This book is wonderfully written and moving. It is broken up into several short stories that make the reader examine his or her own spiritual experiences. Gospel Subplots can help ease a person's way into the faith by modeling Christianity in everyday life. If it is hard for a person to open up and read a bible, it might be easier to open up Bales' book of short stories. His stories sparked an interest in me to open up the bible and examine my faith.

In Grace: Photographs Of Rural America, Gregory Spaid presents a memorable series of photographs taken on the high plains of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Ohio. These stark and impressive black-and-white images reveal an almost palpable melancholy arising from rural America. But there is also an ingrained hope springing from the resilience of the land and the spirit of the people that visually articulate the concept of "grace". Gregory Spaid's Grace is a moving visual testament and an outstanding example of the power of a photograph upon the mind and imagination of the viewer.

This was a great book, and I highly recommend it! However, beware, it is an easy read, and I wouldn't exactly describe it as a book you should get if you want an intense study. It did bring me a lot closer to God, though, and it opened up some wonderful truths to me! But after I read it once, I went back to read it all over again, and found myself wanting to know more about what he talks about, and wishing he would concentrate on certain subjects longer. So why did I give it five stars? Because this book is a must have---if you have in mind exactly what it is. If you're expecting an exposition of all the subjects, you won't find it here, but you will find simple meditations on passages of the Word of God and if you are anything like me, they will bring you much closer to Him. I still read chapters over again, and I still get things out of it. It's a terrific book, but each subject is only dwelt on a little bit, and it's not exactly a book intended to prove or disprove certain things or doctrines. But if you give it a chance, it will bring you closer to God! The book is divided into six sections: Grace God's Unmerited Favor, Power in the Blood, Being God's Friend, Joy in Christ's Presence, Holy Spirit Power, and The Second Coming of Christ. The section on grace and the section Joy in Christ's Presence, along with a few chapters out of Power in the Blood, are, in my opinion, the best of the book, but the others are great as well. The Second Coming of Christ doesn't go into an in depth explanation of all the verses that deal with it, or into an exposition of prophecy, but deals with a few verses, and deals with them well. Overall, it's not a book to read to study the subjects it has in it, but it's a book to read to remind you of simple but wonderful truths, and to bring you closer to God. It will leave you wanting to know more!!! It is in my opinion a must-have!

This is the very readable interesting story of Grace Divine, an aspiring opera student from Chatanooga, Tennessee, who married a Chinese engineering student, moved to China in the 1930's and raised a family. It is the story of the Japanese occupation, the civil war in the 1940's, the political changes of the 1950's, the Great Leap Forward, tne Cultural revolution amd various and sundry changes in China during the 40 years from 1934 to 1974.

All told in the most interesting and contiguous manner. The book is historically interesting - telling how a courageous woman raised her family through it all. An inspiring true story which should be read not only for inspiration and enjoyment, but can also be used as a reference book for those who want to know more about China during this period.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Spurgeon explains using scripture what GRACE IS in a believers life.Understanding God's grace will set you free , because His grace has set us free. This will pierce your heart with the truth's of God's love and abounding, overflowing grace towards those who He has saved by the work Jesus did and completed on the Cross for our salvation.

As someone who struggles with obsessive-compulsive thoughts and fears about my standing with the Lord it has been a tremendous blessing to read the spiritual autobiography of this great saint. Bunyan spent years in fear for his soul having thought he had committed an unforgiveable sin. But in the end he came through it and wrote "The Pilgrim's Progress" to encourage others. He died a courageous and much loved minister.

This book has been more important for my walk with God than any other except the Word of God itself. I totally recommend it for any one who wonders whether it is possible to survive feelings of despair and come to true peace in Christ.

I am saddened to see both that this fascinating little book has gone out of print and that it has been equally ignored by the theological community. Heinz W. Cassirer was the son of one of the most famous Kantian scholars of the 20th century, Ernst Cassirer. Like his father, he was for many decades a dedicated Kantian in his moral philosophy. Briefly, this entailed a belief about the possibility of fulfilling the demands of the moral law. Kant believed that the moral law placed an inescapable demand on every individual to fulfill its demands, and he further believed that the "ought" of the moral law logically meant that we "could" keep its demands. In other words, every individual is essentially capacitated to be a moral individual. Kant also felt that it was undeniable that none of us actually was able to keep the demands of the moral law because of our sensual nature. But since the demands of the moral law were inescapable, he believed that the demands of the moral law entailed human immortality, that in an afterlife where we would no longer be enthralled to a sensual nature--i.e., a body--we would be able to fully keep the laws demands. Still, the emphasis is on each individual's innate capacity to fulfill the laws demands, whether in this life or in an afterlife.

In middle age, however, Cassirer began to read the New Testament for the first time. In it, he was fascinated by a different account of the moral capacity of human nature. Unlike Kant, St. Paul was struck by the innate incapacity of human beings to do not merely what the moral law demanded, but what they wanted themselves to do. Gradually, and against his own intellectual inclinations, Cassirer came to feel that Paul, and not Kant, provided the more accurate understanding of human nature. This, of course, opens up the possibility greatly at odds with the overly rationalized nonsectarian religion one finds in Kant. In other words, it drives one more to a religion that sees the need for a redeemer as much as a legislator, Paul's own Christian faith.

Although Cassirer doesn't seem to be aware to be especially aware of his work, his book points very much in the direction of Kierkegaard's work, in particular PHILOSOPHICAL FRAGMENTS and THE SICKNESS UNTO DEATH. In both books Kierkegaard displays the logic of Christianity, in which people who are incapable of meeting the demands of the moral law are brought into contact with a redeemer who is the only remedy. I would have loved to see Cassirer explore this, but he doesn't seem to be aware of the sharp parallels to his own reading of Kant and St. Paul.

An absolute must for believers like me who were trapped in the bondage of legalism. Chuck's writting style is a breath of fresh air and the content is life changing. My only regret is that I didn't have this book in my possession the first moment it came off the press. I am recommending that my church complete the study guide that goes with the book.

Larry has a great way of taking a Christian concept and stripping away all the religion of today and showing how Christ wants to live through us. His illustrations are great and really help you to understand the concepts he is trying to get across. Truly if you want at true relationship with Christ and a life as Christ intended for us to live you should read this book

This is a wonderful book to keep by your bedside or to share with friends and family. It's more than a book about gardening, although gardeners everywhere will love it. This book celebrates the human spirit. It shows us the power of a dream, the ability of one person partnering with others to transform her corner of the world. These stories remind us that we all have the power to bring peace and harmony into our world.

Debra Engle writes in the best tradition of personal essayists. We travel with her as she crosses the country. She transports us to these gardens, evoking their sights, scents and sounds. We sit with her as she talks to an elderly gardener in Huntsville, Alabama, or stride with her through an amazing urban farm in downtown Milwaukee. We feel the individual energy and spirit of these remarkable gardeners who are truly changing the world one garden at a time. And we see those changes through the lens of Engle's understanding of the world as a place where miracles happen every day if we let them.

I loved this book and highly recommend it. If you'd like to be reminded of all the good there is in the world, or if you just love a good essay, this book will satisfy.