Oddballs Every One

Over the weekend I finished reading "What's So Amazing About Grace?" by Philip Yancey.

Wow.

In my mind I keep mulling over,
"There is nothing we can do to make God love us more.
There is nothing we can do to make God love us less."

That's Grace.

And folks, we live in a "grace-less" world, encase you haven't noticed.

There is a great illustration in the book about man approaching God. In the Old Testament, it was all about perfection. Nothing unclean could come near the Most Holy Place. Only the perfect sacrifice. Nothing crippled, ill or lame. As if there was a sign, "No oddballs allowed."

In the New Testament we see Grace. And now the sign reads, "We are all oddballs. But God loves us, anyway."

Reminds me of something my grandmother used to say: "Everyone is a bit odd, except me and thee. And even thee is a bit strange."

Aren't we glad that God loves us anyway?

So from one oddball to another:
May you experience the grace of God today.

And may you be empowered to love and forgive others,
through the Holy Spirit,
with that same grace.


"From nursery school onward we are taught how to succeed in the world of ungrace. The early bird gets the worm. No pain, no gain. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Demand your rights. Get what you pay for. I know these rules well because I live by them. I work for what I earn; I like to win; I insist on my rights. I want people to get what they deserve - nothing more, nothing less.
Yet if I care to listen, I hear a loud whisper from the gospel that I did not get what I deserved. I deserved punishment and got forgiveness. I deserved wrath and got love. I deserved debtor's prison and got instead a clean credit history. I deserved stern lectures and crawl-on-your-knees repentance; I got a banquet spread for me."
Philip Yancey
"What's So Amazing About Grace?", pg 64