04/29/09

Welcome to my website!

Growing up in the church, I got the idea that all of life was summed up in the words of an old hymn, "Trust and Obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to Trust and Obey".

I still believe in the words to that old hymn. I'm convinced that true happiness in life comes as a result of obedience to God's Word, and trusting in His Son, Jesus Christ. The lesson I must have missed along the way was the one about how hard the trusting and obeying can be.

Trust is easy when the bills are paid, the kids and/or your wife (or significant other) worships the ground you walk on, and your business is thriving. Trust becomes difficult though when any one of the above items, or a myriad of others, goes south. When prayers don't 'get answered' and your ship gets blown up just outside the harbor, trust can be difficult.

Trying to obey is full of roadblocks and obstacles that not only hinder our progress, but outright attack our very being. We know what to do, but doing what we 'know' doesn't always seem possible. With each failure we are reminded that this life of obedience may work for some, but not for me.

What I've learned over the years is that life is a journey. The recurring pattern of falling and having to pick myself up again left me spiritually bruised, my confidence shaken and my will to to go on all but destroyed.

What I have also learned in the going is that our communities are full or people who struggle on a daily basis. For some, that struggle has gotten so hard that they have all but given up on faith. It isn't that they don't believe in God, they've just stopped believing that He can help them. In a word, they struggle with GRACE.

Some struggle with the Grace that God gives freely because they have fallen so many times 'He can't possibly help me anymore.'

Others struggle with the giving of Grace. With every attempt at trying to live GRACE-fully in a GRACE-less world, they get hammered by those who judge them, or take advantage of them.

Built with Grace is devoted to helping people learn how to live in the FREEDOM that only Jesus Christ can give.