Dear friend,

 

- 1 Peter 5:10 -

 

Grace: The unmerited favor of God, power to the powerless, strength for what we cannot do on our own. We talk about grace, give ourselves grace, reference the gospel of grace, but do we fully understand what we speak of? I know I've missed it a few times. 

 

Sometimes we talk about grace as if it's a one-time gig: we need it for eternal salvation, but after that, it's up to us. Or perhaps we attribute good things and harvest seasons to God's grace, but are left with gnawing questions in the wilderness: Has God's grace left me now?

 

Contrary to our beliefs (or disbelief) God's grace is not absent in hard seasons. His grace runs like a through-line from mountain top to valley bottom.

 

This year we walked through painful conflicts, two miscarriages, the near-loss of our dog, and a sexual predator stalking our children. As we approached Verity, our annual theology conference, I found myself tired, grieving what our friends and conference speakers were experiencing in the southern United States, my mind & heart “worried about many things”.

But there is a better part.
 

In their book Making Small Groups Work authors Cloud and Townsend describe grace as “power to the powerless”. Grace is God’s strength to be and do what we could not be or do on our own. When we misunderstand grace, defining it as “alleviation”, “a break”, “doing less”, as we are apt to do in today's social media driven hustle culture, we miss just how much GRACE we are being given in the midst of suffering.

The grace in my miscarriages was the strength to hope in God Himself when the answer was different than what I asked.

The grace in our childrens’ exposure was the three months of teaching on s*xuality we did before it happened, not knowing the preparation they would need.

 

The grace in the conflicts, betrayals and pain of this year was in they strengthened us, refined us, made us better leaders, and drew us deeper in our walk with God.

The grace in the pain and loss and fear and questioning of this year has been the strength to hold on to Christ and each other, even when “men and devils” come against us.

God’s grace runs parallel to the pain. It is not absent, only to appear when it’s all over. Grace isn't something you earn through suffering. God doesn't NEED pain to teach us about His heart, but He redeems our pain in the kindest of ways, showing Himself present when others have turned away.

 

There is grace here - His goodness and mercy following me, every single day of my life. I take everything personally, every small gift a sign of His presence. Here I can say: After all, You are still good.

 

God's grace runs parallel, beside us, never giving up or growing faint. His mercies are new every morning. His faithfulness is beyond our imagination. The grace is here for the taking, if we will open our hands and eyes.

 

Charles Spurgeon

My reading life took a back seat with Verity Conference, but I managed to skim through some great books this month and am currently reading (and re-reading!) some great ones.

 

Daily Doctrine by Kevin DeYoung: This book is quite heady but the structure is fantastic. It's divided into daily readings on specific theological topics: Christology, Soteriology, Ecclesiology, etc. Definitely for the nerds among us, but easy to use due to the short chapters!

 

What It Means to Be Protestant by Gavin Ortlund: A great book for those who have discussions with Catholic and Orthodox believers on a regular basis. This book discusses why Protestantism is not as divided as people claim it be, the history behind the Protestant church, and how we can continue to reform in the future.

 

Know the Theologians by the Mcnutts: Part of the “Know Series” (much loved over here!) this book dives into famous theologians of church history in an accessible and engaging way.

 

Cultural Sanctification by Stephen O. Presley: I really enjoyed this and am still working through it. The subtitle is “engaging the world like the early church”. It's a heady book but helpful as we navigate our lives in modern day “Rome”.

 

The Flourishing Family by Dr. David and Amanda Erickson: I've had this one for a while and didn't get to share much about it during the book launch, but it was wildly successful on Amazon, selling out at least once! I read widely on parenting, and with a sensitive topic like this you'll find things you agree with and disagree with. That said: I find this book a refreshing, balanced take on the nature of children and how parents can disciple kids with both boundaries and grace. There will be something you can implement and learn from no matter where you land on the parenting style spectrum. 

 

The Emotionally Healthy Woman by Geri Scazzero: After loving Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (book and podcast) this was on my list, and I thrifted it recently. This series of books is a must read, in my opinion, for anyone hoping to grow in holiness and healthy leadership.

 

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry: This is a re-read for me. I love it so much. A great fictional read for those looking for high quality books for fall.

 

The White Cottage Mystery by Margaret Allingham: This was a new read for me – an author who inspired Agatha Christie. It's older (1927) and I loved it. Read it in two days!

 

Rembrandt is in the Wind by Russ Ramsey: I have waited so long to read this book on faith and art and I am loving it already! He has a new book out that I'm adding to my list. 

This week on YouTube you get a sneak peek of Verity Conference with the very first session from Day One: How to Reach the Spiritual But not Religious. In this talk I discuss my acronym SPEAK for sharing your faith with those who do not believe in institutional religion, and why only a heart that loves the world is effective at engaging it.