“The Master Creator unimaginably wants to partner with little me in redeeming His world—but only on His terms, terms that quite often are different from mine.”

Dear Partner in the Ministry of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

As communicated in my January letter, the Christian Research Institute has purposed during our 50th anniversary year to focus on the problem of biblical illiteracy. As such, I pray you have in hand the specially designed Place Markers replete with my personal approach to reading through God’s sixty-six love letters—one book at a time—each year for the rest of your life.

Since writing you last, I have been prayerfully considering what resource I should next put into your hands. The answer is a resource titled Outrageous Grace.

If ever there was a book that motivated me to meditate on God’s word, this is it. The endorsement I provided for the cover aptly summarizes my sentiments. I wrote:

I was spellbound reading Grace Fabian’s story of her husband’s murder and the redemption God wrought through this tragedy. One thing impresses me above all else. Grace and her family are anything but shallow Christians given to sensationalism. Instead, they are obviously firmly rooted in the soil of Scripture and recognize that God is sovereign over all things, including the temptations of our adversary. In the cauldron of her suffering, Grace has come to know ever more fully that nothing can befall us without first passing through the filter of God’s love.

When the manuscript arrived at the offices of the Christian Research Institute, my assistant, Stephen Ross, reacted in like fashion. He penned:

Enthralled, awed, and teary-eyed throughout, I have just finished reading your manuscript and couldn’t stop until I’d read it all. I have no words to describe how grateful I am to our gracious heavenly Father for you and your unfathomable sacrifice for His people. In my more than fifteen years of working with the Christian Research Institute, I’ve never read a book that more bears the mark of Christ and is more worthy of promotion for the sake of His kingdom than your story.

I am quite certain that your reaction to Grace Fabian’s story will be similar. In the words of D. A. Carson, this book is not merely the story of a missionary tragically murdered in the midst of translating the Bible into the Nabak language. It is the story of the choices his widow made in the ensuing years. It is “an account of the outworking of the gospel itself: forgiveness,faithfulness, joy in the midst of suffering and the sheer triumph of God’s outrageous grace.”

Says author Gail MacDonald, “Try to put this book down! I couldn’t.”

Gail goes on to communicate that this is a book that will mark you for life. Not only is it convicting, energizing, and inspiring, but in its pages you will encounter forgiveness on a level seldom realized in our fallen human condition.

For me, however, the book has done even more. It has challenged me with the question: What am I willing to do for the cause of Christ? Am I truly willing to take up my cross and daily follow Him—no matter what the cost?

It is easy to say yes when the going is smooth; it’s much harder when the road ahead is difficult and dangerous.

Make no mistake. The ministry of the Christian Research Institute and the Bible Answer Man broadcast tread on Satan’s territory. And our adversary prowls around like a roaring lion seeking to devour. At times it is as though I can almost smell his putrid breath in the throes of disorienting blows of doubt, discouragement, and despair.

And yet in the midst of spiritual battle—when I am certain that I can no longer stand—I inevitably crumble into a position of power. For on my knees, I am emboldened to stand firm “against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Even more, I am reminded that I am not in the battle alone. Each month as I receive letters from ministry partners like you, I am encouraged by our Lord to press forward in the battle for truth—indeed, in the battle for souls.

Please know that your prayers and support are touching lives in dramatic fashion: Men, women, and children are being rescued from the cults, world religions, and all manner of spiritual deception; people worldwide are being equipped to communicate what they believe and why; above all, people are falling in love with God and with His Word all over again.

When you send in your donation this month, please be assured that you are making a transformational difference! Without you, our ministry would be limited in impact and scope. Know that you are touching lives that you will most certainly encounter on the golden shores of eternity.

And this month, when you send in your check, do not forget to ask for your copy of Outrageous Grace. As you read it from cover to cover, you will be ever more motivated to make your life count while there is yet time.

Yours in His Outrageous Grace,

Hank Hanegraaff
President

P.S. Please use the enclosed reply card to request your copy of Outrageous Grace. And, considering what is at stake, please send your most generous gift to keep CRI standing for truth no matter what the cost. You can also give to the ongoing work of CRI and request your copy of Outrageous Grace in a safe, secure fashion by logging on to www.equip.org or by calling toll free 1-888-7000-CRI (1-888-700-0274).