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“Why have I never heard this?”
“This changes everything!”
“I feel a burden lifted off my shoulders.”
I continually hear these statements as people discover the grace of God. Grace changes everything they’ve known to be true in both religion and culture, motivating life to be lived out of love and gratitude, rather than obligation and guilt. I was similar in having my eyes opened to grace in its fulness for the first time following my School of Biblical Studies. This stuck with me. As I returned to leading Dts’s and later Sbs’s, I found grace jumping off the pages of Scripture. It truly has become my life message. I began teaching the topic as a week in Dts schools. No matter where I taught in the world, people were impacted by a deeper understanding of grace. The idea of a book began to emerge as a companion to the teaching week. It would be something students could use to further meditate on grace. In 2000, I began to write but quickly stopped as discouragement set in. Nine years later, while at the Sbs Consultation in Germany, participants were challenged to lend our voice to the defense of justification and righteousness through faith. It was here that God spoke to me, and urged me to pick up the book project again.
In April of 2011, Death of the Modern Superhero: How Grace breaks our Rules was published. Below is a portion of the back cover blurb..jpeg)
Have you ever felt like you were just not good enough for God?
We are told we must be a good Christian, a loving spouse, a caring and involved parent, active in your community, and so much more.
Can we ever make it?
When are we good enough?
Do we feel like we cannot succeed in this life unless we are a superhero with superpowers?
Grace takes these expectations of culture and society and turns them upside down. God gives us gifts at salvation that tell us we do measure up to God’s standard. We are pleasing to Him. No longer do we strive and work to prove ourselves, only to collapse in frustration and failure. Now we can live in grace, bringing a new life of confidence and peace.
Early sales and reviews have been positive. The book is being used in Dts courses, counseling ministries, as a tool for debriefing, and more.
In the Sbs world, we truly do have things of value the church and the world need. A project as big as a book can seem daunting in our already full schedules. I believe God will be tapping more of us on the shoulder, to put our fingers to the keyboard, lending our voices to the defense of Biblical truth and the discipleship of His People.
To purchase Chris’ book or to download a sample chapter, visit www.nosuperheroes.com
