Fall to Grace by Jay Bakker

If anyone ever had a reason to leave the Christian faith, Jay Bakker did.

At the age of only 11 his parents' global PTL ministry was engulfed by scandal and undermined by Christian backbiting -all of which played out in the 24-hour news media.

Disillusioned, Bakker turned to drugs and alcohol and left his childhood beliefs behind. But along the way, an interesting thing happened: Bakker came to understand, through his personal challenges and suffering (as well as the help of some friends), what God's grace was really all about.

In this book Bakker explores the true nature of grace--what it means for everyday living and the hot-button issues of our day. With disarming humility, poignant observations, and spot-on theology, Bakker both challenges Christians to reassess their understanding of salvation and encourages non-believers to see Jesus with fresh eyes.

Fall to Grace is an eye-opener to the power and impact God's grace should have on our lives as Christians. While I don't agree with everything Jay Bakker writes I do agree with his overall message of grace. It's interesting to me that most, if not all, Christians would agree that God's grace is a gift freely given to all mankind through faith. But as soon as a controversial subject is mentioned, or someones sin is in question, grace seems to go out the window and in comes vengeance...with a vengeance!

Grace was not taught in the church much while I was growing up. I think the hush-hush of this topic has almost made it feel like it's something only given to the 'privileged'...whoever that may be. Anytime grace is mentioned the first thing I think of are two specific stories of Jesus. The first being the story of Jesus forgiving an adulterous woman (John 8:1-11) and then Jesus with the woman at the well (John 4:4-26). Jesus loved both of these women even if at the time they were considered social outcasts.

And this takes me next to the greatest commandment, Matthew 22:37-39. Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'

I guess I've stepped up on my 'soap-box' a little but I think what we all forget in the grand scheme of things to love people. We don't have to agree with what they do but God tells us we MUST love them. I would highly recommend this book. Grace is an amazing gift we're given but for some reason we either want to keep it all for ourselves or not even accept it at all. Fall to Grace is riddled full of scripture and sheds great light on the reality of grace.

If you decide to read this I would love to hear your thoughts!

Happy Reading!!