I’ve long said that I don’t want to make any income from this website because it’s a ministry, and I didn’t want to make money from ministry. I held to that even as money got tighter and tighter over all of last year. (I had a couple months worth of expenses in my emergency fund at the beginning of last year, but have almost no cushion right now.)
So I’ve been praying about my finances for a while, and a couple verses came to me last week: (It’s mid-January 2025 as I write this.)
Romans 16:1-2
- Now, I commend our sister Phoebe to you, (who’s also a servant of the church in Cenchrea)
- so you might receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and so you might stand by her in that matter if she needs you, for she also became a patroness of many, even of me myself.
That seems to indicate that Phoebe was not only a patron to Paul, but also to other Christians as well.
There’s also this:
Luke 8:1-3
- And it happened in the time just after, that He also was traveling city-by-city and village-by-village, proclaiming and announcing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him;
- also some women who were *cured from evil spirits and infirmities, including Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out;
- and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward; and Susanna; and many other women who were providing supplies to them from the things they owned.
If you’ve read my article on patronage, you’ll recognize that these women were being patrons to Jesus by supporting Him. Paul certainly had at least one patron, and likely more. Given that, my objections to having patrons mostly disappeared.
So I talked to my wife and decided that we should pray about it for a few days. Only a few hours later, my wife had something happen that seemed like a clear “green light” from God. Then a teacher I semi-follow dropped a video that also spoke to this and reminded me of a few more verses. Those together seemed like clear direction.
So, I started a Patreon page.
Why?
Because money is tight enough that soon-ish, I’ll have to slow way down — potentially even stop — writing/research and translating to pay the bills.
Not yet, but soon-ish.
(For those who don’t know, I’m also translating the New Testament from Greek to English, and you can read what’s translated so far here.)
I’m hoping that a little extra income from Patreon will enable me to keep writing/researching for articles here, and also keep translating. If it ends up being a lot of extra income, I might be able to do this closer to full time. Hopefully, I’ll also be able to spend more time working on my translation of the Bible. (I’ve done ~75% of the New Testament so far, and I plan to start the Old Testament when I’ve finished the New.)
Anyway, IF you have the money (please don’t if you’re struggling financially), and IF you want to help, then you can find my Patreon page here.
To sweeten the pot and say thank you, I’ve attached a Discord server to the Patreon account, so if you want to chat (or even voice chat) with me and/or others, you can.
(Obviously I’ll still answer emails, but sometimes it takes a while.) I’ll likely also chat there regularly about the research I’m currently doing, or verses that are significant in the research. I work from home, so I’ll just leave a browser tab open for the BP discord in case someone wants to chat.
I’ll also probably release new articles to patrons early to get feedback before publishing them publicly here.
(In fact, I’ll probably publish the next part of my PSA series for patrons tomorrow or the next day, and then publish it here about a week later.)
For those who don’t want to support me (or want to but can’t), I completely understand, and I hope God blesses you richly through this website.
God Bless,
Berean Patriot
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I have subscribed to your highest tier Patreon my brother in Christ, I have been a long time fan of yours. However, how do I donate to you? You said you have burned through your savings, how urgent is your next bill?
Thank you very much!
I don’t have an urgent financial need/bill looming over my head. Expenses have been rising to the point where they were going to meet/overtake my income in the next few months. I’m not there just yet though, thankfully, and I’m hoping that Patreon will reverse this trend so I don’t need to slow/stop writing. I’m not quite living paycheck-to-paycheck, but more than one missed paycheck (or a sudden expense) would make things… let’s say “interesting”.
Sorry, to clarify my last question, I would like to gift more than 20 dollars a month, and I would rather would give a lump sum of money. Also, do you have telegram? As a fellow truth seeker, I am surprised you are using discord instead of signal/telegram considering the dangers of speaking the truth loudly.
I’m not sure if you mean you’d like to do a one-time instead of a monthly or in addition to monthly. For monthly, I can create a new tier if you let me know how much you’d like. If you mean one-time, I just did some looking and that’s stickier. A lot of the one-time services (like Buy Me a Coffee and Ko-fi) use Stripe, which reveals certain personal information on the receipts that I’d rather not expose in a cancel-culture world. I’ll do some more looking though.
You make a good point about privacy though and I’ll have to look into Discord alternatives. I already use Discord for both personal and semi-work-related purposes, so it seemed obvious, but obvious doesn’t mean best. Thanks for mentioning that. 🙂
I preface this comment by stating I have no issue with your decision, but I simply wanted to expand the discussion on this matter.
I was intrigued when I previously read that you weren’t accepting donations. I heard Paul Washer testify of his own experience with this idea which he got from the autobiography of George Mueller. Here is the sermon.
https://youtu.be/r8OR61p-gbU?si=k5bDNj2VcJHE1Tmh
I can’t outright dismiss the idea because of testimonies like this, but the verses you bring up in rebuttal are thought provoking. If Jesus, the sinless God man, and Paul the apostle relied on patrons, do we think we are better than they to abstain from financial support? Now I think one would have to understand why they did or did not accept donations such as in the following passage.
2 Corinthians 11:7-9, 12-13 BOSB
[7] Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so you might be exalted? (Because I preached the gospel of God to you freely.) [8] I robbed other churches, having accepted a wage from them for my service to you. [9] And while being present with you and being in need I didn’t burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. And in everything I kept – and will keep – myself not burdensome to you…[12] But what I do – and will do – I do so that I might cut off the opportunity of the men desiring an opportunity to be found just as we also are in what they boast about. [13] For such men are false apostles; treacherous workers disguising themselves as apostles of the Anointed.
Even in this case, Paul was being provided for, he just wasn’t taking funds from the Corinthians and he explains why. Moreover, I used to think Paul solely provided for himself via tentmaking based on Acts 18:3, but I learned this is a problematic theory based on the following short article.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/what-the-tentmaking-business-was-really-like-for-the-apostle-paul/
However, there is some extent where Paul did provide for others according to his farewell to the Ephesus elders.
Acts 20:33-35 NASB1995
[33] I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. [34] You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. [35] In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
1 Corinthians 9 is another key passage. Paul speaks of his liberty contrasted with his use of self-restraint. Liberty to get married, and being a paid evangelist, but restraining himself for the advancement of the gospel or his reward. I get the impression some Christians look at this passage and think, “Denying use of my liberty for God’s kingdom is preferable to doing permissable things that I want, so I won’t _____.” And perhaps they will go as far as to not get married even though in their case it might be better to (for God’s kingdom). But as you mention, there are other verses that show Paul did receive donations so it seems more nuanced than “don’t accept donations.”
I think Philippians 4:10-19 is an interesting passage to consider from your perspective. I recommend reading the entire passage for insight, but for the sake of brevity, here is the key verse.
Philippians 4:17 BOSB
[17] Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit multiplying into your account.
I was thrilled when I first learned of Paul’s heart in receiving donations. In allowing others to help him, he provided an opportunity for God to bless and reward them. May God bless you to have the benefit of others in mind even when you yourself are benefitting from the transaction.
I meant to reply to this the day after you posted it, but life… Anyway, it’s interesting that you say that because I was talking with a friend Sunday and he said something similar to your last point. He said that he’d learned not to rob someone of a blessing by not accepting a gift. I had never really heard that much before (outside of false prosperity teachers), and it’s an interesting point I’ll have to think more on. Any, I appreciate the comment and nuance. 🙂
Sorry to butt into the conversation, but I think the book “Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes” by E. Randolph Richards and Richard James does a great job explaining the culture of gift-giving and patronage in Paul’s time. We’re so determined to be self-sufficient and independent in Western culture that it can be hard to remember that it’s not actually considered a virtue in the Bible. Berean Patriot recommended the book in another post’s comments, and I can confirm it’s a fascinating read.
No need to be sorry, that’s why there’s a comments section. 🙂 And yeah, it’s been quite a while since I read that book and I think I needed to be reminded about it again. I really should reread it. Thanks for the comment. 🙂