Now I am trying in my own small way to pipe the tune of grace. I do so because I know, more surely than I know anything, that any pang of healing or forgiveness or goodness I have ever felt comes solely from the grace of God. I yearn for the church to become a nourishing culture of that grace. the proof of spiritual maturity is not how 'pure' you are but awareness of your impurity. That very awareness opens the door to grace.

Robert was a country boy, who couldn’t stand working in a tight space in the midst of urban chaos - and he soon quit his job, before three months were out. Poling, Dean (September 5, 2008). "Book Review: 'Rumors of Another World' by Phillip Yancey". The Valdosta Daily Times. Valdosta, Georgia . Retrieved August 16, 2015.One chorus that sounds repeatedly through Yancey’s book is the story of a prostitute whom he invited to church. (p.11) Her response was, “Church! Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse.” Yancey heralds that pronouncement as an indictment of the church’s judgmental and negative attitude. I agree whole-heartedly that the church is to love sinners and tell them the gospel of Christ, but did Yancey never stop to think that maybe the church is supposed to make that prostitute feel bad? Perhaps conviction of sin is not categorically a bad thing, and perhaps it is actually loving to make someone feel uncomfortable about their sin. Paul didn’t have any problem at all telling the whole world that they were “worthless,” “deceitful,” and had the poison of vipers on their lips.” (Rom. 3:12-13) He has no problem telling them that they are sinners and that they will therefore die. (Rom. 6:23) Jesus Himself says that it is the very work of the Holy Spirit to “convict the world of guilt in regard to sin.” (John 16:8) Imagine that! “The Holy Spirit! Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. He’d just make me feel worse!” a b "Success ... From Failure". The Herald. Dublin. February 20, 2008. p.16 . Retrieved June 22, 2015. It happens right out in the Open Air of ordinary happenstance... when we MOST need it, and LEAST expect it - the day someone ALTERS YOUR LIFE.

Jesus' fierce denunciations of the Pharisees show how seriously He viewed the toxic threat of legalism. Its dangers are elusive In the book, now twenty years old, he unabashedly promotes the homosexual Mel White as a wonderful example of Christian grace and love vs the evil, intolerant Christians who insist on shouting about doctrine. An emphasis on doctrine is "hatred" while Mel, on the other hand, evidences "a graceful spirit." Yancey likens preaching against homosexuality to the preaching against social drinking he heard in his youth, preaching that he clearly views as petty, legalistic, and beneath the spirit of Christ. In Galatians chapter 5, Paul lists love and kindness as two of the fruits that should be seen in a believer’s life through the influence of the Holy Spirit. Kindness, mercy, and love are part of what it means to be a Christian; they are part of the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in a person’s life. This is Yancey’s indictment of the Christian church—that it too little embodies these kinds of virtues. The church needs to be less judgmental, less negative, more loving. We should pause here to admit that it is exceedingly dangerous to say anything in opposition to an argument like that. One cross word about it, and the reviewer unwittingly condemns himself as a judgmental, unloving negativist, and legitimizes the complaint of the book. So I suppose we must begin with the premise that pointing out error, and that even with some gusto, is not necessarily a bad thing. Jesus, the Apostle Paul, and even Philip Yancey all do it quite frequently.This book gloriously reverses that trend. Yancy argues that "grace", which he defines as forgiveness (albeit more thoroughly), is the salvation not only of humans as individuals, but of communities and civilizations as well. He offers countless examples of how our human instinct for vengeance (and justice?) poisons and destroys humanity, whereas an enlightened preference for forgiveness preempts the cycle of "ungrace" and leads to peace and, one is tempted to infer, the aforementioned round of kumbaya (though Yancy is too humble to say it himself). Gold Medallion Book Awards Winners". Evangelical Christian Publishers Association . Retrieved August 14, 2015. Yancey was inspired to write What's So Amazing About Grace? after President Bill Clinton asked him, "Why do Christians hate so much?" [1] Although Yancey initially intended to call the book What's So Amazing About Grace: and Why Don't Christians Show More of It?, Zondervan, its publisher, objected to this title despite the author's contention that he wrote the book to communicate the belief that grace is one of the best quality Christians, like himself, have to offer but are not necessarily identified with it. [2] The book was successful at secular and Christian stores, selling more than 15million copies by 2006 and becoming Yancey's best-known book. In it, Yancey coined the phrase "scandal of grace", referring to the idea that God forgives some of the worst people, citing the conversion of Paul the Apostle. Nelson, Stan (May 2, 2009). "Amazing Grace, How Strange the Sound". The Pueblo Chieftain. Pueblo, Colorado . Retrieved June 22, 2015. Questions: We Asked Musician Mal Pope Our 20 Questions". Llanelli Star. May 9, 2012. p.20 . Retrieved June 22, 2015.

It can plant a seed that will grow enormously, give you rest and shelter, and nourish your parched soul FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. Grace is the church's great distinctive. It's the one thing the world cannot duplicate, and the one thing it craves above all else - for only grace can bring hope and transformation to a jaded world. In What's So Amazing About Grace? award-winning author Philip Yancey explores grace at street level. If grace is God's love for the undeserving, he asks, then what does it look like in action? And if Christians are its sole dispensers, then how are we doing at lavishing grace on a world that knows far more of cruelty and unforgiveness than it does of mercy?

Grace—Visual Edition: An artist/designer approached me and said, “We like your books, but truthfully many in the younger generation won’t read a serious book of length. Too much like homework. Would you mind if we took some of the content, mostly the stories, and designed a graphic-heavy book around that content?” He did just that, and I must admit that images convey grace in ways that words cannot. Think of it this way. The Sears Tower in Chicago is much taller than the LaSalle National Bank. Fr

The definition of grace, implicit though it may be, as “pleasantness” and “niceness” is unchanged through the book. It is interesting to look through it and pinpoint whom exactly Yancey saddles with the label “ungrace,” and whom he praises and defends as a model of grace. The pattern emerges that everyone whom Yancey would define as kind or nice is gracious, and everyone who is mean and unkind is “ungrace.” Sometimes he gets it right. Nazis and murderers are condemned, while those who forgive Nazis and murderers are praised. Racists are condemned; Martin Luther King, Jr. and those who minister to racists are praised. There are some profound reasons for saying thanks to a man like Martin Luther King, Jr. and for condemning the likes of Adolf Hitler. Those reasons have to do with sin and righteousness. Yancey’s judgments at first seem to have that depth of insight, at least until one realizes the pattern of those he praises and condemns. Yancey’s criticisms turn out to pivot not at all on sin, but on pleasantness and niceness—abortion protestors, people who would call homosexuality a sin, and anyone who writes a negative review of a Yancey book are all “angry,” “vicious,” and “vituperative.” (p.227-228) By contrast, Bill Clinton, homosexuals, and even divorcees are lauded and pitied as people who have been the targets of Christian “hatred” (p.226) and “judgment.” (p.11 and 31). Perhaps the closest thing to a succinct definition Yancey gives is on p.231 when he defines his word “ungrace” as, quite simply, “meanness and inflexibility.” It may sound less than profound, but that is precisely the dividing line between the good and evil in Yancey’s world, between the “grace” and the “ungrace” in his mind. Certainly he praises and criticizes the right people at various times in the book, but it is hardly worth much if that judgment is little more than a summary pronouncement of “nice” or “mean.” As I wrote, the book became less about politics and society, and more about the wonders of God’s grace and how it can transform individuals, families, and even nations, revealing the universal themes of hope and redemption. a b Guthrie, Stan (March 1, 2006). "Grace as a License for Sin: Why Obedience Isn't Just for Legalists". Christianity Today. Carol Stream, Illinois . Retrieved July 30, 2015.No flesh can obey God’s Law and be justified, declared righteous, in God’s sight. It is true that “the doers of the Law shall be justified” (Rom. 2:13), but nobody can do what the Law demands! This inability is one way that men know they are sinners. When they try to obey the Law, they fail miserably and need to cry out for God’s mercy. Neither Jew nor Gentile can obey God’s Law; therefore God must save sinners by some other means. 11