A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green

Guilt, Shame, and Grace

Guilt and shame are two of the most powerful spiritual forces known to humanity. Guilt is what we experience when we do something wrong, while shame is what we experience when we are wrong. In other words, guilt is about what we do, and shame is about who we are. We can think of themContinue reading “Guilt, Shame, and Grace”

Growing a Greater Vision of God

The Tipping Point was Malcolm Gladwell’s debut book in 2000 and the first of five bestsellers. It probed the forces behind societal change and proposed to explain “how little things can make a big difference” (the book’s sub-title). For example, Gladwell popularized the broken-window theory. This theory says that when a window in a building isContinue reading “Growing a Greater Vision of God”

Grace, Faith and Transformation

God is in the transformation business—He’s always changing things. He changes caterpillars into butterflies. He changes the seasons. He changes CO2 into food for trees and oxygen for people. He changes the food we eat into energy and replenishment for our cells. And while it’s true that God does these things through the natural world HeContinue reading “Grace, Faith and Transformation”

Grace and Coming to God

Our situation is this—we’re drowning in an ocean of our sins and misdeeds. None of us are “one sin” sinners, we’re all repeat offenders. If we’re to be saved, it won’t be because we do it ourselves. We’re too far from land, too weak to swim long, and too much in touch with reality to kid ourselves otherwise. IfContinue reading “Grace and Coming to God”

God’s New Creation

Most people can relate to the experience of getting a new car—whether it is one with no miles on the odometer or a gently-used vehicle. It is new to us, a big investment, and usually something that we have been anticipating for a while. When we find the right car, everything comes together: it looksContinue reading “God’s New Creation”

God’s Holiness and Our Hope

Isaiah felt undone in God’s presence (Isaiah 6) and that’s not a terrible thing. If the biblical witness teaches us anything, it is that though God is wholly approachable through Jesus, He is nonetheless holy, and we neglect this truth to our spiritual detriment. God’s holiness is often misunderstood. It is equated with purity andContinue reading “God’s Holiness and Our Hope”

Four of God’s Favorite Words

“Do not be afraid,” the angel told the women who had come to Jesus’ tomb. But they were. They were plenty of reasons to be afraid: * the stone was rolled away and (they thought) it wasn’t supposed to be, * it was early morning in a garden by aContinue reading “Four of God’s Favorite Words”

Flipping the Script

“God is with us”—that’s vital to know, isn’t it? From Psalm 23 to Romans 8, the Scripture tells God’s people in no uncertain terms that He is with them. It’s a little strange in light of this that we spend as much time as we do wondering about the presence of God in our lives.Continue reading “Flipping the Script”

Faith and Philosophy

However else we are to understand Qoheleth (the “Teacher” or “Preacher”) in Ecclesiastes, it seems to me that it is important to pay attention to his wisdom statements—especially those where he speaks of his search for wisdom. The first such statement occurs in 1:16-17: “I said to myself, look I have increased in wisdom moreContinue reading “Faith and Philosophy”

Faith and Coming to God (2)

3. Faith obeys and works, but never earns. The Scripture speaks of faith working (James 2:22), the “obedience that comes from faith” (Romans 1:5), and even uses “believe” and “obey” interchangeably (see Hebrews 3:19,4:6). But faith cannot earn any more than someone who is given money could boast of their economic standing. It is a grace-based ventureContinue reading “Faith and Coming to God (2)”