Philip Yancey is the editor at large for Christianity Today magazine and has written 13 Gold Medallion Award-winning books, four of which have sold over one million copies. He is well known, well respected and well loved for a variety of excellent reasons. Not only does he write brilliantly, he remains utterly humble about his obvious gifts and noted ability to cut through to the heart of a problem and then take responsibility for even the most meager possibility that he might have contributed to the issue himself. In short, Yancey is a man to whom people pay attention and wisely so.

"Perhaps the most important statement that Yancey makes in VANISHING GRACE is that Christ followers need to start living lives characterized by humility and fulfillment instead of running after money, sex, power and every other entrapment known to man."

In his newest book, which he cites he began writing over 20 years ago, Yancey takes four different directions within the text to discuss “grace,” which is a loaded and often misunderstood term in most evangelical circles. He writes about the continually declining reputation of Christians throughout our country and then delves into why this is occurring. He suggests some very good premises and then proceeds to walk Christ followers through emotionally tough scenarios that will be sure to soften even the most hardened cynic’s heart. His great love for God and for the people God has created shines through each and every story he shares. Though Yancey assures readers that he himself is not an activist, he holds the highest regard and respect for those who are in the trenches doing the most difficult work around the globe.

Yancey’s four areas of concentration are: a world athirst (which discusses the great divide between those of faith and those looking on); grace-dispensers (which describes three groups who live out their faith actively --- pilgrims, activists and artists); is it really good news? (which talks about why and how faith matters and answers the God, human and social question); and faith and culture (which lays out the past problems of Christians in politics and believers’ need to enact a “holy subversion”).

Each of Yancey’s essays are full of terrific conversation starters for Christians who honestly seek to live the life that Jesus led and commanded His followers to mimic. One of the most fascinating sections is his identification of three types of Christians who are living as effective grace-dispensers: regular everyday folk who are living as pilgrims on Earth and walk a path of faith characterized by vulnerability and humility; those individuals we call activists who are change agents and work to solve the world’s problems because of their faith in Christ; and those men and women who are termed artists and are composed of individuals and communities whose goal is to illuminate the human experience with the Gospel.

Perhaps the most important statement that Yancey makes in VANISHING GRACE is that Christ followers need to start living lives characterized by humility and fulfillment instead of running after money, sex, power and every other entrapment known to man. How a believer lives his life and works out his faith in self-sacrificial ways will always speak louder than any slick too-good-to-be-true call to faith.