The Grace Effect

What They Say: 
“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.

My Take:  When shopping for a book I don't normally read the introduction, because, honestly, I don't see the point. Sorry, my author friends! The exception to that is when I am reviewing a book. I try to read every word on every page, so when I started reading the introduction to The Grace Effect I thought, "Oh great! a book that reads like a theology course. Time to break out the dictionary!" I WAS WRONG!

The Grace Effect is a charming and sweet story about the adoption of Sasha, a little Ukrainian girl. Once past the introduction, the story was a heart-felt true story of a family opening its arms to a little girl from halfway around the world. I was touched, because our family is planning on adopting.The author uses the story of his daughter Sasha to teach how God's grace touches our lives.

My favorite part was in chapter 3 when the author explained that good works are not in the nature of atheists. It isn't that they can't do good works like Christians; it just isn't in their nature.

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