As a Bible teacher, Gayle had taught for decades about the amazing power of grace in a person’s life. Yet it took a crisis in her husband’s life and the crumbling of her own life around her for her to have an epiphany about the true nature of grace. In Courageous Grace, Gayle chronicles and explains her newfound insights.
Despite common misperceptions, grace is not safe. It’s not easy. Frankly, it takes courage to show grace to those who deserve less. Oftentimes, the person showing God’s grace gets counted among the sinners, just as Jesus experienced centuries ago. Gayle explores the story of Jesus forgiving the adulterous woman to reveal the courageous side of showing grace.
We live in a society that vacillates between glorifying sin and crucifying those who fall. Gayle encourages us to take the road less traveled—daring to do the hard work of showing God’s grace to the sinners among us. It’s what followers of Christ are called to do.
My Review:
This was an easy to read book but the theology can sometimes be confusing. You might recognize her name. She is the wife of Ted Haggard, the preacher that got caught with a male prostitute. I have no problem with the main principle of the book which is it takes courage to show grace to some people. I think she is referring to what happened with husband throughout the book. It must have taken a lot for her to stay after the hoopla. As a Christian I think there are situations God does not expect us to stay in and for me that would be one. In the book she states that no sin is worse than another and we should embrace all sinners and show them grace. She also thinks that her husband made a simple mistake and that everyone overreacted and he should not have lost his preacher position. It seems she is judging other Christians for not forgiving and forgetting everything that happened. The book is only partly about grace. The grace part is good the rest I could live without.
Gayle Haggard is an author, speaker, and the wife of Ted Haggard, founding pastor of New Life Church (Colorado Springs, Colorado), and former president of the National Association of Evangelicals. Together Ted and Gayle grew New Life Church from a small group of people meeting in their home to a 14,000-member congregation. There, Gayle directed women's ministries, teaching women of all ages and overseeing 150 women's small groups. In 2006, their world was rocked by scandal, and they stepped down from leadership. Since that time, Gayle and Ted have emerged from their crisis with their faith, marriage, and family stronger than ever because of what they experienced and learned. Today they lead Roundtable discussions with Christian leaders around the nation which focus on the idea of restoring the key ideas of the New Testament to the modern church's reputation. Gayle is the author of the New York Times best-selling book, Why I Stayed: the Choices I Made in my Darkest Hour, and her newest book, Courageous Grace. In addition, she has made numerous public appearances on CNN, The Today Show, Larry King, Oprah, The View, Dr. Drew, the Huckabee Show, and NPR along with many others, sharing the hope, love, and grace that strengthened her in her darkest hour. Gayle and Ted currently pastor St. James Church in Colorado Springs where Gayle leads a ministry called Women Belong. She and Ted have five children and two grandchildren.
No comments:
Post a Comment