tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7773623136948763395.post6337634983529303968..comments2023-07-01T14:46:02.985-05:00Comments on Skating in the Garden in High Heels under my Alb.: Apologies to Bonhoeffer but There is NO SUCH THING as Cheap GracePastor Joelle Colville-Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06099855286381262526noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7773623136948763395.post-59435844791517365072014-02-13T06:21:19.471-06:002014-02-13T06:21:19.471-06:00He is the perfect example of the prodigal sons bro...He is the perfect example of the prodigal sons brother. duty without knowing the fathers heartDennishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07288305662653628256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7773623136948763395.post-63793284082018343552012-12-06T11:18:24.607-06:002012-12-06T11:18:24.607-06:00"I do not have the power to cheapen it."..."I do not have the power to cheapen it." Wonderfully well said. For me, this is the gospel center of your proclamation for me. If I had the power to cheapen it, all God's grace for me would have become worthless long, long ago. Instead, when I pour out grace like water for people who think themselves undeserving, with no apologies, confession or preconditions, or after hearing repentance for too many things they've done and left undone, that's when folks who consider themselves undeserving experience God's grace most richly. The free gift of grace overwhelms us as it welcomes us. Like you, I suspect that Bonhoeffer was responding to some particularly bad behavior, and his words always give us something worth thinking about, but I have secretly always found these few words of his to be annoying, an axe swung at the root of the wrong tree. Fortunately, Bonhoeffer is not Jesus, so we are in a position to sort this out in calm theological conversation.<br />steve broomehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01859188191327693965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7773623136948763395.post-8887951764253625112012-12-04T20:18:56.882-06:002012-12-04T20:18:56.882-06:00I think this is finding its way into my preaching ...I think this is finding its way into my preaching on Sunday, Advent 2. Thanks Joelle. <br />GratefulChikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06816056660127028027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7773623136948763395.post-37079507491024028092012-11-28T15:59:36.934-06:002012-11-28T15:59:36.934-06:00yeah. My response to "forgiveness without re...yeah. My response to "forgiveness without requiring repentance" is that it is exactly backwards. Forgiveness does not require repentance. Repentance is only possible when there has already been forgiveness. In other words, we don't repent in order to get forgiven. We repent because we have been forgiven. We turn toward the God who has already been gracious to us.Diane M. Rothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07749136181846671327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7773623136948763395.post-82693634171478356632012-11-20T21:27:41.181-06:002012-11-20T21:27:41.181-06:00You're on to something important here, and wel...You're on to something important here, and well worth exploring. <br /><br />It's not so much that I disagree with Bonhoeffer, as that he chose a memorable and misleading expression. If he'd said, "What is unanswered grace," or "what is grace waiting for gratitude," or something like that, things would be a lot clearer. But "cheap," at least in English, is just the wrong word, and we've had to listen to those people use it to slip legalism in by the side door for decades now..Father Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18170260624474428623noreply@blogger.com