“Stolen Grace (A Memoir): How God Rescued Me from the Jaws and Claws of the United Methodist Church” by Rev. Errol E. Leslie is now available for purchase

“How reassuring it was to be reminded that nothing could separate me from the love of God. Not my sin, not the condemnation of the church, not the removal from pastoring congregations that I loved and who loved me, not the criticism nor scorn from a few persons in the community, not the gossiping and backbiting among some within the community. None of the above or anything else could separate me from God’s love.”
– an excerpt from the book
Author Reputation Press is honored to publish “Stolen Grace (A Memoir): How God Rescued Me from the Jaws and Claws of the United Methodist Church” by Rev. Errol E. Leslie and be part of sharing the gospel. The book is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the ARP website.
The author hopes that the readers create a way to share Christ with others. He is also hoping that, after reading this, bishops and leaders within the Methodist Church and other Christian denominations will recognize the need to find a way to gently minister to and counsel pastors who have succumbed to temptation. You will never know what background circumstances could trigger such actions. Pastors can have domestic problems and do have emotions. There are times when we could use the Bible instead of a human “rule book” or use a soft brush instead of a hammer.
If we look closely at the people used in the Old Testament, we will notice that many of them failed God at some point. They messed up badly, and God still used them. Even in the New Testament, there are people who messed up, and God used them to build His Kingdom and church. God has used and will continue to use “messed-up people”. And many such are found in Jesus’ genealogy and mentioned in Hebrews 11 as being broken and messed up.
The Bible is filled with stories of people who have struggled, stumbled, and simply failed God. God stopped Saul (Paul) on the road to Damascus, and his life would be changed and transformed forever. Paul easily became the greatest apostle of all time.
There are numerous other people in the Bible whom God used despite their brokenness. People like Moses, David, Solomon, and Rahab show us how God is still willing to use us after we have messed up. No matter what broken state we’re in, we are never beyond God’s reach. We are never so far gone that God can’t make us effective for His purpose. It is we as human beings who judge each other by our own personal standards and write people off as unacceptable.
Rev. Errol E. Leslie puts it this way: “I messed up badly during ministry, but I am convinced that God still has a purpose for me and wants to continue to use me in ministry. He has already been demonstrating this to me in a clear, strong, and meaningful way. When we are broken or feel that we have messed up, that is not the time to worry about what others may do or say since other humans can make us feel worse.
Equally, it is not the time to give up and turn away from God. Rather, it is the time to draw nearer to God. That is when we should seek God all the more for direction, clarity, help, and strength. It’s the time when we should, like David, ask God to create a clean heart, renew a steadfast spirit within us, and restore us to the joy of His salvation.”
“Stolen Grace (A Memoir): How God Rescued Me from the Jaws and Claws of the United Methodist Church” by Rev. Errol E. Leslie is now available for purchase via ARP Bookstore: https://authorreputationpress.com/products/stolen-grace.