The Gospel, English, p. 27
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ABOUT THE GOSPEL BOOKLET
Today a variety of “gospel” messages flood the air waves and pulpits across the globe. They range from sentimental overtures encouraging the lost sinner to “invite Jesus into his heart,” to threatening admonitions requiring the unbeliever to “repent of his sins.” Not surprisingly, believer and unbeliever alike have been left in a state of total confusion. Even when the gospel is proclaimed clearly and accurately, the hearer will often filter the words of the evangelist through a preexisting grid of false gospels which he has already heard, so failing to understand the saving message of Jesus Christ. With this in mind, The Gospel Booklet was written not only to explain and illustrate those concepts essential to saving faith such as our Lord’s atoning death and the doctrine of grace, but to address and correct much of the false teaching that is so often associated with the Christian gospel. Clarifying so many complex theological issues in this short, easy-to-read booklet took close to five years of writing and editing. We know of no booklet in print today that presents the gospel more clearly or accurately.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ron Shea attended Villanova University on a full scholarship through the United States Navy, where he earned a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering. He served as a naval officer from 1976 to 1980. In 1986, he earned a Master of Theology, cum laude, from Dallas Theological Seminary, where he majored in New Testament Literature, a major requiring translation the entire Greek New Testament. In 1998, he received a J.D. (Doctor of Jurisprudence) from Hastings College of law, earning awards in admiralty, oral argument, and jurisprudence (legal theory).
As a trial attorney, in 2010, Ron Shea de-benched a corrupt judge in Los Angeles who was denying the poor access to the court, and then criminally altering court transcripts to conceal his judicial misconduct. In addition to his complaint with the council on judicial performance, Shea also filed a civil rights action in Federal Court against the judge, and the entire Superior Court of California. The Federal District Court dismissed the case on the grounds that the state enjoyed “sovereign immunity” from suit in Federal court. On appeal, Shea submitted three briefs ranging in 40 to 60 pages, and entered oral argument before a three judge panel at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In his oral argument, Ron Shea challenged the “sovereign immunity” of the state of California. Shea argued that, according to the third sentence of the declaration of independence, “Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Shea argued that, if the “alienable rights” of which We the People divested ourselves, and conferred upon the states, comprised attributes and prerogatives of sovereignty, then it logically follows that those “unalienable rights” with which we were “endowed by our Creator” (Declaration, Second Sentence) and which were “retained by the People,” (Ninth Amendment of the Constitution) also comprised attributes and prerogatives of sovereignty. Shea concluded his argument by stating that it was “impertinence for California to stand at the bar of this court and claim sovereign immunity over that tiny enclave of rights over which We the People have retained sovereignty.”
After losing his appeal, Shea filed a 40 page Petition for Writ of Certiorari before the United States Supreme Court, Shea v. California, case no. 13-8161. In it, Shea amplified the legal arguments he had entered on appeal, particularly the legal argument to demonstrate that the Declaration of Independence has been “incorporated by reference” within the United States Constitution, and is therefore not simply rhetoric, but law. The Supreme Court declined a hearing, and refused to rule on the question.
As a Christian minister, Ron Shea has pastored churches in New Orleans and San Francisco, and is the founder of Clear Gospel Ministries. In 1988, he published the first English edition of “The Gospel” booklet. Since then, The Gospel booklet has been translated into over 30 languages worldwide. In 2009, with the assistance of Bishop Raheel Shakeel, Clear Gospel was able to establish a foreign mission in Pakistan.
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