For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age...

Titus 2:11-12

A number of women from Cresheim Valley attended the TenthWomen's conference last weekend. It was a really good day in all kinds of ways, not least in getting to know each other better and enjoying a terrific lunch together. Tara Klena Barthel spoke engagingly and honestly about the struggles of living out the gospel in our relationships. She gave lots of useful practical help, but for me, the most helpful session was the first in which she spoke about the need for us to have grace as the foundation for all our relationships.

She used the phrase 'breathing the air of grace'. Her point was that if we are not receiving (breathing in) grace, we won't be extending it to others (breathing out). Too often we're tempted to think of God's grace as an excuse for licentiousness, as permission for ungodly behaviour. And if we reject that, we tend to fall into the trap of legalism, regulating our behaviour not by grace but by law.

But Paul, writing to Titus in the verses I cited above, has a different view of grace. For him, God's grace is what teaches and trains us in godly living. If we think grace is an excuse for sin, we haven't understood the nature of God's grace. And if we think the way to regulate our behaviour is by law, we haven't understood grace either.

A book I've found very helpful for getting this clear and putting it into practice is Jerry Bridges, 'The Discipline of Grace'.

The Discipline of Grace
Jerry Bridges

The subtitle of the book, 'God's role and our role in the pursuit of holiness' indicates Bridges approach to the subject. We don't simply 'let go and let God' - we must actively pursue holiness in every area of our lives. But nor do we try to achieve this goal in our own strength - we need God's grace every step of the way.

Challenging and encouraging in equal measure, I commend this book to anyone who is struggling to live a life that 'adorns the doctrine of God our Saviour.'

Welcome to any members of Cresheim Valley Church who've found their way to my blog.
As you'll see it's a bit of a mixture of my observations on life in America, fun things, theological reflections, and links to other useful sites. Please let me know if you think there's anything you'd like to see me discuss or if you have queries about anything you see here. Leave a comment, or send me an email (or just come and talk to me on Sunday!)

About me:
I’m a PhD student at Westminster Seminary, focussing on Old Testament. I’m still in the coursework stage of the program, but when that’s done, I hope to write my thesis on the Song of Songs. I’m interested in things like poetry and language, biblical theology, typology and symbolism, sacramental and liturgical theology, and most of all, learning to hear what the Lord is saying to his people in his Word.

When I finish my studies, I hope to return to England and use what I’ve learned for the benefit of the church there. In particular I have a vision for training women for different kinds of bible teaching ministries. I’m excited to have been part of Cresheim Valley Church from the beginning and I’m looking forward to seeing what God does among us, and to serving this congregation as best as I’m able.

Finding your way around the blog
If you scroll down a little, on the right hand side of the page you'll see a list of 'tags'. If you click on any of these words, it will take you to all the posts I've made related to that topic - much easier than scrolling through chronologically. I'm still in the process of tagging all my old entries, but hopefully this is already a useful facility.

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