Kelley Mathews
Tucked into my earlier list of favorite 2019 books is this gem from Mary DeMuth, Outrageous Grace Every Day: Daily Reflections on the Gospel’s Hope. The title doesn’t really clue you in that it’s an ingenious combination of devotional and commentary—through the theologically densest book of the Bible, Paul’s letter to the Romans.
Mary DeMuth has done the unlikely, distilling the deep, complex theology of Romans into accessible, personal, and applicable truth. Walking readers through each verse of the book, she celebrates its core message of God’s amazing grace that saves us from death into abundant life. Outrageous Grace Every Day will help you see Romans with fresh, hopeful eyes (—my official endorsement).
I had lots of questions for Mary about how and why she wrote this wonderful resource—her 40th book. (Forty!) She kindly took the time to answer some of them here:
1. What drew you to the book of Romans, and what led to the idea of working through it in a devotional style?
Reading through the whole Bible rapidly (a couple times now) helped me see the profound theology Roman’s held. To me, it feels like a microcosm of the entire Bible. Plus I knew that many people are intimidated about the book, as if it’s a mystery difficult to decode. I figured going through the whole book in bite-sized daily chunks would give people a simple way to understand and apply Paul’s gospel message.
2. How did you prepare for this project?
First, I sensed God instruct me to read the book every day for 90 days. So I did it. (Hint: it took me 44 minutes). I think we’re all so intimidated by reading the Bible, but what I realized is this: I could certainly do 44 minutes. And reading it every day for three months gave me insights into the book that I never would have had if I hadn’t read it like that. After the 90-day reading research, I consulted commentaries and books about Romans to flesh out (and to check) my findings.
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