About the Book
Book: I Never Knew You
Author: Patrick Higgins
Genre: Christian Fiction
Release date: September 9, 2020
Is the God you serve the true God of the Bible? If you profess faith in Christ, this book will challenge you mightily from beginning to end, GUARANTEED!
Charmaine DeShields thought she had it all. A promising career. Good health. A beautiful house. A promising relationship. Most importantly, she was a proud member of the largest and most popular megachurch in all of Seattle—the Blessed and Highly Favored Full Gospel Church.
Everything started changing in her seemingly perfect life after a pastor visiting from China created such an uproar at her church, with messages most members found both mean spirited and judgmentally offensive, that Mark Lau was asked to leave and told never to come back.
It took traveling all the way to Shanghai, China, with her best friend, Meredith Geiger, for Charmaine to discover the many differences between her church, which was opulent in every sense of the word, and Pastor Lau’s church, which was located beneath
Even more telling were the messages both pastors preached. Despite that they taught from the very same Book, their messages couldn’t have been anymore polarizing. While Charmaine was instantly intrigued by the whole “underground” experience, Meredith was so traumatized that she cut short what had been the best vacation of her life, to go back to the States.
But not before alarming Charmaine’s boyfriend of the grave danger they faced. Rodney Williams then told lead pastors, Julian and Imogen Martín, who flew 5,700 miles from Seattle to China, to rescue her from the so-called pastor who’d already caused some to leave their megachurch.
Upon arriving, they learned their suspicions were quickly confirmed. Mark Lau had used his subterranean gathering place to radically change Charmaine’s way of thinking. Despite her strongest protests, they flat-out refused to believe that God had used him to transform her life and deepen her faith, to the extent that she finally had eternal assurance.
Tragically for the Martíns, by the time they discovered the prosperity Gospel they’d been preaching was a false one, it would be too late…
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My Review:
I wanted to read this book and yet I was scared to read this book. The phrase "I never knew you" is locked into my mind with a heavy-hitting scripture. Would I even be able to read this book? Was it going to go badly, but how could I not try?
This book is a story built on a conflict with large churches, the faith movement, and the "claim it" and it's yours or a prosperity churches, vs if people are actually reading and diving the truth of God's word and working to keep themselves in balance.
Where this book messed up for me: It feels very hypocritical to say don't change God's word, and then leave off parts of scriptures or ends of verses, or take it out of context! That just flat made me mad. Maybe that was done on purpose, to further try to push people to think?
Then comes the kind of "fighting" your church thinks this and my church thinks that and by then I was not a happy camper at all. As Christians, we have to understand that different groups of us will latch onto what brings us hope and healing. It doesn't always mean you live your entire life at that one point. It doesn't mean that if you "name and claim" - that you aren't learning to use faith such as it is seen in Hebrews 11; or that you don't know Christ. Christians have many kinds of doctrines and beliefs that are incorrect, but the point should always be that at the core of John 3:16-21.
By the end of the book, I felt like things had derailed, it had turned into a kind of soapbox and lost the perspective and message that I had hoped it would have. I'm really unhappy at the twisting of scriptures.
2 Stars
About the Author
Patrick Higgins is an Amazon bestseller and award-winning author of the end times prophetic series, Chaos In The Blink Of An Eye. The “CHAOS” in our present world is well documented in this series, which won the Radiqx Press Spirit-Filled Fiction Award of Excellence, soon after the first installment was published. Download now and see for yourself why JUST UNDER 3000 POSITIVE RATINGS – REVIEWS have been posted on Amazon and Goodreads, on the first 6 installments…and counting!
Once completed, there will be 12 installments…
Higgins also wrote “I Never Knew You”, “The Pelican Trees”, “Coffee In Manila”, and “The Unannounced Christmas Visitor”, which won the 2018 Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal Award in Christian fiction.
More from Patrick
Is the God you serve the true God of the Bible? Charmaine DeShields always thought so. How could she not after practically going from rags to riches in the seven years she spent as a full-fledged member of the most influential church in all of Seattle—the Blessed and Highly Favored Full Gospel Church? From a financial and materialistic standpoint, she felt incredibly blessed by her Maker.
It took traveling all the way to Shanghai, China, and spending a few days in an underground church—with persecuted believers who’d lost everything for their faith in Christ—for Charmaine to discover that the relationship she had with Jesus wasn’t nearly as secure as she had always thought it was.
In fact, the biblically-sound preaching she was exposed to in Pastor Mark Lau’s subterranean house of worship was so profound, it forced her to question whether or not she was even saved at all…
Based on Matthew 7:21-23, if you profess faith in Christ, this story will challenge you from start to finish—GUARANTEED! Since its release in September 2020, the reviews on Amazon and Goodreads have been nothing short of stellar. Many are calling it Patrick Higgins’ best book to date and predict it will become an award-winner like his other books.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:21-23).
Blog Stops
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 1
Sara Jane Jacobs, February 2
Mary Hake, February 2
deb’s Book Review, February 3
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, February 4
Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, February 5
Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, February 6
CarpeDiem, February 7
Inklings and notions, February 8
Blogging With Carol, February 8
Locks, Hooks and Books, February 9
Artistic Nobody, February 10 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)
Texas Book-aholic, February 11
For Him and My Family, February 12
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, February 13
Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, February 13
Simple Harvest Reads, February 14 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)
Giveaway
To celebrate his tour, Patrick is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/1070d/i-never-knew-you-celebration-tour-giveaway
2 comments:
Carol, Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts. We must be aware of those who twist scripture.
This is going to be absolutely amazing and im reading it very soon!
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