552 results for tag: Brad Jersak

Q&R with Brad Jersak – “If God consents to our freedom, what’s the point of the relationship?”

Question Hi Mr. Jersak, I’ve been on a deconstruction of theology path the past couple years, as so many have, and have listened to many of your talks. I’ve been stuck for a while now and thought maybe it’s time to reach out. One of the big things that triggered my journey was my daughter getting hurt. My old theology could no longer stand. I have a good pastor who is on a similar journey and have been meeting with him as well.  I now understand that God has such high regard for human choices that he won’t intervene, and yet he is good all the time. But it seems like God is always submitting to peoples choices and standing ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – “Is preaching Christ’s any-day return right? Is it helpful?”

Question I remember back in the 1970s being scared by Garner Ted Armstrong’s preaching on the World Tomorrow telecasts, taking Matthew 24 out of context and saying the return of Jesus Christ would cut short those tumultuous times, otherwise no flesh would be saved alive. Now I watch Jack van Impe preaching something very similar. I should not be too cynical as the world is a mess and we may well be headed for horrible wars but I am not letting fear religion grip me again. For decades they have been preaching the imminent return of Jesus Christ. Imminent? Right away? As Greg Albrecht says, dispensationalism is fatally flawed. Do you ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – The Creepy Twins of Spiritual Pride and Self-Loathing

Screenshot from Stephen King's "The Shining" Question Do you have any advice in the spiritual pride behind the deeply held belief that “God can’t forgive me”? I've dealt with this for years and it's beginning to hit me how prideful it was. Response Yes, ironically, rejecting the forgiveness of God "because I'm not worthy" is totally prideful but the pride is so often obscured by our self-loathing. We think that if we condemn ourselves that it can't possibly be pride. But what does self-loathing reveal except that the ego has become so deluded that it imagines it has usurped Christ from his throne and his judgment seat and has ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – Gritty Love or Syrupy Sentimentalism?

QUESTION: Isn’t your emphasis on “love” really just syrupy sentimentalism? The whole “Love Wins” thing sounds great, but in the real world, I don’t see it working. RESPONSE: To reduce love to syrupy sentimentalism, as I suppose many do, drains love of its gritty power. "True grit" is not defined by gun-slinging cowboys or the actors who played them. "True grit" looks like cross-shaped love. When I say that love is gritty, I’m talking about the type of resilience it takes to engage this hard world, so corrupted by injustice and cruelty.When systems of oppression grind away at our humanity, it is normal—even healthy ...

Q & R with Brad Jersak – “What does ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world?” mean?

Question Greetings brother Brad. I have been privileged to hold your book, Stricken by God? in my hands. In the book, you talk about the importance of not collapsing the whole gospel narrative nor our entire soteriology (doctrine of salvation) into Good Friday. We mustn't forget the life and ministry and resurrection of Christ as part of his saving work. I agree with you wholeheartedly. The sending of God's son in toto is what makes our salvation possible--that is true indeed. You say, "the atonement precedes the cross," so we look not only to Good Friday but to the whole mission of Christ from his birth, life death, resurrection, and ...

Struggling with Moral Superiority – Brad Jersak

SELF-REFLECTION: Have you ever been tempted to think yourself morally superior in any way? I feel morally superior to people who come off as morally superior. This is a big problem. I'm like a third party in the parable of the Publican and the Tax Collector praying in the Temple, and I'm saying, "Thank God I'm not like the Pharisee!" thus becoming one myself. So ironic and similar to actor Michael Cain's line from one of the Austin Powers movies: There are two types of people I can't stand: "Those who are intolerant of other cultures ... and the Dutch." Just as I'm becoming less intolerant of my Evangelical backstory (less shame at ...

July 2019

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Articles: Let's Make a Deal – pg. 1 Who Is God and What Is He Like? – pg. 2 Healing Weary Words – pg. 5 Reflections in Pools – pg. 7 Quotes & Connections – pg. 8 CLICK on MAGAZINE COVER BELOW for Flipping Page Format [real3dflipbook id="188"]

Q&R with Brad Jersak: “If the Bible isn’t inerrant, can we trust what the Gospels say about Jesus?”

QUESTION: I have read many of your articles with interest and agree with much of what is written. May I ask a question, though?You say that the bible is not infallible and inerrant. And while I can see the logic for that view, how then do we know what is written about the life and mission of Jesus is accurate? If the accounts of some of the incidents in the Old Testament are open to question, why not what is written about Jesus?Thank you in advance for an answer. RESPONSE: A very fair question, thank you.  Let me first begin by addressing the question of inspiration, infallibility and inerrancy. Then I’ll move on to ...

Q & R with Brad Jersak: “What if my spouse stops believing?”

Question: When my husband and I were married, we were both following Christ. Now he says he wants to believe but no longer can. He feels he might now be an atheist. We still love each other, but I'm still a Christian and this has been the most painful thing we've ever encountered together. I’m afraid. I don’t know how a marriage or raising kids like this works? Help! Response: Thank you for checking in on this important question! I hear your heart and your pain. In times like these, I like to pray "the Serenity Prayer" a lot: "God, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change,the courage to change the things I can,and the ...

June 2019

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Brad Jersak: Only God Is Good– pg. 1 Steve Brown: Don't Miss Out on Your Real Father– pg. 6 Felicia Murrell: Magic Genie or Heavenly Father? – pg. 8 Stephen Crosby: Praying Into the Abyss of Despair – pg. 9 Brian Zahnd: God's Love in Granite – pg. 11 Greg Albrecht: Can I Do This Faith Journey... -pg. 14

Q & R with Brad Jersak: “How do we practice Matt. 18:15-18 discipline without using it as a bludgeon?”

Question I am part of a Christian group going through some unresolved conflict. One side keeps trying to use Matt 18:15-18 like a sledgehammer against the other. How do we read this passage in context when people try to weaponize it?  Response  Here are Christ’s instructions as translated in N.T. Wright’s New Testament for Everyone version: ‘If another disciple sins against you,’ Jesus continued, ‘go and have it out, just between the two of you alone. If they listen to you, you’ve won back a brother or sister. But if they won’t listen, you should take with you one or two others, so that “ever...

Audio Book of “A More Christlike God”

Audio book available A More Christlike God Is now available as an Audio Book     Purchase from: Audible/Amazon iTunes CWR Books

May 2019

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Articles: Religion: Where Is the Love? – pg. 1 Not That Kind of Christian – pg. 2 The Power of God's Love – pg. 5 Happy 100th Birthday – pg. 6 Crowned with Tender Mercies – pg. 7 Quotes & Connections – pg. 8 CLICK on MAGAZINE COVER BELOW for Flipping Page Format [real3dflipbook id="186"]

April 2019

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Brad Jersak: Bury the Hatchet– pg. 3 Greg Albrecht: The Blood Curse Lie– pg. 7 Brian Zahnd: The Sign that Saves – pg. 9 Wm. Paul Young: The Killing House – pg. 11 Felicia Murrell: No Shadow of Turning – pg. 14 Greg Albrecht: More than a Watchmaker -pg. 15

March 2019

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Articles: Thank God I'm Not Like... – pg. 1 Is It True? – pg. 2 Does God Save Us from God? – pg. 5 Human Sacrifice – pg. 7 Quotes & Connections – pg. 8 CLICK on MAGAZINE COVER BELOW for Flipping Page Format [real3dflipbook id="184"]

Q&R with Brad Jersak – “Is the Bible our final authority?”

Question: Is the Bible our final authority? My church (and denomination) has a doctrinal statement (or statement of faith) in which it says that "The Bible is our final authority for faith and practice?" How would you respond to that? Response:      This is sort of question I run into frequently with pastors who've challenged my last two congregations. They object that we have not included a statement on Scripture in our doctrinal statement ... when our doctrinal statement was actually the Nicene Creed and Apostles Creeds. My counter challenge was to point out the irony of a 'conservative' creating his own statement of ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – “Does God Ever ‘Intervene’ in Natural Law?

Question I’m reading A More Christlike God and it has been a very faith stretching experience in a good way. It is really challenging me. I have a question though from chapter 9 where it says “God willingly chose powerless love in the cosmic Cross of Creation. That is, when God through the Logos (John 1) created the universe, he relinquished control to natural law. From the beginning of time, God has voluntarily refrained (‘ chained’ himself) from violating the order of necessity.” How does Yahweh intervening supernaturally work into this such as the parting of the Red Sea? Does he sometimes violate natural law? Response That's a great ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – “How do we harmonize the Bible’s judgment and redemption texts?”

Question How do we best harmonize the Bible's 'eschatological' texts? Some described unmitigated judgment and permanent destruction for the majority of the human race, while other passages seem to announce the redemption of everyone in the end. How do we hold both descriptions together? Can we? Or are these really contradictory? Response Yes, it's true: those who pay very close attention to the actual words of Scripture note how difficult it is to reconcile its unmitigated judgment texts with all-encompassing redemption passages. who pay very close attention to the actual words of Scripture note how difficult it is to reconcile its unmitigated ...

February 2019

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Brad Jersak: Trending: Deconstruction– pg. 3 Greg Albrecht: Aroma of Love, Stench of Greed– pg. 6 Rachel Ramer: Heirs to Religious Angst – pg. 8 Stephen Crosby: Confessions of a Christian Idiot – pg. 11 Peter Enns: No Contradictions in the Bible! You Heard Me! – pg. 13 Brad Jersak: “According to the Scriptures” -pg. 15

Q&R with Brad Jersak – “Was the early church anti-Semitic?”

Question Hi Brad, I’ve run into a few guys that are saying that the Church Fathers were anti-Semitic. Consequently, they at least think the writings of the Church Fathers should be disregarded in what they had to say. There certainly was some anti-Semitism embedded in Christianity but it seems ill-advised to me to disregard the Church Father's writings because of it. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic if you can spare the time. Response Before I say respond to your question, let me begin by directly and without qualification denouncing anti-Semitism in all its forms, including the ancient calls to expel or exterminate Jews, the modern ...