations yields the word 94 different times (here’s the exhaustive listing). Sometimes really important sermons or teachings stick in my mind for a very long time. One example was circa 1983 when Henry Hildebrand, ...

Q & R with Children – Brad Jersak

One of the great challenges for long-time Bible readers is to find ways to read Scripture with fresh eyes. When I open the text, I need to be mindful of the thick, old lenses I bring to the task, including a backlog of previous teachings, experiences and my own temperament and assumptions. My favourite approach is through Q & R times with children. Among the most fruitful was the grilling I got from a little boy (Mal) concerning Judas. Here's the link. Today it was from my little friend, Anna, one of the brightest young Bible scholars I know. Her questions are always a challenge, but they are especially helpful to me as they heal my eyes ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – Universal Salvation & Divine Vengeance

Question  I want to believe in universal salvation but what about blaspheming the holy spirit, Hebrews 6 4-6 & Hebrews 10:26-31. The Lord says Vengeance is mine I shall repay. And in this passage, "vengeance" is from timoria (retribution) not kolasis (correction). What gives? Response Thanks for your questions. To begin with, I'm certainly glad that you want to believe in universal salvation. That is almost certainly because you share God's heart who "desires all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth" concerning Christ (1 Tim. 2:4) and in that same context, we're called to pray for everyone (1 Tim. 2:1-2) to ...