It’s something we all want. It’s something we all need. It’s something we have difficulty extending to others, especially those who have hurt us.
I have read several theological books on the grace of God over the years and I have to say this is one of the better books. The writing style and treatment of the topic will appeal to both church-goers and non-church-goers; both lay-people and lay-leaders.
While many equate the biblical Old Testament with God’s wrath and the New Testament with God’s grace, North Point Community Church senior pastor and author, Andy Stanley, does an excellent job of demonstrating God’s grace as a continuous theme from the beginning of creation up to our current day.
In The Grace of God, there is plenty of good news for those who have adopted a distorted view of the Bible and Christianity. Unfortunately, many who claim to follow the teaching of Christ have often been the source of these distortions. An adherence to rules-based religion and the demand for others to adhere becomes the main road block for most people outside the faith.
You’ll be glad to hear:
God initiated a relationship with his people even before he told them what the rules were.
Grace is not reserved for good people; grace underscores the goodness of God.
God didn’t give the law to make us good. He gave the law to expose our sin.
Receiving grace is often easier than dispensing it.
Some of the chapters to highlight are:
In the Beginning Grace – “In the beginning God created, and this was a marvelous act of grace. But that was just the beginning.”
Redeemed By Grace – “The Ten Commandments do not stand in contrast to grace; they are introduced within the story of God’s grace.”
Accepted By Grace – “The story of Jesus is the story of God drawing near to those who had pulled away by sin and were subsequently pushed away by the self-righteous.”
Although the book is only 214 pages (paper back) it is composed of bite-sized chapters and subsections which make it easy to read. However, do not be surprised if you find yourself often pausing after you have read a portion of a chapter to consider the principles and implications of those principles.
Many may read this book and have a hard time digesting the content. What-abouts are sure to abound. Grace can seem like a slippery slope – easy to take advantage of and abuse. But, to add anything to grace no longer makes it what it is. Like Stanley says, “Perhaps it is this tension that has driven churches and Christians through the centuries to add and subtract from grace. There’s something in most of us that screams, It can’t be that easy! But as much as we want to qualify grace, it can’t be qualified.”
It’s not humanly rational. It’s almost irrational. I guess that’s why it is often called amazing. It’s not our grace – it’s the grace of God.
Comment below with you thoughts on this topic or the book.
Last year WeirdGuy blog participated in Blog Action Day. This year, we will again and share from a weird perspective on the issue of poverty. I encourage you to get involved. Find out more details at Blog Action Day.
If you noticed the recent addition of the Jaggedsmile widget in the sidebar, you may be wondering what the heck is going on? Need I remind you, this blog is dedicated to:
…common sense leadership/management, innovative developments in training, creativity, out-of-the-box ideas and business solutions, fun in learning and at work, tips and how-to’s, community building, and personal change. My desire is to present information that inspires readers to apply what they learn — and to have fun while doing so.
Call me optimistic, or as some, call me weird, but I believe that these areas (common sense leadership, creativity, fun learning, and personal change), working together, have untapped potential for impacting the future.
- From the WG page
Every good leader I know, at least the ones worth following, take regular intervals of time for personal introspection. “Well, of course, that’s a good business practice,” you might say. Yet, rarely do people in leadership positions look at their moral compass. That thing inside them that guides their thoughts and consequently their actions throughout the years. Common sense tells us this would be a good exercise, but it sure is hard to put into practice, right?
Why is it hard? That is for you to figure out.
Below I have listed several areas for inspection to encourage you along the way. Set some time aside and reflect on these. It may be hard, because you will not like what you see. That could imply a need for change and change does not come easily, but it can have great rewards.
Self Examination Areas
Personal Life
- What consumes my thought life?
- Do I lie?
- What are the health of my relationships?
- Do I respect the opposite sex?
- Do I want what is not mine?
Public Life
- How do I treat employees?
- How do I treat my peers?
- Do I care about those less fortunate?
- What do I think about the needy?
- Am I genuinely interested in community causes?
Spiritual Life
- How do I use my money?
- What is my attitude toward revenge?
- Am I a hospitable person?
- In all things, what’s my motivation?
As a reader of WeirdGuy blog I’d like to humbly ask you to help me. I have a short 10 question survey running from August 28 – September 7, 2008 on Zoomerang. The survey should take 2-3 minutes to run through. Your thoughtful responses will aid me in future developments for this blog.
I realize I am asking you to volunteer your time, but I value your opinion. Please follow the link provided today — the survey is only available for 10 days.
And, if the survey takes longer than 2-3 minutes then you can feel free to spam me with your hate mail.
Thank you for your patronage…can I say “patronage”?…whatever, you know what I mean.
By the way, I’ll reveal the findings here on WeirdGuy when the survey is up, so if you want your response to count, now is the time to act…now! If you do not care, then what are you doing here at WeirdGuy blog to begin with?
I’ll be taking a week off to focus on closing out a project (July 28-August 1). More to come from the lessons learned during this engagement. It’s a really cool online course with custom hooks into a client app. The back-end was designed as “plug and play” so content can quickly and easily be swapped out while still being applicable to the course testing and grading scenarios.
Editor’s Note: No matter what you may think of the C.S. Lewis‘ Narnia Chronicles, you have to see Prince Caspian! I took my family on opening night and everyone agreed it was great. Aside from one scene where my youngest had to close his eyes, the movie was by far a big achievement for the director, Andrew Adamson.
For those that have read the books, you’ll find there were many creative liberties taken. Don’t be dismayed — the essence of the story is true to form, while the screen play allows for audience members, who may have never had exposure to the books or previous film, to come up to speed.
By Tiffani Barnes
The second installment in The Chronicles of Narnia series has hit theaters, and it far exceeds its predecessor. The opening of Prince Caspian finds the Pevensie children at a train station traveling to school when they are suddenly transported from the platform to the coastline of Narnia. While only a year has pasted for the children, it has been more than 1300 years for Narnia. As Trumpkin (played by Peter Dinklage) later tells them, they “may find Narnia a more savage place than when [they] left.”
Prince Caspian is a darker movie than its predecessor with battle and fight scenes that resemble The Lord of the Rings. Director Andrew Adamson, however, chose to leave much of the blood and violence to the imagination, which allows the movie to remain suitable for younger viewers without robbing the story of its power. The character of Reepicheep, a sword-wielding mouse (voiced by Eddie Izzard), provided a great deal of comic relief, which helps to break up the more intense moments in the film.
The visual effects, writing and acting in Prince Caspian are all improved over The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Whereas in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe the children didn’t seem completely comfortable in their characters and so gave, at times, stilted and awkward performances, in Prince Caspian the young actors seem at home in their character’s skin.
The movie isn’t without its teachable moments either—themes of humility, patience, trust, and what can happen when greed and anger take over are found throughout the film. They are subtle and woven nicely into the fabric of the film, instead of sticking out like a flashing neon sign on a dark night.
The Bottom Line:Prince Caspian is worth the price of admission and would make a great outing for the whole family. At two hours and 20 minutes, the film might be a bit long for younger viewers, but it does a good job of holding the audience’s attention.
We like to have background noise — whether we’re in the car, at home, or in the office — we have the radio or TV on or the sounds of kids and coworkers keep a constant white noise. How many of us like quiet and solitude? How many like introspection?
More often than not, our outer life is the result of our inner life. Try as we might to hide certain aspects of ourselves, our character and motivations leak out. Do we like what we see? Do others? Here are four tips that will change your inner life and, consequently, impact your outer life:
Allow time to spend in solitude and silence.
Surround yourself with good counselors — this includes family, friends, and professionals.
Strive for balance in your personal life, family life, and work life — prioritize your time.
Be accountable to someone(s) — a life examined is a successful life.
One of the questions I often ask speakers is, “Are you enthusiastic about your topic?” Whether it be a professional speaker, teacher, manager, or CEO the power of enthusiasm has a remarkable effect on people. When you are enthused and excited about a topic or project the people around you get excited too. When you are not enthusiastic about a topic or project — guess what? Yep, the people around you pick up on it and are not interested either.
The power of enthusiasm affects us all. Henry Ford said it well:
You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes rise to the stars. Enthusiasm is the spark in your eye, the swing in your gait, the grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of your will and your energy to execute your ideas. Enthusiasts are fighters, they have fortitude, they have staying qualities. Enthusiasm is at the bottom of all progress! With it there is accomplishment. Without it, there are only alibis.
Are you enthusiastic about…
- where you are in your job?
- the place that you work?
- the position you are in?
- your particular role on the team?
- where you are headed in your vocation?
- your personal relationships?
- what you are studying?
- the direction your life is headed?
- what will happen tomorrow?
As you can see, enthusiasm touches all aspects of our lives. Don’t settle for mediocrity. If you’re in a place that you are less than enthused about, what options or opportunities do you see around you? Can you get excited about what you’re doing or do you need a change of place and pace?
Life is and can be fun! Take a look around, assess the situation, and choose today what kind of enthusiasm you are going to show and teach. Enthusiasm is a powerful thing.
Author and coach, Dan Miller, offers these often overlooked factors that can become the keys to success in all you do. Although, these were originally aimed at the workplace, you will see that they have application across the broader spectrum of life. I hope you find them as encouraging as I did.
The 5 Keys To Success 1) Passion – Without passion a person drifts aimlessly through life taking each event and day as it comes. Fire fighting and rolling with the punches from week to week. But, a person with passion is a person with goals. They have a target and they are on the road to achievement.
2) Determination – Many talk about purpose today. Having a purpose in life and a purpose for the things done on a daily basis. When there is a purpose, there is determination to see it through. If an obstacle arises, it does not send a person spinning into other directions. An on-purpose person has the determination to stick it out and work through the obstacle to keep moving toward the goal.
3) Talent – There is a lot of talk today about talent. Finding your unique talent and strengths make you a better employee and person. As Jim Collins said in his book Good To Great and Marcus Buckingham said in his book Now Discover Your Strengths, not everyone is talented in every area. Yet, everyone has a talent. Wise is the person who discovers their talent and maximizes it.
4) Self-Discipline – Many dislike this word because it does not come natural. I struggle with this as well, but without self-discipline a person can be easily swayed. This is often the foundational character quality that the other keys are built upon.
5) Faith – You have done your research, you have crunched the numbers, you have talked with various people you trust, but there is still the uncertainty of the unknown. This is where faith comes into play. Sometimes you just have to step out. You cannot reach new heights by having both feet on the ground.
It is good to dream, but it is better to dream and work. Faith is mighty, but action with faith is mightier. Desiring is helpful, but work and desire is invincible.
Here is the current pile I am reading through. Fun! Lot’s about innovation, creativity, online learning, and more. Below the image are links for those of you who want to grab copies for yourself.
We are lonesome animals. We spend all our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say — and to feel — Yes, that’s the way it is, or at least that’s the way I feel it.
Story is the most adequate way we have of accounting for our lives, noticing the obscure details that turn out to be pivotal, appreciating the subtle accents of color and form and scent that give texture to our actions and feelings, giving coherence to our meetings and relationships in work and family, finding our precise place in the neighborhood and in history.
Grace.
Posted by ebrown 
By Tiffani Barnes
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