Tag Archive: church


The Vision Statement of the Bride of Christ

Filed under: Bride of Christ, Jesus, Ministry, Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — 1 Comment
January 31, 2011

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

Read my story by ordering my book, “Possess the Vision”

The Vision Statement of the Bride of Christ

Over the past several weeks we have presented a number of postings relating to the bride of Christ. All of this was predicated on a spiritual experience I had in a prayer group meeting, where I became a part of the spiritual bride of Christ. I presented this experience in this posting: The-Spiritual-Realm-of-the-Bride-of-Christ

 Subsequent investigation and research added clarification to my experience at the prayer group meeting. We have identified that the bride of Christ is comprised of the righteous of the Lord, that even though she is comprised of many, yet she is untied as one: Who-is-the-Bride-of-Christ

We learned that the bride brings division to the world by challenging the world with the truth and light of Jesus Christ. The bride brings compassion for the poor and disadvantaged and justice to all. She is found busy doing the work of her Savior. She is the New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven: The-Bride-of-Christ-Brings-Division

 We then found the bride of Christ sets the world on fire with the truth that is ignited with the light of Christ. We sited Martin Luther King as an example of someone who revealed the truth about the status quo of discrimination and segregation policies. In doing so Martin set the world on fire over issues of justice, liberty, freedom and truth of God. The-Bride-of-Christ-Sets-the-World-on-Fire

We also found that the bride of Christ is prepared as her lamps are burning and her vessels are full. She therefore is prepared for the return of the Lord for the wedding feast: The-Bride-of-Christ-is-Prepared

We identified that the bride is to take on the ministry of Jesus and therefore is to become like Him: The-Bride-of-Christ-Becomes-Just-Like-Jesus

Then we presented the truth that the bride of Christ is to do even greater works than Jesus did: The-Bride-of-Christ-does-Greater-Works-than-Jesus

Based on these observations we have constructed a vision statement that we believe is applicable to all Christian ministries. For any of you unfamiliar with vision statements, they are designed to present the big picture view of what the end state will look like when God’s purpose is accomplished. In effect, a vision statement answers the question, what will be achieved. With this in mind, let’s take a look at the vision statement for the bride of Christ:

The bride is prepared for the marriage feast when Jesus victoriously returns. Her ministry is the ministry of Jesus and she does even greater works that He did. Her light and truth bring division on the earth and she sets the earth on fire in her quest for compassion for the poor and disenfranchised. She fights for freedom, liberty, justice, and the knowledge of God. 

Read my story by ordering my book, “Possess the Vision”  

 
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The Bride of Christ Does Greater Works than Jesus

Filed under: Bride of Christ, Jesus, Ministry, Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — 1 Comment
January 28, 2011

 

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

 

The Bride of Christ Does Greater Works than Jesus

In our prior posting we talked about the bride of Christ becoming like Jesus. In it we referenced Jesus’ claim to be the light of the world, and then also sited His words pronouncing His disciples are to be a light to the world. Therefore, we who follow Jesus are to become like Him.  In today’s posting we present the proposition that we are to do even greater works than Jesus did. So, let’s start with a scripture to get things started.

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father (John 14:12).

The works of Jesus always demonstrates loving compassion for others. This compassion is manifested in actions that improve people’s lives. Jesus therefore demonstrates that God loves His people and desires the best of everything for them. The following scripture communicates the love and actions of Jesus. 

 

Jesus "The light of the World," Heals a Blind Man

 

When the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’” And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight. Jesus answered and said to them,  “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” (Luke 7:20 – 23). 

 

Jesus "The Life," Raises Lazarus from the Grave

 

 

Therefore, our opportunity is greater as well. We simply must give what we have, which is our know-how, to the world!

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:16 – 18). 

This is the vision for all followers of Jesus: The bride is taking action to better the lives of the less fortunate by sharing what she has. In doing so, she makes herself ready for the coming of the Bridegroom.

 

Jesus is the Light of the World

 

 

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The Bride of Christ Becomes Just Like Jesus

Filed under: Bride of Christ, Jesus, Ministry, Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — 2 Comments
January 25, 2011

 
 
 

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

 

The Bride of Christ Becomes Just Like Jesus

 

 

In our previous posting we talked about the bride of Christ being prepared for the bridegroom upon His return. We also presented the scripture of the wise and foolish virgins, in which only half were prepared to keep their lamps burning until their Lords return. It teaches us to continue to be a light to the world through out our lives.

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Jesus the Light of the World is Transfigured before His Disciples

Jesus brought light to the world that enables everyone to find the truth leading to everlasting life with God. His light enables us to cast aside our walk in darkness and to live in the provision and bounty of God. He demonstrated this light throughout His ministry in the form of mercy and compassion toward us. He did so when He healed our afflictions and cured our diseases. He did so when He taught us the truth Father, even challenging the so called experts of His day. He did so when He gave Himself for us on the cross by taking our rightful punishment upon Himself, so that we may one day live with God in glory. He did so when He turned over the tables of the merchants at the temple in defense of the purity of worship to the Father. He did so when He taught all people the truth, including the scribes and the Pharisees. The life of Jesus demonstrated what being a light to the world is. It is in this way that Jesus passes the torch on to us to be a light to the world also. We therefore are to become like Him and carry on as He did until His return.

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14 – 16). 

This is a direct call to be visibly found doing good works that Jesus did. The bride is wise when she is found doing so before others when the bridegroom returns. Her lamps are burning brightly, her good works are visible to all, and they result in the glorification of God the Father in heaven.  

 

Read my story by ordering my book, “Possess the Vision”

 

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The Bride of Christ is Prepared

Filed under: Bride of Christ, Jesus, Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — 1 Comment
January 24, 2011

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

Read my story by ordering my book, “Possess the Vision”

The Bride of Christ is Prepared

In our last posting we talked about the Bride of Christ setting the world on fire with her light. In that post we used the example of Marten Luther King as an example of someone setting the world on fire with the light of truth. But to set the world on fire you must adamantly maintain the light of God that dwells in you, less you find yourself unprepared and therefore rejected by the Bridegroom.

Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: “Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!” Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the wise answered saying, “No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.” And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

 

Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us!” But he answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.” Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming (Matthew 25:1 – 13). 

 

In this parable told by Jesus, the lamps that are burning brightly are symbolic of the bride being a light to the world, just as Jesus is a light to the world. Her lamps are always shining.

Read my story by ordering my book, “Possess the Vision”

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PUBLICLY COMING TO CHRIST

Filed under: Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — 1 Comment
January 7, 2011

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

Read my story by ordering my book, “Possess the Vision”

Review of Prior Postings

In prior postings I have communicated how a life threatening illness sent me to the emergency room near death. My spirit left my body and I experienced the truth of our spiritual reality, of heaven and hell, and the Judgment God.  If you would like to read the details of these postings, please use the following hyperlinks:

The-Initial-Attack

The-Intensive-Care-Unit-and-the-Initial-Prognosis

Entering-the-Spiritual-Realm-of-Death

A-Journey-to-Golgotha

Inside-the-Lake-of-Fire-the-Second-death

Confronting-Satan-in-Hell

Judgment-Day

Reliving-my-sins-before-the-Judgment-Seat-of-Christ

Gods-Question-on-Judgment-Day

Opening-the-Books-on-Judgment-Day

Repentance-Brings-Salvation-Even-on-Judgment-Day

The Last Judgment by Rogier Van Der Weyden

The Last Judgment by Rogier Van Der Weyden

I lived through the Judgment as I made a promise to God to change. I returned to the physical world and underwent several calamities that also brought me close to death. What I did not know was that I was under spiritual attack, an innocent victim of spiritual warfare.

If you would like to read the details of these postings, simply click on the following hyperlinks:

Back-from-Death

The-Physical-Impacts-of-Spiritual-Attack

The-Stench-of-Death

The-Aftershocks-of-Spiritual-Attack

Spiritual-Attack-Brings-a-Hopeless-Outlook

A-Catheter-in-the-Aorta

A-Healing-Miracle-Follows-Meager-Attempt-to-Find-God

Standing-Firm-for-What-God-put-into-my-Heart

The-Spiritual-Attacks-Continue

Spiritual-Warfare-Changes-Everything       

Satan-Calls

In the past few postings I have reveled how much my life has changed since these experiences. It all started when I surrendered to God (I-Finally-Surrender-to-God) and told Him that I would do what ever He wanted me to do. Immediately afterward I have this awe inspiring vision of Jesus filling the earth (Surrender-is-Followed-by-a-Glorious-Vision). The next thing that I knew was that all of my worries about my job were resolved in a miraculous way. Finally, God leads me to the exact place He wants me to go by moving me half way across the country (Gods-Plans-Begin-with-Blessings). All of this leads to an official surrender to God in the church that He led me to.

PUBLICLY COMING TO CHRIST

We started attending this church on a regular basis immediately after this first visit. The pastor would deliver an altar call every Sunday so that everyone would have a chance to give their life to Jesus. Each week, people came to the altar to accept Jesus. For me it was only a few weeks before I was one of many who stepped forward and gave my life to Christ. On the day of my rebirth, I would say that the pastor was flowing in the spirit. He had one hand raised high above his head as he came to me. His eyes were blazing, and he stared directly at me as he shouted praises to God in a very loud voice. I remember thinking to myself—there are twenty people up here—why is he staring at me? Much later he told me that he had sensed a major shift in heaven at the time. Perhaps this referred to the spiritual victory that was achieved by the Lord snatching me right out of the hands of Satan. But the pastor did not know what I had been through because I never told him. Surely God had been communicating with him that day.

SIGNIFICANCE TO THE VISION

The devil kept striking me but I finally surrendered to God. I said that I would do whatever He wanted and He immediately showed me the vision of an earth filled with Jesus blooming into a beautiful ever blooming flower. Then He moved me to a place where I could learn more about the dream and He blessed me all along the way. He drew me to the exact church and ministry where the vision could be found. In return I publicly surrendered my life to Jesus Christ and a major victory was won in the heavenly realm. From this point forward there would begin a steady flow of messages designated to instill in me an understanding of the vision God wanted me to possess. I did not understand much of this yet, and a lot would come later with the writing of my book entitled, “Possess the Vision.” In the next series of postings we will introduce the vision statement and how my spiritual experience and scriptures help to form its foundation.

Read my story by ordering my book, “Possess the Vision”

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Seek God and He Will Lead You to Find Him

Filed under: Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare, the Holy Spirit — Leave a comment
January 5, 2011

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

Review of Prior Postings

In prior postings I have communicated how a life threatening illness sent me to the emergency room near death. My spirit left my body and I experienced the truth of our spiritual reality, of heaven and hell, and the Judgment God. 

If you would like to read the details of these postings, please use the following hyperlinks:

The-Initial-Attack

The-Intensive-Care-Unit-and-the-Initial-Prognosis

Entering-the-Spiritual-Realm-of-Death

A-Journey-to-Golgotha

Inside-the-Lake-of-Fire-the-Second-death

Confronting-Satan-in-Hell

Judgment-Day

Reliving-my-sins-before-the-Judgment-Seat-of-Christ

Gods-Question-on-Judgment-Day

Opening-the-Books-on-Judgment-Day

Repentance-Brings-Salvation-Even-on-Judgment-Day

The Last Judgment by Michelangelo

 I lived through the Judgment as I made a promise to God to change. I returned to the physical world and underwent several calamities that also brought me close to death. What I did not know was that I was under spiritual attack, an innocent victim of spiritual warfare.

If you would like to read the details of these postings, simply click on the following hyperlinks:

 Back-from-Death

The-Physical-Impacts-of-Spiritual-Attack

The-Stench-of-Death

The-Aftershocks-of-Spiritual-Attack

Spiritual-Attack-Brings-a-Hopeless-Outlook

A-Catheter-in-the-Aorta

A-Healing-Miracle-Follows-Meager-Attempt-to-Find-God

Standing-Firm-for-What-God-put-into-my-Heart

The-Spiritual-Attacks-Continue

Spiritual-Warfare-Changes-Everything       

Satan-Calls

Seek God and He Will Lead You to Find Him

In the past few postings my life has changed significantly. It all started when I surrendered to God (I-Finally-Surrender-to-God) and told Him that I would do what ever He wanted me to do. Immediately afterward I have this awe inspiring vision of Jesus filling the earth (Surrender-is-Followed-by-a-Glorious-Vision). The next thing that I knew was that all of my worries about my job were resolved in a miraculous way. I got a job offer in California with a substantial raise, while at the same time accepted an early retirement program from my current employer that included a year’s salary, medical benefits and flight privileges for life (Gods-Plans-Begin-with-Blessings).

 So we moved to California not realizing that it was God pulling all the strings for us. We soon moved into a new apartment and shortly afterward had a visit from our daughter who had just graduated from college and had the summer off. One day, I came home from work and found the two of them in the living room talking about God. They were laughing and having a great time but for some reason, I could not relate to what they were saying. Then for some unknown reason I blurted out, “I don’t know what it is that the two of you have, but I want it!” They just stared at me in a daze, seemingly totally surprised at what I had just said. Now this was the second time that I had verbally exercised my need for God. I should have known that He would honor my request.

 One evening not long after, I was in the loft trying to find something to watch on television and was rapidly flipping through the channels. I flipped right past this man in a white suit who was talking about God. Something about what he said in that half second caught my attention. By the time that it hit me, I had already flipped down three additional channels. So, I flipped back to hear more and the more the man talked, the more I liked what he had to say. I called my wife into the room, and she liked him as well. More interesting, he was going to be at a church near Los Angeles, California that week. We did not know anything about this church but were excited about what we heard. So, we decided to see this man in person. I had never before attended a charismatic church service and was not sure what to expect. Apparently, this pastor was famous and he demonstrated signs and wonders in his ministry.

We had to drive half way across Los Angeles to get to this church which was approximately fifty minutes away from where we lived. When we got there, we had to wait in a line that wrapped all the way around this very large church building. Everyone was talking about this man’s visit. They made it seem like a really big deal. We hurriedly grabbed a seat to the side of the choir. The service started with music and song. They had an excellent musical group and a large choir. They played and sang the loudest church music I had ever heard. In addition, all the songs were new to me. Everyone else seemed to know the words by heart. I noticed that people were raising their hands while singing. They were praising God so I decided to join them by raising my arms as well. I was trying very hard to get connected with God.

 Then a minister came out to lead the people in prayer. I remember hearing the people next to me pray in a language that I thought was Latin, and I wondered what this might mean. I thought that perhaps they were foreigners. But then, they spoke such good English prior to the service. This is extremely strange, I thought.

Then the visiting evangelist came out, dressed in a white suit. He started to preach and after the message, led the people in praising God with music and song. This continued for some time. The program slowly progressed into spiritual praise and worship. Then suddenly and without any warning, he coiled his right arm all the way around to the left side of his body. Then he swung it back around, past the audience in front of him, and across his right side. The momentum then extended it back toward the choir behind him while he shouted, “Choir, receive your anointing.” To my amazement, the entire choir that had been standing behind him fell to their chairs in unison. I couldn’t believe my eyes. This was astounding. They fell as if they were an integrated unit. They fell in such precision. It appeared as if someone had released a trap door where they were standing. I remember thinking that this could not be faked. It was executed so perfectly. Even if they had practiced for months, they would not have been able to achieve this degree of synchronization.

 But even more importantly, we were hit by it as well. No, I did not fall to my seat along with the choir but I got hit with what seemed to me to be a bolt of electricity that ignited my heart. Because of its impact I had to catch my breath. This powerful charge to my heart started a pleasant warming sensation that lasted for the rest of the church service. I did not know what was going on inside my body, but there was something real working in my heart.

 I then looked all around the church to see what was going on around me. I saw people down in their seats in all sections of the building. It would seem that they also had been affected as I had. There was no doubt that God was working at this church. I was really searching God, and I found Him that night. I had said that I wanted Him in my life and He led me to the place where I could do so. He had taken us to where He wanted us to go. He blessed us for earnestly seeking Him and the blessings were not to going to stop. Just like the ever blooming flower in the vision that He showed me, the goodness of God goes on forever.

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A HEALING MIRACLE FOLOWS MEAGER ATTEMPT TO FIND GOD

Filed under: healing, Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — Leave a comment
December 2, 2010


The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

Read my story by ordering my book, “Possess the Vision”

A HEALING MIRACLE FOLOWS MEAGER ATTEMPT TO FIND GOD

In a series of prior postings I have communicated how a life threatening illness sent me to the emergency room where the doctors did not expect me to live through the night. Being close to death, my spirit left my body and I experienced the truth of our spiritual reality. I traveled to and swam in the Lake of Fire (also called the second death) where I experienced unimaginable horrors. I then went into Hell where I was confronted by Satan and experienced the incredible hatred that he has for me. Next I traveled to the Judgment Seat of Christ and heard the words from God that no one wants to hear, which were, “Why should you live?”

If you would like to read the details of all of this please use the following hyperlinks:

The-Initial-Attack

The-Intensive-Care-Unit-and-the-Initial-Prognosis

Entering-the-Spiritual-Realm-of-Death

A-Journey-to-Golgotha

Inside-the-Lake-of-Fire-the-Second-death

Confronting-Satan-in-Hell

Judgment-Day

Reliving-my-sins-before-the-Judgment-Seat-of-Christ

Gods-Question-on-Judgment-Day

Opening-the-Books-on-Judgment-Day

Repentance-Brings-Salvation-Even-on-Judgment-Day

The Last Judgment by Rogier Van Der Weyden

But I made a promise to God that I would be better if He would work with me. The next thing that I knew was that I woke up in the intensive care center. I had lived through the night but what was about to become clear was that the battle for my life was not over. My problem was an exploding pancreas was filling my body with digestive enzymes that are used to decompose meat. So in effect, my body was disintegrating from the inside out. To slow down enzyme production I was placed on a strict fast until such time as a more definitive direction could be made. Then suddenly my vocal cords became swollen and choked off my air supply and an emergency operation was performed that saved my life. Another operation was performed to insure that I had proper levels of nutrition entering my body. But there still was no answer to what to do about my broken pancreas.

 

Then, for some reason I picked up a Bible one day. I had never read it before but since I had the time I thought that perhaps it would be as good a time as any. I was still in the hospital and was tired most of the time. I would often read just a few chapters at a time because even reading tired me. I started by reading the book of Matthew and hung in there until I eventually finished the entire book. I read the words but for what ever reason, they did not hit home. I remember thinking that they did not seem to make any sense. They left me feeling flat. The book of Matthew seemed like a series of nice stories—not much more. I wondered why anyone would get so excited about these simple stories. After finishing Matthew, I continued reading but after a while I gave up. The Bible just did not make much of an impression on me. Little did I know at the time that God would honor my meager attempt to find Him. The following paragraphs tell the story of what happened shortly afterward.

A HEALING MIRACLE

Jesus Heals the Leper

After being in the hospital for a couple of months, my surgeon came to talk to me. This was shortly after I had a second set of CAT scan examination performed. These examinations were performed to look at my pancreas and to determine weather it has healing or if I would need an operation.  My doctor communicated that the pseudo cysts on my pancreas were not being reabsorbed. This meant that I would need surgery to correct this condition. He also said that in the short term they posed little risk because the pseudo cyst tissues were soft. Over time they would harden and be in danger of breaking. Therefore, he indicated that it would be very dangerous to leave these pseudo cysts in their current condition.

He provided me with a long list of reasons why my condition was dangerous and recommended a pancreas operation when I got stronger. When I inquired about the risks of the operation he explained that the procedure would be very complex and risky. They would have to make a fifteen-inch cut in my abdomen and physically remove my stomach, kidneys and much of my intestines just to get to the pancreas. All of this would be necessary because the pancreas is located just inside the backbone and it is inaccessible from the back.

Once the internal organs were out of the way, the pseudo cysts would be lanced and then sewn to the wall of the intestines. This procedure would enable the pseudo-cysts to drain directly into the intestines where the powerful enzymes excreted by the pancreas would not be harmful. Once this phase of the operation was complete, they would replace the removed organs and stitch me up.

The surgeon again admitted that this procedure was classified as extremely risky. On the other hand, he believed that the risk was warranted as he was sure that I would have major, potentially fatal, problems without it.

But the complexity and risk of this operation seemed excessive to me. After all, I had believed from the very first day that I would recover and that everything would be fine. In fact, during my hospitalization I refused to let any negative thoughts into my mind. Bad news from the surgeon was not going to change my mind about the overall outcome. It seemed to me that the risk of the surgery was greater than the potential problem with my pancreas. The surgery just seemed intrinsically wrong. It felt wrong in my head and wrong in my gut.

Members of my immediate family thought otherwise however. They certainly knew much better than I just how lucky I was to be alive (since the doctors told them that I would not live through the first night but chose to keep me in the dark.) After discussing this situation with them, I decided to get a second opinion. So, I contacted my family doctor to see if he could help.

He did some research and found a very experienced pancreatic specialist who was assigned to another hospital in town. Little did I know what a firestorm would be started by bringing in a doctor from another hospital. Apparently, this kind of thing was just not done. My viewpoint was that I did not understand why anyone would want to do it any other way. I already knew that the other doctors in the hospital would agree with their cohort’s opinion. What I needed was a fresh set of eyes, an open and independent mind, and an environment free from political influence. My family doctor did an excellent job playing the middleman in making it happen. He pulled strings to get the independent second opinion set up.

The day that the doctor from the other hospital showed up, I could hear the nurses and the doctors talking about it in the halls. In fact, it seemed that everyone in the building was talking about it. With all the fuss you would have thought that someone had robbed a bank. In any event, the new doctor showed up and did an excellent job. He asked me a lot of questions, examined me, reviewed my records, and ordered a completely new battery of tests including CAT scans, X-rays, and blood tests. A few weeks later he reported his analysis of the new tests, and the results were shocking. He reported that the pseudo-cysts were shrinking! That meant that I would not need this very dangerous operation.

By comparing the two sets of CAT scans, he was able to report that the pseudo-cysts were smaller than before, which meant that they were being reabsorbed into my pancreas. He projected that within three to six months time that they would be gone completely. My body was being healing! This was great news.

However, I did not give God any of the credit at the time. I thought that it was my good positive attitude, a strong body, and good luck. It was quite a bit later in my life that I came to know the love of Jesus that I truly understood what really happened. When I look back at this event now it is as clear as crystal that God intervened. Something happened between my first and second battery of tests, and that something was that I had tried to find God by picking up a Bible and reading it. Regardless of how feeble the effort was, God responded with a healing miracle! It did not even matter that I found the experience empty; God honored my search for Him. It was as if God was saying to me, “Okay son, you took one step in My direction, and you think that nothing will come of it. But, you have My heart. I am going to show you that I am real. My desire is that you live.”

Jesus "The Life," Raises Lazarus from the Grave

Interestingly, I did not even ask for healing but simply reached out to try to find Him. Sweet God in heaven, I praise Your holy and sacred name. I praise You for loving someone unworthy of Your love. Someone who could never change the error of his ways without Your love.

As you can see, God was there again. He was looking out for me and taking care of me even when I did not know it. I think about these things now and wonder why the Lord would love me so. He has saved me from the lake of fire and brimstone, from the pit of hell and the savagery of the devil. He has given me life even though I stood before Him on the Day of Judgment with the stains of sin all over me.

But the battle was not over. The second opinion was not received well by all of the members of my immediate family. In addition, it was not received well by the hospital doctors either. In my next posting I will tell how they both tried to get me to have the operation anyway.

 

Read the truly amazing life story about how the forces of good and evil battle over a man and the vision that God gives him. Joseph W. Gordon’s Possess the Vision (Xulon Press, $12.95, 140 pages, ISBN 1-59781-205-6) tells about the mysterious spiritual experiences that occur throughout his lifetime.

 

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THE SECOND DEATH

Filed under: judgment day, Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare, the second death — Leave a comment
November 1, 2010

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

Read my story by ordering my book, “Possess the Vision”

THE SECOND DEATH

In prior postings I have communicated how a life threatening illness took me to the emergency room of a hospital where the doctors did not expect me to live through the night. At some point during that night I left my body behind and entered into the spiritual realm. In the spirit I was taken to the Lake of Fire which is the second death. From there I was taken to Hell, where I faced Satan and felt his incredible hatred of me. All of this culminated on the Judgment Seat of Christ where I was asked, “Why should you live?”

The Judgment Seat of Christ

If you would like to go back and review the postings that tell the above story please use these hyperlinks:

The-Initial-Attack

The-Intensive-Care-Unit-and-the-Initial-Prognosis

Entering-the-Spiritual-Realm-of-Death

A-Journey-to-Golgotha

Inside-the-Lake-of-Fire-the-Second-death

Confronting-Satan-in-Hell

Judgment-Day

Reliving-my-sins-before-the-Judgment-Seat-of-Christ

Gods-Question-on-Judgment-Day

Opening-the-Books-on-Judgment-Day

Repentance-Brings-Salvation-Even-on-Judgment-Day

I believe that it is important to examine the events I have already reported to you in the context of the Bible. By looking at these experiences from a Biblical perspective we will find that what some may perceive as a very bad dream was in fact, a spiritual reality. I say this because it is substantiated in the Bible and proclaimed by God’s prophets. As we proceed, I will reflect on my experience and contrast it to scripture. In doing this I believe that the scriptures will bring to light fundamental messages that God has communicated to His people over the course of thousands of years.

As I stood in Judgment before God (see the last four hyperlinks above) it dawned on me that only truth existed in the place of judgment before God. I also somehow knew that the pending judgment before me had a consequence of the second death. A death that is a spiritual death that can occur after our physical death.

But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 20:18).

I thought to myself that back in our natural world, I had no clue that such a thing even existed. If I had read the bible then I would have been aware of the following:

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” (Revelation 2:11).

This verse also applies:

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things, which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works (Revelation 20:11 – 13).

The second death is the end of hell and of death. The result is the total elimination of evil.

Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death (Revelation 20:14).

There will also be an elimination of dying, pain, and tears. Sadly, there will be no more chance for repentance. There will be no chance for those whose name is absent from the Book of Life:

This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15).

But for the followers of Jesus, things will be much different.

Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6).

My next posting will be about the one who saved me from all of this mess.

Until then, may God’s blessings be upon you.

 

Read my story by ordering my book, “Possess the Vision”

 

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I DREAM THAT I WAS LIKE A SUPERMAN

Filed under: Faith, Ministry, Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — 4 Comments
June 1, 2010

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

A VISION OF A JESUS-FILLED WORLD COMING TO PASS

 

In my previous posting (Possess-the-Vision) I communicated that I was going to present the spiritual experiences of my life that led to the creation of the Possess the Vision Mission Statement (PTV Mission-Statement.)  The experience I am about to communicate to you took place while I was in grade school. It will prove to be quite unbelievable to most people, and to be perfectly honest, would have been disregarded by me as well if it were not for all of the other unexplained spiritual experiences of my life. It is the story of a warning that comes from God in the form of a dream and then is followed up by an intervention from God.

THE ESP EXPERIENCES

After I entered elementary school, I started to encounter things that could not be explained by the laws of physics. Some would call these strange experiences extrasensory perception (ESP). For example, I would dream things that would come true and know things that were to happen before they occurred. You know, I would have a premonition of things to come. Here is an example:

I DREAM THAT I WAS LIKE A SUPERMAN

One night I had a dream that I was standing in the middle of the street where I lived, and an oncoming car drove toward me at a high rate of speed. Rather than run out of the way to escape, I braced myself and extended my arms toward the car to absorb the impact. The car sped directly into my outstretched hands where amazingly, it was stopped dead in its tracks.

The car was a gray 1940’s model with a V-shaped hood that culminated in a rounded point at the exact point where my hands contacted the car. I could see my hands against the gray automobile just as one would see them through their own eyes, and I was in awe of what had happened. I remember having the feeling of extreme physical strength and I imagined that this is what Superman must feel like—knowing that you can muster unbelievable power and use it to achieve incredible feats. I truly felt invincible.

A few days later, I was playing with one of my friends who lived down the block. We were flying a new helicopter/saucer toy that he had just received. The helicopter was simply a bladed saucer sat on top of a handle that launch the saucer into the sky when the string was pulled.

We were having a great time; my friend would launch the helicopter, and I would try to chase it down and catch it before it hit the ground. On his last launch he pulled the string with all the strength he had, and the saucer soared high into the air, high above the house tops. Just then a strong breeze kicked up that carried the saucer out into the street. Being totally focused on catching the saucer, I started running after it as fast as I could.

As I was not paying much attention to where I was going, my friend’s mother started shouting to me, “Joe, don’t go into the street. Joe, stop!” I remember hearing her words, but they seemed faint and very far away. I was in the middle of the street by the time I caught the saucer. It was then that I could hear my friend’s mom screaming for me to come back. I turned and looked up the street and there it was, the gray car of my dream had now turned into a nightmare, as it speed toward me. There was no time to get out of the way, so I simply held my arms out in front of me, just like I did in my dream. I could hear the tires squealing in response to the locked brakes. The car hit my hands and stopped. Unlike the dream however, it was evident that it was not my power that stopped the car. I realized that I was not all-powerful as I believed in my dream. The car had knocked me backward even though it just barely touched me. I stood there and watched the hood of the car rock back and forth in reaction to the sudden stop. I did see my own hands against the hood of the gray car just like in my dream though. I then realized I just looked death square in the eye.

My friend’s mother ran toward me screaming at me to listen to her. Somehow her voice grew distant again as I wondered about my dream that had become reality. How could a dream possibly come true? Why were the real-life details being so accurate on one hand while the feelings of power and strength are so wrong? Something stopped that much sooner than it otherwise should have, but it sure was not me. I did not know what to think about this when it happened. As fast as the car was moving, how could it have stopped so quickly?

 

The body of Christ – On Earth as it is Heaven

Was it possible that some power that I did not understand stopped the car? Was it possible that this power also tried to protect me from this circumstance by giving me the dream in the first place? Or was it a notice to me that that there was a power here to protect me? If so, was it possible that nothing could harm or hurt me? If so, then the big question had to be why?

Well, being like many young boys, I spent about five minutes thinking about it before I filed it in the back of my mind where it was not thought about again for quite a long time.

Looking back on this event now I can say that God intervened in my life and that it was His spiritual power that protected me. If one were to take this event as one single isolated incident, then I would have to say that perhaps this was simply just a coincidence. But as it turns out, it was far from an isolated event, but rather was just one of a string of unbelievable experiences that either communicated a message to me or protected me from harm.

So, what does this have to do with the vision? Fundamentally, it shows that we have a heavenly Father who loves and cares for us and who is willing and able to use His power to protect us. This is especially true of those who put their trust in Him and follow His direction (I did put out my hands like I saw in the dream.) I believe that it teaches that spiritual discernment can be achieved if we have faith and pay attention, and I believe that our decision based upon our discernment are critical to our overall welfare and relationship with God.

I know that much of this may be a stretch right now to believe this tale but stay tuned as we share more about what happened to me in future postings.

 

May God’s blessings be upon you!

Papa Joe, and remember to:

A VISION OF A JESUS-FILLED WORLD COMING TO PASS

 

 

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Seeing the Devil at a Young Age

Filed under: Ministry, Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare, The Meaning Of Life — 6 Comments
May 26, 2010

Seeing the Devil at a Young Age

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

In my previous posting (Possess-the-Vision) I communicated that I was going to present the spiritual experiences of my life that led to the creation of the Possess the Vision Mission Statement (PTV Mission-Statement.)

The experience I am about to communicate to you took place prior to the time that I started grade school. It will prove to be quite unbelievable to most people, and to be perfectly honest, would have been disregarded by me as well if it were not for all of the other unexplained spiritual experiences of my life. It is the story of the first time I saw the devil and it was a warning that there was evil hiding out there trying to undermine my life.

Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness by the Devil

My sister Kathy and I happened to be playing in our front yard one day. Near by, a number of older boys were just hanging out on our neighbor’s lawn. Looking back at the event now, I suspect that these boys were bored and wanted to have some playful fun with us by telling us scary stories about the bogeyman, hoping to get a rise out of us.

I did not buy into any of their stories and boldly proclaimed that there was no such thing as a bogeyman. They contended that they in fact, were witnesses to each of the stories they told. When their personal assurances did not sway me, they told even scarier stories than the first ones. After listening to them patiently I continued my defiance by simply restating my assertion that there was no such thing as a bogeyman.

But these boys sensed that I was not as positive in my belief as I let on and they called my bluff. They told me that the bogeyman was hiding between two of the houses near the end of the block. They told me that if I had the courage to walk down the block and take a look for myself, that I would find the bogeyman waiting there for me. I was very scared; after all, I started thinking that perhaps they were right. I resisted their challenge at first, but after they taunted me with words like, chicken and Fraidy cat, and used a few other words I did not understand at the time, I decided that I had to go and look for myself.

Despite being quite frightened, I took the time necessary to develop precautionary tactics. I thought that if there was a bogeyman between the houses that he had to be hiding there so that he could capture me if I got to close. So, I formulated a plan in my head where I would run across the street on a diagonal in order to get a view from a safe distance on the other side of the street. I knew that I had to start immediately so that the bogeyman, if it existed, would not have any warning to prepare for my arrival. So, without any hesitation I bolted out into the street running with my head down as fast as I could.

Much to my surprise, I could hear my sister running right behind me. When I got to the targeted position where I could see between the houses from across the street, I stopped and quickly turned for a look. To my horror there it was, right where the neighbor boys said. It had been hiding between the houses, hunched over to avoid detection as it was taller than the houses. Somehow I knew that it was waiting for unsuspecting kids like my sister and I to come by so that it could pounce and devour them. It was a monster, looking something like the dinosaur, Tyrannosaurus Rex. It just stood there stooped over between the buildings looking at me in obvious in obvious anger and disgust. For some reason it was apparently unwilling to come out from between the houses to get us.

Upon seeing this monster I lost all control and started screaming in horror. I began running back across the street as fast as my legs and flailing my arms in the air. I could hear my sister screaming as well as she followed behind me. Since I ran with reckless abandon, keeping my head down, I was shocked at what I found when we finally returned to our starting point.

The boys who induced us into this adventure were literally lying on their backs and were laughing so hard that they could no longer stand. There they lay, holding their aching stomachs in pain due to the extended laughter.

My first reaction was that they believed their deception had worked. But, I also thought that they did not know what I knew—that there was a devil just down the block and that it was waiting for innocent kids like me. What they had projected in apparent jest, turned out to be the truth. I knew that what I saw was real and this fact would be verified by later life experiences.

Jesus is Tempted on the Mountain

I did not tell this story to anyone for almost fifty years. How could I? People would certainly think that I was nuts. In fact, it never would have been told if it was an isolated event. However, it was definitely not an isolated event, as you will find out in subsequent postings. Rather, it was a warning of the truth that the devil is real and is out to destroy us and the purpose for which God created us. I should have heeded this warning of truth about the existence of the devil. Unfortunately I did not and had to suffer the consequences that will also be described in subsequent postings.

Please do not make the same mistake I did. Be careful of what you believe, and be cautious about the choices that you make because your life hangs in the balance. Do not be careless in disregarding the spiritual messages that you receive, but rather seek for an explanation. Know that God is trying to communicate to you in various forms and that these communications are often unbelievable by our physical world’s norms because they are spiritual truths. Also remember that even Jesus was tempted by the devil so expect that we also will have to make choices that demonstrate our belief in God. We will go deeper into all of this as we progress with our postings.

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