Saturday, August 10, 2013

My story of hearing voices, consistent with demonic oppression.

I grew up in an atheistic environment of the Soviet Union. The very first book I read when at the age of fifteen my family crossed the iron curtain was the Old Testament. I got it from the missionaries in Italy where I spent six month before coming to the United States. I was fascinated by everything religious, spiritual, mystical and metaphysical and was on a quest for the Truth ever since.

When I begun practicing yoga and doing meditation about three years ago I started experiencing significant psycho-spiritual changes. It fit the profile of what is described in some texts as the Kundalini Awakening. In February of 2006 I moved across the continent to Los Angeles, where I was immediately embraced by a very gifted and creative community of people interested in spirituality and creative arts. Some of my closer friends were medical doctors, college professors, and spiritual/yoga teachers and healers. They were teaching me things in a spontaneous and fun way, and invited me to partake in some practices which seemed spiritually benevolent and were also very amusing.

The psycho-spiritual process I was experiencing progressively got more intense. I increasingly felt amazing connection with people and the whole world. My intuitive abilities and skills as a healer flourished, my memory and analytical skills improved greatly. I was feeling oneness with the world, loving everything and everyone. I was feeling happier than I ever did. All was beautiful and well. Everyone’s face was glowing with beauty and wisdom. I was falling in love with every person I met. It seemed everyone was just as deeply falling in love with me too. Maybe that’s what enlightenment is supposed to be like, I thought. I pondered on how to go forward in a responsible way with new powers I seemed to be developing? Was this ‘normal’? So much was unknown. I trusted I would be shown the way when the time comes.

Things started to drastically shift in around mid-March of this year. At the same time I had a few puzzling experiences of feeling something energetic come in and out of me. On two occasions I actually saw ghost-like creatures enter my body from the mirror. Both of these incidents happened within one week, in a presence of a man I meet at the holistic conference, Conscious Life Expo, a year earlier. Robert suddenly re-emerged and wanted to hang out with me all the time. He called me a brother. Interesting coincidence was that he appeared exactly when my closest friend at that time, who also called me a brother, went out of the country for a month, to a Thailand. It turned out they were both members of the same community, a tribe I was already being introduced to. This synchronicity encouraged me to open up and confide in him right away. Within a month he became increasingly more possessive, manipulative and weird. He started asking me provocative, hypothetical questions, as ridiculous as: would I throw a banana skin on the ground. When I told him that I wouldn’t, he’d question my choice, arguing, ‘but it’s organic, it’ll decompose’. He asked me strange questions about my history. For example, if I’ve ever forced a kiss on a girl. (The answer was an honest ‘of course not’) He wanted to spend time alone in my car. One time he told me he wanted a friend that would jump out of the window if he asked him to. About a month since we first started spending time together our friendship ended abruptly when one evening I told him I was tired and wanted to go home yet he insisted that I stay with him. I confronted him with my growing suspicion that his interests in me were impure. At first, he tried to deny any aberration. When I persisted, to my astonishment, his face morphed into one that was very ugly, evil and lustful. It was unnatural, predominantly bluish in color and sweaty. He started leaning toward me. I felt energetically overwhelmed. Robert is one head taller than me, but this dominance was clearly supernatural, not physical. I got out of the car. He followed me. As I was walking away I felt a big energetic entity enter me from behind. It felt disgusting and extremely invasive. When I questioned him about this on the next day, he told me he did not know what happened.

Concurrently, I was more frequently experience what felt as telepathy with other members of the tribe, and soon, I was hearing voices even when I was home alone. I willingly believed that they belonged to spirit guides; my soul, even God/Goddess, as they claimed. They seemed benevolent and fun. I felt them coming in and out of me. Several times they’ve playfully touched me in a sexual way. I liked their encouragement and helpful tips. I accepted that they were agents of the spiritual tribe, here to guide me. Communication from them was verbal and in human voices of different characters of various age and gender. They had symbolic communication signals too. For example, when they agreed with my thoughts I heard birds singing, when they didn’t, I heard a flash of a toilet. When I was in a conversation with other people they ‘assisted’ me in bodily ways. My eye itched when they wanted me to make a special note of what I was looking at, my nose itched when a bad recommendation was presented to me, my head itched when I was guided to reconsider an idea I thought about more thoroughly. Sometimes messages came in as inserted thoughts. In time, I’ve learned to distinguish those from my own.

Eventually, voices became bossier. They led me to believe that my brothers wanted me to follow their instructions. These ‘brothers’ were people I still thought to be amazing and spiritually evolved beings, which obviously possess superhuman abilities. I was grateful to them for befriending me, helping me with my job, teaching me and catalyzing my spiritual growth. Still considering this a divine intervention, with reverence I paid attention and found a way to rationalize what was happening.

When voices cheered me on to be a ‘bull’, I figured I was encouraged to be more assertive and courageous – a good thing, I figured, considering I was chronically shy. I played that role for a couple of weeks, mostly at the music festivals and parties I was invited to by my ‘brothers’. These events were similar to the Burning Man, a modern hippie festival which takes place once a year in the desert of Nevada: electronic music, drugs, New Age activities and masquerade -- a huge carnival where anything and everything goes. I was not into the hedonistic aspect of these parties, but rather into learning by exploring as an observer.

More and more frequently, at these parties, I experienced a strange exchange with some people there, when I was merely standing or dancing next to them. They were obviously also aware of it and seemed to enjoy it. I was puzzled by this and asked around but got no straight answer. My theory at that time was that this was a sort of Tantric exchange of information and healing energy.

Voices encouraged me to stop talking to my old friends and family, and spend more time by myself, at home. Looking back, I realize voices exploited masterfully my isolation. Voices said they had my book of life. Days earlier, at one of the parties I was emphatically shown a drawing with a picture of a book, with ‘Life’ inscripted on it in Russian, my native language. Allegedly, I was groomed for my spiritual awakening and higher purpose, and I was not to waist time on what was unessential at the moment. The idea was that I would later re-enter the world as my more fully realized self.

Voices called me a beautiful man, a genius, most powerful man in the world, etc. At that point I was beginning to doubt their sincerity. When they announced that I was ‘God’, I tried to rationalize this by remembering the adage that there’s a spark of God in everyone. Voices proceeded to try to convince me that indeed I was ‘The God’. Therefore, they reasoned, I should be ‘an %¤#&!§-’ and rudely take what I wanted, without payment. They continued with their ‘guidance’, promoting competitiveness, pride, and cynicism. This was utterly against my value system. Fortunately, I had enough insight to hold back. Perhaps my character is been tested, I thought.

My ‘brothers’ started showing me how to seduce women, and alluded to offers of corrupt ventures. When I refused to use strategies I was shown and my newly gained psychic abilities to manipulate other people, voices called me a coward. Frustrated with my defiance, they started to make fun of me whenever I was nice to people, like when I said ‘thank you.’ They chanted mantra ‘it’s bull shit, it’s all bull shit’ when I even thought about anything loving or religious.

It got so bad I could not carry on with my work as a healer. Explaining to my patients that I needed some time to work on my personal process, I quit my practice. Actually, the owner of the clinic where I was working asked me to do so. I was in agreement. I hopped that this ordeal would soon come to an end and I would resume my work shortly.

However, it was getting more bizarre by the day. Voices told me I should have a homosexual relationship; they said everybody was a ‘faggot’ (not my word) and that I am too straight. They also told me that I was ‘too good’, ‘too proper.’ Among several of their absurd ideas they tried to get me to believe in was that I was already dead. One version of it was that I died in an accident and was now in my afterlife. They were trying to get me off-center in various other ways, with increasing intensity and vigor.

My priority in dealing with people has always been the good Hippocratic dictum – to help, or at least to do no harm. Since I did not like the way voices wanted me to relate to people and did not want to suffer the punishment for opposing them either, I withdrew even more. As I saw my professional and personal life crumble, I started giving less credence to what voices said, and respected them less. I realized, no matter whose agents they were, clearly they were not my friends. There was now an unmistakable anger and hatred in their tone.

My idea of spirit guides has always been that they are gentle and loving beings. It became crystally clear to me that the source of these voices was not of the Light. I asked, whatever these things are, to leave me alone. This infuriated voices and they showered me with horrible insults in the nastiest way imaginable.

I tried to get some answers from people who apparently initiated me into this, whatever it was. Most of them mocked me covertly, in an amazing synchronicity with the voices, and suggested that I was going crazy. A few seemed to sympathize with me, but offered no real help. More and more people around me seemed to be channeling bizarre, often ominous information supposedly about me. I felt I was very harshly judged, based on some unfairly perverted image of me.

Voices explained that everyone was lying to me, that these people are ‘bull-shitters’, and that since I didn’t like their games and also because I was unattractive, nobody wanted me, and that I should now ‘get the f@(% out.’ Whenever I went outside, there was always somebody stocking or otherwise playing with my mind. When I was in my first-floor apartment in Santa Monica, I heard people outside my window laughing, making fun of me.

In mid-May, right after my birthday, voices claimed that I’m their ‘shell’ and forbade all personal initiative. A few times they called me their ‘taxi’. As far as they were concerned, any action, even thought, was a sin, punishable by a deluge of threats and insults. When I so much as hinted that I was suffering, they said: ‘Happy Birthday!’ I guess they thought it was funny.

I was hugely perplexed and enormously disappointed, to say the least. What a turn of events. One day I seemed to have a key to the city, and then I was crudely kicked out. Before long, devastated, I moved out from LA. I spent the following couple of weeks driving around neighboring towns. It seems the tribe knew where I went and either followed me or had their friends in these towns harass me.

Sensing a deliberate persecution by an organized gang I left the country. The voices did not disappear, however. To learn more about them, I went scuba diving. They were still heard making fun of me at seventy feet under the surface of the sea. Even in a foreign country, they tried to make me believe I was stocked. Now that there were no people I could actually see, not just hear, I the lie that the whole world hates me to a rest. When I returned to New York, I was relieved to find no apparent signs of persecution from people around me either. Eventually, they gave up on this particular plot.

The entourage from hell continued their attacks in other ways though. As I’ve become more familiar with their games, they became less fantastic, but still very creative in ways of torturing me. There are many distinct voices that seem to have separate consciousness, but two are most frequent, almost always present taking turns talking to or about me. Although they seem to have unique and consistent personalities, they don’t reveal any information that can be used to trace their identity. They gladly accept most identities I give them in my contemplation of them, the more dramatic the better, but generally identify themselves collectively as ‘bull-shitters’, and sometimes, the ‘island’. Some of the other most peculiar names they’ve came up for themselves: my toys, my magic markers, my prohibiters, not-wanters, border patrol. Usually, they speak Russian, but they apparently understand English perfectly, and likely, know other languages too. Most often these creatures behave as hooligans who tease and torment just for fun of it. For example, they suggest lewd acts, draw attention to things sexual or filthy, and then scold me for considering or even noticing, condemning, in fact, almost all of my initiative, even on a thought level. They often insist that I don’t need anything at all anymore and also that I should die already. They call me all kinds of insulting names. Some of the names they call me are highly symbolic, such as ‘hole puncher’, then instigate me to try to figure out why they call me that. Sometimes they proclaim that I’ve created or requested this experience; though as of late, more frequently they take a credit for it. In fact, they claim that bull-shitters invented all that there is. Daily, they threaten me, question my credibility and sanity, invade privacy, lie, confuse, discourage, disrupt and interfere in all aspects of my life.

In order to remain hopeful and keep a positive attitude, I tried to rationalize what was happening to me in an optimistic light. Remembering the book of Job, and learning about the Temptations of Saint Anthony, I thought perhaps I was tested by God. I've also considered that this could be an accelerated karmic cleansing, a purgatory. As time went on this seemed less and less likely.

These creatures’ objectives became progressively clear and explicit: to torment me with feelings of anger, fear and guilt, drive me to self-destruction, even suicide, or at the least, make me a madman. The reason: “We like it like that”, “It’s delicious”, “We are playing with you”, “We seriously dislike you”, “We hate you”…

For a long time now, I believed in one benevolent God, and never game much thought to evil spirits or devil. I thought such are fear-based concepts, fairy-tale characters, something to scare people into devotional practice with. But even if they were real, I figured, they were not likely to trouble a good man. Clearly, I was naïve and ignorant to think this.

After a considerable research, and having spent several months observing this phenomena first hand, I now strongly believe that I have been attacked by discarnate entities with immoral agenda. There was a lot I did not understand about what was happening to me since I got into spiritual practice three years ago, but it seemed it was making me a more capable and happier person. My intention remained to do good, seek the truth, and follow God’s will as I knew it. At the time, I was not very well familiar with the Christian scriptures and was highly suspicious of any doctrines. Spirits came in with a promise of holy guidance, a direct, personal revelation. They were masters of seduction. They were all I wanted them to be… until they got a strong hold of me. When the courtship ended they proceeded to rape my mind with fear and delusion. I believe I was set up to be possessed by them by a group of people who serve evil of spirit realm, possibly Satan, or are in a symbiotic relationship with spirit entities. It’s possible, they wanted to initiate me into their community, and then, when I did not agree with their values and refused to follow their guidance, attempted to destroy me.

Sometimes voices tell me that the game is over, or that they’ve done their ‘cleaning’ job, or even that a mistake was made, but then a moment later they tell me that this will never end, and continue their assault.

I am in pain, my loved ones are suffering too, people I could have been helping as a physical therapist are not getting treated, but I am not about to kill myself, become an %¤#&!§-or give up to the darkness in any other way. Voices tell me that it’s all over for me, that “it is too late.” I don’t believe them. I believe I can prevail. As my confidence and will to resist get stronger, voices increasingly try to convince me that I am ‘scared’. I know the reverse is true. I suspect these demons are getting worried about my plans. I am determined to find resolution. I would also like to help other people who have similar problem or are in a danger of becoming a victim of Satanic oppression.

I hope my story will encourage and assist others, and that it will also invite some helpful feedback, which I welcome and would very much appreciate.

It appears Christianity has the most reasonable explanation for what has happened to me and deliverance is the key to my healing. With great interest I began reading the New Testament three days ago. I already feel strongly that this is a very special text indeed. I started praying. I am now looking for a ministry to personally assist me in this process. I would greatly appreciate any genuine advice and welcome recommendations. I currently reside in New York City, and will spend a weak in South California later this year. Churches local to these areas would be most convenient, but I want to hear about great ministries in other regions too.

I thank our Heavenly Father, and the owner of this site, for making this forum available for me to share my experience. I also thank you for your consideration and taking your time to read my story. God bless.
hell really exists

Thursday, August 8, 2013

How to hear the voice of God

sound wave
People tend to call talking to God: prayer, but hearing God speak back: paranoia. If that is true than I will be the first person to declare myself as crazy because I can honestly say that what I am writing about has completely changed my life. I grew up only hearing the voice of God sparingly and usually it was to bring correction or direction. I never dreamt that it was possibly to hear the voice of God whenever I wanted. I learned this method of communicating with God during the first week of the ministry school that I attended, School of Supernatural Life, and it has now become such an important part of my life that words will not correctly convey what it means to me. I no longer have a prayer life that models a monologue but it is now a dialogue between me and the lover of my soul. I journal, asking the Father, Jesus, or Holy Spirit questions, and God speaks life into my very being.
Just writing this I am almost at the point of tears thinking about the love God has for me. I honestly was scared at first because I was afraid of what God might say to me if I was able to hear his voice. He is so loving and that is something that nobody could teach me but something I had to experience myself. It is one thing to hear your pastor tell you that God loves you but it is a completely different experience to hear God, the creator of the entire universe, say, “Chris, you are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. I absolutely love you! I know you and I love you!” It is my desire that everyone learns how to do this because everyone is wired for communion with God.
As a Christian you are entitled to many wonderful things from God. You are His son and He longs to give you numerous blessings, one of those blessings is the ability to hear His voice. God is always speaking to us but most of the time we do not hear Him. Hearing His voice is imperative to living a life of sonship as God gives us direction, confirmation, and mostly conveys His love to us. Contrary to popular belief, hearing the voice of God is not hard. God wants to speak to you about yourself and about others so that you can build them up in His love.
John 10:16 states, “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.” Jesus is saying that those that follow Him can hear His voice. He speaks to everyone and wants to bring every person into the body with Him being the head. However, for many of us we cannot hear what He is saying to us. God has more thoughts for you than there are sands on the seashore and every one of them is good and He is trying to convey them to you. So how can you hear what God is saying to you? Job says that God speaks in one way this time and another way another time. Meaning that God speaks in limitless ways! In Habakkuk 2, Habakkuk say that He will look to see what God is saying. “I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me.” So here are two things that help you hear God’s voice. Your position and your focus.
Habakkuk stood watch to see what God was saying. We have to be still and position ourselves to hear from God. Position our hearts to receive from the King. It is easier for me to hear God’s voice when I am journaling or soaking than it is when I am shopping. Unless I am asking, “God, should I buy more coffee.” In which the answer is usually “yes.” (The amount of coffee you drink directly corresponds to the amount of anointing you carry. This may not be true but I do love coffee.) The first key to hearing God’s voice is: quiet yourself. so clear your mind of inward distractions and position yourself to hear.
The second key is: focus your eyes on Jesus.  We have to look and see what God is saying. Just close your eyes and ask, “Jesus, where are you in the room?” and then focus on Him. We are to look and see what God is saying because sometimes He speaks through dreams, visions, audible voice, thoughts, bill board signs. We need to pay attention to how He is speaking to us because He never stops speaking, when I don’t hear His voice it is not because He is not speaking; It is because He changed methods or I stopped listening. Focusing on Jesus removes outside distractions and positions us to hear. If you were talking to me you would focus on me; it is the same principle.
The third key is: tune into spontaneity. What I mean is pay attention to the random flow of thoughts that go through your mind. This is often where God is speaking. To me God’s voice often sounds like my voice and to you God’s voice will often sound like your voice. God loves to hide blessings behind offense; therefore, don’t get discourage and think that you are making it all up. If your mind tells you that you are not hearing God I encourage to press through the offense and you will find that you probably are hearing the voice of God. God will more than likely sound like you and use words that you would use so don’t dismiss random thoughts.
The final and forth key is: write it down. In the next verse God replies to Habakkuk with, “Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run.” So write down what God is telling you. Just grab a piece of paper and start writing the thoughts that fill your mind. Don’t worry about grammar or wether or not if it is from God. Just write. When you finish writing go back and read it and judge wether or not it comes from God.
When judging ask yourself: “Does it have the peace of God?”, “Does it line up with the Bible and God’s character?” If so, congratulations you are more than likely hearing from God. God says nicer things about you than you do so don’t throw it away if it is all edifying. He longs to tell you how much He loves you and how much you mean to Him. So right now go grab a piece of paper, get somewhere quiet, find Jesus, and ask “God, what do you want to tell me about Your love for me?” Write down whatever enters your mind. If you find that difficult I would suggest starting by writing a love letter to Jesus and then on a separate piece of paper write down the thoughts that flood your mind as you are writing the letter.
I pray that you will have peace and understanding as you move forward in this adventure with God. Just be warned that hearing God say, “I love you” changes everything. I am so excited because I know that you will find this as life changing as I have. In closing, here is a recap of the four keys to hearing God’s voice:

Key #1 Quiet Yourself Down

Key #2 Focus Your Eyes on Jesus

Key #3 Tune Into Spontaneity

Key#4 Write it Down

Check out Mark Virkler’s book “4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice” for more information on journaling to hear God’s voice.

hell really exists

All Rehab Songs 2013 (playlist)



Wednesday, August 7, 2013

In the Silence is Often Where You Hear God. My Experience…

In the Silence is Often Where You Hear God. My Experience…

A thunderbolt did not hit me. God did not appear to me out of a cloud. I did not hear a booming voice. In my case, in the pit of loneliness one night I felt this “push” out of nowhere to read the Bible. My wife, daughter, and dog were gone for a few days and I was trying to deal with a business “divorce” from someone whom I had known for a long time. I even told that person that I was comfortable about my actions because I knew I was doing right in the eyes of “my God.” My God? What was I thinking? The only god I “owned” was the world around me.
In the pit of loneliness that night I found the one Bible we had in the house, dusted it off, and started reading. Again, there was no voice, lightening, or skies parting. There was just a simple “push.” That’s the best way I can explain it.
It was only after a while that I realized the “push” was God. He was in my life. He was calling. I came to realize that he was always right here in my life. The problem is that I was not. When I look back on my life I now realize all the times that he had been calling me. Only after you answer God by letting him into your life do you realize that he has always been here—right inside waiting for you. You then realize that he is everywhere. Your eyes truly open up like never before.
When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you.” And their eyes were opened. Matthew 9:28-30
I now “feel” God’s call. We are so use to listening with our ears that the concept of “feeling” a call is so strange. It does not compute. A “call” is something that is heard, not felt. However, trust me. You will feel the call if you “listen.” You need to open up your heart even more than you open up your ears.
Once you really find God in your life and hear his call you will find him in every person and situation in your life. Things that were meaningless before will start shouting out to you. Once you let God into your life he has you. You will feel a love that you have never felt before, especially when you understand that God wants you to release to others that love that he showers down on you.
I would like to be able to tell you that the first call from God was some dramatic earth-shaking experience. It was not. God did not part the clouds and speak to me. I did not hear the voice of Charlton Heston say, “I am who I am.” (Yes, Charlton Heston not only played Moses in the movie, The Ten Commandments, but he was also the voice of God.)
It was out of the silence—especially out of the silence of my loneliness and despair—that I heard God calling. Like the call of God to the prophet Elijah, God’s call often comes in a whisper or out of the pure silence in our lives.
Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in the mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:11-14
Don’t expect a Moses-type burning bush call from God. In the silence is where you may likely find God. He can speak volumes in silence. After all, he is God. He works in his way, not our way.
You won’t “hear” God if you don’t take the time and LISTEN. If you are going to hear God in the silence you have to spend some time in silence. You have to put in the time and really open up your heart and mind to LISTEN.

http://secretstolife.com/2013/05/29/in-the-silence-is-often-where-you-hear-god-my-experience/hell really exists

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Ears to Hear

Ears to hear

When I “hit bottom,” it was also true that I “became empty.” In those moments lying on the couch in our family room in an empty house, every last ounce of hope, of knowledge, of faith—even of the drive to know or to believe—all of it drained out. That’s when the wailing cries came from deep within. It was like I had just appeared out of my mother’s womb. I had no idea who I was or what I was. I felt completely empty. Looking back, this seems to have been key to what happened next.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
— Matthew 5:3
I was so poor in those moments, I didn’t even know it. I had no definition for life, no presumption of knowledge. Then it was like God said, “Aha! Now you’re ready.” As Life unfolded before me that week, I gaped in awestruck wonder. Because I knew nothing, I was able to wonder.
Unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
— Matthew 18:3
Young children do not presume to know. Yet this doesn’t stop them from enjoying life. On the contrary, they seem to be more alive than any of us.
Writing about this—writing about anything—is risky. It has a tendency to make one think one knows something, whether the writer or the reader. I always thought that what I most wanted was knowledge. But when my knowledge became worth nothing, I found out I didn’t really want knowledge of God; I just wanted God. There seems to be a different order of knowledge: direct experience. That’s what I really wanted. Notice that I didn’t say “knowledge based on direct experience”; as soon as it becomes a derivative, a codification, it’s no longer God; it’s theology. There’s nothing wrong with theology, but you shouldn’t confuse it with God. And there’s nothing wrong with knowledge, but it certainly is overrated. Why? Because as soon as you think you know, you’ve put a ceiling on your experience of God. You’ve closed off the possibility for wonder.
In practice, this means that when you read scriptures or hear spiritual teaching, if you are constantly comparing it to “what you already know,” you are potentially missing out on something entirely new. Jesus often said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” The only way we can have ears to hear is if we empty ourselves and become innocent. Innocent not just of bad deeds, but innocent of knowledge.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
— Matthew 5:8
Knowledge is inevitably about yesterday’s experience—or someone else’s experience. It can be quite useful. It can help reassure you that you’re not going down the completely wrong path. That’s why religion is useful. It’s a codification of and record of and community of practice for God-experiences. It’s a finger pointing to what is possible. But until you go down the path yourself, like Paul “resolving to know nothing” but Christ, until you allow yourself to be emptied, emptied of all your ideas about God, emptied of everything you think you know, you will not have become like a little child, and the kingdom of heaven will still elude you. That remains true for me today, and it’s the message I most need to hear. Book or no book, blog or no blog, I resolve to know nothing. I’d rather see God. In other words, I’d rather directly experience Life, Love, Spirit, That Which Cannot Be Named, That Which I Don’t Know And Never Really Will.

hell really exists

Monday, August 5, 2013

Life Trumps Death

Do you ever ponder the meaning of life? Why are we here? Perhaps these questions surface when we receive news we’d rather not receive, the passing of an uncle, a beloved aunt, a friend’s spouse who died for the wrong reason. I’m not sure I believe myself when I justify the news by saying this is the circle of life.

I don’t make a habit of reading the obituary columns in the newspaper but occasionally I read about strangers. Many have experienced a long and full life, contributed to society in a meaningful way, were visible within their community. I think how proud their family must be, I also imagine the hurt and grief they are experiencing. I read about the 42-year old father who has succumbed to cancer and leaves behind a wife and two children and I wonder how this is fair. My heart aches when I read about the young child tragically killed in an accident as my eyes fill with tears.

I’m no stranger to death. It scares me and I don’t deal well with it. I find death emotionally overwhelming. It is hurt, compassion, sadness, pain, empathy, love all rolled together that hits like a tsunami.

I’ve lost high school friends to accidents, drugs, and disease. I’ve seen first hand the impact on a family when their young daughter took her own life. Like so many others, I have said goodbye to relatives only after they have gone.

I don’t know why I’m so impacted by death. Its not that I think about it all the time. Maybe I subconsciously fear the loss of a parent, a sibling, a family member. Perhaps I’m selfish, a coward who doesn’t want to die.

Young people seldom think of death, they are to busy living life as if they are invincible. Old people tend to prepare for death and accept the event as a natural and inevitable occurrence. Experience and reality have tempered their emotions. The grief and hurt is still there, so is the reflection on the positive aspects of the individual’s life. For some, their biggest worry is if they will out live their friends, who will attend their funeral.

Maybe this aging process will help me to become less sensitive to the loss of not only those I love, but to those I have only read about in the newspaper. I am thankful my fear of death is more than offset by my passion for life. So it should be.

So where does this discussion of death take us? It could be to the end of a journey, or the beginning of a new one depending on your beliefs. If you were to have a tombstone, what would it read? Here we are back to the question, what is our mission, our purpose, our goal? One accolade might read, “Here lays an honest person who cared about the people around her, respected others and made a positive difference in the lives of everyone she encountered.” If we envision how we want others to remember us, it might provide a valuable compass to aid us down the path of life.

In a perfect world, perhaps caring and understanding might extend well beyond our community and our country. Imagine a common bond based on a desire for truth, justice, peace, and mutual respect.

We can’t do a lot about death. We can very much impact life – our own and others.

hell really exists

I don’t hear God like I used to

I don’t experience God like I used to.
That isn’t to say that I don’t experience God.  I do.  But not like I used to.
My heart used to speed up.  Excitement would make it nearly impossible to sit still.  Strangers would hear my enthusiasm for what Jesus meant to me.  I have vivid memories of talking very loudly in a 7-Eleven so everyone could hear how much I loved Jesus.  I was a 22 year old man-child of excitable joy as I treated most experiences in life as a game.  Jesus was simple.  He was my friend.  He was with me.  He made things better.  When I experienced Jesus a smile came to my face and I became an annoying bundle of energy fueled like a chipmunk on crack.
I Heard God Today in Bed
Don’t ask about the picture. I just thought it was spectacular.
But I don’t experience Jesus like that anymore.
That isn’t to say I don’t experience Jesus anymore.  I still do.  They are deep experiences where intimacy and nearness are experienced, but they aren’t the same.  And I am thankful for that.  I believe that means I am growing.
I can’t tell you the number of people who sit in my office telling me they don’t feel, hear, or experience God like they used to.  If that is you, please know you not alone.  It is a common feeling for many people.  At one time I worried about the fact that I didn’t experience God like I used to, but I have moved passed that and embraced the ways in which God reveals himself to me.  In many ways I experience God in ways that are more rich.  They are more nuanced.  Because they are no longer rooted in emotionalism.
During college I went to a charismatic church.  It was a drastic departure from the conservative, liturgical church I grew up in.  I didn’t rebel in college with drugs, alcohol, or bad grades.  I rebelled by raising my hands in worship and going to church where they danced in the aisles.  While much of it was refreshing and helped me see the third person of the Trinity was not in fact “Holy Scriptures,” I also found a lot of emotionalism.  It became difficult to discern whether I experiencing God or a feeling of elation as people around me ecstatically shouted to the Lord.
And then the engagement to my fiancé at the time fell apart.
Suddenly I needed God to be near when I didn’t feel joy.  I didn’t need ecstatic feelings of elation, I need to be comforted when I wept.
I am thankful I don’t experience God like I used to.  Because that wouldn’t be enough.
Luke, in chapter 9, tells the story of the transfiguration of Jesus.  Peter, James, and John go up on a mountain with Jesus to pray and before their eyes Jesus is transfigured.  The text says the appearance of his face changed and he clothes became bright like flashes of lightning.    Peter, James, and John respond by wanting to build tents.  In other words, “This is an awesome experience!  Let’s stay here so we can experience it over and over again.”  Staying on the mountain, would have been a horrible mistake.  They would have missed out on the rest of Jesus life and the, more incredible than what they just saw, the empty tomb.
Or as Dallas Willard said:
It was not easy, however, for me to see that our most sacred experiences often blind us.  The light that makes it possible for us to see may also dazzle our eyes to the clearest of realities and make it impossible for us to see what lies in a shadow.
I have begun to wonder if our inability to hear from, feel, or experience God isn’t more rooted in us wanting to stay on the mountain.  And when Jesus gets off the mountain we are left standing there wondering why we can’t get the feeling back.  So we sing the same songs we used to sing.  We reread the old books.  We make sure and have the quiet time like we used to.  We change churches to reignite the flame.  We do what we used to do when Jesus was close hoping they will work, but all too often we are left wanting.
Maybe Jesus is calling us to something new.
 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When i became a man, I put childish ways behind me.  Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
I think there comes a time when we need to grow up.  I don’t say that to be demeaning, but to acknowledge that Christ doesn’t want us to stay where we are.  He wants us to grow up into his likeness.  Not only does he want us to grow up, but he wants us to see face to face.  If I only experienced my wife physically you would not say we had intimacy.  In the same way, we cannot know God intimately if we experience God in one way only.
There is a park near our house with a very large play set.  To get to the highest slides on the play set you have to climb a ladder into this “nest.”  Last year we would take my son there and we would follow him diligently around the structure making sure he didn’t fall and bounce on the recycled tire ground below the broken-arm-marchine/play-structure.  Today I took him to the same structure.  I followed him up once, and then let him go.  Yes, I stood at the bottom and let my son climb and slide and climb again all by himself.  Why?  Because I think it would be weird if I stood on a ladder next to him when he was 23.  At some point he has to do things on his own and I have to let him experience my support and protection differently.  So today, my son experienced my cheering him on and directing him from the ground rather than having my hand on his back supporting him.
I do not believe God ever leaves us.  But I do think he changes where he stands.  Sometimes he is next to us with his hand in the small of our back.  Other times he is on the ground yelling support.  Other times he gently whispers into the quiet places of our soul.  There are moments in which we are overcome with joy and emotions.  Who doesn’t get a push/shove in the back at times?
Other times he hides behind something we are holding on to.  Ezekiel 14 says, “When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet, I the Lord will answer him myself in keeping with his great idolatry.”  In other words, “I’m standing behind this thing in your heart and when you remove it you will see me.  But I haven’t gone anywhere.”
I don’t experience Jesus like I used to.  And I’m thankful.  It means I am growing up.
More importantly, it means I know God more fully.
- See more at: http://natepyle.com/i-dont-hear-god-like-i-used-to/#sthash.vtxvTtBG.dpufhell really exists

{Lessons Learned} How to Tune Into the Frequency of God and Hear Him Speak

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Love your enemy, I was told.
I knew who God was calling me to love––Anthony, the man who murdered my dad––and I didn’t like it.
I cried out to God and said, Okay, God I get the whole forgiveness thing, but love my enemy? How am I to do THAT?!?
Immediately, His response came, Bring him a bible.
Now, I have only heard from God like this a few times. I’m certainly not one who claims that God speaks audibly to me, though I’d love it if He did. But instead, this was more of a thought planted into my mind immediately following my prayer.
And I knew it was a word from God.
In fact, it was a definitive command.

God Speaks

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it is this: God speaks.
As a skeptic, turned believer, this blew my mind.
God speaks. To humans, nonetheless! [Tweet that]
Crazy. Right?
There are over seven billion people currently living in this world. Seven billion. And God chooses to speak, not just collectively to the whole of humanity, but to each of us individually. [Tweet that]
All throughout the Bible, we see God’s communication with man resulting in a relationship between God and His people.
In the garden, scripture says, God walked in the cool of the day with Adam. God spoke with Adam, and Adam spoke with God.
Noah, Abraham, David, Job, Elijah, and many others communicated with God.
We see this throughout the New Testament as well–-Jesus, of course, being the ultimate picture of God coming down to speak to man.
And here’s the thing: God still speaks.
He hasn’t grown silent. He still actively pursues man with unparalleled love, communicating that love and directing His children along the best possible path. 
But we need to listen.
We need to be expectant, anticipating a word from Jesus at all times because, after all, He’s always speaking. We simply need to get to the right frequency to hear Him. 

How does God speak to us?

There are many ways in which God chooses to speak to us. Understanding these ways may just help us become a bit more in tune to a word from God.
  1. God speaks through creation. All throughout creation, we can find God’s truths displayed. Everything that God created says something about God and, consequently, something about us. Each natural process points to something larger, to a larger spiritual truth. God speaks through nature. Look for His divine hand, His divine messages.
  2. God speaks through whispers. It seems that God mostly speaks to us individually through whispers. Subtle cues, if you will, that are intended to guide us. I find that God whispers to me all throughout my day. He guides me. He rebukes me. He encourages me. Listen for God’s subtle whispers. You’re sure to find them.
  3. God speaks boldly. Though it seems to occur less often, God does speak to us boldly, from time to time. This is the “bring him a bible” kind of communication. And in my life, they seem occur at pivotal or climatic moments. This type of communication from God can look like my experience described above or I’ve heard others say that God actually spoke audibly to them. Additionally, God also communicates through visions. When God speaks boldly, there’s no need to try to listen. When spoken to in this way, you will hear. Still, don’t reason God’s message away.

Tuning Into the Frequency of God

Tuning into the frequency of God can be difficult. I know some believers who remain frustrated, wanting to hear from God, yet failing to recognize His voice.
Here’s what helped me.
I do not believe in coincidence. After all, we serve an all-knowing, all-powerful God who is in control of all things, right? Now, if God is in control of all things, are coincidences possible? In my estimation, no. They’re not.
So with that in mind, I view my world through a different lens.
I expect to hear from God. I look for God. I pray, but I don’t forget about my prayers. Instead, I expect them to be answered in one way or another. Sometimes, God says yes, other times no, still others His answer is not yet, wait on Me. But God always answers.
He always speaks.
God speaks through others. He uses the people in your life to help you, to guide you (though, of course, you need to ensure that you’re taking advice from sound, Godly sources).
God speaks through circumstances in your life.
God speaks loudly at times. And other times He simply whispers, but the point I’m trying to make is this: God does speak!
We simply need to expect a word from Him and listen.
{God speaks. We simply need to expect to hear from Him and listen.}
- See more at: http://lauriecoombs.org/2013/07/02/lessons-learned-how-to-tune-into-the-frequency-of-god-and-hear-him-speak/#sthash.BJAgdXOh.dpufhell really exists

Sunday, August 4, 2013

A Little Boy's Exciting Miracle

For weeks, God the Father listened to the earnest, relentless prayers of seven-year-old Brian. I heard him pray for six to eight weeks every breakfast, every lunch, and every dinner, and of course, every evening prayers in the living room with his sisters.

"And God, I want a bicycle. Please, God, give me a bicycle."

"Daddy, I'm going to win that bicycle!" my son repeated over and over again at home. He seemed to have persistent faith. I was the one who wasn't so sure.

As I drove the family station wagon into town one day, Brian spoke to me with heart touching trust.

"Daddy, will God give me the bicycle
I keep praying for?"

I choked.

"Brian, I know this. God hears your prayer, and he knows exactly what you want. He knows how to answer your prayer. You can trust him."

"Well then," said little Brian, "I'm going to keep praying for that bicycle 'cause I really want it!"

When the day of the fair came, my wife, Mary, made sure I'd take Brian and his older sister, Monica. We climbed half way up the steep grandstand steps to select our rather hard seats to perch on. What daddies do for their kids!

The time came. The master of ceremonies in tall stove-pipe top hat conducted the raffle drawing for the "Silver Streak" bicycle. Sitting next to Brian, I watched my son's face and his continued exuberant expressions.

The MC called the first number, 187,
but no child was present to win.

He called the second number, 324, but still no answer came from the audience. The third number, 753, brought the same results.

The announcer took off his tall hat and wiped his forehead. He changed tactics and started calling the ticket numbers in groups over the blaring loud speakers. 17, 648, 429! 518, 921, 36!

As the numbers came, little Brian could not contain his emotions, nor his faith. He stood to his feet and began praying in a rather loud voice.

"Father God, that's my bicycle!
Thank you, Jesus, for my bicycle!"

With determination he prayed louder as the MC called out the numbers. Some 500 people around us must have heard Brian's voice. They grew very quiet, listening to this little boy in T-shirt and torn blue jeans.

He jumped up and down in excited prayer. Something arrested me from stopping or containing his enthusiasm. More numbers were called: 66, 743, 317, 29, 436, 822!

"God, that bicycle is mine," Brian persisted. "I believe it, that bicycle is mine."

I could feel the crowd around me holding its breath for Brian. It was better than church! He continued to pray aloud as the numbers were called off. 785, 325, 239, 84, 526, 028!

How can a little boy jump up and down and
pray out loud at the same time?

I felt people around him join in supportive prayer. Tears came to my eyes. I joined in the quiet prayer and could not believe God would not act in his behalf.

("O ye of little faith.")

Some seventy-five numbers had been called with no other child present to win. The MC was visibly discouraged. Then it came! 77!

Little Brian tore down those steep bleacher steps like he was flying! I gasped and grabbed at him for his safety, but he was gone!

"He's already down there!" noted Monica.

Brian jumped on the bike and peddled it rapidly in figure eight formations in front of the whole grandstand. He actually took over the show!

The crowd, all five thousand, laughed and let out
a long cheer and a loud applause.

"I wonder what the numerical odds are of this little boy winning this bicycle after so many names were called?" asked the MC over the loud speaker.

As a Daddy, I could hardly breathe! My eyes flowed with tears. I watched God specifically answer a little boy's faith!

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3 NIV).

Bill Hunt dedicated his marriage to discovering God's 100 million miracles in life. As a Christian Writer, administrator, and career educator, he writes true miracle stories and Christian teachings on FaithWriters and CornerRetreat.blogspot.com. hell really exists