Albrecht - A Taste of Grace Essential Skills for Every Artist

Copyright 2011 by Greg Albrecht

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in
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Published by Plain Truth Ministries, Pasadena, CA

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture passages are
from the Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV)
copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by
International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Albrecht, Greg. 1947
A Taste of Grace /
Greg Albrecht

p. cm.
Includes biographical references and index.

Cover photo by Design Pics; Caley Tse
ISBN-978-1-889973-11-1

1. Theology, DoctrinalPopular works.
2. ChristianityMiscellanea
I. Title

Chapter One
EVERYONE IS WELCOME (Matthew 22:1-14)

Chapter Two
THE GREAT REVERSAL (Matthew 20:1-16)

Chapter Three
ALL IS FORGIVEN, LOVE PAPA (Matthew 18:21-35)

Chapter Four
A TALE OF TWO NOBODIES (Luke 10:25-37)

Chapter Five
HE BECOMES ONE OF THE FLOCK (John 10:1-18)

Chapter Six
UNCIRCULATED, MINT CONDITION GRACE?
(Matthew 25:14-30)

Chapter Seven
THE SHREWD OPERATOR (Luke 16:1-15)

Chapter Eight
A FIELD TRIP TO A HOLY PLACE (Mark 12:35-44)

Chapter Nine
THE MEMBER AND THE NON-MEMBER
(Luke 18:9-14)

Chapter Ten
A FATHERS UNRESERVED & UNDESERVED LOVE
(Luke 15:1-32)

B ooks are not the sole production of the author whose name appears on the coverthey are created and generated by a team. My motivation and inspiration for A Taste of Grace comes from standing on the shoulders of thousands of men and women around the world, and the personal stories they have shared with me. Each one of them is, as I am, a survivor of a perilous religious journey.

Because I have experienced the miracle of Gods grace, I am passionate about its power, which enables religious refugees to rise in Christ, phoenix-like, out of the ashes.

May these pages prove to be good news for those who are now trying to make sense of God, for those who are currently incarcerated in a spiritual prison, as well as for those who are experiencing the aftermath of a traumatic experience inflicted on them by a religious institution. The joy of Gods grace more than compensates for the bondage endured at the hands of performance-based religion.

Many individuals had some part in the production of this manuscript. I wish to express my deepest appreciation to Laura Urista and Marv Wegner, co-workers at Plain Truth Ministries, for their expertise and contributions. I thank Bert Gary and Brad Jersak, for their advice and suggestions, helping to improve the final product.

As with all of my books, and for that matter the last 42 years of my life, my wife Karen has been a sounding board, as well as providing support and proofreading and commentary. Her most recent battle with cancer has only served to deepen my love. Karenyou are forever my Unchained Melody.

I have studied the teachings and parables of Jesus for many years, and while Gods grace has been by far and away the most vital part of my insights, the writings and examples of many fellow Christ-followers have helped me along the way. Samuel Johnson once said that in order to write one book a writer must read half a library.

Without attempting to rank their influence, or to pretend I understand all of their considerable insights, I am thankful to Martin Luther, Joachim Jeremias, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jacques Ellul, Lewis Smedes, Soren Kierkegaard, Frederick Buechner, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Jim Fowler, C.S. Lewis, N.T. Wright, Robert Farrar Capon and Brennan Manning for influencing my thoughts about Jesus and Gods amazing grace.

When I was in the second grade, my mother attempted (with little success) to attract some of my attention away from playing baseball to playing the piano. During my years of enforced piano lessons I became aware of (and later in awe of) the musical genius of Johann Sebastian Bachoften known simply as JSB.

After my baseball and piano playing days were over, I learned of a superscript/subscript Bach placed on almost all of his compositions SDG (Soli Deo Gloria)Latin for to God alone be the glory. While my attempts to play the piano always fell far short of doing justice to the compositions of JSB, I am humbled to join him, thanking God for his mercy and grace which enable me to share A Taste of Grace.

SDG

Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I dont see many of the brightest and the best among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isnt it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these nobodies to expose the hollow pretensions of the somebodies? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we haveright thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh startcomes from God by way of Jesus Christ. Thats why we have the saying, If you are going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.1 Corinthians 1:26-31, The Message

B iblical word pictures of streams and rivers illustrate the free-flowing grace of God, and by contrast, deserts and parched places portray empty souls cut off from God. Those who find themselves wandering far from the river of life wither, and become spiritually dehydrated.

Gods grace flows downward, from divinity to humanity. Its like water in that it flows to low places, responding favorably to the spiritual gravitational pull of humility. Gods grace is normally resisted by religious high placesbut welcomed in the lowest of places.

God gives his grace to those who have been humbled, while he resists the spiritually proud (1 Peter 5:5). Gods grace is experienced by many who are well aware of their spiritual needs, and therefore willingly come to the river of life. By contrast, those who believe themselves to be spiritually sufficient see no need to make their spiritual home by the banks of the river of life. The spiritually proud see Gods grace as unnecessaryit cascades off their souls like the proverbial water off a ducks back. Gods grace thrives in the lives of nobodies who have been overlooked, exploited, abused and abandoned. When we are down and out we find it far easier to be convinced we are in desperate need of Gods grace.

When Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was first beginning, two opposing groups divided about how they would best help alcoholics. One group, which was called the Oxford Group, required its members to commit to a Christian creed. The Oxford Group essentially believed that its members could work themselves out of alcoholism.