Download Grace Changes Everything
Tamela Mckane
From the bestselling author of Phosphorescence comes a beautiful and timely exploration of that most mysterious but necessary of human qualities: grace.
Grace is both mysterious and hard to define. It can be found when we create ways to find meaning and dignity in connection with each other, building on our shared humanity, being kinder, bigger, better with each other. If, in its crudest interpretation, karma is getting what you deserve, then grace is the opposite: forgiving the unforgivable, favouring the undeserving, loving the unlovable.
But we live in an era when grace is an increasingly rare currency. The silos in which we consume information dot the media landscape like skyscrapers, and our growing distrust of the media, politicians and public figures has choked our ability to cut each other slack, to allow each other to stumble, to forgive one another.
So what does grace look like in our world, and how do we recognise it, nurture it in ourselves and express it, even in the darkest of times?
From award-winning journalist Julia Baird, author of the acclaimed national bestseller Phosphorescence, comes Bright Shining, a luminously beautiful, deeply insightful and most timely exploration of grace.
About the Author
Julia Baird is a Sydney-based author and journalist. She co-hosts The Drum on ABC TV and writes columns for the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Harper's Bazaar. She is a former senior editor of Newsweek in New York, Joan Shorenstein Fellow at the Kennedy School at Harvard University, and op-ed contributor for the New York Times and the Philadelphia Enquirer. Her first book, Media Tarts, was based on her PhD in History about the portrayal of female politicians. Victoria, her biography of Queen Victoria , was published to critical acclaim and was one of the New York Times' top ten books of 2016. Her third book, Phosphorescence, was a multi-award-winning international bestseller.
Julia lives near the sea with her two children and an abnormally large dog.
Yeah, that's an awesome book! Did a bible study with the high school girls in our youth group a few years back through that book.
I think Chuck Smith presents a good, godly and biblical balance between God's grace, yet the love of Christ constraining us from willful sinning and grace abusing.
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Yolanda Fields
Quote:God does not run factories; He grows gardens.Amen! This is a very good summary of some of what He's been getting through to me lately: He didn't create everything to meet some kind of production quota; on the contrary, Love was the point.
Quote:He is not interested in your works; He desires to enjoy your fruit.I think I know what Mr. Smith meant, but at face value the first part of this is false; God cares very much about His people doing good works, He ordained them unto those good works quite a while ago, and "our fruit" is (at least partly) our good works. Justification is not by works (in Pauline theological vocabulary, not necessarily James's, I think it was Bro. Ron that has reminded us of this, though I'm not sure), but Sanctification almost by definition results in them.
Quote:He does not want you to depend upon your flesh; He calls you to rely upon His Spirit.Amen and amen. May He keep us from forgetting upon Whose strength we stand, and even have our being.
To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Romans 8:6
We must pray for the grace to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. It is then that we will know the tremendous victory over even our most besetting sins, and it is then that the Spirit of God is able to use us in the most extraordinary ways.
Why Grace Changes Everything Pg. 92
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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon
From award-winning journalist Julia Baird, author of the acclaimed national bestseller Phosphorescence, comes Bright Shining, a luminously beautiful, deeply insightful and most timely exploration of that most mysterious but necessary of human qualities: grace. Grace is both mysterious and hard to define. It can be found, in part, when we create ways to find meaning and dignity in connection with each other, building on our shared humanity, being kinder, bigger, better with each other. If, in its crudest interpretation, karma is getting what you deserve, then grace is the opposite: forgiving the unforgivable, favouring the undeserving, loving the unlovable. But we live in an era where grace is an increasingly rare currency. The silos we consume information in are dotting the media landscape like skyscrapers, and the growing distrust in media, politicians and public figures, have in some ways choked our ability to cut each other slack, to allow each other to stumble, to forgive one another. So what does grace look like in our world, and how do we recognise it, nurture it in ourselves, and express it, even in the darkest of times?
Do Christians choose to have faith, or is faith a supernatural work of God? Far from an abstract intellectual exercise, this question has vast implications for the hope, joy, and assurance of the Christian life. When the truth of God's sovereign grace breaks into our minds and hearts, it changes everything.
In What's So Great about the Doctrines of Grace? Dr. Richard D. Phillips takes us on a tour of the doctrines of grace, also known as the five points of Calvinism. With clear biblical exposition, he helps us to see the extent of our corruption in sin, to anchor our faith in the fullness of grace, and to trust in God's promise to finish what He started-the salvation of His people. When we rely on God's all-sufficient grace, we can truly live for His all-consuming glory.
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