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Twylla wrote: ↑06 May 2020, 12:51 Not everyone finds God as a result of being in crisis. I dedicated my life to God as a child and I grew up in a Christian home. I have never faced any of the horrible situations that the people in this book faced. I have had my ups and downs in life, but my life has never been in ruins. When I was growing up and people would come to our church with flaming testimonies, I always felt like my testimony somehow wasn't as powerful. But as an adult, I think living a life close to God with a grateful heart demonstrates God's grace as powerfully as finding God in a crisis. I am grateful for the life God has given me.

I have discovered that when I am faced by a crisis I tend to draw away from God which is not a good thing as a Christian. I therefore fully agree with you that not everyone finds God as a result of a crisis.

I can't remember the number of crises I've overcome, all I know is that the Lord's Grace is sufficient to me all the time. The question remains, how and have I returned it? If yes, how?
I'm contemplating... From a distance, I can tell I'm not on the wrong side.

AntonelaMaria wrote: ↑10 May 2020, 15:20

Sushan wrote: ↑02 May 2020, 22:36 According to the author, there are three phases in the life of a Christian; Facing a crisis, Receiving grace, and returning grace to others.

What is your opinion about this? Have you ever done it? Is it practical?

It is a great question but there is a lot to unpack here. I have to admit that the definition of crisis can be very subjective from one person to the other. Also do we get just one crisis? How do we measure it?

I think I have received grace in a form of answered prayers but I have to say I am still learning how to give it back to others. Or I am not doing it as it is mentioned in this book. It seems to me that here everything is described in huge extremes. There is a lot of stories here that are of people going through this huge pain and then switch their life for 180* . I don't know I haven't experienced life in such way yet. My connection with my religion was never that shaken , sure I had moments of doubt or distance but never in extreme way.

I haven't realized my journey as a Christian yet. But at some point, I agree with this and I was moved. I agree with you about still learning.

djr6090 wrote: ↑05 May 2020, 09:48 I wonder why it is that we recognize God's grace most when we are in crisis. The evidence of His power is around us every day. Returning grace to others supposes you have learned to carry it with you and keep it in reserve. The more you give, the more you get.

God uses trials to refine us into His perfect image, the way a silversmith refines a mirror, or a fruit tree is pruned by the gardener. Sometimes we don't know how much we need grace until we receive it when we don't deserve it. The Bible says we love, because He first loved us. When God raises us up from our trials, changes our hearts, and allows our souls to overflow with His living water, His strength is being shown in our lives. The more one turns to God and drinks the water of life the more living water or grace one has to share. It all starts with God.

I agree to the author with the three phases in the life of a Christian. Actually, I think that this is not only about a Christian, whoever believes in God would agree to this description.

No, I really disagree. Facing a crisis isn't a one time thing - life is tumultuous. You will often have problems, so crisis is not just one phase. And you don't really need a separate phase for returning grace. In fact, all 3 can co-exist.

Well, this is true because, the beauty of what you have may be made seen when you share it with others. I am of the opinion that when you receive grace to overcome crises, you need to make people aware of the grace that as help you

Practical to a point. Sometimes the crisis knocks everything out of you, and actually finding said grace incredibly difficult.

Zee_Zee wrote: ↑04 May 2020, 12:28 I totally agree with the author, life dealt me a hard blow at some point in my life and it took grace to pick me up, help me find my footing and make me stand tall and it's with this experience I'm able to share with friends or people experiencing something similar. I guess this covers the three phases. If there is one thing I know and I'm certain of, it is that you can't give what you don't have.

I totally agree with this.

I agree with the author about the three phases, although it is not always applicable for me. Yes there are instances in which a crisis can result to finding grace and sometimes giving it to others. However, this is not applicable all the times. Sometimes the crisis leaves you so broken that it is hard to find grace.

I agree with the author about the three phases, although it is not always applicable for me. Yes there are instances in which a crisis can result to finding grace and sometimes giving it to others. However, this is not applicable all the times. Sometimes the crisis leaves you so broken that it is hard to find grace.

I agree and like the way he wrote it as it can be quite a touchy subject

I believe that it does take grace to fish someone out of crisis. If we remove grace we'll be talking of individual effort which can be very difficult if not impractical in crisis.The sharing of the grace does not have to be a conscious effort all the time. Having people see you in the crisis and then out of it also shares it. Grace is there for crisis otherwise we would not need it. Be it minor or major crisis.

I think the author makes a good point with the three stages; however, I think identifying that first stage as "crisis" can be a little misleading. In my experience, it doesn't have to take a tragedy or crisis to spur a life changing moment that will allow you to "receive grace" in a way that's appropriate for you. Soemtimes, these life changing moments can occur naturally or internally. Furthermore, those second two stages are subjective in how they are fulfilled. It doesn't have to be as extreme as what was indicated. Someone's religion is theirs to experience however it makes sense for them. If you feel content with your engagement with religion and feel you are returning it to others, you probably are.

I do think there's something to be said for breaking down the stages, but how they play out is going to look different for every person.

Jajachris wrote: ↑09 May 2020, 11:44 The thing is that for some people, it is in a crisis that they actually begin to doubt the existence of a god, or the need to question their faith, and sometimes they actually find answers in other places. I maintain my assertion that though it was a beautifully written book, it didn't do much to alter my views on spirituality as a non-christian.

This was also my reaction when I read this book.