The Free Grace Alliance

Patient Hope for Struggling People By Andy Stacy I have been serving in various capacities in Olympia, WA for several years. In the last few years there has been a steady increase in homelessness and apparent drug use. Tents and RVs popping up out of nowhere, more and more people wandering around just looking out of their minds. I’m not one to see a demon under every bush, but I’ve watched people here scream and suffer and thought, “There’s definitely something demonic going on there.” It’s not the wild west here, people still have jobs, take their families to the park, normal things. But things are definitely getting worse. Like most regional problems, local ministries are affected. Friends and family succumb to a lifestyle of drug use and suffer the consequences. It touches everyone in our church in some way. And it’s not hard to understand. Without Jesus, I would be right there. To me, without Jesus, there is no reason not to live for the pleasure that drugs bring. So that’s th

(Taken from The Guts of Grace ) When the temple made of stones still stood during Jesus’ earthly ministry, someone entering the temple would go through a gate in a large wall to reach the Court of the Gentiles. Here, anyone who wanted to come and worship the Lord could come. If this person were Jewish, he or she could pass through the beautiful gate and enter the Women’s Court. All Jewish people, both male and female, could enter this area. Through one more gate was the Court of Israel, where all Jewish men were allowed to go. This is where the Brazen Altar was, and where the priests would perform sacrifices. Through another large gate, the men of Israel, who were also of the tribe of Levi, who were also descended from Aaron, and whose lots had been cast that day could enter. This was the Holy Place. But still, even these could not go past the three‑inch (7.5cm) thick, intricately woven fabric that set the Holy of Holies apart. The Holy of Holies was where God’s Shekinah glory was ma

One of the most misunderstood passages in all of Scripture is Hebrews 6:4-8. This passage has been used to bring fear and anxiety to so many people, but it is actually a great comfort. The passage reads: For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. (Heb 6:4-8) Some take this passage to mean that people can lose their everlasting life, and some take it as proving that those who fall away never really had salvation to begin with. But