Customer Reviews

The Grace Awakening

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1 star:		(5)

 

 

The purpose of Grace Awakening is clear: God's grace gives us the freedom to be ourselves and to not smother others so much that we get in God's way for their lives!

Among the many excellent points Swindoll covers include:

1. Jesus focused on the heart instead of a list of requirements.
2. Strategies for resisting legalism.
3. Principles of disagreeing agreeably.
4. Working in the flesh is unacceptable to the Lord.
5. Characteristics of those who display grace to others.
6. Be careful of comparing yourself to others!
7. While other people may be impressed with us, God isn't!
8. Areas that can keep us from growing in grace.

An excellent and highly recommended book, allow God to work through you to extend grace to others!

This book had a profound impact on me. And, it should be read by anyone who was raised in legalism and is mad at God because of those who, "take their preferences, find a scripture to wrap around it and then call it a conviction we all must live by." Originally, this book was to be called, "The Grace Killers." (Which, I like better, because that's what they are.) This book exposes those who load their flocks down like pack-animals with legalism, watch them stagger under the load and when they're about to crumble beneath the weight, they add more rules. IT WAS FOR FREEDOM THAT CHRIST HAS SET US FREE. Gal. 5:1

As a pastor, I am compelled to read this work at least once a year. It reminds me that I often loose sight of God's grace. Without grace I am left with trying earn my salvation. Dr. Swindoll reminds me that I need to be a giver of grace to everyone that I meet.

If you are or have struggled with God's idea of grace, I would encourage you to read this work. It will remind you how wonderful God's love is. We cannot survive without His grace. Since we have been the recepent of God's grace, we need to be givers of Grace ourselves.

I'll keep this very short. I had never written to the author of a book before but felt compelled to do so after reading this book. More than ANY book I had ever read, this book made a real change in my attitude and outlook toward life and my concept of who and what God is.

I had gone to church most of my life and was very involved with all the busyness of church life and definitely knew I was a believer but during a time when I was questioning a lot of things this book fell into my hands.

I read it practically without putting it down and wrote to Charles Swindoll to thank him for giving me first real glimmer of spiritual hope I'd had for many many years.

I still have the book and keep my letter to Charles Swindoll and his reply to me inside it. I loan it to others from time to time when I see that same look of bewilderment on their faces that I felt in my heart after many years of trying so hard for I knew not what.

READ THIS BOOK! I promise you'll never be the same again. It's just impossible.

Legalists will read this book and quickly misunderstand the author's perspective as being a license for libertine behavior. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. The grace of G-d shed abroad in our hearts is powerful enough to keep the believer in Christ, in holiness, without rules, regulations and the doctrines of man.

For me this book took the "fear" out of religon. Yes "the fear of the L-rd is the beginning of wisdom." But there is a "fear that hath torment," which is the fear produced by dictators who subject their congregations to a "yoke of bondage," using fear as a motivation for serving the L-rd.

Charles Swindoll has written a beautiful that is perfect for those who don't know what it is like to experience the "joy" of their "salvation."

Yes. It's true! A good friend of my family gave us this book and by the time I went thru the first chapter, I was in tears and saw a light I had missed and nearly forgot in my yrs as a Christian and pastor (besides having gone thru a long wilderness). My current pastor's birthday came up and even tho I had not finished the second chapter, I decided to either buy one for him or give this one away! I gave it away as the bookstores had sold out! I do not know whether he has read it yet as his messages did not show it. Still, I am hoping... Wonderfully, our friend lent her copy to us and now I can continue reading. I have preached and taught grace and works and all that for so long I forgot what it really meant to ME! (It can happen!) So, altho I knew what Swindoll would basically be writing, his experience and authority as a seasoned man of God in our generation sealed the truth of grace into my heart like few others could. From that day, I have been having a wonderful time just LIVING for Him!!!! Praise the Lord!! Thank u Mr. Swindoll for teaching this truth with boldness and with all grace! May the Lord continue to see u thru till the end of time!!

This book brings out what many christians can't put their fingers on. It screams out and says how are you walking?? chained up or FREE? We are all to seek God and obey his commandments and this book does not take away from that. It just tells it like it is. It's all God and not US. That is where the focus should be. We as humans tend to take things to the extrem thus distorting and re-adusting what(we think). This book offers an insight to balaced christian living and points straight to God and his word. That in itself brings contentment to a christian being filled with guilt and burden. We can love God and be so happy and confident about who we are in Him. Sadly those who are convinced that they want to choose a rigid christian life will continue to have tunnel vision. They will not want to be set free, for them I will say, Only Christ died and only He and He alone can make you righteouse. I also pray for your awakening and if in humility to Christ you can read your bible without any preconcevied thoughts about what you've been taught or any of your own understanding, but that which lines up with Gods word (which is infoulable). Even when you think your OBEYING and LEADING a righteous life...guess what?? you still have SIN and God's GRACE is ever so graciously covering you...Why not enjoy it like he intended. This book is that simple. God does not have favorites as the bible says. So lets all grow up and accept our imperfection and live triumphant,righteous,happy christian lives that only comes from our Lord Jesus Christ. Only Satan would bring rigidness to a believers life. Let start living like Jesus died for us and rose up to give us LIFE in the true sence of the word(LIFE).

Bestselling author Charles R. Swindoll has updated his classic title THE GRACE AWAKENING for a new generation of readers waking up to the truth that God is good and grace is the message of the gospel. As he writes, "Having tasted the sweet delights of liberty in Christ, more and more in the Christian family are satisfied with nothing less."

Renowned as a Christian communicator, Swindoll serves as senior pastor of Stonebriar Community Church, chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary and host of the internationally syndicated radio program "Insight for Living." A prolific and award-winning author, he has written more than 30 bestselling books and received 11 Gold Medallion Awards, with this book qualifying as one of his best ever.

Exhibiting candor and conviction, Swindoll contrasts liberty with legalism and warns readers to be wary of the three tools of legalism, or grace-killers, as he calls them: doctrinal heresy, ecclesiastical harassment and personal hypocrisy. As he explains it, legalists disturb and distort by twisting truth, spying and enslaving, and lying and deceiving others.

In the chapter titled "The Grace to Let Others Be," Swindoll compares the two different dimensions of grace. "Vertical grace centers on our relationship to God. It is amazing. It frees us from the demands and condemnation of the Mosaic Law," he writes. "Horizontal grace centers on our human relationships. It is charming. It frees us from the tyranny of pleasing people and adjusting our lives to the demands and expectations of human opinion."

To encourage readers as they awaken to grace, Swindoll reminds them that at least three things are involved in the process: it takes time, it requires pain and it means change. He also includes a helpful chart listing qualities of shame-based spirituality versus qualities of healthy spirituality, highlighting for readers the distinct differences between the two.

For those seeking specific guidance on how to be more gracious, Swindoll identifies five characteristics of people who personify grace: generosity with personal possessions, encouragement in unusual settings, life beyond the letter of the law, liberty for creative expression and release from past failures.

Readers will find the book an uplifting and liberating experience, as it gives them permission to be themselves in a healthy "live and let live" manner of speaking. While each one's pace may differ, Swindoll assures one and all that with God as the guide, the race to grace is a glorious one and well worth pursuing.

THE GRACE AWAKENING was originally released in 1990, selling more than 500,000 copies to date, and this version should succeed in widening its circle of influence even further. Its rousing message serves as a wake up call for all those who slumber under the lullaby of legalism yet yearn to be free. Read it and awaken to amazing, accepting grace.

--- Reviewed by Sean Fowlds

It took me several years to finally grasp the concept of grace. Several men's retreats and a couple of books later, I think I finally got it! Thanks, in part, to Chuck Swindoll's "Grace Awakening."

This book is a precious jewel. I would recommend it to everyone who is searching for purpose in life and even to those who think they've found it. It is a "must read" for anyone who claims to be a Christian.

Swindoll builds a solid foundation for the Christian faith and the cornerstone is the grace of God, displayed to humankind through His Son, Jesus. If people could just begin to understand the simplicity of the gospel, they would jump for joy and tell everyone they know about how liberating it is. That's the message of this book. Swindoll attempts to convey the gospel's simplicity. He issues a call for all people to be awakened to this simple truth. That is, we are all sinners in need of a gracious and loving God. That kind of God is the One written about in the Bible. He is forgiving and desires to show us His mercy. In fact, He already has by sacrificing His own Son. Beyond that One sacrificial act, by a holy and just God, there is absolutely NOTHING we can do, but to accept His gracious offer!

It's really that simple. What a liberating truth to finally have a firm hold of! I encourage you to purchase this book and to search the Scriptures, to see for yourself. My hope is that you will find freedom, just as I have, through the liberating truth of this simplistic message. Furthermore, I recommend a second book as a follow-up: "In the Grip of Grace" by Max Lucado. Happy reading!

We are so quick to defend our secular freedoms and liberties, fleeing to the Constitution every time there is even a hint that one of them may have been infringed. And well we should. That's why that document was written, to allow us to enjoy the blessings of the liberty that inheres in every man.

Chuck Swindoll reminds us in this book, though, that we as Christians are far less assertive to defend the greater liberty which we have, and should enjoy, in Christ. We readily allow ourselves to be enslaved by legalistic teachings and by the bondage of other men's consciences. This book raises a battle cry to stand up and fight for the freedom granted us by the grace of God, and to stop living like servants of the law. It's a call to revolution in the church, beginning at the level of each individual Christian, to exchange legalism for true Holy Spirit-led maturity.

It's high time a prominent figure in the church like brother Chuck stood to the fore with this message. To our shame, there are far too few with the boldness to say what needs to be said. We're too concerned about breaking with the traditions of men, or of being branded a "liberal" by our legalistic peers or pastors. Hogwash! "Liberty" is not the same thing as "lawlessness" or "license," as Chuck Swindoll so eloquently distinguishes. We hear this charge all the time from legalists who apparently don't think that the Holy Spirit which indwells each believer is big enough or powerful enough to guide our daily walk without resort to external regulations. No, Christian liberty is not about living in spiritual anarchy. Rather, it's the freedom to choose one's own walk and path to Christian righteousness within the boundaries set by scripture, which, by the way, are much less restrictive than so many Christian leaders would have us believe. Chuck Swindoll firmly yet lovingly takes legalistic teachers to task as he explains the difference.

As an adult bible study teacher in a Baptist church, I have felt the strong need to cry out against the pervasive and spirit quenching stranglehold of legalism in my own church. I have been teaching my class on this very topic for the past six weeks or so, and Chuck's book has been a wonderful source of insight and validation for my message. "Ye are not under the law, but under grace." Okay, so let's live like it!

God bless you brother Chuck, and thank you for a long overdue wake-up call.