““To quote John MacArthur: “As far as the way of salvation is concerned, there are only two religions the world has ever known or will ever know—the religion of divine accomplishment, which is biblical Christianity, and the religion of human achievement, which includes all other kinds of religion, by whatever names they may go under.”― Max Lucado, In the Grip of Grace”

The reflecting pool at the University of Maryland

Over 20 years ago, the Grace of God appeared to me as I was a student of the University of Maryland. On June 4th, I came out of the waters of the reflecting pool located in the center of campus. The joy that I experienced knowing that I had turned from worthless idols in my life to serving the living God filled me with incredible gratitude for Jesus. Throughout the years, I have come to wrestle with staying motivated by the same grace that had appeared and brought me salvation. I know that God’s grace should be enough to motivate me to live a life for God but at times I have wrestled with trying to please people, earn God’s love through the discipline of reading, praying and confessing my sins regularly only to find that I have replaced my former idols with other worthless idols that don’t lead to maturity in Christ.

During the month of February, we began studying the topic of grace in the Hampton Roads Church. The more that I have been studying God’s grace and understanding what Christ has done for me on the cross, God has granted me the opportunity to not only repent of these “respectable” worthless idols but also to be set free so that I can truly serve the living God.

In March, my wife, Ayhanna and I, will be blogging as we read through a book entitled "In The Grip of Grace" by Max Lucado with the hope of learning more about this amazing topic of grace. Our focus will be on a parable that is told in the beginning of the book. The parable is about 4 out of 5 sons who disobey the father and get pulled into the current of a river and are washed downstream far away from home. One starts building a hut, another watches him and judges while the third tries to work his way up the river to get back home. When the father sends his eldest son to bring them back home, everyone rejects the invitation to come home except the fourth son. (You will have to read the parable of the river to truly understand the son’s, their view of their Father and their understanding of grace).

Join us as we go on this journey to deepen our understanding of God and His grace. To get started, read the parable of the river and blog which son you most relate. Each week we will look at one of the sons, a passage from the book of Romans, post the midweek lessons on each of the 4 sons, and ask questions to engage your view of the Father and grace.

Let’s start this journey by reading The Parable of the River

Blogging Question: What brother do you most identify and why?

If you would like to also follow along with our midweeks, print out the sheet GRACE DRIVEN CHRISTIAN . I will also put audio lesson of the midweek services.