Max Lucado’s new book on an oft discussed topic says this about grace: “Here’s my hunch: we’ve settled for wimpy grace. It politely occupies a phrase in a hymn, fits nicely on a church sign. Never causes trouble or demands a response. ... Grace is the voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off.”
                        
I have a sense as I read through the book that Max feels western Christians have for the most part not really been fully impacted by God’s grace in such a manner that its affected huge changes in their everyday lives. This is evident as we often see judgementalism, legalism and works-oriented living seep into our lives as individuals and churches.  

Max writes a book that tries to illustrate the life-transforming power of God’s grace to affect every aspect of our day and life. One of the better chapters in the book is on confession. Max relates how he had to confess to a sin that he tried to keep private. It was through confessing that sin to God and others- that he experienced God’s grace and healing.

If you are familiar with Lucado’s writing style - Grace will not disappoint. Easy to read and understand. Full of illustrations from real life and the bible. My only critique would be the wish that Lucado would have leaned to stronger and bolder language to illustration his main points.
I really appreciated the readers guide at the back of the book.  It can used for a group study or for individual reflection.  There is also a DVD curriculum based on the book.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications and Thomas Nelson n exchange for an honest review."

This is still kind of rough shards of thought, but bear with me; I think I’m onto something here… plus, it ties in to my other random devotional pieces as of late…

Everything God gives us is done with the goal—His goal—that it be spent for His glory. The thing is, maybe especially as Americans, we tend to think of giving only in terms of money. And to be sure, our money can represent a number of things lurking behind it. But what about the gifts, spiritual or material, that He’s given us?

And moreso, what about the authority—or, more rawly put, power—He’s entrusted us with, whether that’s in our marriages, our families, our work, our church? Are we as willing to give that away for the sake of those who don’t have it?

Power, like money, is something to be given away to those who need it, rather than hoarded. We serve an all-powerful Lamb who was willingly slain for us, and we must be willing to follow.

Chris Heuertz, in his remarkable book Simple Spirituality, described the measure of our love this way, “It’s not what you give—but what you keep.” Conversely, what we insist upon keeping reveals where we’re still lacking in love.

What we release, lives; what we hang onto dies with us. Thank God for what He’s given you; and ask God to open your hands, and to release what you’re holding onto.

I’ve been coming across our title phrase—or rather, it’s been coming across me—a lot lately (Rom. 9:8, Gal. 4:28). How do we live like “children of promise”? One way to look at it also came across me lately…

As I’ve been working through the prayers in Dawn to Dark (review, for those who missed it, here), one of the exercises was to reflect on my baptism, nearly 30 years ago. What I remember was this: I had no real desire to do it, but I did it anyway out of obedience. And ironically (or fittingly), the week that followed was one of the most joyful of my life.

Obedience isn’t popular in our time (or any, really), let alone in our country. We’d rather be “relevant,” or “tolerant,” or really anything that “proves to God” that we love Him short of obeying Him (and thus really shows that we love other people’s approval a lot more).

But the fact is, we are children of the promise. And we cannot fulfill the promise we have in God without obedience.

We must believe that God really intends to save us and use us for His purposes, not ours. And we must pursue knowing and desiring God’s purposes. And then—even when we do understand or “feel led”—walk them out in obedience. Because that’s what a child of promise does.

I'm a fan of Pinterest. It's interesting, and challenging, addictive, and often, even inspiring. Last night, a posting explained how a mom had led her three daughters in a new approach to Advent last year by creating 25 ideas for Random Acts of Christmas Kindness. Each was put into a brown paper lunchbag and the girls participated each day in one of the random acts of kindness . . . from taping a card and a quarter on a parking meter to surprising their teachers with a favorite beverage from Starbucks. Each act was accompanied by a card that focused on the joy of celebrating the birth of Christ.

I also have friends who have faithfully posted daily five things they are thankful for. No repeats are allowed. They've found that it reminds them of how great God's blessings are.

Thanksgiving and Christmas can easily become overwhelming . . . too much to do in too little time . . . and God's blessings overlooked along the way. So what do you (and your family/friends/church) do to make sure the blessings are not missed?

Maybe by sharing, we can inspire each other through the next weeks!

Margie Williamson

Community Manager

My first E-booklet was just released on Amazon!  It’s titled “14 Shifts in Disciple Making & A Framework.”  It’s subtitled “A Dynamic E-booklet,” because it has been designed to be expanded by you, the community of believers.  It’s not free, but the proceeds will go towards ministering to those in need of much relief in the Andes Mountains Cloud Forest Region of Ecuador.  That said, I’d invite you to purchase it and write a review on Amazon.com

Last week, I went to vote early. I expected no one to be there. I was amazed at the lines, the people, the wait . . . and the seriousness of the moment. I don't know when I've ever felt the tension throughout our country over an election as I have this time. A friend of mine posted on FaceBook that she was concerned that after all the political postings on-line, friends would have trouble remaining friends after the election.

What can we as disciples do as our country prepares for Tuesday? NavPress has published a series of scriptural prayers to help our churches pray for those in authority, such as:

"Lord, give our country leaders who . . ."

     During a Sunday School discussion on forgiveness, a young child asked, "Should we even forgive a person who drags us on the ground by our feet?" I could tell she thought some sins could be too much to forgive. I said that sometimes it is hard to forgive, and when we do forgive it doesn't mean we forget. I told her we need to remember the person is made in God's image, and we can hope and pray they will do better in the future.

     I believe the child will ponder what I said along with the message she heard from the other teacher about Jesus. She will be noticing if what we said lines up with her life experiences. She will consider if the way of Jesus helps her to get along better in life.

     The lesson I learned is that I am not always prepared for the questions the children bring into the classroom. I have to trust in God to give me answers on the spot. I realize these early hurts the children experience  are only the beginnings of a line of hurts they will have to work through for all of their life spans. They don't yet recognize  many ways of dragging people down exist other than just being pulled by the feet.

     I pray for this girl and all the children in the class to be developing the habit of true forgiveness that can only come through Jesus. They are too young to fully understand the depth of His forgiveness of our sins, and the depth He gives us in forgiveness of the sins of others. But they are old enough to think about the difference between forgiving and forgetting. You can forgive at the same time as you stay out of the way of those who try to drag you down.

Proverbs 14:26    In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge.

                                   (He gives us confidence that we can forgive even the worst, as He keeps us safe from harm.)

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the “upper room discourse” lately, in John 13-14 in particular so far. It’s an interesting section, since it’s one of the few where you really see Jesus interacting with His disciples collectively, instead of just one or two at a time. Heck, we even get a line out of Jude/Thaddeus (aka Judas Not Iscariot) here.

It’s also a hard section to wrap your head around, and simultaneously kind of annoying because it sounds like Jesus is constantly repeating Himself—like He’s constantly rephrasing the same comments over and over because His listeners just don’t get it. Then again, He’s talking to His disciples, and we know they’re kinda thick.

Or at least we should—because after all, we’re His disciples, too.

Anyway, what seems inescapable here is the connection Jesus draws between love and obedience. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). ”Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me” (John 14:21)

In fact, He connects our obedience with our ability to see Him work in our lives. “And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him…. If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:21, 23).

This isn’t the first time Jesus makes this connection, though.  “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). This word also helps contrain our obedience, so that it’s not blind—at best misguided, at worst satanic—obedience. Purity of heart is to want what God wants, in the way God wants it. It necessitates the right kind of obedience, and promises that God will manifest Himself as we do it.

Jesus illustrated this principle Himself later in John 14: “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father” (John 14:30-31, emphasis mine).

Especially to the world, our obedience can look wrong, misguided, and overly submissive—and sometimes it is. There is a time to stand up. But as He prepares to enter the garden of Gethsemane and take up His cross, Jesus shows us what standing up should look like. It’s not “in your face,” but in His name. It is doing what God demands, and letting the chips—and our desires—fall where they may.

So, along with Jesus, “Rise, let us go from here” (John 14:31).

     I watch the children engaged in Sunday School activities. One child, dressed in costume as Ezra, steps up on a wooden platform and reads the Bible aloud to a small group. Another child, pretending to be Ezra the scribe, sits and copies Bible verses. Nearby, children are bowling, knocking over labeled juice bottles and arranging them in Bible book order by division: Law, History, Poetry and Wisdom, and Major Prophets. A third group is engaged learning a Bible verse with a bean bag game. Prayer, thought and preparation birthed these learning activities.

     Yet, when I glance at another area of the classroom, I see a few children who have wandered away from learning about God's word. They are enthralled with a handful of micro toys one boy brought  from home. These children are momentary lost sheep of this Sunday School activity time. I am challenged to plan better and study these individual sheep more to know how I can keep them in the fold. They are worth the extra effort. After all, I realize I spent decades as a lost one. My Shepherd, Jesus, made extra effort to bring me into the fold. How could I do any less for these young sheep of His pasture?

Isaiah 53:6  "We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (NIV)

If you've read my blog in the past (which I know is extremely sporadic!), you know that I love stories. And I love the way that God uses these stories from friends and acquaintances to speak to me in a very personal way. I was with three friends at lunch this week, enjoying the food, the conversation, and the companionship. After lunch, one of my friends shared this story with me:

Her family has been going through a lot recently. While the whole family has struggled, her grandsons seem to have had the hardest time knowing how to handle things. Recently, the boys spent the week with my friend and her husband, even sleeping on the floor in their room because they didn't want to be by themselves.

Every night, the four would spend time on the bed in prayer as the boys called out their fears and concerns before God. Yet, any level of peace seemed illusive. One night, my friend told the boys that they prayer time that night would be different. "Tonight," she told them, "We're not going to pray for the things that are worrying us. Tonight, let's pray for the things we're thankful for, for the blessings God has given us. And then, before we close, we'll ask God to protect us during the night and tomorrow." The boys nodded silently, and then the family prayed together. They prayed as she had requested . . . of their thanks, of the blessings God had given them, of the promises He makes, and ended in praying for His protection through the night.

After the prayer time, the oldest grandson, the one who had struggled the most in handling all the family was going through, looked at his grandmother and said, "I liked that prayer time better." Her response? "Me, too!"

What a wonderful and clear lesson from this child! It's so easy to focus on the negative things going on in our lives that we miss God's promises and blessings. And it is through those that we can find true peace.

Times are tough in our country and our world right now. Churches and families are face tough economic times and even tougher decisions of how to handle the challenges that come with those. And, as I write, the Muslim world has risen up in protest of a film that teachings against the Muslim faith, rioting in the streets, attacking embassies, and even killing representatives of our country abroad. It's easy to focus on the frightening events around us. Peace seems illusive at the moment. 

I want to challenge us all to do two things between now and Thanksgiving.

First, listen for the lessons of God that can come so beautifully and simply through a child.

And, second, share those lessons with us through this network, either in response to this blog, or in a blog of your own.

Will you accept that challenge? 

Margie Williamson

Community Manager

My friend Ron passed away Saturday morning. He was a retired educator who was passionately devoted to Christ and who continued to learn and to lead others to do likewise. Ron was an amazing man.

He received word on Wednesday that there was no hope for him and he had no more than 5 days left. His blood had so little oxygen in it that it could not sustain life. He was with a good friend and former pastor when he received the news and spent much of the rest of the day planning his memorial, and talking to his children about their lives to come.

His former pastor encouraged him to use the time he had to look over his life--the churches he had participated in, the schools in which he had taught and the students whose lives he had impacted, the relationships he had with his family members and friends, and even those of whom he needed to forgive or ask forgiveness.

On Thursday, his hospice room was full of people who came to see him and say goodbye, one who even brought his guitar. They sang hymns, and prayed, and praised God together during that time. And Ron was able to tell his pastor that as he had looked over his life, he realized that there was no one he needed for forgive or ask forgiveness. However, there were some people he wanted to talk to. When they were notified, all came to his room to speak with him one last time.

A member of Ron's Sunday School class told me this morning that he had gone to the hospital on Wednesday with a heavy heart, but left having been uplifted through the sermon he had witnessed Ron live that day. He told me that Ron had continued to teach until the very end.

What a beautiful picture of a disciple! 

Thank you God for Ron and for others whose very lives are a living sermon of the hope they have in You!

Margie Williamson

Community Manager

A friend from church was telling us about a gift he and his wife received a few years ago. Since both are avid baseball fans, their kids offered them choice seats behind home plate for an Atlanta Braves. Or, they had the choice of the entire family attending the game with seats in the outfield. They chose the outfield, but decided to have their own transportation home in case the grandchildren didn't make it through the game.

That first year, the grandchildren only made it a few innings. However, it became an annual family event.

The next year, the grandkids made it through the entire game, hooting and hollering for the home team without understanding what was happening on the field.

The third year, the grandkids started asking questions about the game and what they saw.

This past year, the grandson wanted to sit beside Granddad. Why? "Because he talks baseball."

The story was told as Granddad anticipated the upcoming baseball outing and time with the grandkids.

I may be wrong, but that sounds like discipleship to me . . . sharing passion for the game, providing opportunities to be there, teaching them the basics.

I just wonder how many of our children and grandchildren want to be close to us because "we talk Jesus"?

Margie Williamson

Community Manager