655 results for author: Brad

Q&R: “Do not resist an evil person” – Brad Jersak

Question: I was thinking about the passage where Jesus says not to resist someone who's trying to rob you and I was wondering what that meant. Suppose a delivery I was expecting doesn't come in, does that mean I shouldn't ask for a refund? My common sense says no but the passage seems on the surface to have a pretty straightforward interpretation to me. Response: Such a good question! And I think your common sense instincts are right. It's generally important to begin with Christ in his immediate context, which will then help us transpose his principles to our lives more easily. First, here's the text in Matthew 5 (NIV): 38&...

CWR Video – All About Put Back, Not Pay Back – by Steve McVey

Short 2 minute video about God by Steve McVey.

1st Human Head Transplant! – Brad Jersak

First Successful Human Head Transplant! A first successful human head transplant?! Who?! When?! I don't think it was Dr. Sergio Canavero. He was the Italian surgeon who claimed to be the first to perform the surgery successfully. But I don't buy it, for the simple fact that his subject was already deceased... and stayed that way. Cadavres don't count. I know it wasn't Valery Spiridonov. He is a Russian man who suffers from Werdnig-Hoffmann disease, an irreversible muscle-wasting condition. Valery volunteered to be the first subject of a full human head transplant. Reports vary on why he 'bowed out' but he claimed to have found love and ...

Reading from the End – Brad Jersak

Reading from the End: In a previous blog post, I wrote about moving "From the Letter of the Law to the Spirit of the Word." I wrote about how children move from seeing the letters c-a-t to seeing the word "cat" and, ultimately, see past the letters on the page to the image of a cat in their minds automatically. I shared how John Behr compared that to the apostle Paul's encounter with Christ, after which he moved from death-dealing law enforcement to a life-giving gospel. My friend and teacher, John Behr, offered a second analogy to follow up on how the first Christians' reading of Scripture was turned upside down by their experience of the ...

From the Letter of the Law to the Spirit of the Word – Brad Jersak

" Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are qualified of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our qualification is from God, who has made us qualified to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." —2 Corinthians 3:5-6 I recently enjoyed a weekend with my teacher and friend, John Behr, a leading expert in how the first Christians wrote and read Scripture. Readers of A More Christlike Word: Reading Scripture the Emmaus Way might remember that I dedicated that book to him. Over my next few posts, I will share some simple analogies that ...

A More Christlike Job (the book) – Part 3 – The Gospel Sense of Job – Brad Jersak

Please review Part 1 (The Literal Sense of Job) and Part 2 (The Moral Sense of Job) Gospel Sense (not simply prophecy): The Gospel Sense is a bit more complex than saying, "Job is a prophecy about Jesus." Instead, we ask, "How does the story of Job prefigure Jesus?" What is the difference? Prophecy is a direct prediction or revelation of future events, while prefigurement is a symbolic foreshadowing or hint of future events. Don't worry, I'll explain. Understanding the difference helps us read the Bible in "the Emmaus Way" (Luke 24:13-27), where Jesus identifies how Moses, the Prophets, and ALL the Scriptures (verses 27, 44) prepare us to ...

A More Christlike Job (the book) – Part 2 – The Moral Sense of Job – Brad Jersak

Please review Part 1 (The Literal Sense of Job) and stay tuned for Part 3 (The Gospel Sense of Job) Moral Sense (not moralistic) For Christians, the Moral Sense of the book relates to 2 Timothy 3:16, which says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." In other words, the Poetry of Job is more than just a morality play that reinforces the Law, especially if we reduce the heart of the Law to prohibitions and punishments (which is to misread it badly). Instead, the moral sense ...

CWR Video – What Do We Mean by Contemplation? – by Richard Rohr

5 minute video on "Contemplation" by Richard Rohr

A More Christlike JOB (the book) – Part 1 – The Literal Sense of Job – Brad Jersak

Question: I think I had a revelation reading the Book of Job this week. I wondered why the book bothers with so many conversations that are just wrong anyway and why God needed to correct Job. But what if Job is prophetic? For example, chapters 14-16 are nearly a direct match for the suffering of Jesus. Is Job actually a messianic prophecy? Response: I believe you are on to something, but as with any Christian reading of the Old Testament reading with the illumination of the Holy Spirit, there are layers of meaning to be considered. Among these, I would include (1) a literal sense that asks, "What does the author mean to convey to his ...

Prophetic Hope or Partisan Megaphone? Kenneth Tanner

If you are involved in the care of souls please avoid and flee the ever-present temptation to enter the partisan fray of contemporary life in America.  If things get *actually* horrendous (I know things are not well) those who look to men and women of the cloth for comfort and direction and wisdom need to be able to trust you. They will not be able to trust you—even if they cannot consciously perceive or articulate a lack of trust—if you have been a shrill and (more or less) unending megaphone for the left or right or whatever cause célèbre replaces Jesus Christ.  Trust is earned by consistently elevating the person of Jesus Christ (as much as ...

“Go and sin no more”? Brad Jersak

Art by John Martin Borg - johnmartinborg.com Reading John 8 through Genesis 2-3 and the Prodigal Sons: Throughout Scripture, we see “sin” identified in a variety of ways, including moral failure, law-breaking, poor spiritual hygiene, character flaws, a fatal disease and a sinister slave-driver. And where sin is defined as “missing the mark,” Scripture implies the mark we’re aiming at may be morality, holiness, faith and faithfulness, love of God and each other, or the glory of God. In my blog post, Sin? Missing what mark? I suggested another mark: our love union with God—or RE-union (reconciliation) with God. In that case, ...

Moralism, Cheap Grace vs Cruciform Love – Bradley Jersak

Dietrich Bonhoeffer What is Moralism? Moralism is NOT merely the desire to live a moral life. Moralism is a compulsion to justify oneself and to judge others.  Moralism replaces living faith and a desire for God with an emphasis on who is included in or excluded from one’s in-group. It prohibits and requires behaviors based on the moral judgments of my religious community or ideological brand.  Moralism often pits holiness against love, pretending that an ethic shaped by love, mercy and grace compromises holiness, truth and justice. However, Jesus taught no such division. He described being “perfect as ...

Doctrine & Revelation (the Book) – Brad Jersak

Question: I think I once heard you say something like, "At the council of (something), they concluded that Revelations should not be used for determining theology. It was to be used for worship, etc." Where can find resources to back up that statement?  Response: Not exactly, but something like that. The idea was the dogma (non-negotiable doctrine) of the ancient church was finalized before Revelation was formally included in the canon of the New Testament. In other words, since Revelation wasn't officially included as Scripture, it wasn't a building block of our creedal theology. That's not to say Revelation shouldn't be in the ...

The Wideness of Mercy – Brad Jersak

"Mercy is every manifestation of God's goodness." Mercy Mistaken: A friend of mine was asking whether "mercy" is a worthwhile word (1) if it presupposes divine punishment and (2) if we've left behind our image of God as a punisher. My friend's question is legitimate if we define mercy narrowly as "withholding punishment"... as if "Lord, have mercy" means nothing beyond, "Lord, please don't punish me." If that were the case, I'd probably ditch the word in a heartbeat. BUT... "mercy" reduced to evading retribution misdefines mercy... a classic error I made when I used to say, "Mercy is not getting what you do deserve. Grace is getting what ...

CWR video – Angry, Retributive Images of God

Short video on the images of God.