DAY 9
Saving Grace
Read: First Samuel 15
Manifestation of the unmerited favor of God is amazing. Think about it. Throughout salvation history favor is shown guilty people. God is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6) Where, oh where is this grace? It seems ridiculous in a world that seek punish upon punish. More in more in the United States of America law enforcement officers are sought to be punished for the way they apprehend violators of the law. Grace as the divine attribute of God bestows worth upon the worthless and deliver unmerited favor to the hopeless.
Paul instructed Titus in "saving grace." Titus does not have to work to receive the grace, but he works in response to the grace
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No mercy or love was shown the “Big Guy.” A few blocks from our spot of favor, a favored friend’s blood was drying out on sidewalks which once were our pathway to church and parks and sundry matters of life. Through grief of losing our friend, thoughts of anger quickly change to sorrow knowing that in the end, it was a new beginning. Big Guy was not coming back. Next to me was one the wonderful person to share the world with me. I actualized the essence of life by changing thoughts discourteous people and murders and captured memories of past and enjoyment of the current. God's grace remains sufficient, I thought. It was grace that brought Big Guy into the church five years prior to being murdered on the streets where only a few years before he had been “kingpin” and a non-believer. I recalled the day of his salvation, when he said: “Man, I want to learn like you and before I die have the right relationship with God. Man, I should have been dead and it is just a matter of time. Man, I tell you, Doc, I am going back to school and die a decent man.” Where was I to find the grace of God, when our friend was murdered on a street in …show more content…
God, the preeminent stockholder of grace, invest unlimited and unconditional love in human beings, so human beings as responsible recipients of grace may show grace. We do not disregard works. We work not for grace, but in response to the grace of God, Christians desire to be in obedience to God. Amazing grace was not in our non-reaction to the aggressive drivers that was just common sense and courtesy at best. Grace was the response of Big Guy believing in dying the death he envisioned would be, acknowledging that between 2005 and 2010 he had been set free to die that he might live. Grace, saving grace! May those who killed Big Guy, be grace to see the reception of their souls…there may grace be
“Amazing Grace” is an excerpt from Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation by Jonathan Kozol. “Amazing Grace” is about a seven year old boy named Cliffie taking Kozol through South Bronx, showing him all the dreadful, and also interesting things that are going on around the area of St. Ann’s Church. The message in this short excerpt that Kozol sends is that we need to help make the world a better place, by replacing certain bad things with better things. First, by making the world a better place, we can start by protecting the air we breathe. When cities burn trash, the trash releases fumes that pollute the air and make it hard to breathe.
If you were to ask someone why is it that they stop at a red light, they’re response would most likely be “I don’t want to break the law and go to jail.” The reality is that we must obey the law not because of the fear of going to jail, but to create order in preventing a harmful outcome. Our government instills fear in our society to follow the law because that is the most effective way to dominate our behavior. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry G-d”, delivered by Jonathan Edwards, a strict Puritan priest, is remembered as the most famous sermon ever preached on American soil. Today it appears in almost every anthology American Literature and stands alone as the only sermon included.
Writing about controversial subjects can often be difficult; however Hughes executed his story, Salvation, in an intriguing manner that is suitable to all audiences and religions. In this story, the writer retells an experience from his childhood describing his journey to Jesus Christ. Discussing the complications, the main character, Hughes, faced while trying to come to Jesus is what makes the story interesting to read. On many occasions, you will read a story or watch a movie that shows the main character coming to Jesus and having an immediate and obvious realization of their Savior. For this reason, I found this story to be unique and relatable in the way that it shows a journey that countless Christians face, but you are not often granted the opportunity to read about this type of experience.
A Step from Heaven accurately depicts several struggles that immigrants commonly face when coming to America. One of the first obstacles Young Ju must resolve is the language barrier – she knows absolutely no English and cannot communicate with her teacher or the other students. Although she learns quickly in school, her parents do not have the opportunity to learn much English at all. This situation is true for many immigrant children who are forced into the position of translator, which puts a lot of pressure on them because they must constantly help their parents navigate simple situations. Young Ju’s parents also must deal with the financial issue that many immigrants face.
There are some people in the world that do things for others just to get something in return, and then their are people that just do for others because they are good people. In Walter Dean Myers short story,”Big Joe’s Funeral,” the main character Big Joe cancels his life insurance check and after careful contemplation the idea he decides to have a funeral for himself, while he is still alive. Everyone that knew what Big Joe was doing had contrary opinions to the funeral, but Big Joe had his mind set. At the funeral Big Joe looked like he was deceased and it was very normal; people had good words to say about him and he even had dirt thrown on his coffin. Myers uses Big Joe to deliver his message that respect is that people deserve respect all of the time no matter where you are or what the circumstances.
In Hughes’s short essay, which he ironically titles “Salvation,” he tells the reader about one of his most significant childhood memories. Hughes provides background about a huge revival at his aunt’s church. He flashes forward to the day where he was supposed to be called upon by Jesus and greeted by a bright light his aunt repeatedly tells him about. Hughes recalls that he sat on the mourners’ bench right in the front row with the rest of the unsaved children.
His house was always full of partygoers, and yet after he’s gone only one friend cares to attend his funeral. Everyone knew of him, no one knew him. They were all using him for his money and his generosity and hospitality. They were all selfish. “’I couldn’t get to the house,’ he remarked.
Compassion plays an important role in our daily lives. It allows us to show love to others through acts of kindness. Anyone can demonstrate compassion, but true Christians show it the best. Mark 6:34 says, “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.”
Literary Analysis of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight The selection of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight follows the basic format of the adventure. The author emphasizes communion to show the loyalty and community between King Arthur and his knights. The symbolism behind the relationship between Sir Gawain to humans and the Green Knight to the merciful God further shows the relations of this medieval romance to the Bible.
This is another instance that he uses logos to show common sense by saying that we do not deserve God’s forgiveness, but we have received it, and the unconverted could not care less. Ethos, pathos, and logos: from ancient times and still being used now due to their relevancy and accomplishments. Jonathan Edwards uses all three of these appeals in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” to get his point across and to persuade the unconverted to turn o Jesus Christ. When truly analyzing this sermon
Langston Hughes used rhetoric words in his story “Salvation,” to provide foreshadows, and emotional appeals to his struggles in becoming religiously saved. Hughes began his story by stating “I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen (179).” The irony in this opening is that Hughes initially believed in the presence of Jesus, but unexpected pressures pushed him to betray and deceive his faith. The setting of Hughes struggles took place in a religious ceremony in his Auntie Reed’s church. In this service, many young children like Hughes were gathered to be spiritually cleansed by the light of Jesus.
Then he realizes that he was not going to stay with his money when he die. At the end, he helped his employee with a monetary situation. Further, he went to his nephew’s Christmas dinner. Significantly, this novel helps people retrain the meaning of being humble and kind with others. Something that is very important about this novel is that it teaches a lesson of helping others, because you are not going to stay with your money when you die.
When the grandmother reaches out to touch The Misfit in her "moment of grace" and says to him, “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!” (366). She seems to be filled with love and understanding towards him. Her moment of grace allows her to see the Misfit as a fellow human being in pain and feels obligated to love him, just like the Bible asks you to: “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”
In the essay “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, Hughes argues that one should make decisions themselves instead of being forced by other people in your life. At the start of the essay, Hughes explains to the reader that his aunt was excited about anl at church where kids would get saved. Seeing Jesus,Hughes aunt told him, means you are saved and have accepted Jesus into your life. Right there is where the pressure starts for
In her short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor tackles the issue of grace, showing that no matter the person, everyone can attain and earn grace. The grandmother and the Misfit, though they appear to be quite different people, are both the same at the core: They are sinners in need of Christ. The Misfit and the grandmother are both capable of change and accepting God, but only the grandmother reaches this revelation before her death. Grace is one of the most important ideas in the Bible and Christianity. Grace is “the love of God shown to the unlovely; the peace of God given to the restless; the unmerited favor of God,” (Holcomb).