Word of Life Church Podcast

Derek Vreeland interviews Brian Zahnd on his new book, A Farewell To Mars.

Jesus is ruling above all powers and authorities in this age and in the age to come. Jesus saw time in terms of two ages. This present evil age is a time where things do not always go right, but in the age to come, God will make all things right. The secret is that the age to come has broken into this present age through the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. We find ourselves living in between these two ages, and while there is tension in this gap, God has a plan for us. He is transforming us now, so we become people fit for the age to come.

Jesus promised to ask the Father to give to his followers the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit. We believe the Spirit is the giver of life who proceeds from the Father and the Son, but where do we find him at work in the world? We need look no further than the church. The Spirit is working in harmony with Jesus to build the church, to fill the church with the holy attitude of God. Where the church is gathered in unity, there the Spirit is at work. Where the church is fighting and divided the Spirit dissipates.

Whether we find ourselves on the mountaintop or in the valley low when it comes to our faith in Christ, Jesus is always faithful. But what do we do when this statement seems suspect? What about doubt? Looking to Jesus' encounter with Thomas after the resurrection, may we learn a valuable truth about how to deal with our doubt.

Jesus said, "Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” In other words, those who are grounded in the truth, or love the truth, put themselves in a place where they can hear the life-giving words of Jesus. Truth, as reality from God's point of view, does not shift or change according to human preference; it exists on it own. The question followers of Jesus must answer is, "Do you love the truth?" More importantly, do you love the truth before you love God. If not then you have no way of knowing if the god you worship is the true and living God. Developing an appetite for the truth requires living uncomfortably in a world of lies and fantasy. Loving the truth allows you to encounter God as he is and thus be formed by him.

What if you could go back in time and talk to your younger self? What would you say? I've thought about this a lot. There's a lot I would want to say, but most of it couldn't be heard. But the one thing I would say for sure is this: Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid! It's what the present says to the past. It's what heaven says to earth. It's what Jesus says to us over and over...don't be afraid!

In Numbers chapter 15 a guy is caught picking up sticks on the Sabbath and is stoned to death. In John chapter 5 Jesus works on the Sabbath by healing and instructs the healed man to carry his bed. Those most committed to the Bible (Torah) want to kill Jesus. There is a way of reading the Bible that will instruct you to stone Jesus. Don't read the Bible that way! That wrong reading of the Bible is what happens if we confuse Biblicism with Christianity. The good news is this: Jesus is better than Biblicism!

With the coming of the Son of Man the world changed. There’s a new charter. A new divine edict. Ever since Jesus re-founded the world at the cross and called humanity to organize itself around an axis of love expressed in mercy and forgiveness, a new moral law has been established in the cosmos that will not allow nations to forever oppose God’s will. As the Hebrew prophets first revealed long ago, God possesses a deep bias for the underclass and will judge nations accordingly. The death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus has given the world a new ultimate reality—love for God expressed as love for neighbor and even enemy. Any other agenda is idolatry. Babylon is still with us, but Babylon is always falling. The new gravity of grace will not allow the modern Babylons to stand for long. The kind of entitlement the Pharaohs and Caesars were able to claim for their empires has now been shamed by Christ and cannot endure for long. Greatness, and even security, is not found in wealth and might, but in compassion and mercy. Jesus now calls the nations to be great in serving the least. Nations who resist this call are headed toward their own destruction.

Ancient wisdom speaks of three prime virtues: the true, the good, and the beautiful. These virtues are not a means to some other end (which would be a lesser end) -- rather these virtues are self justifying; they are an end in themselves; they are the telos of our lives.Contemporary Christianity has placed an emphasis on two of these three virtues. From the truth of Christ we have developed Christian apologetics. From the goodness of Christ we have developed Christian ethics. What we are missing is a Christian aesthetics developed from the beauty of Christ. And what we are lacking is what we need the most right now. In a secular age that is dismissive of the Christian claim to absolute truth and a superior morality, beauty retains it's enduring appeal. For Christianity to win hearts in a secular world it has to be beautiful. We need to discover Christian aesthetics. We need to be beautiful. But how?

Brad Jersak is an author and teacher based in Abbotsford, BC, where he attends Fresh Wind Christian Fellowship and serves as Reader at All Saints of North America Monastery. His heart is to share the good news that God is Love and that God’s love was shown to us perfectly in Jesus of Nazareth. Through his books and seminers, Brad teaches that anyone can learn to hear God’s voice through the simple practice of ”listening prayer.” Those who practice listening prayer find that God’s love heals wounded hearts and empowers them to heal this broken world.Brad Jersak’s foundational book, “Can You Hear Me? Tuning in to the God who speaks” trains readers in the ways of “Listening Prayer.” This book provides biblical teaching and 33 practical exercises for tuning in to God’s voice.Brad self-identifies as a follower of Christ. His spiritual journey includes his confession of faith and trinitarian baptism in the Baptist General Conference; followed by membership and ordination in the the Conference of Mennonites in BC. Then after planting and serving in a “small-c” charismatic church plant, he was chrismated and ordained as a Reader in the Orthodox Church (OCA). He is comfortable ministering with Orthodox, evangelicals and charismatics across the spectrum.