May 1, 2017

The Woman and Her God & The Case for Grace

The reality of God’s extravagant grace is on display in every story, every chapter.

Stephen Chavez
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The Woman and Her God: Understanding God’s Insistent, Extravagant Love, Peggi Trusty, Whole Heart Media Publications, Pottsdown, Pennsylvania, 2016, 144 pages, US$10.95. Reviewed by Stephen Chavez, assistant editor, Adventist Review.

68 1 3I’ve had this on my “Books to Read” list for almost a year. And now that I’ve read it, I’m sorry I didn’t read it sooner.

What the author does with this book is retell about a dozen stories about women in the Bible. Nothing remarkable there. These are stories we’ve all heard dozens of times (with a couple notable exceptions).

What was astonishing to me was to read them from a woman’s perspective. The author’s obvious affinity with women’s emotions and sensibilities enables her to reveal a treasure chest filled with rare, polished gems.

To add to the narrative she weaves, Trusty has interspersed each chapter with Bible promises particularly apt for each story. As I said, we know these stories, but rarely with the impact they have here.

Also included in each chapter is a series of thought questions that helps readers not only identify the issues described in each story, but also see how those issues intersect with their own lives.


Peggi Trusty, a chaplain, instructor, and creative arts director at Pine Forge Academy, has produced a book worth reading and rereading.


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The Case for Grace: A Journalist Explores the Evidence of Transformed Lives, Lee Strobel, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2015, 230 pages, hardcover, US$22.99. Reviewed by Stephen Chavez.

Lee Strobel is a familiar name among Christian authors. His books, The Case for a Creator, The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, and The Case for the Real Jesus, address topics so popular among Christians and those who are searching for something to believe in that his books regularly spend time on the list of New York Times best sellers.

In The Case for Grace Strobel profiles several individuals (including himself) and how their lives were changed by experiencing God’s amazing grace. This book is easy to read and hard to put down; the stories are so . . . mysterious, improbable, inspiring, and breathtaking.

The reality of God’s extravagant grace is on display in every story, every chapter. A discussion guide for each chapter is an added bonus, as is an appendix with more than 60 biblical passages specifically about grace, and a list of 20 books about grace by other prominent Christian authors.

The Case for Grace does readers the favor of taking something often spoken about in the abstract and making it undeniably tangible. 

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