A Gift of Grace

What a gift we have received in the Lord Jesus Christ! Ephesians 2:8 tells us, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." God's grace granted us the faith to believe in Jesus Christ as our one and only Savior, giving us the only prerequisite necessary to eternal life with Him. By God's grace we are made able to believe, and by God's grace we are then saved through the gift of faith.

Both faith and grace are gifts of God in the myriad of gifts He generously distributes. Author Amy Clipston uses her amazing gift of storytelling to tell about a gracious gift of another kind in A Gift of Grace. Another book in the Amish Fiction genre, this story pulls at the heartstrings of belonging, beliefs, culture and values. Instant motherhood and a clash of cultures makes this new book a fun fiction read for the Christian fiction enthusiast, like my dear friend Glenda who can hardly put it down. Enjoyable and tender, this is sure to be a favorite for years to come.

Brain Power

Even as I booted my laptop to write this review, I was captured alive by the power of the unending internet, seducing me to click on such links as “Christian woman making two grand from home working part-time on the computer” and a video of Rick Warren discussing his position on traditional marriage. Ten minutes later, I now powerfully reclaim my day’s agenda, thanks in part to Shane Hipps’ Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith.

Shane not only addresses the internet in this powerful book, but the entire Print Age, tracing the effects of such media as the written word, photography, radio, and television. But this non-fiction read is by no means dry. It actually goes down like a delightful chocolate milkshake, one I didn’t want to put down and didn’t want to end. I look forward to a second glass.

Every believer and follower of Christ will walk away from this read with an expanded mind. Evangelicals might note Hipps is a Mennonite and his beliefs are woven in the fabric of his work. However, shaping the readers’ mind theologically is not his goal, and any occasional theological difference I may have encountered while reading did not distract me from our shared purpose –awareness. We agree on this main point – if Christians are to walk successfully in this new age, we must become aware of the forces of the age in which we walk.

Hipps’ work fulfills its back-cover promise to awaken readers, opening eyes so that nothing looks the same again. It has stamped my thinking with a permanent reflective question, “Am I responding solely to the hands of the Potter, or am I resigning to the spinning forces of our culture?”