GraceUncovered

Authors home articles Gracelife

GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION

Get Your Name in Paul’s Book

by

My new book, Stuff Jesus Never Said, has won a gold medal at the 2017 Illumination Book Awards. Needless to say, I’m thrilled. Here’s another announcement: The ebook version of Stuff Jesus Never Said is coming out in a couple of months. And if you act fast, your name could be in it! When Stuff Jesus Never Said was published, I said I would not release it in ebook form. But some of you said “I want it on Kindle.” So I changed my mind. You convinced me. We’ll put it on Kindle, and PDF too. Although I wanted a book that looks and feels good – and the full-color hardback book is stunning – some felt the hardback was a little pricey. The ebook will be cheaper, which is a good thing, because this is a book that needs to be read. Stuff Jesus Never Said draws a line between truth and tradition, life and death. It strips away the garbage – the stuff Jesus never said – to reveal the good stuff Jesus did say on subjects ranging from divorce and guilt to depression and giving. This is a book that celebrates the goodness of a good God who loves you like a father [...]

2016 Christmas Message from Paul

by

Someone once said life is what happens when you’re making other plans. This is wisdom for me because I am a planner. I begin every day, every week, and every year with a detailed plan. But I am learning to hold my plans loosely so as not to miss out on life. At the start of this year I had grand plans and… I achieved none of them, for my year was marked by three interruptions. Were they life-giving interruptions? I hope so. You be the judge. Interruption #1: The Stuff Jesus Never Said book This book did not exist in January; by April, I had a copy in my hand. Stuff Jesus Never Said came out of nowhere and took us by surprise. It has long been my dream to convey the gospel in visual form. When I began the SJNS page three years ago, I wanted to put the best pictures in a book, but I couldn’t see how to get past the copyright issues. I asked the Mormons if I could use their pictures. (The Church of the Latter Day Saints takes art seriously and they have the best pictures of Jesus.) But they said no. Apparently [...]

‘Stuff Jesus Never Said’ – out today!

by

My new book, Stuff Jesus Never Said, comes out today. I know what you’re thinking: Why did I write a book about things Jesus didn’t say? The words of Jesus may be the most important words ever uttered, yet his words have been mangled in the machinery of manmade religion. For 2000 years Jesus has […]

The Gospel of Wow!

by

I’m going to let you in on a secret: I don’t particularly like listening to sermons. Or lectures. I know, this is a strange confession coming from someone who used to preach and teach six days a week. I have nothing against lectures or sermons, it’s just that I am not a particularly good listener. […]

Our Freedom in Christ Comes Parallels Our Freedom in the USA

by

In the U.S.A. we just celebrated our Independence from tyranny, over taxation and religious control through monarchical rule. I shudder to think what our founding father’s would think of the current state of the nation with the tax rates and separation of Christianity from public life… but that’s another topic.

I’m writing to you today to tell you a story about my trip to Washington D.C. a couple of summer’s ago. Sara and I took our kids to tour the museums and see the monuments. It was a wonderful experience, I highly recommend it. Given that we’re both artists we were overwhelmed by the art. I have to say, the most memorable part of the trip was not the art, it was seeing Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. It’s a beautiful piece of property on the Potomac River.

As the guide led us through his home, we stopped in front of a room in which George held personal meetings. The guide told us that he would have met with people like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and the list goes on.

Apparently he met often with Thomas Jefferson. I don’t remember if the guide actually said this or I imagined it but I remember thinking that they would have sat in this very room to discuss the founding of our nation and the principles recorded in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.

My imagination and my pastoral instincts began to take over. I could imagine conversations about freedom and personal liberty and how they were basic human values and rights. I could see them discussing how to structure the government of this new nation in such a way that the people were in charge and could vote to preserve their freedom. I could hear them discussing how difficult it would be to inspire a nation to not only value freedom but properly steward it and do what was necessary to protect it.

They had seen the effects of people’s dependencies on a governing body and they wanted to instill absolute independence in each and every American so this nation would live out its days as a free and sovereign nation.

I began to relate to these conversations as a pastor. As ministers we are to set people free from religion, the power of sin, the fear of death and carnal thinking. We are to encourage them to choose life and not be distracted by the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things. We are to inspire people to properly steward the freedom from the law of sin and death we have in Christ so we don’t enter back into the slavery of sin.

This is why I believe the USA was founded on Christian principles, no other god values freedom but the Father of Christ. No other god in all the religions of the planet give people free will.

God the father, maker of Heaven and earth, giver of Christ for the redemption of mankind desires that we live totally free. He created this earth and gave dominion to mankind and said subdue and prosper.

The Declaration of Independence reflects these principles:

“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

They recognized the freedom and the authority given to mankind by God over creation and wanted to structure a nation in which we could live out those God given freedoms.

Unfortunately this foundation has been corrupted and God is systematically being removed from the fabric of the governing body and even culture. But we as children of God are still free and no one can take that away.

The whole earth is waiting for the sons of God to manifest their sonship and live in the authority we have through our joint-inheritance in Christ. God’s grace is powerful enough in our hearts to strengthen us to live free from sin, fear, doubt, shame and even death.

I pray our nation finds its way back to Christian principles and once again draws on the wisdom of God to govern and protect the blessings of liberty. I pray you rely on God’s grace and live free from the pitfalls of this world and properly steward your freedom in Christ.

I go into much more detail on these ideas in this message.

Thank you to those of you who support Forward Ministries with your financial gifts. If you value our ministry, please consider partnering with me. Thank You!

GIVE a one-time gift or create a recurring gift

Grace and peace to you,
Clint Byars

The post Our Freedom in Christ Comes Parallels Our Freedom in the USA appeared first on Forward Ministries.

How To Survive a Shipwreck (review)

by

Ever now and then there comes along a book that speaks to the deepest levels of the human spirit.  ShipwreckJonathan Martin does just that in his newest book, How to Survive a Shipwreck.  With the musings of a poet, the heart of a pastor and the insights of a prophet, Martin masterfully shares the story of his own shipwreck, his struggles to survive and the lessons learned about a loving God that never left his side.
The book is extremely well written.  Martin is a top-notch communicator with a talent for poetic prose.  The book explores the tragic, personal shipwreck of Martin’s life.  He shares the deepest, most intimate details of his life as he shares what he went through as his life, marriage and ministry fall apart.  It’s not very often that people get to look into the darkest parts of a pastor who has fallen.  Martin holds nothing back, save the details of the shipwreck which are not anyone’s business.  He lets it all hang out: the raw emotions, the self-doubts, the intense struggle to survive, to just breathe.  Martin allows the reader a very honest look into his deepest struggles and questions.
What’s it truly like when you are in the limelight when you have so many people looking to you and you blow it?  What happens when you fall and have to face your own music of destruction?  Martin lets you in on this journey to see the devastating destruction and devastation of a personal shipwreck.  You can feel his pain, his agony and his own self-loathing as he battles to stay alive in a sea of uncertainty.  You witness his wrestling with God over who he is, who he thought he was and how God sees him.  You come to a place of hope that there is redemption on the other side of the shipwreck.
I greatly identified with this book as I have been through my own shipwreck.  Whereas Martin’s was one of his own doing, my shipwreck came at the hands of others.  Regardless of fault, a shipwreck is a shipwreck and one must learn to survive the chaos of the seas if one hopes to make it to land.  This book will give you a beacon of hope. As I read this book, I was reminded of my own journey, my own pain, and my own struggle.  But in reading this book I discovered that I had survived my shipwreck, that I had made it to land and that I was completely dry and ready to move on.  Martin survived his shipwreck and became a better man because of it.  I did as well.  I believe that anyone dealing with a personal shipwreck will greatly benefit from the insights in this book.  For those that have never had a shipwreck, I believe you will benefit from the honest, raw story of how one can fall from great heights and be transformed by the love and grace of God.
Very few books would I consider a must read, or even a book that deserves to be read again and again, but this is one of those books.

Full Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Living from the Heart – Part 1

by

Believers have become new creatures with a new kind of life source flowing in us. Leviticus 17:11 tells us that the life of the creature is in the blood. We have been reformed into righteous, spiritually eternal beings through faith in the atoning blood of Christ.

In this process, the dead man/heart is cut out of us and the new man/heart is placed within us. Physically we’re the same person but we are exactly like Jesus in our spirit. The problem is that our minds are caught in the middle of our new hearts and our former way of thinking.

Our journey now, is to renew our minds to be in agreement with what God has done and is doing in our spirits. All of this comes together in our hearts. The heart is the deepest part of our being; it’s part spirit and part soul, it’s where our beliefs dwell and it’s where we make decisions on what we believe about God and ourselves.

Proverbs 4:23 from various Bible versions

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. NIV

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. NLT

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. ESV

Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. NASB

Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.  HCSB

Keep your heart with all caution because from it is the outgoing of life. Aramaic Bible

Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it. God’s Word

Above every charge keep thy heart, For out of it are the outgoings of life. YLT

God influences us through our hearts, which is the very definition of grace. It’s our responsibility to keep our hearts in confidence toward him so we will allow his influence to transform us. If you don’t, you do not lose your salvation, it doesn’t make you any less righteous and it doesn’t make you any less qualified for God’s blessings…it only limits your experience of God’s promises and kingdom in this life.

The first video in this series lays the foundation of your new heart, stay in touch for next week’s video where I go through Mark 4 and shed light on Jesus’ explanation of why we don’t always experience God’s kingdom in this life and how to stop limiting him.

Listen to the first message in my newest series, “The Secret to Experiencing God’s Kingdom In This Life.”

The post Living from the Heart – Part 1 appeared first on Forward Ministries.

E2R is on Patreon

by

Mozart's patron

What do the following people have in common: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven? Answer: You would have heard of none of them if it weren’t for their patrons. Without patrons there would be no Mona Lisa, no Sistene Chapel, no Hamlet, and no Goldberg Variations.

And frankly, a world without the Goldberg Variations is a world I couldn’t imagine.

In some ways patrons are as important as the artists they support. Consider Mozart. He had several patrons who funded him and in return he gave them – and us – some of the greatest music ever written. A world without Mozart, or Bach, Beethoven, and Handel, is a poorer world.

Which brings me to Patreon.

Patreon is a crowdfunding platform that provides us with a unique opportunity to become partners in the gospel. It works like this: A lot of people give a little each month and in return they get Mozart, or me, in this case. Just as Mozart and his patrons made the world a better place, working together proclaiming the beautiful gospel of Jesus, we can make the world a better place.

This is a really good deal. For as little as a dollar a month you get to change the world!

“But Paul, why would I pay when I can get Escape to Reality for free?”

For the same reason people pay for Netflix or Hulu when you can watch TV for free – you’ll get more and better content.

For the past six years E2R has been a one-man show. But as the blog has grown I find myself writing less and doing more admin. This is bad for you and bad for me. It’s bad because awesome articles go unwritten (I have a folder with about 200 drafts); readers’ questions go unanswered (at least eighty percent are ignored – sorry); and creative projects remain unbirthed.

I’m fizzing with ideas and so are readers like you. Hardly a day goes by when I don’t get asked: “Paul, have you written anything on the parables of Jesus?” “Why don’t you write something we can give to unbelievers?” “Got anything suitable for children?” “Why don’t you do a study guide?”

The fact is I have written something on the parables and I do have something for unbelievers and I have been working on a children’s series. But finishing these things requires time which requires money. And we haven’t even begun to discuss the really BIG ideas pertaining to platform sharing, community building, and getting the gospel into disadvantaged communities. (I discuss these on the Patreon page.)

E2R began as an email sent to a dozen friends. Sending that one email was like punching a hole in a dam wall: It unleashed a flood. It brought me to you.

Now every month as many as 50,000 people get to hear the good news of God’s unconditional love. That’s 50,000 people who are being set free from religious bondage and are learning to dance in the sunlit uplands of their Father’s favor. Within that group people of unbridled creativity are being energized and inspired by grace. There are Michaelangelos, Shakespeares, and Bachs. If grace inspires you, you may be one of them.

Grace bears good fruit. Sending that one email was like planting a tiny gospel seed which has grown into a large and fruitful tree. From that one tree there are now thousands of of seeds to sow. Opportunities to proclaim the gospel of grace are everywhere.

“This all sounds good, Paul, but what does this have to do with me?”

It has everything to do with you. Mozart, remember?

Has E2R been a blessing to you? Would you like others to experience that blessing? Would you like to see more people freed from condemnation and shame and reveling in their Father’s favor?

Here’s the choice: if you would like to see E2R go from a tree to a forest, jump over to Patreon and sign up as a patron. Do it now before you forget. Not only will you help spread the gospel of grace, you’ll get access to a bunch of bonus offerings and exclusive patron-only rewards. Patronage has its privileges.

“Paul, I believe in what you’re doing and want to help, but I’m not ready to sign up for a monthly commitment.”

I understand. Netflix isn’t for everyone. If you would like to help spread this message you can always make a one-off donation via our support page. Every dollar you give goes into making the E2R a better resource.

I encourage you to become a patron but if you don’t that’s fine. There’s no guilt here. I’ll keep writing regardless. But if you do support my work, I’ll write more and you’ll get more. Patronage is a two-way street.

And maybe, just maybe, we’ll get the grace-equivalent of a Sistene Chapel or a Brandenburg Concerto or a Goldberg Variation.

Patreon_button


The Atonement of God: Building Your Theology on a Crucivision of God (book review)

by

Why did Jesus really die?  Was it to defeat sin?  Was it to appease atonement of godthe wrath of an angry God?  Was it so that God wouldn’t have to punish us because He punished Jesus?  Was it to ransom us from the devil?  Is God a child abuser? All these questions are answered within various theories as to why Jesus died.  In this book, Jeremy looks at the four most popular theories:  penal substitutionary theory, the moral influence theory, the ransom theory, and the Christus Victor theory.  Utilizing the Christus Victor theory, he shows us how the death of God was a non-violent act from the actions of God, although it was certainly very violent from the actions of men.

Jeremy gives us a good solid understanding of the core teaching of each of them, contrasting the pros and cons of each one.  His book clearly lays out a scenario in which the crucifixion of Jesus was not God pouring out His wrath on Jesus, nor God inflicting great punishment upon His beloved Son so that He wouldn’t have to inflict punishment upon humanity.  His view is that God is a non-violent Father as expressed through the life of Jesus. It’s upon this non-violent view that Jeremy spends most of his time.

Don’t read this book if you are not willing to at least consider what he is saying.  As a pastor, I have found that far too many Christians are close minded when it comes to looking at something that may go against what they have been taught all their lives.  Most American Christians have been taught the Penal Substitutionary Theory and may have a hard time pulling away from that.  As you read this book, keep an open mind and think about what Jeremy is saying, especially if you hold to any view other than the Christus Victor view.

Jeremy even explains his concept of why there is so much violence in the Old Testament.  It is this subject here that I would love to sit down with him and have a conversation as I liked what he said, but I am not sure that I could totally put my views and thoughts in that same basket just yet. The violence of the Old Testament is still a concept that I am grappling with.

Overall, this is a great book.  If you are looking to study the atonement and its differing views, then I would highly recommend this book.  Jeremy is a great teacher and communicator.  He has definitely done his research and is well versed in what he believes and why he believes it.  He is definitely someone that I recommend that you follow.  Through his books, blogs, and podcasts, I have been deeply challenged in my thinking, which, to me, is always a good thing!

You can find out more about Jeremy at his website:  www.redeeminggod.com.  You can purchase his book there or on Amazon.

Would you like to get a free 30 day devotional on Going Deeper in Grace?  Sign up for our email list and it’s yours!

Happy Sixth Birthday (and a Free Book for You!)

by

Escape to Reality is six years old today – hooray! – so this seems like a good opportunity to take a moment to reflect on the past and future of the blog. Since our last birthday I have published 58 new articles. The most popular was “The 9 lies of religion.” That one was fun to […]

Go Forward, God Will Be with You

by

go forward in god

No one knows your failures better than you. I bet there are places where you have disappointed yourself more than anyone else. You know your track record. You know your secrets. You know how you’ve wasted time and given up more than you care to admit. You are your own worst critic.

Everyone faces the enemy in the mirror at times when it comes to where we are in life, but it doesn’t have to be as dismal as I’ve just described. You can change. It’s easier than you think.

I call it the Moses syndrome. It goes like this.

  • We sincerely want to follow God
  • We tried and failed
  • People may have gotten hurt, or worse
  • We run and hide and find a place of complacency
  • The flame sparks back up again
  • We remember the last time
  • We question our ability to trust God
  • We question God
  • We say no

It doesn’t have to stop there. You can go forward, burning of a flame that is not limited to your past, your own strength or even your own energy. God showed Moses a picture of grace in the burning bush. The bush was burning but was not consumed. When God was persuading Moses to follow him, he promised he would be with him, he promised to inspire people to walk with him and he showed him how to do it in a way that wouldn’t burn him out. The bush was not burning of it’s own energy or strength. If it had burned in its own energy, it would have exhausted its stored, potential energy and the fire would have died. God showed Moses what it looks like to yield to grace. Burning with God’s presence rather than his abilities and strength.

Despite their best attempts, no one can teach you how to walk by faith and how to yield to grace from the heart. It’s between you and God. The Holy Spirit is the greatest teacher. But your heart most be willing to move forward before it grows in capacity to perceive and receive the wisdom and grace that God provides as you go.

God Never Withholds

He is not refusing to show you the big picture because you’ll mess it up, you just can’t see it because your mind isn’t renewed and you heart’s capacity hasn’t been influenced to the degree where you can see it. The more steps you take in faith, empowered by grace in God’s leading, the more your heart and mind will think like him and the more you’ll see of his good plans for you.

We get a heart transplant at our new birth but we still have minds that need to develop a new track record. Especially a new track record with ourselves. We’re made new, righteous and holy, hidden in him but we still think like a dead man. We still yield to the emotions of our failures and disappointments because we have not walked into this new life thinking differently.

Dream Big, They Say

Often we have a big dream but it seems unattainable. You may even think that if you believe hard enough it will magically appear and all your problems will be solved. But we live in a paradox. God has given us everything that pertains to life and godliness and all of his promises are yes and amen but we must follow him into the physical establishment of those spiritual truths into our lives. Everything that he wants to establish in our lives happens by grace through faith. Not to qualify or earn, but to bear the fruit.

God has nothing but good plans for us but we still expect the worst because of our past failures. I think it’s because we aren’t taking the little steps and training our minds to feel good about trusting God. We think we’ve stepped out but often it’s in our own effort and not in his grace.

Your problem is not God. Your problem is not the world. Your problem is your lack of confidence in the kind of creature that you have become in Christ and the capacity to live from that reality. Once you know you’re God’s child, and this is the sole reason God created you, you are free to step out without the fear of God’s scrutiny. But take small steps first. Give your mind a chance to catch up by seeing small, attainable goals achieved as you put God first. It’s a process to renew/discipline your mind to think like God and see opportunities like he does. But it happens as you daily embrace your salvation in Christ, affirm God’s promises to you and maturity walk into each moment of grace that God breathes your way.

Living a systematic, disciplined lifestyle is not works if you’re doing it to get your mind in agreement with what’s already true of you spiritually. The connection needs to be made. They connection lies in you overcoming your past disappointments in yourself and being willing to step into each opportunity to change as God’s transformative power arises in your heart.

The next time you face temptation to give up or shy back from your call/dream/opportunity, turn your heart toward him, ask for grace, expect a motivation and energy to rise up, then take the step forward. You will stand on mountains of success if you take those small steps into each moment of grace.

The post Go Forward, God Will Be with You appeared first on Forward Ministries.

Categories

Recent Posts