1788 results for tag: Greg Albrecht
God’s Grace is For Everyone
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.—Titus 2:11
You are invited to the kingdom of heaven, and the invitation is called "the gospel" (good news) because it has no strings attached. You and I are invited to the kingdom of heaven in spite of what we have done! The body of Christ on earth is not the equivalent of an exclusive country club or a cloistered, highly restricted religious fraternity or union. Titus 2:11 says that God's grace is available to everyone—it does not promise or insist that everyone receives and accepts it —but grace is available, and it's for everyone.
There's a story I once heard ...
Which Religion is Right?
By Greg Albrecht—
In our postmodern society, it seems that every belief system is afforded equal weight. Well-meaning wishful thinkers like to point out that world religions share many things in common—and if everyone would just focus on these commonalities, perhaps we could "all just get along."
Yet even a brief survey of world religions reveals huge contrasts and contradictions. How can so many contradicting ideas, philosophies and doctrines all be right? Of course, logically, they can't all be right. But then how can we know which one is right?
And further—if Christianity is the only right "religion"—will only Christians go to ...
If You Had Only Known What Would Bring You Peace
After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.'"
Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They replied, "The Lord needs it."
They brought it to Jesus, threw their ...
Living a Life of Love – Greg Albrecht
God doesn’t need us to love him, but he not only takes pleasure in sharing the essence of who he is, he produces his very love in us, empowering us by his grace to pass that same love on to others, in thought and action.
We are loved, not because we are particularly lovable, but because God is love. We often make the distinction that love is not merely one of many attributes of God. The Bible clearly defines God as love. Love is the essence of who God is.
Some miss the point when they think that doing good things and behaving in a moral or appropriate way is the same as sharing God’s love. Our good deeds do not transform us into ...
A Cross Examination: No Christianity Without The Cross – by Greg Albrecht
Friend and Partner Letter from March 2022
As they attempt to fill the emptiness in their souls, many citizens of planet earth frantically run after drugs, food, sex, achievements, possessions and entertainment. It’s been said the most frenzied attempts in human history in a quest to find and secure happiness have occurred in 20th and now 21st century North America.
Ironically, the more intense efforts to secure happiness become, it seems animosity, division, hatred, racism and violence increase at the same time. From the beginning of history, humans have measured and weighed success and happiness through things that can be seen, felt and ...
The Easy Way Out – Greg Albrecht
Before we are allowed to enter the way of Life, we must leave behind all of the religious baggage and traditions that are so precious to us.Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)Many read these words and assume they know exactly who is on the road to destruction Jesus was talking about. Surely he was talking about the “eat, drink and be merry” crowd—those who are lazy, immoral and permissive. The broad road must be the irreligious “anything goes” ...
Love – By Law or Grace? by Greg Albrecht
Friend and Partner Letter from February 2016
While she was in college in the 60s, Lisa wore flowers in her hair, burned her bra, smoked a lot of pot and had sex so indiscriminately her grandfather told her it seemed to him that she was having sex “with anyone and everyone, at the drop of a hat.” Lisa attended college in Berkeley, California – ground zero of permissive and promiscuous “free” love during a time of great moral upheaval in the United States.
And Lisa often did have sex with partners at the “drop of a hat” – sometimes she discovered their names later, if at all. Her anything-goes-lifestyle did not end when she ...
What Does Real Estate Have to Do With the Gospel? – Greg Albrecht
From the Winter 2010 Plain Truth - Greg Albrecht
For decades she put world leaders on the spot, skewering them with blunt, penetrating questions. But it was an outspoken answer she gave which forced 89-year-old Helen Thomas to retire as dean of the White House press corps.
This past May, Thomas, a Lebanese-American who grew up in Detroit was interviewed by Rabbi David F. Nesenoff, a Long Island-based filmmaker. Thomas already had a history, describing Israel as a nation that “oppresses a helpless people with its military power and daily humiliation.”
Responding to questions posed by Nesenoff, Thomas said that Israel should “get ...
Intimacy With God
Here's some breaking news! God is head-over-heels in love with you. He loves you beyond your wildest imaginations. You might respond, "How can he love me that much? He knows all there is to know about me. And of course, anyone who knows that much about me could never really love me."
Corrie Ten Boom, a Dutch Christian writer who, with her family, helped many Jews escape the Holocaust, once offered a word picture to explain how God loves us—specifically she was talking about how he forgives all our sins—past, present and future. Corrie Ten Boom said that God takes all of our shortcomings, tragedies, flaws and scandals and throws them into ...
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
When you were in your early teens, just beginning to discover that the opposite sex existed, you may remember playing the game "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not." The game was all about "love" as we understood it at the time.
Back in the "olden days," when we had a crush on someone, and we weren't really sure whether they liked us or not, most of us were too reluctant and shy to find out by more direct means—like asking. Times have really changed haven't they? Back then we would find a flower and begin to pull its petals, playing the He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not game. The last petal left on the flower answered the question, didn't it?
If ...
A Canary in a Coal Mine
Years ago coal miners in the United States and the United Kingdom took caged canaries down into the mine with them as an early warning system. Canaries are extremely sensitive to toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and methane. The earliest mines didn't have ventilation systems, so canaries helped detect toxic gases long before humans could.
The canaries served as an audible and a visual cue regarding the condition of the air the miners were breathing. As long as the miners could see that the canary was alive, and could hear the canary singing, the miners knew that the air was safe to breathe. A silent, dead canary meant that the miners needed ...
Twice As Much as a Child of Hell
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are. —Matthew 23:15
The Pilgrim's Regress by C.S. Lewis includes a fascinating story about a young boy's first encounter with religion and one of its religious professionals. Since Lewis is one of my favorite authors, I've read and studied about his own childhood, and it seems that some of what he is talking about in this fictional story is autobiographical, with a direct relationship to his own experiences with Christ-less religion when he was ...
Religious Control Opposes God’s Grace by Greg Albrecht
Friend and Partner Letter from February 2022
I think good preachers should be like bad kids. They ought to be naughty enough to tiptoe up on their dozing congregations, steal their bottle of religious pills…and flush them all down the drain. The church, by and large, has drugged itself into thinking that proper human behavior is the key to its relationship with God. What preachers need to do is force it to go cold turkey with nothing but the word of the cross—and then be brave enough to stick around while [the congregation] goes through the inevitable withdrawal symptoms.—“The Foolishness of Preaching,” Robert Farrar Capon
During ...
February 2022
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(PDF Format)
Ruth Tucker: Confronting Religious Shaming– pg. 2
Ed Dunn: Doing the Work– pg. 5
Greg Albrecht: Changed in the Presence of Pure Love – pg. 7
End Racism – Greg Albrecht
The imperative plea appealing for an end of racism appeared in block letters on the back of a football player’s helmet. Watching on television, I wondered about the effectiveness of this message. I shouldn’t be too harsh in my judgment, any more than I should be with the empty slogans on bumper stickers plastered on cars. But still, given a few words at best, how much critical thinking can take place in the abbreviated space on the back of a football helmet or the back bumper of a car?
How much interest is arrested by the soaring and lofty goal of ending racism in people watching a live football game? 1) Most can’t see the ...
Lottery – A Ticket to Hell? – Greg Albrecht
Gambling is a controversial topic in Christendom. I personally see nothing biblically wrong with buying a lottery ticket, but I know that my saying so will rouse the ire of some. They will see such a statement as permissive and back-sliding, among other things.
In my opinion, based on my understanding of the Bible and of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is not wrong to play a game of chance, as long as it does not become an addiction—at that point, as with so many other behaviors, gambling is not only a sin, it becomes a curse.
Here's how I see the issue of gambling, from a biblical, Christ-centered perspective.
Gambling can be addicti...
A Journey – Not a Guided Tour by Greg Albrecht
Friend and Partner Letter from January 2018
On or just before January 1, fresh calendars are opened with almost as much anticipation as unwrapping a Christmas present. We page through a new calendar, admiring its twelve uncluttered months and 365 unplanned days. And we experience the liberation of setting aside the year that has just ended, with all of the days and events we are all too happy to put behind us. The New Year is a time of a new beginning and a fresh start. The fresh start of a New Year reminds me of the wisdom Paul shares with us about our ongoing life in Christ, on the Jesus Way: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward ...
A Christ-Centered Time Out – Brennan Manning – Greg Albrecht
In the midst of the horrific, ongoing and seemingly, like a Frankenstein monster, growing hatred in our country and in our world – in the midst of new and deep divides between family and friends, we can find healing in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s time for a time out! We can find peace and assurance – the Lord our Shepherd will lead us to green pastures and quiet waters, preparing a table for us so that we might dwell in his house forever.
With our deep need of being still and waiting for God in mind, I was re-reading the introduction to Brennan Manning’s “The Relentless Tenderness ...
“I haven’t seen you lately” by Greg Albrecht
A friend of mine who attends her church on a fairly regular basis missed a few weeks in a row. When she returned, one of the "church ladies" greeted her with: "I haven't seen you lately!" Of course, the "church lady" meant she hadn't seen my friend lately at church, and that was a cause for concern.
"I haven't seen you lately" might include the following thoughts:
First, let's assume the best. This greeting might be intended to communicate the fact that my friend was genuinely missed, and that her return was warmly welcomed. However, "I am glad to see you. How are you?" might avoid the extra helping of guilt and innuendo present in "I haven't ...
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