Thursday, February 11, 2021

I Never Knew You

About the Book

Book: I Never Knew You

Author: Patrick Higgins

Genre: Christian Fiction

Release date: September 9, 2020

INKY Front Cover Ebook 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 a dry cleaners, of all places.

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…

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

47124526_1951330421616062_4256512413689446400_n (2) 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).

MY REVIEW

This book can changed lives and set captives free. Yes I believe this book is so powerful that I wept when I finished the last page. I have heard of seeker friendly churches. In fact I used to be part of one. My husband and I were so involved in the church, our children began to wonder if they were important anymore. We sat under a pastor that preached the good news. We felt that we needed to volunteer for everything and be there every time the doors opened. Slowly we noticed our friends leaving and started to ask questions. Well I won’t continue because this book could have been written about my life in a church where I was shunned and asked never to come back.

Charmaine thought she had it all. She was well respected in the community. She was a big giver to her church and flaunted her wealth to anyone who would notice. Her pastors preached claim it services and in the midst was the Holy Spirit who grieved for the people who were being misled, I loved the moment when the pastor’s wife was prophesying and suddenly was called out. A guest pastor from China knew he had to speak truth to these people. He was not well received and in fact was escorted out.

I think that was the turning point for Charmaine. Could she go to China and see what the pastor was trying to convey to the congregation at her church? Her journey will fund herself searching and seeking God for answers. Her pastors will be become upset that she went. I wonder if they were afraid to her lose money ? The author writes a fiction story but it is happening in churches right now. The feel good churches who share the good news and spend more time on a tithing message than speaking real truth confuses people. The enemy loves confusion and we as a body of Christ need to be careful who we allow to minister to us. I think this is a wake up call for everyone and the author is clear that we don’t want to hear, “I never knew you,” I love a church who digs into scripture and warns us of what happens when we sin. I think every pastor and Christian should read this book. You may not agree with everything but there is truth in the authors story. I want to know that I’m at church to develop a closer relationship with him. I need to know that I will speak up when I am being led astray. In the end I want to hear, “well done, thy good and faithful servant.”

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.