What About the Rebukes of Revelation?
“God is not mad at you, he’s mad about you.” “Oh, yeah? What about the rebukes of Revelation? How does that fit your lovey-dovey grace theology?” Tell people that [...]
Letters from Jesus
Why Read the Seven Letters to the Churches?
Did you know that Jesus sent letters from heaven? I suspect 90% of people do not know, and many of those who do know dismiss them as irrelevant. “The seven letters to the [...]
What to do When You’re Facing Death
If you are facing a sentence of death – a bad report, a scary diagnosis, the loss of a business – you would do well to read Christ’s letter to the church at [...]
How Do We Keep the Word of His Perserverance?
You know that warning about not adding words to the Bible? I think of it whenever I read passages like this: You have kept my command to endure patiently… (Revelation [...]
What is the Hour of Testing Coming on the Whole World?
Once again, the world seems on the brink of destruction. Pandemics, terrorism, nuclear threats. Could this be the end? It probably isn’t, but it is an excellent time to [...]
When Jesus Speaks Harshly
Since I preach grace, I am often hit with the accusation that I have not read the harsh words of Jesus. The argument seems to be that because Jesus spoke harshly to the [...]
Beware the Lord with a Sword
What will you do with the Lord with a sword? I am referring to the picture of Jesus found in his letter to the church in Pergamum. In it Jesus introduces himself as [...]
What Burdens Does Jesus Place On Us?
Thyatira is considered one of the bad churches in the Bible. You may recall they had allowed a woman called Jezebel to preach and she led some of the believers astray. So [...]
Who is Alive but Dead?
If you want Christians to work harder, there are two scriptures you can trot out to boost productivity. The first is the one about being lukewarm; the second is this one from [...]
What’s so Special about Christ’s Right Hand?
While writing my book Letters from Jesus, I discovered a lot of gems in scripture. Some of these were hidden in the introductions Jesus gives his letters to the seven [...]
Jesus at the Door
Jesus knows us better than anybody. He speaks our language. He talks to us about things that nobody else cares about. He listens. And he does all this because he loves us. [...]
Faithful unto Death?! What if I’m Not?
Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10c) But what if I’m not faithful until death? Jesus remains faithful; you still get a crown. [...]
What does it Mean to have an Ear to Hear?
At the end of the Bible we find letters from Jesus to seven churches. At the end of each letter, Jesus says this: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the [...]
Who Will Jesus Spit Out?
“I will spit you out of my mouth.” So said Jesus to the Laodiceans (Rev. 3:16), but apparently he was talking to you. This spitting out passage, is sometimes used to [...]
Why did Jesus send Letters to Angels?
People sometimes dismiss the letters to the Seven Churches because they were addressed to angels. “To the angel of the church in Ephesus; to the angel of the church in [...]
Three Things People Get Wrong About the Laodiceans
The Laodicean church is probably the most infamous church in history. Preachers use it as an example of how Jesus deals with slack Christians. “Jesus is angry with these [...]
How to Read the Bible
The actor Charlie Chaplin once entered a Charlie Chaplin lookalike contest and lost. True story. Why did Charlie Chaplin go unrecognized? Surely it was because we see what we [...]
Who are the Nicolaitans among us?
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 [...]
Good News for Small Churches
In his seven letters to the churches, Jesus had a special message for the Philadelphians. He said they were doing well… …because you have a little power, have [...]
Why did Jesus send letters from heaven?
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 [...]
The Gospel in the Seven Letters
You probably know that my book Letters from Jesus came out in paperback last week. I hope you don’t mind me banging this drum but I feel strongly about this one. Why? [...]
Letters from Jesus: now in paperback + Easter Treat!
Ten years ago I started writing about the letters from Jesus, and two good things came out of that exercise: (1) a website call Escape to Reality and (2) my new book, Letters [...]
How Do We Become Lukewarm?
Many Christians are lukewarm, but not for the reasons they think. “I don’t go to church enough, I don’t pray enough, I don’t witness enough.” Let me stop you right [...]
Who are the Pillars in the Church?
As a young man, I was told I was a pillar in the church. It made me feel good to hear the pastor say this, and I could hardly disagree. Of course I was a pillar. I was a good [...]
Why does Jesus wish we were cold?
“You gotta be hot, hot, hot for Jesus! You gotta get enthusiastic in evangelizing the lost. You gotta get on fire with passion for the Lord.” This is a message I used to [...]
What does it Mean to Remove a Church’s Lampstand?
If you wanted to control people using fear and threats, you could become a Sith Lord, or you could take the good promises of Jesus, turn them inside out, and use them to [...]
Are you Working Too Hard for Jesus?
Who were the hardest working Christians in the Bible? The answer must surely be Paul and his friends, yet many people would say it was the church at Ephesus. They say this [...]
Are your Deeds Incomplete?
Are you worn out? If Christians are worn out, it’s usually for one of two reasons: (1) they don’t know how much their Father loves them and (2) they have an [...]
What does it mean to keep his deeds?
If you were to make a list of big topics discussed by Jesus and the New Testament writers, the subject of deeds or works would have to be on that list. They all spoke about [...]
What Deeds does Jesus Know?
In his letters to the seven churches, Jesus repeatedly says, “I know your deeds.” He exhorts the Ephesians to do the deeds they did at first (Rev. 2:5), he rebukes the [...]
You’ve got mail: Letters from Jesus, out today!
Last Friday I picked up a book containing the most important letters ever written. The letters had been penned by all sorts of historical figures. Yet the book contained no [...]
Who is an Overcomer?
To him who overcomes… (Rev. 2:7b) What does it mean to overcome? And what happens if I don’t? Is Jesus saying I can lose my salvation if I fail the overcoming test? Some [...]
Are these the Very Last Days?
UPDATE: This offer has now closed. My thanks to all who signed up. Missed out? There are still plenty of good reasons for signing up on Patreon. Are these the very last days? [...]
Get Your Name in Paul’s New Book!
UPDATE: This offer has now closed. My thanks to all who signed up. Missed out? There are still plenty of good reasons for signing up on Patreon. My new book, Letters from [...]
The “I wills” of the New Covenant
Jesus sent letters to seven churches (see Revelation 2 and 3). Of this group, the Philadelphians are esteemed as a model church because Jesus never rebuked them—as though [...]
The Lost Letters
My new book, Letters from Jesus, comes out in a few weeks. Here’s a taste… — In the creviced hills east of the Sea of Galilee, a kibbutznik stumbled on the [...]
Update: Paul’s New Book
For the past year and a half I have been writing a book on the gospel of Jesus. I’m happy to announce – it is finished! Great! What’s the new book called? Letters [...]
Escape to Reality 