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John is still trying to figure out why Pastor Moses feels it is important to have a life size poster of him hanging in the church foyer. Apparently, Pastor Moses isn’t sure either, but he heard through the grapevine that it is on the ‘to do’ list for all aspiring mega-church pastors.
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John isn’t quite sure where Pastor Moses ever got this crazy idea that Christianity is all about leadership? Sure it plays it’s part, but is it really the most important thing to focus on?
The Apostle Paul spoke about the grace of God hundreds of times more often then leadership, and yet Pastor Moses preaches about leadership hundreds of times more often than he does grace!
Once again, there seems to be something wrong in this equation.
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Pastor Moses lives in a world where his normal, run of the mill church members only ever come to him with either praise for his awesomeness as a Pastor or problems of their own. But now, with John in the church, Pastor Moses is faced with having to actually answer some important questions about the gospel! My goodness, how could John do such a thing to him!
You can run Pastor Moses, but you can’t hide.
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Pastor Moses often tells some really powerful testimonies… but unfortunately he often plays Chinese whispers in his own head and ends up adding more to the story than actually happened.
He doesn’t seem to mind.
John is starting to get concerned that more emphasis is being put on serving and running a great church service, than understanding the greatness of the gospel. It seems that Pastor Moses believes the gospel is the easy stuff, just tell someone it once, get them to raise their hands, and then move onto the important, repetitious way of the church service. But is this really what it means to believe – in running a great church service?
Below is a excerpt from my paraphrase of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
What good news! By the grace of God we are now free in his love, alive in his life, and perfectly cleansed through his forgiveness. My dear friends, as glorious as our forgiveness is, it is only a tiny fraction of what we have received. Indeed, we should rejoice that we have been given so much more. For we have been raised with Christ and seated with him in the glorious kingdom of God. I’m not suggesting this will happen one day – I’m testifying that it has already happened! When we accepted Jesus, his Spirit came to live in us, and our Spirit went to sit with him. We are now one with Jesus; both he with us as here on earth, and we with him in the heavens.
What, one might ask, is God doing as we sit with him in the heavens? My siblings in Christ, he is looking at us with love and affection. He is enjoying our company and reminding us of how he sees us: holy, blameless and forever loved. He does this to reveal to our hearts, indeed, to all of creation, the incomparable riches of his grace. For the rest of eternity we will be the living proof of God’s unending kindness; we are his beloved forever. Our salvation is an act of pure grace. Our adoption, new life, and redemption have nothing to do with our own efforts and everything to do with the King of kings, the One and only, Jesus our Lord. Just as Jesus was a gift to the world, so too is the salvation that we have received through him. In light of this glorious truth it’s easy to understand why our boast is not in our limited ability, but in his unlimited love for us.
Therefore, remember his grace always, and remember the whole story of God’s redemption plan. Remember that God first set apart the nation of Israel. He gave them the Holy Scriptures and a temporary covenant of law through which he prophesied the coming of the Saviour of all mankind : Jesus Christ. It is through Jesus that this old covenant was fulfilled and the new eternal covenant has been established. It is this new covenant of grace that you have been saved into. At one time you were separated from God, but, because God is faithful, all of you who were far from God have found yourself now living in his very presence through the grace of Christ.
Previously, there was only one way, and that way was for the Jewish people. The law of their covenant excluded other nations and cultures from participating in a covenant relationship with the living God. Yet now we see how truly merciful God is, that he allowed Jesus, who is the Christ of the Jewish law, to come and fulfill all the righteous requirements of that law, bringing that covenant to fulfillment through his perfect life, ending the era of religious obligations and regulations, and establishing the promised new covenant; not according to man’s nature of law, but according to God’s divine nature of grace.
The old, temporary covenant was exclusive to one nation, but the new, eternal covenant is available to every nation and tribe on earth. For Jesus himself has become our peace and he has made a way for all of mankind to belong to God; both those close and those far away. He died upon the cross for all people, regardless of their religious or cultural backgrounds, in order that they may come to know him and realise the profound reality that, through the sacrifice of Jesus, all mankind have been granted access to the Father through the Spirit of divine love.
Now, through the finished work of Jesus, we can all rest in confidence with the knowledge that we are citizens of heaven and members together of one household. This household is built upon the foundation of the gospel message that I, together with the other apostles, have proclaimed to you, with Jesus himself holding the whole household together. In him we are held together in unity, joined together in love and connected together as family. For we have been created new in Christ, no longer as strangers, but now as brothers and sisters; and God is continuing to draw us all closer together as a family, where he also lives by his Spirit.
The above excerpt is from my paraphrase of Paul’s 4 prison letters (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians & Philemon) called: The Gospel Cannot Be Chained: Searching for grace in Paul’s prison letters. I shared the intros to each letter on my previous blog post, you can read it here, or you can take a look at it on amazon.com here.
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It seems Pastor Moses is happy to allow a little honeymoon period for new people – before, that is, he starts working to get them in line with his grand plan. John is interested in building some genuine relationships with others in the church, but, you know, Pastor Moses also has his church growth strategy that needs to be followed! That means John needs to get with the program, and start serving to ensure the strategy succeeds. John is also a little concerned that Pastor Moses actually has a database, not only with his details, but also with a plan to move him along some mysterious servitude ladder – is that really true? Surely that isn’t what’s going on behind the scenes, right?
John isn’t convinced the way to serve God is by serving Pastor Moses and his vision either. Is that the only way to serve God?
Below is a excerpt from my paraphrase of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
Dear friend, I want you to know how Christ has filled me with joy through the news of your new found faith in him and the love you now have for one other. Indeed, since I heard of your faith, I have not stopped thanking God. I’m telling you the truth. I am so blessed to know that you too have believed upon Christ and I joyfully welcome you into his family.
I can testify, with great certainty, that you have been drawn wonderfully close to him. Indeed, in Christ not one of us is kept distant. Oh, may the eyes of your heart see this beautiful reality, for it is your born-again birthright in Christ Jesus. And, just as I thank God for you all, I also pray that God would bless you beyond measure with the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, in order that you may know him more intimately, for that is his desire. Yes, I pray that you may truly understand the depths of his love; for the foundation of our faith is firmly established in his unending love.
In love, God has given us his Holy Spirit, and that certainly is good news. His Spirit does not produce fear, hatred and bondage; on the contrary, it produces life, love and liberty. His Spirit created the universe. His Spirit raised Christ from the dead. His Spirit is powerful – wonderfully powerful! Gloriously powerful! It is this very same Spirit that is now living in you, and, through his grace, it is now at work in you.
My brothers and sisters in the Lord, stop and think about it: the very same power that was strong enough to raise Jesus from the dead, placing him at the Father’s right hand in the heavens, is now dwelling in you. It is by this power that Jesus now reigns in glory. Nothing can compare to the power, authority, and dominion that Jesus now has. He is above every title that can be given; from eternity to eternity he reigns supreme – and we are in him. We have been united together as his body. And now, through our faith in him, God, in his wisdom, is bringing to fulfillment his glorious plan of mankind’s redemption.
Tell me, how does it feel to know the truth? To know that you are a brand new person, cleansed and made pure in every way in the eyes of your heavenly Father? It feels glorious, I know, for I experience this same wonderful reality. How different a life we now have. For in the past we walked in the ways of darkness, lost in the foolish things this world offers, and spending all we had to buy what only broke our hearts or burdened us with guilt and shame.
All of us lived in this way at one time, and, to our thinking, it was all we could hope for; gratifying the cravings of our self-absorbed ego while following its desires and thoughts. We were no different from anyone, and, based on our own merits and deeds, deserved nothing good from God. But praise God that he does not give to us based on what we deserve, but rather, he gives to us based on the reality of his graceful and loving nature, expressed through what his Son has done on our behalf. It is because of his great love for us, despite our past misdeeds, that he has given us a new life; for the riches of his mercy are truly endless. Yes, it is by his grace, and only by his grace, that we could ever receive such a blessing.
I praise God that our ‘bad works’ didn’t disqualify us, and our ‘good works’ didn’t qualify us. His love towards us is not at all based on our past performance, whether good or bad, but rather, his divine acceptance of us is based on the finished work of his Son upon the cross. And now, having put our faith in Jesus, we have received a covenant relationship of grace: an intimate relationship with him based on his perfect love and faithfulness to us. We can rest and rejoice in the knowledge that it is not by our works we are saved, but rather, it is because God has a nature of grace.
The above excerpt is from my paraphrase of Paul’s 4 prison letters (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians & Philemon) called: The Gospel Cannot Be Chained: Searching for grace in Paul’s prison letters. I shared the intros to each letter on my previous blog post, you can read it here, or you can take a look at it on amazon.com here.
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Eric is very proud to be a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week armor-bearer for Pastor Moses (see comic here). Back in the old days of the Bible, armor-bearers were warriors, but in the 21st Century it seems they are all, well, paper pushers, pastoral car washers and toilet cleaners. But Eric has a vision! Yes, he is sure one day he will finally have a good enough character to become a real Apostle, and then, with his Apostolic powers he will be able to do what every great Apostle does – get someone else to clean the toilets!
News From Mick: Hi all, last Friday was the day of my new book’s release. It is a paraphrase of Paul’s 4 prison letters (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians & Philemon) called: The Gospel Cannot Be Chained: Searching for grace in Paul’s prison letters. I shared the intros to each letter on my previous blog post, you can read it here, or you can take a look at it on amazon.com here.
A few weeks ago I wrote a post titled: The Future Of Searching For Grace, where I shared about the possibility of starting a subscription to help support what I am doing with the comics, writing, interviews and everything else. Well, I just wanted to share the conclusion I have come to:
I have decided not to start a subscription.
Although I would love to have the freedom and financial support to work exclusively (meaning that I wouldn’t have to also work a paid, full-time secular job) on my books, comics and other gospel activities, I don’t think that receiving support from my readers and friends is the way I would like that to come to pass, and I’m coming to be at peace with this. I don’t receive any support from any church/religious institutions or private people. I work & struggle like everyone else. I invest my life into sharing the gospel because that is what I love. I want to rest in that place of love and awe of God, work at whatever capacity I have to in order to provide for my family, and be free to journey with God in the adventure of faith we are all on.
So what happens from here? Well, I’ll keep sharing the good news of God’s grace and love, because that is how God has made me. I can’t help it, and I enjoy it so much. What I do hope happens is that over time my books can become wide-spread enough to create an income through books sales to give me that freedom to focus on writing and sharing even more. This too is in God’s hands, and he has the ability to do what he wants with the books I write. In any case, I hope you enjoy reading them 
To be honest, an incredible amount of time, energy, money and heart gets put into each book. It really is only by the grace of God I can manage to write and organise the publications of all that I’m doing, and you are my motivation to do so. The body of Christ. I write them for you. I hope you enjoy them, and please feel free to pass them on if you think others in your world would benefit from reading my books and blog.
I have two books available. My latest book just came out on Friday. It is called ‘The Gospel Cannot Be Chained’ it is a paraphrase of Paul’s 4 prison letters (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians & Philemon) and you can read the introductions to each letter on one of my recent blog posts here.
So, I guess I’m writing this post to share how I’m coming to peace with being a ‘tent maker’ like Paul while also exited to continue working with all the energy and grace God gives me to share the good news through my website and books. I actually have another book that will be released at the end of the year called: God’s Grace, Apart From Law and also my first novel next year. So I feel it is all very exciting and feel motivated and refreshed to keep sharing the good news with you all.
Finally, below is a link to my amazon authors page. It would be great if you could take a quick visit and click the ‘like’ button on the top right hand side, and also, if you want a few good books to read, well, there are also a few good books recommended on my author’s page too
Blue skies,
Mick
