CWR Blog
Christianity Without The Religion BLOG hosted by Brad Jersak.
Today Is a Gift
Beatitudes #2
We continue our series on the beatitudes by considering what it means to be blessed and by studying the beatitudes/blessings of mourning and of being meek.
The ‘WORD’ of God and the word of God
Many Christians speak of the Bible as the word of God. Some even capitalize word (Word) as a term that is synonymous with the Scripture – the Bible. In this context Bible students are motivated by pastors and teachers to “be in the Word.”
I believe the Bible is inspired by God. However, I also believe there is, by design, a substantial human component it the writing, editing, translating, preservation and publishing of the Bible. You have heard the boast made by processed food manufacturers – “untouched by human hands.” The ...
Tender Mercies: “Til Death do us Part.” by Ruth Tucker
Bless the Lord who crowns you with tender mercies (Psalm 103, NKJV).
Til death do us part. Despite changes in language down through the centuries, this phrase from the sixteenth-century Anglican Book of Common Prayer has stayed the same. But while the wording of the promise endures, too often the promise itself does not. I was reminded of this again today as we laid our beloved father Albert Kraker to rest in a little rural cemetery surrounded by the farmland where he lived his entire life. It was a gloomy day, rain off and on, ...
Beatitudes #1
Join us for this first sermon in our five-part series about the beatitudes. This message will discuss the blessing of being "poor in spirit" and provide an overview of all eight blessings that form the introduction to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
June 8, 2026 - Quote for the Day:
“In the name of Christ, religious counterfeits require that we give a bribe or tip to the headwaiter to get into the dining area. Performance-based religion gives preferences to who and what you know, how much you have and what you have accomplished. But Jesus offers everyone a seat in the most exclusive dining room in the universe, in the heavenly realms, based upon God’s grace. Our seat at the Lord’s Table is not based upon money, fame, or deeds. We are seated at the Lord’s Table because of who he is, not because ...
CWR Video – In Christ
In this CWR Video, Brad discusses what it means to be "In Christ."
https://vimeo.com/1182720745
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Q & R with Brad Jersak – “What does ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” mean?
Question:
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 into the world 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 ascension.
My question ...
Join Us For Our Sunday Sermon
"By What Power or What Name?"
Join us for our Sunday Sermon:
Who or what is your ultimate authority – who pipes the tunes to which you dance and who plays the music to which you march?
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/CWR643.mp3
Link to Christianity Without the Religion - Sunday
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 ...
Experiencing His Peace – by Greg Albrecht
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace ...
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
June 6, 2026 - Quote for the Day:
“God is not impressed with the lofty, ornate cathedrals humans build. God doesn’t assume that those religious monuments are more holy than little humble church buildings out on some windswept plain or desert. For that matter, God is not impressed with any building we can build and dedicate to him – as Acts 7:48 tell us: …the Most High does not live in houses made by men.
Worshipping God inside a building that calls itself a church does not exalt you before God. Your presence inside a building that calls itself a church ...
Christ Followers Cannot Not Forgive
C.S. Lewis insisted "If God forgives we must forgive. Otherwise, it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than him." A Christ follower in whom Jesus lives cannot not forgive.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR447.mp3
Spiritual Forces
The basic religious forces of our world enslave us to false gods that intimidate and bully with their required observances of traditions, taboos and superstitions that supposedly make God happy. But these religious forces are paper tigers that are powerless to set us free and bankrupt because they provide no eternal inheritance.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR446.mp3
Between Religious Rocks and Life’s Hard Places – Greg Albrecht
Questions & Response:
In the “Introduction” to my book, BETWEEN RELIGIOUS ROCKS AND LIFE’S HARD PLACES I invited readers, in case they didn’t like my answers, to improvise their own Christ-centered solutions.
Let me reinforce that invitation. Life is, in many ways, an endless series of questions and dilemmas. In this 21st century, the questions have become more complex, perhaps because we are living on top of so many cultures that have gone before us.
Their contributions, as well as their unanswered questio...
He Lives IN Us!
Muslims do not speak of Muhammad living in them, nor do Buddhists speak of Buddha inhabiting them. Yet as Christ followers we believe that Christ IN us is the hope of glory.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR445.mp3
Sample One of Our Daily Radio Messages
"He Lives IN Us!"
Muslims do not speak of Muhammad living in them, nor do Buddhists speak of Buddha inhabiting them. Yet as Christ followers we believe that Christ IN us is the hope of glory.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR445.mp3
Links to Our Daily Radio
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 ...
Reflections Along the Jesus Way
June 3, 2026 - Quote for the Day:
“The chief opposition and objections to God’s grace do not come from those who do not claim to be Christians at all, like Buddhists or Muslims. The chief objections to God’s grace come from those who call themselves Christians but are trapped by legalism, and are in the swamps of Christ-less religion.
No one hates God’s grace so much as those who work hard to convince God that their efforts are holy and righteous. It was religion that hated Jesus. We must not compromise with God’s grace, my friends. We must not ...
All Things Beautiful #9 – Ken Williams
Ken Williams
In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesian churches, he summarized God’s intent for creating marriage. Uniting a man and a woman in marriage as one flesh (Gen. 2:22-25) anticipated the end of the age when Jesus Christ returns to earth to marry his church, his body (Rev. 19:7).
Followers of Jesus Christ, single and married, are committed to loving and respecting all people, but those who marry, commit to a special relationship of giving and receiving God’s love to one another every day for life. Jesus alone cleanses us by washing us with his word ...
The Cross – Anger or Love?
When the love of God is stripped away from the significance of the cross of Christ, revenge and violence is all that is left - but that anger is not the wrath of God.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR444.mp3
Gritty Love or Syrupy Sentimentalism? – Brad Jersak
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.
...
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