by Andy Stanley seeks to make the marvelous and overwhelming concept of God's grace accesible to the every day, average Christian. Stanley traces the theme of God's grace through out the entirety of Scripture. He begins with Genesis and ends with the Great Commission. Stanley writes with a gentle, every man's approach. There is nothing heady or difficult. One need not worry about finding themselves in the deep end of the pool in this book.
The book broken into 13 chapters all ending in "by Grace". I think the best chapters are the introduction, Chapter 1: In the Beginning, Grace; and Chapter 13: Commissioned for Grace. The beginning and end are very well done. I think that Stanley's approach regarding Genesis 1-3 is very helpful and provides good insight into what is happening in the Garden of Eden. The final chapter is helpful because the church is called to live out its grace mission.
However, I think that in the middle chapters Stanley is filling space. There is not much being said. There is nothing very "new", in the sense that, you can find it written elsewhere. I found myself getting bored and wondering why this book was written when there are other books on the same topic that have been done much better.
Please hear me, there is nothing inherently wrong with this text. It is biblical and orthodox. It's just that other writers like Stott, Packer, Tozer, Edwards, Keller, and Piper have written books that are more engaging, more insightful, and just as accessible.
Would I recommend the book? Sure.
But, I won't read it again. Why? Because it is just too thin. It doesn't grab the imagination or the heart. It doesn't challenge me on every page. It's ho-hum.
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