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GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION

Who are the Nicolaitans among us?

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The Nicolaitans are the boogeymen of the Bible. Since the scriptures say almost nothing about them – except that they were false teachers whose deeds Jesus hated (see Rev. 2) – they are a blank sheet onto which we can write just about anything. If there is a group in the church that disagrees with the pastor, you can just about guarantee they will be dismissed as divisive or Nicolaitan.

So who were the Nicolaitans?

They were false teachers who taught grace as a license to sin. They were not confused Christians. They were libertines who infiltrated the early church and introduced destructive heresies. They promised freedom, but were themselves slaves of depravity (2 Pet. 2:19).

False teachers and false apostles may seem like Biblical boogeymen, but they are Satan’s principle means for attacking the church from within (see 2 Cor. 11:13–15). Left unchecked, they destroy churches and ruin lives.

When John said, “Watch that you do not lose what we have accomplished that you may receive a full reward” (2 John 1:8), he was referring to smooth-talking deceivers who draw people to themselves and away from Jesus. Jude, the brother of James, offered a similar warning:

For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. (Jude 1:4, NIV)

The Nicolaitans elevated intellect above faith, and Self above Savior. In so doing they denied the lordship of Jesus and undermined the faith of the weak.

Why did Jesus hate the works of the Nicolaitans?

Jesus told the Ephesians he hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans (Rev. 2:6), and a good question to ask is why. Commentators provide two unsatisfactory answers. Some frame the issue as one of lawbreaking. “The lawless Nicolaitans were violating the Apostolic Decree passed by the Jerusalem Council forbidding the consumption of idol foods” (see Acts 15:29). Then why didn’t Jesus say so? If the Nicolaitans were breaking the rules, why didn’t he lay down the law? Jesus didn’t mention the Apostolic Decree because there was no Apostolic Decree. The Jerusalem Council met to discuss whether the Gentile Christians should be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses. They did not reject the old law of circumcision only to replace it with new laws pertaining to idol feasts (Acts 15:20). We are under grace, not law.

Others frame the Nicolaitan issue as one of spiritual compromise, as though Jesus was upset that his church was spiritually impure. “Compromise arouses the jealousy of the Lord and causes him to remove his hand of protection.” The picture of Jesus as the jilted lover withdrawing in a huff is a horrendous distortion of God’s character. Jesus is not insecure, and purity is not the price you pay to earn his love. God’s love has no price tags.

So what was the problem with the Nicolaitans?

They put people in harm’s way and promoted unbelief in the goodness of God.

The idol-industrial complex of Pergamum was a machine for carrying out Satan’s dark agenda. From the Altar of Zeus to the humblest shrine, the city was geared towards the ruination of all who participated in the vile festivals.

The Pergamenes were enslaved to the power of sin and death. God’s plan for liberating them was the gospel of Jesus Christ. But the light of the gospel was being dimmed by an attitude of accommodation. The church, which was supposed to be an advertisement for the kingdom of heaven, was presenting a mixed message. Instead of offering a radical alternative to the devilish enterprise, some in the church were supporting it.

Why did Jesus hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans?

He was not angry because they were breaking the rules or compromising his standards. He was angry because they were feeding God’s children to the devil’s machine.

Jesus and the Apostles encouraged people to put their faith in God, while the false apostles and the Nicolaitans discouraged them. They may not have said it in so many words, but their message was “God cannot be trusted. Secure your future by worshipping demons.”

The fruit of their mixed-up message was appalling: Instead of idol worshippers coming to the church to find grace and freedom, the Christians were going to the temples and kowtowing to demons. Instead of spending themselves on behalf of the hungry and oppressed, the saints were subsidizing Satan.

The Ephesians hated what the Nicolaitans were doing, but the Pergamenes were ambivalent. They were so hung up on the “all things are lawful” part of Paul’s message that they forgot that “not all things are beneficial” (1 Cor. 10:23). When it came to what the Nicolaitans were teaching, they had no boundaries. “They make a good point,” said some. “I’m not so sure,” said others. They debated and discussed but they drew no line in the sand. So Jesus drew one for them. “I hate it.” End of debate. End of discussion.

Is there a modern-day example of Nicolaitan teaching?

Wherever you have a false teacher preaching grace as a license to sin, you have a Nicolaitan. False grace messages come in many forms but are easily recognized by their tacit approval of sin, usually in the form of sexual immorality. Modern-day Nicolaitans quote scripture and make bold claims about freedom, but the fruit of their message is bondage and death.

Make no mistake, Jesus hates the false grace message, but it’s important to understand why he hates it. He doesn’t hate it because he’s allergic to sinners or because he’s keen for us to keep the rules. He hates it because it destroys those who buy into it and because it renders his church ineffective. He hates it because counterfeit grace is a doorway to captivity.

It’s true that some treat grace as a license to sin. They say sinning is okay because God’s grace will cover any error. This is toxic teaching. God’s grace is indeed greater than your sin, but sin can ruin your life. Steer clear of those who preach a licentious message lest you lose the freedom that Christ has dearly bought.

From time to time we have to make difficult choices: Do we become all things to all men or do we take a stand? Do we join in or remain apart? When sin is involved and people are getting hurt, the choice is easy. God has called us to shine in a dark world, so shine, and have nothing to do with the deeds of darkness.

Jesus has given you a new name and a new identity. Your name is not sinner and your identity is not defined by your imperfect performance. You are a dearly loved child of God, so act like it. Be who God made you to be.

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Extracted and adapted from Paul’s award-winning book, Letters from Jesus.

The secret to successful Christian living

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There is a secret to living this Christian life, and it’s a secret most Christians don’t know. If you knew this secret, it would set you free from dead works and insecurity. Here it is:

This is a faithful saying: For if we died with him, we shall also live with him. (2 Tim. 2:11, NKJV)

If you don’t know that you have died with Christ, then you won’t really live. Instead, you will spend your life trying to die; dying to self, dying daily, and crucifying the flesh.

“But isn’t following Jesus a matter of dying daily to ourselves and our desires?”

Nope. The phrase “die to self” isn’t even in the Bible.

When Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt.16:24), he was showing us the way to salvation—it’s through the cross. If you would follow Jesus, then follow Jesus. Jesus died once and he will never die again. It’s the same with us. We were crucified with Christ once; we need never be crucified again. You do not need to die daily. Once will do the trick.

“But didn’t Paul say he died daily (1 Cor. 15:31–32)?”

Paul was referring to the dangers and hardships he faced in preaching the gospel. “I fought wild beasts in Ephesus!” He was not preaching a works-based theology of dying to self. We died to the law (Rom. 7:4, Gal. 2:19)—including the law that says you must die to self.

The problem with any message on self—even a noble-sounding message on self-denial—is that it promotes self. It fuels self-centeredness which lies at the root of all our problems.

In the church self-denial is usually packaged as a spiritual discipline. Don’t touch, don’t taste, don’t handle. But in truth it is nothing more than the age-old practice of asceticism, the belief that we can attain spiritual goals by abstaining from physical pleasures.

The truth is that you can do nothing to save yourself or make yourself pleasing to God. Jesus does it all. True gospel preachers understand this which is why they will never distract you by preaching messages that glorify self or self-effort. Like Paul they will say, “We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord” (2 Cor. 4:5).

Double-minded Christianity

Christians who do not know they have died with Christ end up living two lives. On the one hand they are trying to walk in the new life they have received in Christ, but on the other they are trying to reform the old life they inherited from Adam. This is a recipe for misery. No one wants to be one person on Sunday and another on Monday. Live like this and it’ll tear you apart.

The cure for double-minded Christianity is not to “try harder” or “lift your game” or “follow these ten steps to a new you.” It is a revelation that your old self was crucified with Christ. What is your old self? It is the person you used to be before you met Jesus. It is who you were in Adam before you were put into Christ. Paul wrote that “we know that our old self was crucified with him” (Romans 6:6). Look at his choice of words; was crucified. Past tense. Done and dusted. Dead and buried.

Do you see how liberating this is?

The old man was unfixable. He was broken, corrupt, and completely screwy. He was a slave to sin and no amount of reform could fix him. But the good news is he’s dead. That incorrigible old so-and-so was nailed to the cross with Jesus and he no longer lives.

The end of the old man

Watchman Nee called this the gospel for Christians. “The self you loathe is there on the cross in Christ.” If the average believer could grasp hold of this truth—I died—half of our church programs would cease immediately. We would stop trying to reform the old man because the old man is dead.

Want to live, really live with Jesus? Then let this truth take root in your heart:

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me. (Gal 2:20)

Extracted and adapted from The Gospel in Ten Words

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Good news for small churches

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Jesus said the Philadelphians were doing well, “because you have a little power, have kept my word, and have not denied my name” (Rev. 3:8b).

What does it mean to have little power? A church with little power is a small or weak church. The Philadelphians weren’t anything special. They lacked the resources of their Laodicean neighbors, and they didn’t have the reputation of the Sardians. Like David, the shepherd boy, they were of little account in the eyes of man. But weakness is no barrier to God. If anything, it’s an advantage because God chooses the weak things of the world to shame the strong (1 Cor. 1:27).

A God who shares the stage with no one seems to delight in choosing the least qualified and the most unlikely. When he needed a man to lead Israel against the Midianites, he chose chicken-hearted Gideon. When he needed a herald for the gospel of grace, he chose law-loving Saul. And when he needed a father of many nations, he chose grey-haired Abram. In the economy of grace, the weak and unqualified seem to have the inside track.

If you were to tour the churches of Asia, you might be dazzled by the energetic Ephesians, the affluent Laodiceans, and the spiritual Sardians. And you might be tempted to dismiss the small Philadelphian church as inconsequential.

But Philadelphia was where the action was. Jesus had given this little church an open door that no one could shut. What a wonderful encouragement for those of us who think we have nothing to offer.

You may have no money, no reputation, no ability, no connections, no education, and no chance, but as long as you have the Lord, you have everything you need. You may have no power, but the Lord-with-the-key (see Rev. 3:7) has given you authority over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19).

How had they kept his word? They believed Jesus and took him at his word.

What made the Philadelphians special was this: They were believing believers who were persuaded that the Lord is good and trustworthy. This is the only clue to their commendation. Nothing else is recorded. Search the letter to the Philadelphians and you will not find seven steps to success, or twelve strategies for church outreach. The Philadelphians simply believed Jesus, and that made all the difference.

The question to ask is not why the Philadelphians had an open door, but why some of the other churches weren’t as fruitful. The answer is they were captive to unbelief. They put little stock in the grace of God.

The Ephesians’ unbelief was evident in the way they were working themselves to death. The Sardians’ unbelief was in their refusal to receive the gospel. And the Laodiceans’ unbelief was in their boast that they needed nothing from God. Unbelief takes many forms and not even believers, strangely, are immune from its insidious effects.

Whenever the promises of God are dismissed or doubted, the result is barrenness. Apart from him we can do nothing.

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Extracted from Letters from Jesus, a finalist at this year’s International Book Awards.

The accepting church

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Freedom is found in knowing that God loves and accepts you. When you know beyond all doubt that you are your Daddy’s delight, you will be free from the need to please others. The pressure to perform will lift and the unholy expectations of men will seem ridiculous. My Father is pleased with me. I don’t have to prove a thing! If thoughts of rejection should enter your head, you will dismiss them without a care. God is for me! Who can be against me?

Religion says you have to work hard to make yourself acceptable to God, but the good news declares that in Christ you have been made acceptable for eternity. Nothing you do can make you more or less pleasing to God than you already are. There’s nothing you can do to make him love you more, and nothing you can do to make him love you less.

The good news of God’s acceptance will change the world but first it must change the church.

For too long the church has been known as a place of rejection, judgment, and condemnation. This is the inevitable consequence of a preaching a message that mixes grace with law. This mixed-up message makes the children of God fearful of their heavenly Father. It causes the saints to hang back in the fringes of the kingdom, and it paints a frown on the face of Love.

Can you imagine God the Father frowning at Jesus? Of course not. Then neither is he frowning at you.

In the old covenant they prayed for the day when the Lord would make his face shine upon you, be gracious to you, and give you peace. The good news is that you are living in that day. He is looking at you full in the face and beaming with a galaxy-sized smile. You are the apple of his eye, and he rejoices over you with singing.

When we see that our heavenly Father accepts us, it will transform us from the inhospitable church we are to the accepting church we are called to be.

“Accept one another, as Christ accepted you” (Rom. 15:7). Imagine if we did that. We would open our hearts as we would no longer exclude the rabble and the riff-raff from our congregations and communion tables. Instead, we would have to start making welcome announcements like this:

We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay, filthy rich, black and proud, y no habla Ingles. We extend a special welcome to those who are newborns, poor as dirt, skinny as a rail, or got a hitch in their git-along. You’re welcome here if you’re “just browsing,” just woke up, or just got out of jail. We don’t care if you’re more Lutheran than Luther, or more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in church since little Sophia’s dedication. We offer a special welcome to those who could lose a few pounds, think the earth is flat, work too hard, can’t spell, or came because grandma’s in town and wanted to go to church. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, are three-times divorced, had religion shoved down your throat as a kid, or got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. If you blew all your offering money at the dog track, you are welcome here. We welcome tourists, seekers, doubters, bleeding hearts … and you. Welcome Home!

Extracted and adapted from The Gospel in Ten Words

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The High Cost of Free Grace

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The gospel of grace is not a philosophy to debate or a lifestyle to adopt. It is the power of God that saves those who receive it.

Grace is God blessing us for no other reason than he loves us. The good news reveals that the grace that sets us free is entirely free – there’s nothing to pay because Jesus paid it all. But buy into this message of grace and you will surely pay in other ways. You may experience rejection, hostility, and possibly persecution.

It’s normal to experience trouble as a result of talking about grace. This world can’t handle it. But what you may not appreciate is how much of that trouble comes from those who claim to know God. Look at how much trouble Jesus experienced at the hands of religious people.

Remember this: Servants don’t get better treatment than their masters. If they beat on me, they will certainly beat on you. (John 15:20, MSG)

An example: on any given day I receive messages warning me to stop telling people about grace. This is normal. Tell people about the goodness of God, and you will get pushback, especially from religious bullies.

Dealing with nasty comments is a tiny cost for telling people the good news of God’s grace. Here are eight more serious ways that you may pay a price:

1. Preach grace and you will encounter intimidation

You will be told that you are confused and in error. You’re unbalanced. You don’t know the scriptures and the whole counsel of God. You’re too young. You’re a woman who should shut up. You haven’t been to Bible School. You don’t know how to parse Greek verbs. And how could you possibly know more than the man of God?

2. Preach grace and you will be condemned by those who don’t see it

You will be warned, scorned and rebuked. You will be hit with Jude 1:4 and told you are leading people to hell. Thinking they are doing the Lord’s work, leaders will name and shame you from their pulpits. Some of them will even write books and articles about you. You’ll be called a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a snake, a Jezebel, an instrument of Satan, an antichrist.

3. Preach grace and you will be rejected

Bet your life on grace and you will be shunned by those who are trusting in works. Since you represent a threat to their merit-based system, you will be labeled divisive – which is the religious equivalent of wearing a scarlet letter. You’ll be marginalized, ostracized and asked to leave. Although you will be enjoying the Lord’s acceptance, you’ll be rejected by people you care about.

4. Preach grace and it will cost you opportunities to minister

You’ll be kicked off the worship team, the preaching team, and the hospitality team. Having fallen into “heresy”, you’ll be asked to take time off to assess your position. People will promise to pray for you, as though you were lost and in need of saving. Fail to fall back the line and you’ll become radioactive. You’ll be discussed in private meetings and emails. Doors will close. Calls will not get returned.

5. Preach grace and it will cost your reputation

Jesus was slandered, Paul was slandered, and you’ll be slandered. (You’re in good company!) You’ll be labelled licentious, anti-law and a closet sinner. You’ll be dismissed as hyper-grace, as though that were a bad thing. Your words will be taken out of context and used against you. You’ll be stalked on social media. You’ll be hounded out of conversations and denominations. Your character will be assassinated by everyone from two-bit bloggers to theologians with more degrees than a thermometer.

6. Preach grace and it will cost you money

If you used to preach tithing as an obligation and now you don’t, your church’s income will likely go down. It shouldn’t, but it will. Stop telling people they have to buy protection or provision from God, and they might use their money for other things, like rent and groceries. You may have to rethink your finances. You might have to get a second job.

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Interlude: There are no tiny violins playing here, and I didn’t write this to solicit sympathy. I wrote it so that you may enter the halls of God’s grace with eyes wide open. Jesus said those who followed him would experience trouble and for the 21st century believer, this is what trouble looks like. It could be worse. You could be living some place where they kill or imprison Christians.

I have heard hundreds, if not thousands of testimonies illuminating the different ways people pay for grace. The penalties I have listed come up again and again. In addition, here are two less common ways you may suffer for trusting in the radical grace of God.

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7. Trust grace and you may have trouble trusting Christians

You may find it hard going to church because you are no longer able to tolerate toxic churchianity. You can no longer sing the faithless songs of longing or listen to messages that put price tags on the blessings Jesus paid for. Although you crave the family life that church should be known for, you’re turned off by the constant calls for more. Even with the purest of hearts, you’ll become wary and guarded.

For the sake of unity, you may decide to shine a light and lead by example. In other words, you’ll keep your mouth shut and not rock the boat. Even so, you may find yourself disconnected from the fellowship you once enjoyed. Conversations become superficial, and friendships task-based. You may feel like you’re on a different page because you are on a different page.

8. Trust grace and it may cost you your family

Grace has made many marriages and families stronger, but there are no guarantees. Sadly, a small proportion of marriages and families have been strained by this message. Truth is divisive. When some people receive it while others don’t, the result can be painful.

God’s grace is amazing – it is the best news in the world. His grace is 100% free, yet you may pay a price for it. This cost is never charged by the Lord; it is levied by those who don’t fully appreciate all that Jesus did for us.

I’ve listed eight ways you may pay for free grace. What did I miss? What price have you paid? I would especially love to hear from pastors and church leaders. Has the good news of grace cost you?  If so, feel free to share the brief version (2-5 sentences) of your story below.

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Why did Jesus send letters from heaven?

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The letters from Jesus found in Revelation 2 and 3 contain two things everyone of us needs to navigate life’s trials: a picture of Jesus and a promise from Jesus. When you’re going through hard times, you need to see Jesus, who is above your circumstances, and when you’re battling fear and anxiety, you need a promise you can cling to.

Why did Jesus send these letters from heaven?

The immediate reason was the church in Asia was going through tough times. Bad teaching was circulating inside the church and people were being led into harm’s way.

At the same time, the church was being attacked from no less than three external sources: religious Jews, idolatrous pagans, and imperious Romans. The Jews hated the church because it was full of uncircumcised law-breakers who revered a dead Nazarene as the living Son of God. Pagans opposed the church because it took customers away from the lucrative idol trade. And the Romans oppressed the church because they perceived it was a threat to the empire.

Following Jesus in first-century Asia was no walk in the park. You risked losing your job, your home, even your life. Christians were beaten and murdered simply for believing in the name of the Lord.

It must have broken Jesus’ heart to see his church suffer, so he did something he’d never done: He sent letters. From heaven. He responded to the bad news of their circumstances, by proclaiming the good news of his kingdom, and by sending pictures and promises.

The pictures and promises of Jesus stir our faith. They lift us from the depths of despair to the highlands of hope. They remind us that what we see is not all there is, and that no matter how bad things get, Jesus is always with us.

The promises in these letters are extraordinary and they are for all of us. The Lord’s promises, if you receive them with faith, will guide and strengthen you through life’s trials.

Yet the promises in these letters do even more than that. Collectively, they trace the full arc of humanity’s story—a story that begins in the Paradise of Eden (Ephesus) where we fell and reaped the curse of death (Smyrna). The story wanders through the manna-laden wilderness (Pergamum), to the heralded arrival of King with authority over the nations (Thyatira). The story then proceeds to the Day of Judgment and the opening of the Book of Life (Sardis), before leading us to a heavenly city, a heavenly temple (Philadelphia), and the very throne of God (Laodicea).

The letters from Jesus speak to us at multiple levels. They address personal issues and universal ones. They unveil God’s unchanging purposes for humanity, and they reveal your place in his eternal dream.

The seven letters from Jesus are no mere letters. They are the Gospel of Jesus as preached by Jesus. They are an invitation to partake in his divine life.

And they reveal that no matter how history may twist and turn, God’s good purposes will always come to pass.

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Extracted and adapted from Letters from Jesus, a finalist at this year’s International Book Awards.

Readers’ Survey

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I have been writing articles for people like you for a decade, yet I hardly know you. Would you take a few minutes to complete E2R’s first ever Readers’ Survey? Your responses will help me plan a future that is relevant to you and your needs.

Many thanks,

Paul

Having trouble seeing the survey in your browser/email program? Here’s the link to the survey.

Deadline: July 3, 2019.

 

Last chance to grab special offer

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Hi friends,

Just a gentle reminder that you have less than 24 hours to take advantage of our special offer.

“What special offer?”

Sign up as a patron before this weekend and you will receive my latest ebook, “Charles Spurgeon’s ‘All of Grace’.” My book contains the story behind the legendary sermon, and packages the sermon in easy-to-read language for modern readers.

You can get the book, plus gain instant access to a suite of goodies, for as little as $1/month. Not only that, but I will match your gift by giving away a corresponding number of books, to people like this guy:

This is Pastor Andrew, a church planter from Zambia and he’s reading The Gospel in Ten Words. (Thanks to Nate Tanner for the pic.) Because of generous readers like you, the good news of God’s grace is being heard in countries that don’t have easy access to Amazon/Trinity Broadcasting/Charisma magazine etc. The more you can give, the more books I will give away. Sign up to give $100, and I will give away 100 books. Good deal!

Patrons are changing the way the gospel is preached, and patronage is not without benefits. For instance, pledge ten bucks or more and you will get instant access to my last two books, AD70 and the End of the World and Letters From Jesus!

Being a patron is easy and you can cancel at any time. But the Spurgeon offer is only good until the weekend. Don’t miss out.

Grace and peace,

Paul

Special Offer for Escape to Reality Readers

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I’ve got a special offer for you. A real gem. Why? Because this week marks the third anniversary of me being on Patreon.

For those who’ve wondered why everything on Escape to Reality is free (and ad-free!), Patreon is the answer. Patreon is a crowdfunding platform where a lot of readers contribute a little each month, and the result is I get to write full time about the gospel of grace.

Patrons are partners in this gospel, and their support is not without benefits. Over the past three years patrons have:

  • seen early drafts and received advance copies of my new books
  • received dozens of exclusive patron-only articles and study notes
  • helped me choose cover designs and titles for new books
  • been the first to hear about freebies and promotions
  • participated in online Q&A sessions with me
  • been the first to see things like book trailers, videos, tracts and forewords I’ve written
  • been able to download hi-res artwork and maps from my books
  • enabled me to give away thousands of books and equip leaders in developing nations
  • received practical instruction on how to publish their own titles (great for budding authors!)
  • and more!

Here’s the deal: Sign up as a patron today, and you’ll not only get instant access to most of these benefits, you will also enjoy two special anniversary offers:

1. You will receive my latest ebook, which is a jazzed-up version of Spurgeon’s classic sermon, “All of Grace.” This is one of the best grace sermons ever preached, but as it’s written in Ye Olde English, it’s a hard read. I’ve rewritten for the 21st century so you can appreciate Spurgeon’s masterpiece. This ebook is not available anywhere else in the world. You can’t buy it, borrow it, and it’s not on Amazon. But you can get it on Patreon if you’re signed up by this Friday.

2. For every patron who signs up by Friday, I will give away a corresponding number of books. Sign up at the $1 level, and I will give away 1 book. Sign up at the $25 level, and I will give away 25 books, and so on. Your contribution will help others hear about the good news of grace!

Being a patron is easy and cheap, and you can cancel at any time. But these exclusive offers are only good for the next two days. Don’t delay. Sign up now.

Paul

PS: One more thing: pledge ten bucks or more by Friday and you will get instant access to my last two books, AD70 and the End of the World and my award-winning Letters From Jesus. Awesome!

Paul vs the Communists

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Do you remember what you were doing in 1989? Not to brag or anything, but I was smuggling Bibles into Communist China.

I don’t know if anyone still smuggles Bibles, but 30 years ago it was just about the most exciting thing a young Christian could do. I smuggled hundreds of Bibles and Christian books across the border, and when I tell people this, I am invariably asked one question: What happened when you got caught? Short answer: not much.

I once convinced a young man that the Communists punished me by chopping off a finger, but the truth is more prosaic. They would confiscate your books, and you’d collect them on the way out of the country. At least that’s what happened on the busy Hong Kong/Shenzhen border. Further up-country you might get detained for a while, and if you were a Chinese national you could get in serious trouble. Since I had a foreign passport, I was relatively untouchable. I got lectured and harangued on occasion, but that was the worst of it. But that didn’t make the smuggling game any less exciting.

There was this one trip…

In the winter of ’89 I did a trip into Xian where the 3-hour flight was delayed 22 hours on account of a snowstorm. By the time we took off, I was shattered. But I needed to stay alert. I was transporting a huge order of books and Bibles for a missionary friend, and I really didn’t want to lose any at the border.

When we landed, everyone on the plane applauded. Since this was my first ride on a Chinese airline I was surprised by the clapping. Did they think we weren’t going to make it?

As the plane rolled to a stop, I looked out into the dark and snowy night. Machine-gun wielding soldiers lined the tarmac and they looked the biz. The Tiananmen Square “incident” had occurred only a few months earlier and the government was remained edgy. Dissidents and troublemaking students were still getting shot outside the city walls.

As a foreign national, I wasn’t too worried about getting shot but I certainly didn’t want to get detained or arrested. I prayed the prayer that all Bible smugglers pray. It’s the one Brother Andrew made famous after smuggling Bibles into Romania.

Lord, in my luggage I have Scripture I want to take to your children. When you were on earth, you made blind eyes see. Now, I pray, make seeing eyes blind. Do not let the guards see those things you do not want them to see.

There was no jet bridge into a warm and welcoming terminal. Instead, we disembarked into the cold night to walk like sheep past those soldiers. I had no idea where to go, so I followed the other passengers to a shed where a tractor had deposited our luggage. That’s when I had a terrible realization: There are no trolleys and I’ve got 175 pounds of luggage. How am I going to carry all my bags?

I was a pretty skinny kid at the time. There was no way I was going to hoist all that weight and walk nonchalantly past customs. I would be like an ant struggling under a boulder.

I struggled into my backpack, then put another book-filled bag over my shoulder. It was a heavy load but I wasn’t done. I had left the biggest and heaviest bag for last. As I bent to lift it, the strap went as taut as a guitar string, before snapping off in my hands. This bag weighs a ton, I said to myself. How am I going to carry it? In Hong Kong, I had had help getting to the airport. Help and trolleys. But in the middle of frozen China, I was on my own. Except I wasn’t alone at all, as I was about to find out.

Samson, Part Deux

I laid hands on the bag-that-would-not-be-lifted and prayed, “Lord, give me strength.” Then I picked up the bag like it was nothing more than a bag of groceries. I felt like Arnold Schwarzenegger. (For all the millennials reading this, Schwarzenegger was a musclebound actor famous in the ‘80s. I feel old.)

The Lord gave me supernatural strength and I wasn’t as surprised as you might think. Bible smugglers experienced miracles all the time. We collected stories of divine intervention like souvenirs.

With almost no effort at all, I carried more than my body weight in luggage to the terminal. Approaching the customs officials, I put on my game face. The trick was to look as untouristy as possible. Be cool, I reminded myself. Look like you belong. And walk in the middle of the aisle, as far from the x-ray machines as possible.

I didn’t fool anyone.

A uniformed inspector called me out of the crowd. I ignored him. Play dumb and keep walking, I said to myself. That didn’t work either. The man in the uniform shouted at me causing heads to turn. Soldiers looked right at me. I could tell this guy really wanted to see inside my bags. His gestures told me to put my gear on the belt that fed the scanner.

In China there were two kinds of x-ray machine. There was the budget kind that scanned only the sides of your bags, and there was enclosed kind that scanned from the top as well. Bible smugglers dreaded the second kind of scanner. Almost nothing got through them. As I put my bags on the belt, I saw that all the money these guys had saved by not buying a jet bridge or a luggage carousel had been used to buy the expensive kind of x-ray machine. They were going to get a real good look at my stuff.

My bags went through the scanner in fits and starts. I sauntered round to the other end trying to look as innocent as a Chinese cherub, but on the inside I was anxious. Had they seen the books?

A customs official came over and asked for my passport. Then he put his hand on my biggest bag and said, “What have you got in here?”

“Some teaching materials and clothes.” This was my standard answer. At Shenzhen, on the border with Hong Kong, the customs officials had learned that “teaching materials” usually meant banned books. Did they think the same way in central China? After a long stare the official returned my passport and sent me on my way. For the second time, I picked up my heavy bags with ease. A few more steps and I was greeted by a familiar face and a waiting van. By the grace of God, I had made it. I hadn’t lost a single book.

Over the next few days I had the privilege of helping to distribute to Chinese Christians the very books that I had carried. To get their very own Bible caused some of them to weep for joy. I’ll never forget it.

Good News for China

These days organizations such as the Bible Society, Bibles for China, and Asia Harvest, are working hard to print and distribute Bibles within China. But the Chinese church is growing so fast they can’t keep up with demand.

It’s been a long time since I physically carried a Bible or Christian book into China, but I still have a burning desire to help equip the Chinese church. In fact, this is one of the reasons why I write. My hope is that the articles and books I write about God’s grace will reach our brothers and sisters in China.

Does it happen? Not as much as you think. The number of page views for Escape to Reality in China is in the low thousands, which is not much at all. The great Firewall of China is an effective barrier to the gospel. So is the English language. But my prayer is that the message will get through. I’m praying for translators who can translate the grace message into simplified and traditional Chinese. I’m also praying for podcasters who broadcast it in all the dialects of China. And I’m praying for the funds to make it happen.

I have no doubt my prayers will be answered, because Jesus loves his Chinese church. He even loves the Communists who oppress it. And he’s going to make sure they hear the message of grace, just as you and I did.

I can’t wait to see how he does it.

.

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