Grace 'writes off the debt' - Brad Jersak

You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics—in physical laws—every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It’s clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I’m absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that “as you reap, so you will sow” stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff… 

I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I’d be in deep s—. It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for Grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity… 

I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says: Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there’s a mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and, let’s face it, you’re not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That’s the point. It should keep us humbled… It’s not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven.

- Bono -

Bono has given us a gift here, showing how grace trumps karma or the old law of sowing and reaping. In his model, I've also found the idea and language of 'absorbing sin' very helpful (echoed independently in the writings of Greg Albrecht and Brian Zahnd). On the cross, sin is absorbed and recycled as forgiveness. 

Similarly, Simone Weil's says that Christ took our affliction and in his body on the cross, divided our affliction into sin and suffering. There, he eradicates our sin through forgiveness and purifies our suffering into self-giving love. 

Sure Could Use a Little Good News - Greg Gelburd

This article was originally posted at Mockingbird.com

So often the morning news is terrible, terrible. A young son is killed by a stray bullet in the street. Drone attacks in Yemen are “successful,” and while an ISIS leader is killed, so are his family of five children and wife; there are photos of their grieving relatives. Then I dwell on the new president, plagued by thoughts I’d just rather not have. I feel sadness seeing lost lives, and I feel anger at news from Alabama of a man released from prison after being wrongly accused and convicted of rape twenty years ago. On the last page, there is an editorial by an ER doctor from Philadelphia on how to tell a mother that her son has been murdered, and there’s a story of how an Israeli surgeon arranged to have a little Afghan girl transferred to Tel Aviv so she could undergo lifesaving heart surgery.

What’s the hardest part of reading the news? Whether it’s on your iPad or in print, a paper delivered to your door earlier this morning, the hardest part is often the ads, and the placement of one sad article next to a happy one. You ask yourself, how can I read this story of the family in Yemen next to an ad for a BMW? Worse yet is an ad for a penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park in the midst of a story of the remaining tent cities in Port au Prince.

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He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not - Greg Albrecht

We hear the word "love" a lot at this time of the year—we see hearts liberally sprinkled everywhere as Valentine's Day is promoted and observed. Let's spend some time thinking about God's love. 

When we were a lot younger than we are now, back in the olden days, when we had a crush on someone, and we weren't really sure whether they liked us or not, 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?

Many of us, without critically analyzing it, actually reduce ourselves to playing a similar game with God. In this most important relationship we can ever have, we often convince ourselves that we're not sure how God really feels about us, so we play a guessing game. 

How sure are you about your relationship with God? Do you really know how God feels about you?

Consider how the Apostle John summarizes his first letter, reiterating the theme he wanted his readers to remember: "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13).

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What is the Bible? Peter Enns

Peter Enns: What is the Bible? from Plain Truth Ministries on Vimeo.

"Come, you also!" - The Stupor of Grace in Dostoevsky - Greg Albrecht

Consider what the famed Russian novelist, Dostoevsky, wrote about the judgment of God and the gospel of grace, in his classic work, Crime and Punishment.

At the last Judgment Christ, will say to us, “Come, you also! Come, drunkards! Come weaklings! Come, children of shame!” 

And he will say to us: “Vile beings, you who are in the image of the beast and bear his mark, but come all the same, you as well.” 

And the wise and the prudent will say, “Lord, why do you welcome them?” And he will say, “If I welcome them, you wise men, it is because not one of them have ever been judged worthy.” 

And he will stretch out his arms, and we will fall at his feet, and we will cry out sobbing, and then we will understand all, we will understand the Gospel of grace! Lord, your kingdom come!

Dostoevsky put this soaring gospel in the mouth of the character, Marmeladov – a bumbling drunkard whose family is left destitute because he spends all they have on his addiction. He utters this gospel – the true gospel – even while still in the stupor that will lead to his tragic death. Yes, grace even for that slob, even to his bitter end ...     

This excerpt is from Greg Albrecht's forthcoming book, Spiritual Soup for the Hungry Soul, Volume 3. Previous volumes are available at ptm.org for $10 each, including shipping in the US.

For a little more context to this scene, see the fine article by Matthew Huff, entitled. “Come Forth, Ye Drunkards”: Pity and Grace in Crime and Punishment

CWRmagazine - February 2017 issue is online now

The February issue of CWRmagazine is now online free! Click here for your free online subscription

These links take you directly to the articles:

How great is the love?
by Greg Albrecht

Outgrowing the Christian bubble
by Cindy Brandt

Fear God ... or Fear Not
by Rob Grayson

Pastoral Perspective: Q & A with Greg Albrecht
"I feel like I never do anything right!"

This world is my home and I am NOT just passing through!
Jeff K. Clarke

Editorial Cartoon by David Hayward
"Please don't take this personally ..." 

Being Cross-shaped in a world bent out of shape
Josh Valley

Ghouls, Ghosts and ... Gospel!
Brad Jersak

CWR audio guide
Weekly podcast services with Greg Albrecht

Pray for Voldemort? by Duo Dickinson

As the post-Inaugural rancor-and-shrill show volumes up to a distilled deafening hysteria on the InterWebsNet megaphone, things are betting Biblical. It’s not politics or policy: it’s Good and Evil. Well, at least Evil.

In terms of expressing religious faith, I think of politics being the last best use of my favorite description of WASP etiquette: “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” I see no upside in commingling the most exquisitely profane human endeavor, politics, into universal faithful messages of morality and grace. So when the word “Evil” is invoked for a politician (or whatever President Trump is) I cringe.

For me, faith is completely wrecked in politics — on every level. I am queasy over “In God We Trust.” I think of the “religious right” or “liberation theology” as great enabling buzzkills to convert the agnostic straight to atheism. Political discord is healthy. Biblically allusive self-righteousness is toxic.

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This article first appeared on Mockingbird.com on Feb. 2, 2017