Barbara's Product Reviews & Giveaways
November 22, 2011 1:59 PM
The Grace Effect
[Diane (father from Ukraine) is the winner of this giveaway. Thanks to all who entered! And thanks to Thomas Nelson for sponsoring it! You can find The Grace Effect
at Amazon.]
In The Grace Effect: How the Power of One Life Can Reverse the Corruption of Unbelief
, Larry Alex Taunton begins with a philosophical argument he had one night with atheist Christopher Hitchens on the reality of grace. But that just serves as an introduction to the central story of Larry and his wife traveling to the Ukraine to adopt their daughter Sasha.Throughout the trip and back at home, Larry sees in Sasha's story the clash of two countries, two cultures: secularist and Christian.
It's a quiet but powerful meditation and one which wil change the way you see the world.
From Amazon:
Simply defined, the 'grace effect' is an observable phenomenon-that life is demonstrably better where authentic Christianity flourishes."What does Christianity give us beyond televangelists, potlucks, and bad basketball leagues? Not much, according to the secular Left. The world, they say, would be a better place without it.
Historian and Christian apologist Larry Taunton has spent much of his career refuting just this sort of thinking, but when he encounters Sasha, a golden-haired Ukranian orphan girl whose life has been shaped by atheistic theorists, he discovers an unlikely champion for the transforming power of grace.
Through the narrative of Sasha's redemption, we see the false promises of socialism; the soul-destroying influence of unbelief; and how a society cultivates its own demise when it rejects the ultimate source of grace. We see, in short, the kind of world the atheists would give us: a world without Christianity-cold, pitiless, and graceless.
And yet, as Sasha shows us, it is a world that is not beyond the healing power of "the grace effect." Occasionally infuriating, often amusing, but always inspiring, The Grace Effect will have you cheering for the courageous little girl who shamed the academic elitists of our day.
"This highly readable book is a collection of powerful insights into the long-term consequences of spiritual indifference and, above all, a remarkable example of how to conquer it."
- Dr. Olivera Petrovich, research psychologist, University of Oxford
Comments
I would love to read this.
Posted by: Shannon Miller | November 23, 2011 12:10 AM
I'd be very interested in reading this one--we are hoping to adopt ourselves in the future, possibly from that country.
Posted by: Jessica Cooper | November 23, 2011 6:22 AM
Oh, this sounds like such an interesting read!
Posted by: Newt | November 23, 2011 9:10 AM
I'd like to read this
Posted by: Maureen | November 23, 2011 9:44 AM
I'm very interested. Thank you.
Posted by: Sue from Buffalo | November 23, 2011 11:45 AM
This could be very important for someone in my life. Would love to read it also.
Posted by: Diane | November 23, 2011 1:35 PM
Sounds like an interesting book!
Posted by: Caroline | November 23, 2011 3:54 PM
Would love to read this.
Posted by: Karen Lewis | November 24, 2011 4:15 PM
Intriguing... Thanks!
Posted by: Joani | November 24, 2011 5:51 PM
As an adoptive parent of six, I'd love to read this and then pass it on.
Posted by: Mary Alice Phillips | November 25, 2011 1:22 PM
Sounds like an interesting book.
Posted by: Cheryl | November 25, 2011 8:56 PM
This is a subject that has intrigued me for quite some time. I would love to read this book.
Posted by: Joy C | November 26, 2011 10:34 PM
I have been reading a lot on adoption lately as well as Grace. count me in.
Posted by: tereza crump aka MyTreasuredCreations | November 27, 2011 3:39 PM
We all need all the grace God will send us in this life.
Posted by: Kate J | November 30, 2011 10:50 AM
Hadn't heard of this one. Would love to read it. Thanks for the chance to win one.
Posted by: Kathryn Judson | November 30, 2011 2:51 PM
Sounds like an interesting book.
Posted by: Michelle | November 30, 2011 4:19 PM
This sounds like a fantastic read! I would love to read it.
Posted by: Patty | November 30, 2011 5:22 PM
My father was born in the Ukraine and my grandfather died in a Soviet gulag. My mother grew up in Soviet occupied Romania. The ideology of the country is one that has indirectly shaped my life and development. As a result I'm very interested in reading someone's perspective
Posted by: Diane | November 30, 2011 5:28 PM
This book sounds interesting.
Posted by: Charlene | November 30, 2011 8:33 PM
Sounds interesting.
Posted by: siobhan | November 30, 2011 9:23 PM
This books sounds great, love the premise. I'd love to win it and have the opportunity to read it.
Posted by: Chanse | November 30, 2011 10:18 PM
This book sounds very interesting and would be good to see how the author ties in the differences of how different our worlds are.
Posted by: Tonya Roach | November 30, 2011 10:20 PM
I know I would love this!
Posted by: Sara | December 1, 2011 8:13 AM
This review appeals to me as something our culture needs to hear and know. Thanks for introducing this book.
Posted by: Tenney Singer | December 1, 2011 1:02 PM
