GraceNotes Podcast
GraceNotes Podcast
Episodes
Episodes of GraceNotes Podcast
Mark All
What makes the light of Easter last long past the hymns and lilies?The ground beneath our feet has moved. The grim, unshaken certainties of loss and grief and toil and death have finally succumbed—and to such stunningly good news: “For as in A
In the blackness of Sunday morning, the prodigal opened His eyes and murmured softly, “I will arise and go to my Father, and will say to Him, ‘Father, I have borne the sins of every human who has ever lived. I am worthy to be called your Son.’”
Left to ourselves, what we know of forgiveness would soon disappear. Left to ourselves, acts of mercy would soon drown in the ocean of self-centeredness. Left to ourselves, what light and warmth still shines in our communities would soon go dar
A gospel song from long ago gathered the hope of millions into a yearning vision of peace: “Someday, a bright new waveWill break upon the shore; And there'll be no sicknessNo more sorrow, no more war;And little childrenNever will go hungr
It never was a straight-line thing, this love we call the grace of God. It circles and surrounds, embraces and includes, until the throngs that praise God’s name are far too vast to count. In grace, Jesus forgives me. With gratitude, I offer y
Those the world calls saints weren’t typically the brittle, stained-glass figures of our pious imagination. The reason their stories are still told is that they trusted God more fully, accepted His freely-offered love, and opened their lives pr
We can’t make ourselves more loveable to God by years of good behavior. And yet, because of grace, we seek to do what pleases Him.We can’t earn even half an hour in heaven by acts of sympathy or kindness. And yet, because of grace, we spend un
No one can grasp the grace of God unless God teaches him, embraces him, and holds him in an unexpected kindness.There’s no intellect so vast; there’s not a mystic so devout that he can plumb the depth of love by private contemplation.“My thou
The gospel is only as good as the God who asks us to believe it. If He’s the disappointed, vengeful deity we have pictured in our frightened imaginations, then we do well to hide, to stay away: why would we risk ourselves with Him?But if Chris
A muscular young athlete, bench-pressing massive iron; stonemasons, deeply-focused, chiseling the capstone for a tall cathedral spire; a driven young executive, burning midnight oil as she assesses market data.What do these pictures have in co
It’s not called “practicing” for nothing.On some great future day, the liberating, life-affirming grace we each receive from Jesus will also be the grace we give as freely to those who wound us, irritate our peace, or call out for our love and
If you’ve ever been forgiven; if you’ve been held when you were wrong, or bitter, or confused—you know the grace that never can repay the giver. So we surrender to the goodness God implants in human hearts. “We know how dearly God loves us, be
“When I’m deep in a hole, lower a rope, not a shovel.”The last thing we need when we’ve dug ourselves profoundly into pain or confusion or sin is more of the same. Our best efforts got us there: our best efforts won’t deliver us. The pit only
It’s a scene played out 10 million times in the 30 days since Christmas: “You shouldn’t have . . .” “But I didn’t get you anything. . .” “I didn’t hear we were exchanging gifts . . .”A stranger from another planet might conclude that our annua
That impulse in our souls to pray—to find our knees; to stammer out the words—grows from an early, dim awareness of just how much we need the grace of God.We pray because we cannot fix our world or ourselves. We kneel because we’re powerless t
Like all the stories Jesus told, this one comes very close to home.We justly celebrate the prodigal. He finds himself among the pigs, then soberly concludes that he should go back home. And we deplore that bitter brother whose body never left
The diet lasts a dozen days. The treadmill hasn’t spun 10 miles. The Bible sits where it was left, unopened and unsavored. We grieve the effortless unraveling of all the goals we wanted to achieve—to lose the weight; increase the steps; find h
This painful year has made us clear on what we want for Christmas. Though Lexus and Mercedes-Benz are sure we want a gleaming ride with giant ribbons on the roof, we have no miles we want to drive. The ads all tease us with dark fantasies on Am
Ten thousand earnest Christmas pageants offer us some cherub child, dressed as an angel, stepping forth to utter words that sound well-nigh impossible.“Fear not,” he says, “for behold I bring you tidings of great joy.” (Luke 2:10).“Fear not?”
It isn’t only doubters who bemoan the passing year.Believers also crouch against the onslaught of the news. Tragic wars that never end; the end of good and gentle folk; the dull monotony of pain that robs our midnight of its sleep.And one mor
An old regulation from the era when most people traveled by train included this puzzling requirement: “When two trains approach a crossing both shall stop, and neither shall go ahead until the other has passed by.”The long-ago rule is, of cour
It is likely the oldest question humanity has ever asked: “What must we do to perform the works of God?” And for millennia, honest, searching people have provided their own answers to the question. Magnificent temples and cathedrals have been
“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.”The poet’s words from long ago ring true each dawn. It may be finches perching on the feeder; it might be pigeons cooing on some ledge; it could be sparrows clustered on an edge. But s
We are not alone . . .Depending on how you see the universe, that thought could bring you comfort—or deep terror.If you view everything beyond your fence as threat, as something to be feared, you’ll spend your days defending only what you alr
The mystery is that grace still finds us, hidden well beneath the cellar stairs—angry, broken, sinful, sad.When we’ve crawled into our painful cave to lick our wounds or plot revenge, we hear the footsteps on the stair. We hear the sound of Je
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