All posts tagged: grace

Credit: Srubhiker (USCdyer)/Flickr/Creative Commons

Expanding Grace

Published by

Recently, I was at the theater watching Jurassic World with my family. Beside me, there was a four-year old boy sitting with his father and throughout the movie I passed judgement on the father for bringing this young boy to that sort of movie. Later, I made a comment and my own son said, “maybe the man didn’t want to pay for a babysitter and decided to take him to a movie instead.” I was convicted afterwards by my judgemental perception of the situation I knew nothing about. Good on my son for choosing a positive perception of the situation. But, how I grieved afterwards about my opinion. And, even though I have worked hard to change my perceptions of people and circumstances, my original state creeps through and I judge again. I am reminded of the story of the man who was forgiven a large debt by his lord and then went out and demanded payment from someone who owed him money. He did not show this man the same mercy he had just …

Credit: Christian R. Hamacher/Flickr/Creative Commons

Struggling to love unconditionally

Published by

Loving others unconditionally (without any conditions, or expectations attached) does not come naturally for me or anyone I know. The question is how does one DO unconditional love (live it out, act and think). In order for me to extend unconditional love to others  I must have  a reason. What would motivate me to love others unconditionally and withhold judgement. Glynnis Whitwer from First5.org ministry says that we must ‘find the why’ and reason for our motivation to love unconditionally. The Apostle Paul writes: “For we were once thoughtless and senseless, obstinate, deluded and misled  . .  But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of anything we had done, but because of His mercy.” (Titus 3:3-4) Everyday, I must be mindful of the reason I choose to love unconditionally which is  to  honor God’s gift of grace to me by reflecting it back into my world. In the Old Testament, the Jews had rules and regulations to please God and the Greeks lived to appease their …

A small footnote on grace

Published by

In my vast experience as a human being, I’ve noticed what appears to be a universal problem.  This humanistic tendency cuts across all economic lines, cultural barriers, age, and societies’ sub-cultures.  Have I piqued your interest? This is the problem: we all try to justify ourselves by comparing our good and bad qualities with others in our peer group. 

Oh God, we cry out for Your mercy

Published by

Oh God, we cry out for Your Mercy. Oh God, we cry out for Your Grace. Oh God, we cry out set us free. Oh God, we cry out once again. I never heard of Kim Walker, but I love this song.  She is singing with her worship group the “Jesus Culture Band.” Kim resides in Redding, CA with her husband Skyler and son Wyatt. She is a recording artist and worship leader at Bethel Church in Redding. I came across this song on tworiversblog.com, the official blog for Two Rivers, a new church work in Binghamton, New York. It is an interesting blog, check it out.