About the Book:
In this collection of pithy and thought-provoking writings, Sam Williamson shows why being saved by grace isn’t enough: we need—indeed we long—to live by it.
Excerpt:
Several years ago I met with a woman distraught over her son’s rejection of Christianity.
She said, “I did everything I could to raise him right. I taught him to be like the ‘heroes of faith,’ with the faithfulness of Abraham, the goodness of Joseph, the pure heart of David, and the obedience of Esther.”
She wondered why he had rejected Christianity.
I wondered why it took him so long.
—From the book
People often reject Christianity simply because they can’t distinguish it from mere morality. The world needs morality—oppression thrives when consciences are abandoned—but we need more than that alone. We need the gospel of grace. A gospel that has largely been lost amid the dos and don'ts and preoccupations of religious culture.
People often pit grace against moralism. And they should. Moralism circumvents heart-changed morality. We need moral men and women, but moralism damages the foundation of heart-change. While it’s okay to pit grace against moralism, let’s not pit grace against morality. Grace is the source of real morality, and grace—thank God!—breaks the bars of moralism that imprison us.
About the Author:
Sam Williamson is the son of a pastor, the grandson of missionaries, a speaker, a writer, and--he hopes--a thought-provocateur. He studied European intellectual history at the University of Michigan. Finding no jobs in European intellectual history, he spent twenty-five years in the mundane business of business, the last two decades as an executive and owner of a software company.
After his twenty-five year stint in business, he felt called to ministry. He founded Beliefs of the Heart. Its mission is to help us examine the unexplored convictions that drive us. Why do we do what we do? What unseen forces motivate us? What is going on beneath the surface?Sam and his wife, Carla, live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and have four grown children and an ever increasing number of grandchildren. In his free time he loves sailing, skiing, and scuba diving.
He writes a weekly article on his blog, http://beliefsoftheheart.com/
My Review:
In a perfect world we would all obey the Lord like we should and serve Him as we are instructed to do, and do so happily. But for all wants and purposes that is not how we as children of the Most High behave. We go kicking and screaming or not go at all. A life with free will, such as the one we have been given, some would say, causes this type of behavior. Trying to be good and finish this life well and do as God has instructed us is never easy and I believe, wasn't suppose to be. If so why would we need Him at all, we could save ourselves.
God wants us to rely on Him for those things that we need help with, that's His grace. The author in his book states(paraphrasing here) that we are not to strive to be like the heroes of the Bible because they went on to do things for God, BIG things. But we are to rely on God and when we do BIG things can happen for us and through us. We will fail Him daily and that is something we should never forget, but with Him we can do great things, just resting in His grace.
The author has included several of his writings therein that proved this point and his opinions are dead on. He has done alot with the subject of God's grace and how we are incomplete without it. I look forward to reading more of his writings in the future.
**Disclosure** This book was sent to me free of charge for my honest review from the author.
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