SCREECHER PREACHER
MCLEODS, New Brunswick, February 29, 2024 – I had the misfortune a few years ago of attending a church service where the minister screamed the Word. He didn’t just raise his voice out of courtesy for the people sitting in the back row; he hollered himself hoarse. It was my first (and only) time attending that church, and I’d unwittingly taken a seat near the front. Everything was fine for the first half-hour or so, as the minister just made some general church announcements, led a few hymns, and did a reading from the Gospel. But when he started preaching, it quickly turned into screeching, and I felt like I was sitting next to a speaker that was turned up too high and couldn’t be turned down.
I had to get away from him, and fast.
As unobtrusively as possible, I shifted a few rows back. But the screeching continued and even seemed to go up an octave, so I scooted as quickly as I could to the far end of the room. Still no good. Desperate for relief, I stuck balled-up Kleenex in my ears and put earmuffs on, but the sound tsunami only increased. I found the only way I could tolerate the excruciating pitch of the minister’s tirade was to stand next to the door, and then to stand outside the door, and then to start walking… all the way down the street.
Ahhh – much better!
I found out later that the yelling I’d experienced during the church service is actually a style of preaching common in some southern US denominations. The ear-splitting, larynx-destroying delivery is an affectation to convey the impression of passion rather than actual passion itself. The purpose of this style of preaching, I’ve since learned, is to demonstrate zeal, emphasize the urgency of the Gospel, and wake people up to the fact that God means business. Well, as a born-again believer, I certainly know that God means business, but he’s never had to yell at me and split my eardrums to convey that message.
We do a disservice to God when we deliver his Word in such a way that it becomes physically painful to listen to it, especially when all that yelling and screaming is just for show. Spiritual discomfort we should aim for at times, when it’s called for, but never physical discomfort. My enduring memory from that church visit is how painful it was to be there, not how uplifting or convicting it was. I would much rather have left that place spiritually convicted in some way than aurally assaulted.
I recalled this experience today when I unwittingly clicked on a YouTube video featuring a minister who preached in the same assault-style method. I had to immediately hit the mute button and get him off my screen. Never again!
Here’s a funnier version of what I heard at that church. Frankly, I’d rather listen to the goat than the preacher.
Just a heads up, though – you might want to turn the volume waaaay down:
THE RAPTURE AND THE ASCENSION: PART 1 OF 2
CAMPBELLTON, New Brunswick, February 29, 2024 – Since my dream last summer, I’ve been poring over feature-length movies, short movies, and other depictions of the alleged future event known as the the “pre-tribulation rapture”, or “rapture” for short. What I’ve found is that very little in these fictional presentations is scriptural, which should not be surprising, since the rapture itself is a modern invention that isn’t named in scripture. What is named is an event described as a “taking up” or an ascension. The ascension has already happened to several people (most famously to Jesus) and is prophesied to happen to many more.
There are major differences between the rapture and the ascension, mainly because they’re not the same phenomenon. Since its creation in the mid-1800s, the pre-tribulation rapture and its related mythology have led countless people, including born-again believers, into error. But what is it about the rapture that leaves so many so rapt?
First of all, the rapture gets a lot of press. Over the decades, untold millions have been poured into promoting and marketing the alleged future sudden disappearance of “true believers”. That’s why there are so many feature-length movies (we, the “afflicted and poor”, certainly aren’t bankrolling them!) as well as well-oiled TV and Internet evangelists stumping for the rapture at every turn. The trend has also infected church youth groups, with many of the short phone-filmed rapture videos written and performed by teenagers.
The second main reason for the rapture’s popularity is its formulaic “easy on the soul” mythology. In movies and short videos, the rapture is almost always presented the same way. The opening scenes portray a family or a group interacting amicably, with occasional squabbles. Some of the members are described as being “true believers”, while the rest are either unbelievers or backsliders. The true believers are shown urging and warning the others to repent and turn back to God, but their efforts are mocked or ignored. Then, out of the blue, the rapture occurs and the true believers disappear, leaving behind only their clothes and jewelry and whatever else they were wearing or carrying. Sometimes the left-behind clothes are neatly folded, sometimes they lay in a heap, and sometimes they remain rather comically strapped into the front seat of a car or lounging on a park bench.
The rest of the movie deals with the fallout of the rapture event on the people who are “left behind”. We learn how they feel about their dilemma and we see them struggling to adapt to the post-rapture reality. The so-called tribulation period has also been unleashed at the same time as the pre-tribulation rapture, bringing with it additional challenges (e.g., militarized world government, forced mark of the beast, etc.). Many of the left-behind believers respond to the ever-worsening situation by upping their game as Christians, while many more turn their back on Christianity altogether. Those who do turn back to God are persecuted and martyred.
A third reason why the rapture has caught the attention of Christians is that it offers hope beyond hope. Where scripture tells of a time when it will be too late to convert and be healed, those who believe in the rapture are assured that it’s never too late. The message here is: “Take your time; there’s always another bus” (even though in reality the final one’s long gone).
The ascension is nothing like the rapture. Rather than a one-off event, ascensions have occurred throughout history, with the final ascension set to take place at Jesus’ second coming. Also, instead of a disappearance, the ascension is a physical rising of a believer, body and soul, into the air. The rising is described in scripture as a “taking up”, so that whoever witnesses the ascension sees the ascending person literally rising up into the clouds. No clothes are reported to have been left behind after the ascensions, except for Elijah’s prayer mantle, which Elisha immediately claimed and put to good use.
Besides Jesus, other notable ascendees include Enoch and Elijah, as well as the two witnesses in the book of Revelation. There are also the holy angels described by Jesus as “ascending and descending” and the ascending and descending angels described by Jacob in one of his dreams. Additionally, random unnamed believers known only by their location (e.g., “in the field”) or activity (e.g., “grinding at the mill”) are likewise unexpectedly “taken”.
Paul describes the final ascension in some detail, explaining how the dead in Christ along with any remaining believers on Earth will be “caught up… to meet the Lord in the air” at Jesus’ second coming. Jesus mentions the same event in both Matthew and Mark, with his angels being sent to “gather together” the last believing stragglers from one end of heaven to the other. The use of the word “heaven” implies that the believers rise into the air with the angels, where Jesus is waiting for them in his glorified body.
The lists below highlight the main differences between the rapture and the ascension.
THE RAPTURE
- People disappear
- One- or two-time mass event
- Not in scripture
- Clothes left behind
- Heavily promoted
- Unknown until the 1800s
THE ASCENSION
- Taken up into the sky
- Multiple singular events and final mass event
- In scripture
- Clothes not left behind
- Not promoted
- Known since Enoch
Given these and other significant differences between the mythical rapture and the scriptural ascension, what is the point of pushing the rapture not only on Christians but also on the public in general? In other words, who created the pre-tribulation rapture mythology, why was it created, who benefits, who’s pushing it, and why are they pushing it now? And most importantly, why is all this especially relevant to us as born-again believers?
I explore these questions in detail in “THE RAPTURE AND THE ASCENSION: PART 2 OF 2”, posted here.
NOT READING THE APOCRYPHA? YOU’RE MISSING OUT!
__________
And their souls will cleave to Me and to all My commandments, and they will fulfil My commandments, and I will be their Father and they shall be My children.
And they all shall be called children of the living God, and every angel and every spirit shall know, yea, they shall know that these are My children, and that I am their Father in uprightness and righteousness, and that I love them.
Book of Jubilees 1:23-24
__________
CHARLO, New Brunswick, February 28, 2024 – If you haven’t yet done so, you should start reading the apocrypha. Many of the books that are excluded from the Bible are as important as those that are included. At the very least, these “rejected” writings (i.e., rejected centuries ago by the worldly church and more recently by profit-driven publishers) fill in a lot of blanks and so paint a more detailed picture of the people and events in scripture. If you say you read the Bible but your reading doesn’t include the apocrypha, you’re missing out on countless blessings and insights that God wants to give you through his Word.
I’m currently working my way through as much of the apocrypha as I can find on the Internet. Yes, there are hard-copy books that have different collections of the apocrypha, but nothing I’ve found so far has all of the publicly available apocryphal books in one volume or in a set of volumes. I guess I’m holding out for the impossible (a book with all the apocrypha, including the “nonexistent” texts hidden in the Vatican and in private collections). In the meantime, I read whatever apocryphal books I can find online, and I’m deeply grateful for the efforts of the people who posted them.
Also, if you’re so inclined (and have the technology), you might want to consider printing off each book as you find it (inkjet, not laser!). There’s a good chance that the apocrypha, along with the Bible, will one day vanish from the Internet due to the looming “hate speech” laws in former Christian nations. If (when) that happens, your printed copies will be a precious gift to the future Church.
The beautiful verse at the start of this article is from the first page of the first chapter of the Book of Jubilees. I include it here as an example of the richness of the prose and the force of the Spirit that is characteristic of many of the apocryphal texts. The setting for this verse is one of God’s conversations with Moses on Mount Sinai when he was giving him the Ten Commandments. I do not consider these words “uninspired”, which is the measure used to include or exclude books from the official canon (that, and the publishers’ bottom line). When I say in my blog articles that “the Bible’s been messed with”, this in part is what I’m referring to.
I’ve posted links below to some of the better-known apocryphal books as well as to a few that are less well known. I’ve also included links to their descriptions.
Note that the books appear here in no particular order.
May you be as blessed in reading the spiritual treasure trove of the apocrypha as you are in reading the Bible!
__________
The Book of Jubilees
Description: Book of Jubilees – Wikipedia
Online text: Jubilees (pseudepigrapha.com)
__________
2 Esdras
Description: 2 Esdras – Wikipedia
Online text: The Apocrypha: 2 Esdras: 2 Esdras Chapter 1 (sacred-texts.com)
__________
1 Enoch
Description: Book of Enoch – Wikipedia
Online text: The Book of Enoch: The Book of Enoch: Chapter I (sacred-texts.com)
__________
Apocalypse of Abraham
Description: Apocalypse of Abraham – Wikipedia
Online text: box.pdf (marquette.edu)
__________
Apocalypse of Elijah
Description: Apocalypse of Elijah – Wikipedia
Online text: apocalypse-of-elijah.pdf (wordpress.com)
__________
Life of Adam and Eve (Apocalypse of Moses)
Description: Life of Adam and Eve – Wikipedia
Online text: Apocalypse Of Moses (scriptural-truth.com)
__________
Book of Giants
Description: The Book of Giants – Wikipedia
Online text: The Book of Giants • The Lost Books of The Bible
__________
THE WELLSPRING OF PRIVATE REVELATION
CHARLO, New Brunswick, February 27, 2024 – I stumbled across a website today that preached the primacy of the Bible as the sole source of Christian revelation. To the website’s authors, the Bible should be used not only to inform but to restrict information and dictate behavior. Private revelation, which if you’ll recall forms the basis for both the Old and the New testaments, should not be trusted. In other words, the website promotes that God allegedly stopped talking to his people after John signed off on his book of Revelation nearly 2000 years ago, and none of us have heard a peep from him since.
This is obviously nonsense. The whole point of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was to pay the sin price so that “whosoever will” could get back in right relationship with God through spiritual rebirth. The establishment of God’s Church on Earth, with Jesus as the high priest and born-again believers as priests and prophets, has reopened the doors of communication with God through his Holy Spirit. Recall that in the gospel of John, Jesus promised us we’d be able to go directly to God in prayer; we wouldn’t have go through anyone else, not even him. So if we born-again believers are back in right relationship with God and have an open channel of communication with him and with Jesus through God’s Holy Spirit (as promised by Jesus in John’s gospel), how can we not be receiving private revelation? Our whole relationship with God and Jesus is based on private revelation.
We should never dismiss the reality of private revelation. It plays a profound role in the body of believers and always has. Without private revelation, there would be no Bible because there would be no prophets to relay God’s Word. Jesus didn’t warn us to beware of prophets; he warned us to beware of false prophets. A prophet is someone who has been sent by God and speaks God’s Word on behalf of God. A false prophet is someone who has not been sent by God and so does not speak God’s Word, even if he or she quotes the Bible, chapter and verse.
Private revelation has not ceased in the intervening years between Jesus’ earthly ministry and now. God has not stopped talking with his people and is in fact with them 24/7 rather than just on occasion as he was with the Old Testament prophets. We born-again believers are profoundly blessed to have ongoing communication with God through his Spirit, but this also comes with a great responsibility. God expects much more from his children than he does from others. We are to speak his Word in Truth as he gives us guidance to speak it, not when we decide on our own volition to speak it. He’ll test us on this, to see how much he can entrust us with.
I love the Bible and dote on it; I sleep next to it, read it every day, and carry it with me wherever I go, but I also know that the Bible’s been messed with, especially in the agenda-driven retranslations and in the leaving out of certain books. The Bible contains men’s words as well as God’s Word, so I don’t worship the Bible. I don’t consider it a holy relic. I don’t hold it up for adoration. I use it as a resource, which is what God intends us to use it for, but it’s God’s communication to me through his Holy Spirit that is the pure source perpetually springing up in me. That wellspring has not been messed with and is the source of my private revelation, the source that Jesus promised us that God would give to all genuine believers.
Private revelation from God to his people has never ceased and never will, as it forms the basis of our relationship with God. In Old Testament times, private revelation came via designated prophets, who were then to relay the revelation either to the general public or to a specific people or to certain individuals, but now God’s revelations flow through born-again believers as one of God’s many kept promises that are rewards for Jesus’ sacrifice.
Regardless of what the “Bible or nothing!” website claims, we should never be wary or dismissive of private revelation coming from genuine believers; we should, however, be wary of so-called revelations from those who claim to be speaking on God’s behalf but are not. We’ll know the difference between those who are sent by God and those who aren’t because God will let us know through (you guessed it!) private revelation.
__________
I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them.
Jeremiah 31:33-34
__________
If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
John 14:23
__________
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
John 4:14
__________
“IF BEING A CHRISTIAN WERE ILLEGAL, WOULD THERE BE ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO ARREST YOU FOR THIS CRIME?”
CHARLO, New Brunswick, February 26, 2024 – As we all know, YouTube’s recommended videos can be either a treasure trove or a junk pile. One buried treasure of a video that popped up in my YouTube feed today played into an issue that is slowly creeping into the lives of Canadian believers – namely, the repeal (removal) of a law protecting the free expression of religious beliefs in Canada. If this law is repealed (it’s currently working its way through Parliament), it will effectively outlaw Christianity here in Canada, or at the very least muzzle Christians from openly stating their beliefs.
Jesus warned us that we, as his followers, would some day become outlaws, so we shouldn’t be shocked or surprised that repeals of religious protection laws are gaining traction and moving quickly from the proposal stage to implementation, even in historically Christian nations. The persecution, jailing, torture, and slaughter of Christians has happened all throughout Christian history and is happening even today, though not yet openly in the West.
That, I believe, is about to change.
The video recommended to me by YouTube was a skit featuring dozens of young people responding individually to questions about their Christian witness and their fitness for Heaven. The responses (likely scripted, but still on point) were sufficiently thought-provoking for me to hit pause and ask myself the same questions. Would there in fact be enough evidence in my day-to-day dealings with people and in my life overall to accuse me of being a Christian?
I certainly hope so. If being a Christian – that is, openly expressing and living my beliefs as a follower of Jesus – were outlawed in Canada, that is the one law that I would unhesitatingly, enthusiastically, and repeatedly break. But what evidence would be used against me? What would the snitches say to get me arrested?
Well, I’ve already been permanently banned from a number of mainstream online forums (Facebook won’t even let me sign up! lol) for reasons I have yet to ferret out. I’ve also been shadow banned on the few other forums (some allegedly Christian) that will still let me comment, which means my comments show up when I view the website but not when others view it. Again, I have no idea what I said or did to cause the banning and shadow banning, but my comments almost always touch on God and Jesus. Maybe it’s what I’ve said openly about the alphabet rainbow agenda or the unholy “Holy Land” or the mask mandates as they apply to Christians that got me censored, though whether my being banned from commenting on these websites would be enough to get me arrested, I don’t know.
Snitches might also point to my refusal to flirt or date, or to use curse words in my conversations. I might be condemned as well for my modest clothing or the cross I wear when I’m in public (to let others know that I’m a Christian). Some people might accuse me of bringing up God and Jesus in my conversations or even quoting the Bible when a Bible quote is warranted. Speaking of Bibles, I was hauled aside for questioning at an airport a few years ago because I had a Bible in my carry-on luggage. I was red-flagged solely for carrying God’s Word. But would this be enough to get me arrested?
I found out last summer that I’ve been banned from staying on the campus of my alma mater, again for reasons that were ill-defined. The administrator who informed me of my banning would only reveal that I had a “bad attitude”, though I’ve always been unfailingly polite to anyone I’ve dealt with at the campus level, even and especially to the guy working at the front desk who pretended he was a woman. I feel sorry for men like that and there’s no point in making them even more miserable than they already are, so politeness and kindness rule the day (“love your enemies”, and all that). Jesus warned us we’d be blamed and hated without cause, and so we are.
Yet when all is said and done, I’m actually glad to be banned, as it lets me know where I stand and where I’m not welcome; and where I’m not welcome, I don’t go. Jesus didn’t go where he wasn’t welcome and advised us to shake the dust of such places from the bottom of our feet and move on, letting God deal with them. I don’t fight the bans any more than I’d fight being arrested. I consider them part and parcel of doing my job as a believer and I have no intention of compromising my beliefs, if by compromising them I’d be “safe” from bans and arrests.
I’m guessing that the most “damning” evidence that I’m a Christian would be this blog, which I’ve kept now for nearly 10 years. Abornagainbeliever.com would likely be the “gotcha!” that got me arrested. At the very least, my blog would no longer be accessible in Canada if the law protecting my right to write freely were repealed, which may happen sooner than I expect. But as long as I can still legally teach and preach God’s Word in Canada, I’ll keep on posting articles. If the time comes when I can no longer do that, I’ll deal with it as God gives me guidance.
I don’t say this often, but I’m actually grateful to YouTube for the algorithm that brought me this buried treasure of a video. If you’re feeling so inclined, maybe you could take a moment to ask yourself whether there’s enough evidence in your life to have you arrested for the “crime” of being a Christian. I found that mulling this question over was a good exercise that convicted me (still lots of work to be done on this soul!) and yet was also strangely comforting.
As my grandmother used to say, “mistakes keep us humble”, and a humble and contrite heart the Lord will not despise.
PASSOVER OR EASTER?
CHARLO, New Brunswick, February 25, 2024 – As born-again believers and members of God’s Church, we’re to celebrate Passover according to how and when Jesus directed us to celebrate it. This directive is non-negotiable.
However, it appears that the papal powers-that-be didn’t get that memo. In their pride-borne confusion, the pope and his yes-men woke up one day and decided they’d had enough of Passover and were going to replace it with Easter. This happened back in the early 4th century and it’s been that way ever since. Easter is calculated according to the first day of spring (specifically, the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring), while Passover always falls on the evening following the 14th of Abib and is always on a full moon.
In other words, Jesus directed us to commemorate his sacrifice in the evening hours following the 14th of Abib, which is the start of the 15th of Abib. This should be the date of our annual commemoration of Jesus’ sacrifice – the evening hours at the start of the 15th of Abib – and it should never be dependent on when spring does or does not begin or what day of the week it is. It should never be dictated by doctrines of men for reasons that do not glorify God.
It should never have been changed to Easter.
Again, the Passover is always in the evening following the 14th of Abib (the month also known as Aviv or Nisan) and is always on a full moon. During the daylight hours of the 14th of Abib, the Passover lamb is slaughtered, and that evening it’s eaten. Because each new day in the Hebrew calendar starts in the evening hours, the evening when the Passover is eaten is the start of the 15th of Abib. So, Jesus, the sacrificial lamb of God, instituted his directives for the Passover meal on the 15th of Abib, telling us to eat bread as as a symbol of his body and to drink wine as a symbol of his blood on that day and during that meal, in memory of him and in obedience to God’s command to celebrate the Passover in perpetuity.
I mention these details and dates because they’re important for us as members of God’s Church. Easter is a made-up holiday (“first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring”) devised by a group of men who were not born-again and therefore not guided by God’s Holy Spirit, whereas Passover is writ in stone by the hand of God himself. If the men who changed Passover to Easter had been born-again, they would never have deigned to mess with the date that Jesus directed us to commemorate him on. It would never have occurred to them to do that, let alone to teach others to do it and to threaten, punish, or even kill those who resisted the change. If they truly had the fear of the Lord in them, they would never have done any of those things.
I fear the Lord. Knowing that God, through Moses, commanded his people (that would be us) to mark the Passover on a certain date in perpetuity, and that Jesus later directed his followers (that again would be us) to commemorate the Passover on that same date in the way he showed them, I cannot in good conscience celebrate Easter. Sure, I’ll eat whatever cream-filled chocolate eggs roll my way (just try and stop me! lol), but I’ll keep the Lord’s Passover on the day that God commanded and in the way that Jesus directed.
Just try and stop me.
HARD TO SWALLOW: WHAT’S EATING OUR FOOD SUPPLY?
CHARLO, New Brunswick, February 23, 2024 – When Jesus told his disciples that he had meat to eat that they knew not of, he wasn’t talking about GMO or other frankenfoods that have become the daily bread of most Westerners. For Jesus, his food was to do the work God sent him to do, which should also be our food, as Jesus’ followers. But unfortunately (and unavoidably, while we’re still here on Earth in a human body), we also have to eat physical food every now and then to keep us going. This leaves us at the mercy of food-floggers who are growing less and less concerned about our satisfaction as consumers and more and more focused on making money and pushing an agenda.
I write this as a preamble to the subject at hand today, which is the sorry state of our food as a consumer product. I won’t be covering the poisoning of our food (that subject deserves an entire library of books in itself) but will instead take a look at some radical changes that are occurring in the production, marketing, distribution, and retail sides of our food supply. These changes have led to major shifts in price, quality, and accessibility over the past few decades, especially since the launch of the “great reset” in 2020.
Note that the changes listed below are in no particular order and that the list is far from exhaustive. Feel free to add to it in the comment section below.
- Inflation: This is the change that’s getting the most press these days and goes hand-in-hand with currency devaluation.
- Shrinkflation: This refers to smaller amounts of product either in the same-sized packaging or “New Look!” (code for smaller) packaging that essentially attempts to camouflage the shrinkage. Prices either remain the same or go up.
- Lower quality: Known as “skimpflation”, costlier ingredients are swapped for cheaper ones.
- Extended ‘best before’ dates: This obviously benefits the producers and sellers, not the consumers. It’s a trend that I’ve noticed gaining traction over the past few months. Buyer beware!
- Removal of products from the marketplace: Less variety and fewer food options is mainly caused by large producers buying out smaller producers and then typically phasing out all the small company’s products. The introduction of the “planogram” system, where companies have to pay hefty prices for shelf space, also led to smaller producers being shut out of the marketplace.
- Fewer distributers: These are the companies that essentially decide what you should or should not have access to in a store. Even the stores themselves are at the mercy of their distributors. They have immense power over our food supply and there are surprisingly very few of them and growing fewer every year.
- Fewer stores and shorter retail hours: One of the most visible changes that’s happened in the past few years is the closing of stores and the reduction in shopping hours, reflecting the shift in power dynamics from the consumer to the retailer. Good luck finding a 24-hour supermarket when you need one!
- Globalization (redistribution) of food: Developing countries such as China and India are also developing huge appetites for Western products. Many of our domestic food producers are now focusing on those markets and leaving local shelves bare.
- Replacement of meat with “meat-like” or other proteins: Check the ingredients list for protein substitutes like crickets and maggots that are being slipped in under alternative names. You vill eet ze bugz, whether you know it or not.
I used to enjoy grocery shopping, but now I just grit my teeth and try not to yell in frustration at the shrinking content of the packages and higher prices. Not to mention how the flavour has been eroded by lower-quality ingredients and extended best-before dates. I eat what I have to for the time being, ever grateful to God for supplying my daily bread, but all the while I comfort myself thinking about the amazing variety of FREE FOOD that’s waiting for me in Heaven (if and when I get there) and how good it will all taste!
FOREVER FRIENDS
CAMPBELLTON, New Brunswick, February 22, 2024 – Angels are a fascinating topic not only for believers but also for those who claim not to believe in anything at all except maybe angels. Many people have had what they consider to be an angelic encounter, though at the time they were unaware that the person they were interacting with was actually an angel in human disguise. That’s because the number one rule for God’s holy angels when they take on human form is: “Do not tell anyone you’re an angel!” So, if you’ve based your understanding of holy angels on movies like “It’s a Wonderful Life” or TV shows like “Touched by an Angel”, your understanding is going to need an overhaul to align with reality.
Prior to my rebirth, I didn’t have any encounters with God’s holy angels. Those only started after I was reborn. That’s not to say that God’s holy angels weren’t acting in my life in some way when I was an atheist – I believe they certainly were. I just didn’t see any, either in their glorified or human form. Or better said, God didn’t let me know about the encounters. But less than a year after I was reborn, I met my first holy angel in human form, at least the first one that God let me know about. A few years after that, I met my second holy angel in human form, and a few years after that I met my third. Again, these are the encounters that God’s pointed out to me (after the fact). That’s not to say I didn’t have other encounters that God hasn’t yet revealed.
In every instance, I was in a major pickle and the angels appeared seemingly out of nowhere to help me out of it. I was unaware, of course, at the time, that they were angels, but there was something about each of them that struck me as odd, though I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I also recall the following about them (again, in hindsight):
- Deep feeling of familiarity: I had the sense that we already knew each other, or at least that they knew me. There was nothing awkward about our conversation. I felt I could trust what they were saying to me and offering to do for me, though for all intents and purposes we were complete strangers.
- Insisted on helping: They wouldn’t take “no” for an answer and were gently but firmly insistent that I accept their help. Their insistence was almost mesmerizing, as if I couldn’t say “no” even if I’d wanted to.
- Wore costumes rather than clothes: Their clothing could be better described as costumes than clothes. For example, one of them looked like he’d been tasked with dressing like a tourist from England in the early 20th century, and so sported a tweed jacket with elbow patches, a white shirt and a tie, good leather shoes, cufflinks, etc., and a 1930’s-style men’s haircut. He didn’t look out of place; he just looked distinctive.
- Suddenly appeared and disappeared: In all cases, the angels appeared suddenly; when I turned, they were unexpectedly there. (I didn’t see them approaching.) They also disappeared the same way, unexpectedly and when I was looking the other way.
- Brief encounter. Our encounters were very brief – no more than a minute or two. But I also had the sense that time changed when I was with them. It’s possible that our encounters were longer (in Earth time) than they seemed at the time to be.
- Incredibly warm, polite, and respectful: Along with a deep sense of familiarity, I found the angels to be genuinely warm and incredibly polite and respectful. They spoke English perfectly, but it was a very formal style of English, as if they’d donned the language the same way they’d donned their costumes. Still, there was no affectation in their words or their mannerisms. Everything about them was genuine.
- Instant friendship: I liked them immediately and I sensed that they liked me. Even for the brief time we were together, I felt like we were friends.
Remember that Jesus told us we’ll be like the holy angels if/when we make it to Heaven. I believe that our time here on Earth as born-again believers is angel-training of sorts. All the things that the angels did for me in my encounters with them, I’m expected to do for others in the same warm, respectful, and unaffected way, as a follower of Jesus.
I sure hope I’ll meet up with my angels again if and when I make it Home. They disappeared so fast, I didn’t have the chance to thank them or even to say good-bye. I have the feeling, though, that if I do make it Home, I’ll not only see my angels, but we’ll be friends forever.
SUPERNATURAL FORGETFULNESS
CHARLO, New Brunswick, February 21, 2024 – As we know, God is watching us all the time. And he’s not only watching us, he’s listening to us and reading our thoughts. He knows everything about us, inside and out, down to the smallest detail and nanoparticle. In fact, he knows everything about us even before we know, because he knows our past and our future as well as our present. That’s his privilege for being God.
But even as he’s watching us, listening to us, and reading our thoughts, God’s made it so that we don’t think about his omnipresence and omniscience all the time. He’s made it impossible (or better said, he’s supernaturally suspended our ability) to think about his omnipresence and omniscience all the time because if we did think about those things all the time, we’d alter our behavior, the way that people act differently when they know someone is looking at them or a camera or microphone is pointed their way: They act like they’re on stage playing to an audience. God doesn’t want us acting differently just to please him. He wants to see us and hear us and read our thoughts as we are, not as we think he wants us to be.
I also think we’d go a little crazy if we couldn’t take a break from knowing that someone was always watching us. On the occasions when it does come to mind (like now), I don’t mind that God is always here with me because I love God and I trust him and I know that he loves me. I know that his omnipresence and omniscience are for my benefit. I know that everything he does is for my benefit. Still, if I were constantly aware, without a break, that I had no privacy at all – even in my thoughts – it might make me a bit coo-coo. That, I think, would be the natural human response (to go a bit coo-coo), which is why God has suspended our ability to be constantly aware of his constant presence.
I was thinking about this today when I remembered that not even Jesus or the holy angels know the date for the end of the world. Jesus said that no-one knows the end date except God. Then I thought about God’s reasoning for preventing us from knowing the end date and I saw a parallel between not knowing the end date and not always being aware of God’s presence. I think both of these “absences” are supernaturally imposed on us to prevent us from acting differently from who we are.
And to prevent us from going coo-coo.
Scripture tells of a time when “hearts will fail” for fear of what’s coming on the world. Imagine what will happen when everyone knows the end is no longer nigh but now! Unbelievers will lose whatever’s left of their sanity and hell will empty out, which means that every fallen entity in existence will be roaming the earth looking for a host and torturing people. Jesus describes this time as the worst in history. It’s safe to say that people will radically change their behavior under these horrendous conditions. Even believers (if any are still here) won’t act like themselves but will measure everything they do and say in relation to the ticking clock.
In movies about the end of days, there are always shots of people streaming into churches and packing pews, motivated not by their love of God but by their fear of what’s coming on them. I always think, when I see them, it’s too late, it’s too late, you left it too late. The time to turn back to God is long gone. I guess it’s prudent to point out that when the last day does come, there won’t be any church buildings to stream into, anyway. Those will also be long gone.
What I’m saying here is that we don’t know certain things – or certain things are not always on our mind – because God supernaturally made us not to know them, at least not yet. Whoever’s left on Earth on that last day, however, will very much know it’s the last day; God won’t hold that knowledge back from anyone anymore (which explains the scripture about failing hearts). I pray to God that I won’t be here when that time comes, and you should pray that for yourself, too. As bad as things are now, it’s nothing compared to the day when God pours out his final wrath and the devil has free reign. Earth will literally become hell, with every fallen being roaming with no restraints and Satan lording over them all.
I’m happy to know what God lets me know and to leave the rest be. I had to learn to turn off certain types of curiosity as a born-again believer. God made us to be curious, but not about everything. Look what happened to Adam and Eve. Look what happened to Solomon.
Some things are best left unknown.
**********
And now, dear reader, I leave you with a challenge: See how long you can be conscious of God’s presence before you forget about it. You won’t be aware that you’ve forgotten until you remember again. Me, I usually don’t last more than a minute before God draws my attention elsewhere with a shiny bauble of a thought. I know he does this for my benefit, and it makes me laugh. It makes him laugh, too.
But you – you see how long you can think about God’s presence before you forget he’s there. See if you can beat my one-minute record (lol).
And then try not to laugh when you remember again about God’s presence and realize how quickly you forgot about it.
That’s supernatural forgetfulness.
It comes from God, and it’s for our benefit.
SUPERCHARGE YOUR WITNESS
CHARLO, New Brunswick, February 20, 2024 – There’s a saying that evil thrives when good men do nothing, implying that “good men” need to do something to drive the evil away. But what should they do? Take up arms? Enact more laws? Organize a protest? Strengthen borders? Certainly, we can do all those things or demand they be done, but none of them will entirely stop the evil that is the due reward for back-slidden former Christian nations.
Decades ago, when we had a critical number of genuine believers who lived according to God’s Word, life was undeniably better. Our high-trust nations functioned well because there was a high level of trust. This came courtesy of believers who, through their witness, brought God’s blessings on the cities and towns where they lived. Christian nations were the best in the world not because of their wealth or military strength, but because of their believers and the blessings that flowed through them from God. But as each believer moved on to his or her eternal reward, fewer and fewer rose to take their place, and the result has been a massive erosion in trust and a drastic reduction in wealth, military strength, and overall quality of life.
While we can’t stop the inevitable destruction of former Christian nations – the destruction will come just as assuredly as it came to all other nations that turned from God – we can slow the downward spiral by supercharging our witness. This, in turn, will supercharge the blessings poured out on us and on those around us. We can become those fabled “good men” who are stopping evil from thriving. That ability is in our hands. More importantly, we not only have the ability but the responsibility to do this, as we’ve been called to live not for ourselves but for others, to minister rather than to be ministered to.
So what does supercharging our witness look like in the real world today? It looks the same as it’s always looked, which means it doesn’t involve any weapons or protesting or lobbying of governments for change. We can supercharge our witness simply by doing what Jesus taught us to do, which is to love our neighbours and enemies alike and pray for those who hate us. We do this by being kind to the unkind, polite to the rude, patient with the impatient; we do this by holding the door open with a smile, letting someone behind us go ahead of us in line, or by leaving a bigger tip than what was earned. We can take the few extra seconds to put our shopping cart back where it belongs and put an abandoned cart back, too (without grumbling). We can send a thank-you card in the mail – not an email that will disappear with a click, but a physical card that can be held in the hand and mulled over. We are tangible and tactile beings, not virtual ones, and we crave the tangible and tactile. Our witness likewise needs to be tangible and tactile.
As Paul reminded us, if there’s any good in anyone, think on that. Highlight that. Roll with that. We’re not here to judge but to show the way. Remember how kind Jesus was even to Judas. From the start, Jesus knew who Judas was and what his role was in the plan of salvation, but Jesus treated him no differently than his other disciples.
And most importantly, start nothing without God’s prompting and guidance, doing everything with thanks in the name of Jesus.
Supercharging your witness doesn’t require grand gestures, just small, targeted, personal ones that are premised on serving others rather than serving yourself. God is always looking for people who are willing to make those humble gestures, as a kind word at the right moment can turn a life around.
Preaching the Word doesn’t necessarily involve preaching the Word. Incognito, God’s holy angels interact with us much more frequently than we realize and God himself hides behind “coincidence”, “luck”, “fate”, and “serendipity”. We don’t have to thump a Bible to give our witness; we just have to treat others as we would want to be treated. Do that, and God will pour out his blessings over you and over all those around you. This is how you put the brakes on evil. This is how you slow the coming destruction.
A nation isn’t blessed because of its wealth or its military; a nation is blessed because of its believers.
A BORN-AGAIN BELIEVER 