Free Grace Party: Escape to Reality Greatest Hits, Volume 3 by Paul Ellis

receive his gift of no condemnation and was she
changed by it? The Bible doesn’t tell us.
    I
mention this because I have stopped hearing from hot-blooded young men seeking
validation for their sinful choices. I used to get messages almost daily, but
since the article above came out, I hardly get any at all.
    I’d like
to think that the grace shown to them has empowered them to leave their lives
of sin, but I don’t actually know. Maybe I just scared them off like an
old-time prophet. If this message helped you to overcome sin, do drop me a line
and let me know.
    Or maybe
I’m not supposed to know just as we don’t know what happened to the woman in
the Bible. The value of God’s grace stands independent of our ability to walk
in it. After all, the star of the story is not the receiver of grace but the
Giver. It’s Jesus. The spotlight stays on him, and rightly so.
    “I am
the light of the world” (John 8:12). These are the very next words uttered by
Jesus, and they are significant. The woman formerly known as an adulterer is
exiting stage left, and some of those watching can’t believe what they are seeing.
“Jesus let her live! I’ll bet that sinner crawls right back into the gutter
from whence she came.” They are watching to see if she stumbles again.
    “I am
the light of the world,” thunders Jesus. In other words, “Stop looking at her and
behold me! If this woman gets her life sorted out it will be because of the
grace I have given her, and if she doesn’t, then I’ll give more, because my
grace is greater than her sin and yours.”
    I love
that Jesus draws our attention away from the sinner and onto himself. He does
this not just for her sake, but for ours as well. When we look at how others
are performing, we set ourselves up for pride (“Look at that loser!) or envy
(“Look at that star!”). No matter how well they do, we fail. Play the judgment
game and you lose every time.
    The only
way we can win our battle against sin is by fixing our eyes on Jesus who loves
us no matter what we do. So if you’re in a dark place, rejoice that Jesus is
still the light of the world!
     
     

13. Building Ramps for
the Mentally Ill
     
    Many years ago I heard an
Australian pastor say that mental illness was a big issue in his city. At the
time I was young and strong so the picture that came into my mind was that he
lived in a town of crazy people. Now I know better. Mental illness is one of
the giants of our day.
    I’ve
heard it said that one in five people suffers from some form of mental
affliction. If you have 60 friends, chances are that twelve of them suffer from
mental illness. Do you know who they are?
    For many
people mental illness is taboo. It’s the sickness no one talks about until it’s
too late. Mental illness is bad enough, but keeping it wrapped up in secrecy
and misunderstanding only makes it worse. Mental illness is something we need
to be comfortable talking about.
    Jesus
came to bring freedom to the oppressed (Luke 4:18). Surely that includes those
oppressed by bipolar disorder, depression, agoraphobia, post-traumatic stress
disorder, OCD, and so forth.
    There is
a huge opportunity for followers of Christ to make a difference in this area.
How do we do it? By building ramps. Just as we have access ramps for
wheelchairs and the physically infirm, we need ramps for the mentally ill. And
by ramps I mean we need to make it as easy as possible for the hurting to come
and find comfort and friendship and healing and grace in their hour of
need.
    Here are
five ramp-building ideas.
     
    1. Send the message, “come as
you are”
     
    People who struggle should not be
told they are welcome only when they’re feeling up. If blind people are allowed
to bring their seeing-eye dogs to church, then those who suffer from depression
should be allowed to bring their black dogs. Of course we want to get rid of
the dogs and see people healed, but read the Bible and you will see those who
came to Jesus were