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Yearly Archives: 2024
THE UNHEAVEN YEARS
MCLEODS, New Brunswick, April 5, 2024
There are no phones in Heaven.
No computers, either. (Not even quantum ones.)
There are also no TVs or video games or stereos or combustion engine vehicles. Now, there may well be vehicles in Heaven that sound and feel like they have combustion engines, but if you don’t like those, they’re not in your part of Heaven.
There’s no Internet in Heaven or any of the technology that supports the Internet. There’s no need for any of those things because we’ll communicate entirely differently in Heaven than we do on Earth, and we’ll get around entirely differently. Clumsy, clunky, dangerous, loud, intrusive, poisonous, addictive, obsessive, and landscape-blighting technology has no place in Heaven, though sadly it’s taken over most of Earth.
Here are a few more things that aren’t in Heaven: Sickness, pain, death, depression, good-byes, regret, mourning, theft, jealousy, rage, screaming, wrinkles, hatred, spandex, phoniness, lies, deceit, dirtiness, fatigue, bad smells, rent, jail, leaky roofs and flooded basements, toilet paper, police, medical interventions, mortgage, money, debt, credit, tape, glue, Bibles, pews, drugs, bugs that bite and sting, toothbrushes and toothpaste, soap, plastic anything, food laced with chemicals, cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, locks of any kind, bad hair days, windowpanes, and mirrors.
Nearly everything that most people on Earth spend their days using, thinking about, and obsessing over has no place in Heaven. Most people’s thoughts have no place in Heaven. It’s profoundly sad, the degree of unheavenliness that characterizes the lives of most people. As born-again believers, we need to be different than that. We need to be aware of what’s in Heaven (and what’s not in Heaven) and live our lives to reflect heavenly reality, not unheavenly reality. Now, some things we’ll still use, with God’s blessing while we’re still in the unheavenly realm, like windowpanes, soap, and toothbrushes. But the other things that have no place in Heaven – particularly unheavenly emotions and desires – we can weed out and banish from our lives now and in so doing create a little piece of pre-Heaven all our own.
That’s what God’s Kingdom is – a little piece of pre-Heaven made by God for his children who are still going through their trials. God made Zion for us as a shelter and retreat from the unheavenliness of the world. We can expand Zion by furnishing our little part of it with heavenly thoughts and words and deeds and wild blueberries and solid wood furniture.
The computer spellchecker scolds me that there’s no such word as “Unheaven”, but we know there is. Unheaven is the world that surrounds us outside of God’s Kingdom. Unheaven is the realm that we escaped when we were reborn, but we still have to associate with it for the time being, use its tools for our purposes for the time being, but that’s the extent of our involvement with it. It shouldn’t surprise us that a spellchecker doesn’t know Unheaven from Heaven, seeing that spellcheckers are very much a part of Unheaven and there are no spellcheckers in Heaven.
So, yes, Virginia, there is an Unheaven, but there’s oh so very much, much, much more a Heaven.
WHEN YOUR KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR IS THE DEVIL IN DISGUISE
CHARLO, New Brunswick, April 2, 2024 – It must’ve hit Peter like a frying pan when Jesus thundered at him: “Get thee behind me, Satan!” Peter had only wanted to assure Jesus that he’d always have his back, come what may, but Jesus wanted none of it. Instead, he told Peter that his offer of protection showed that he had man’s perspective, not God’s, and that he thought as someone who was still in the world, not in the Kingdom, and that Peter was in fact doing the devil’s bidding.
I can imagine that not only Peter but everyone who witnessed Jesus’ tirade would have been thrown for a loop. I mean, the last thing you’d expect when offering someone your undying love, loyalty, and protection is to have it all thrown back into your face, and being called Satan, to boot. But Jesus here, as elsewhere, was precisely on point when it came to dealing with adversity. He had, as he phrased it, a “cup to drink” that was given specifically to him by God. What Peter was doing by offering his protection was wrenching the cup out of Jesus’ hand and preventing him from doing what God had sent him to do.
As born-again believers, we all have a cup to drink that’s been given to each of us by God. In drinking our cup, we’ll almost always have people trying to intervene, thinking they’re doing us a favour by “helping” us, like Peter thought he was helping Jesus. Those in the world can’t help thinking like the world, but we need to think like God, as Jesus reminded us, because once we become Jesus’ followers, the rules of engagement change significantly. In the Old Testament, we annihilated our enemies; in the New Testament, we love them even as they’re killing us.
“Get thee behind me, Satan!” should have been a eureka moment for Peter, but I don’t think it was, considering that he later attacked one of the soldiers who arrested Jesus. In response, Jesus had again to remind him that his heroism was misplaced and that those who live by the sword, die by the sword. In other words, Jesus was again schooling his disciples on the difference between how man thinks and how God thinks.
What about you? Have you resolved to drink the cup that God has given you, or are you happy to accept any and all offers to avoid or delay drinking it? Or maybe you’ve inadvertently interfered with someone else when they were trying to drink their cup? We need to be honest with ourselves in considering the cup that God has given us and others and what we’ve done either to accept our cup or avoid it.
Whole “doctrines of men” have been developed over the centuries pandering to our baser impulse to avoid trials and tests at all costs. One of the more infamous of these doctrines is the pre-tribulation rapture. Jesus had to go through torture and crucifixion, as did Peter; Paul was beheaded, Steven was stoned to death, and thousands of born-again believers throughout the ages have likewise suffered horrendous torture, mutilation, and killing at the hands of the prevailing religious authorities, all in an attempt to have them deny Jesus.
Our cup will not be any less onerous than the ones given to our brethren over the years, and to believe otherwise is delusional. Jesus told us that whatever they do to him, they’ll do to us, too. There’s no easy way out of the cup given to us by God. We either drink it as presented, or we don’t go Home.
FOUNDATION
CHARLO, New Brunswick, March 31, 2024 – It falls on every born-again believer throughout the ages to remind other born-again believers of the first Church, of the foundation that was laid by God for the first Church, and of the need to perpetuate this Church not by altering the foundation or burying it and laying another foundation, but by understanding in the profoundest sense that we are the first Church, and that there’s only ever been one Church: the one founded by God and headed by Jesus and peopled by born-again believers.
Nothing has changed over the past 2000 years to alter that Truth.
In understanding that there’s only ever been one Church and that this Church is the same one that early Christians made their spiritual home, each of us has the responsibility to continue the legacy entrusted to us. However few and far-flung we may be, each of us carries the torch fired by the same flame lit by Jesus himself. What an honor and privilege it is to carry that torch! And how humbling.
The full membership of the one true Church is known only to God and Jesus and to whomever they choose to reveal it. In the spiritual realm, members of the Church who are still on Earth are visibly marked as God’s people. If you’re genuinely born again and therefore a member of the Church, you bear God’s mark. By this mark, you’re known in the spiritual realm as Jesus’ followers and children of God. Even the dark entities know your spiritual pedigree and keep their distance (other than when God permits them to tempt you, during which they can only tempt you to the exact measure that God stipulates).
I am reminding you here today of the first Church and of the foundation that was laid for that Church by God because other churches are vying for your attention and ultimately for your soul. Some of these other churches also call themselves the “one true church” and try to lord over you so that you cow under their dictates. In the past, if you didn’t cow, you’d be tortured until you did or until you died. These interventions have not entirely gone away; they’re just not as public as they used to be and the methods have been… sanitized.
The foundation we stand on is the same foundation stood on by Jesus and his first disciples and followers. These are our brethren. All the Marys in the New Testament are our brethren, as are the Jameses and the Judases (except for Iscariot). All the faithful, whether named or not, are our brethren. This is our Church and these are our people. There is only one Church standing on one foundation, and anything and anyone not standing on that foundation is not ours, is not the Church.
There are many other churches standing on many other foundations. Let them be. If they choose, let them come to you, but don’t you go to them: “What concord hath Christ with Belial… and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?”
We, the Church, stand on the uncut stone of the rock of God.
Where we stand now may we stand forever.
WHY I CANNOT IN GOOD CONSCIENCE CELEBRATE EASTER ANYMORE
CHARLO, New Brunswick, March 30, 2024 – When someone brings something to your attention, you have two choices: You can either listen to what’s presented and consider its merits, or you can ignore it.
Here’s what I’m bringing to your attention, my dear fellow born-again believers: Easter is not a Christian holiday. Over the centuries, and under the direction and authority of the various Eastern and Western dominant denominations, Easter has become known as a Christian holiday, but it isn’t Christian.
During his final Passover meal with his disciples, Jesus directed his followers to raise a glass in his honor and memory at future Passover meals. This directive has been stylized over the centuries as “the Lord’s Supper” and is in fact celebrated daily all over the world, not just once a year at Passover. I doubt that Jesus intended us to celebrate a stylized version of the Passover ritual every day, let alone several times a day, but that’s a topic for another discussion. What I do know that Jesus intended us to do is to observe Passover, but to do so in the new way he’d demonstrated – with the wine as his blood and the bread as his body – as a token of the new covenant.
Passover is not Easter. The dominant denominations will occasionally pepper their liturgies with words like “paschal” that appear to connect Easter and Passover, but these observances are two distinct events. The anti-christ emperor Constantine, at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, openly stated that he wanted to divorce Easter from the Jewish Passover so that the two observances would be distinct and unrelated. That’s a shame, because that’s not what God stipulated for his people when he directed them precisely when and how to observe the Passover; it’s also not what Jesus directed his disciples to do. I wonder on who’s authority Constantine overrode both God and Jesus in setting a date for Easter that had nothing to do with the Jewish Passover?
Just as a reminder, Easter occurs on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox (in adherence to the solar calendar), whereas Passover occurs on the 14th day of Abib, in the evening (in adherence to the lunar calendar). The Passover date is as good as writ in stone, as it comes from God himself. If the Passover date is as good as writ in stone and Jesus taught us to observe the Passover in the new way that he directed, why do Christians celebrate Easter and all but ignore Passover?
I’ve written here before about what I think of the Catholic church and other denominational organizations. My opinion hasn’t changed over the years; if anything, it’s solidified. When Christianity became a state religion under Constantine in the early 4th century AD, it did so by absorbing all the local pagan (that is, demonic) practices and rituals. Otherwise, the masses wouldn’t have accepted the state decree to “convert”. What that means is that the Christianity we’ve inherited is thoroughly polluted with practices and rituals that have nothing to do with the Church founded by Jesus. One of those practices and rituals is celebrating the fertility feast of the goddess Ostrea, a.k.a. Easter. And so Easter became the neo-Christian Passover substitute, with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection clumsily overlaid, and has continued as such to this day.
I cannot in good conscience celebrate a pagan festival that was tweaked to grudgingly include Jesus. Passover, on the other hand – Passover I will observe as Jesus directed me to observe it. I will observe the Passover ritual and the accompanying Feast of Unleavened Bread. I will do so because I’ve been directed by God and Jesus to do so. I implicitly and unquestioningly trust their authority to direct me. I only wish I’d paid closer attention to their direction sooner, but as my grandmother would say, “better late than never”.
What you choose to do with this information is up to you, but I strongly suggest that you take it to heart if you’re still celebrating Easter. The early Church (which is the same Church you’re in today, if you’re genuinely born-again) continued to observe Passover as Jesus directed them to observe it. When Easter officially replaced the observance of Passover for Christians, those who rejected Easter were considered heretics and treated as such. This is a part of our heritage that is glossed over and swept under the rug, but we need to claim it, remember it, abhor it, and then stand firm in the traditions of Jesus, not of Constantine.
There is one true Church and one true Church only, and that is the Church founded by God and Jesus, as foretold in the Old Testament. Easter is not celebrated in that Church. Passover is observed, in the new way shown to us by Jesus to herald the new covenant enshrined in the new testament, sealed in Jesus’ blood. This is my Church. This is my God. This is my ritual. This is my Messiah.
Anyone trying to make me to think or do otherwise will have my Father to contend with, and good luck with that.
CELEBRATING DARKNESS: THE COMING SOLAR ECLIPSE AND EARTH HOUR
CHARLO, N.B., March 29, 2024 – Throughout human history, solar eclipses and other events that plunged Earth into unexpected or unnatural darkness were considered ill omens. Far from celebrating or encouraging participation in them like a spectator sport, phenomena that caused the light to dim or go out were universally viewed with uneasiness, even fear. In some cultures, elaborate myths developed to explain these periodic and sudden spells of darkness, and all the myths roundly and unanimously condemned the darkness as evil.
That is, until modern times, when darkness has been rebranded as an excuse to party and the only kind of fear being invoked is FOMO (fear of missing out).
For us born-again believers, darkness is not a friend. We don’t seek it out, we don’t embrace it, and we certainly don’t celebrate it or encourage its occurrence. We are to be the light in the darkness, not the breath that blows the candle out.
I mention this because publicity about the upcoming solar eclipse (April 8, 2024) is reaching hysterical proportions, and it’s easy to get caught up in it. We need to keep our distance from these dubious celebrations that are frankly bordering on pagan frenzy. What is the attraction to events that celebrate physical darkness? The same attraction that draws souls towards spiritual darkness.
In Moses’ day, darkness was the penultimate of the ten plagues brought by God to punish the ancient Egyptians for enslaving the children of Israel. The plague of darkness was not at all celebrated: in fact, the darkness was so thick, people had to remain in their homes, bedridden and helpless, for three days until the plague ended. The only place in Egypt where light shone was in the houses of God’s people. Having been in the antechamber of Hell just before my rebirth, I experienced just such a thick and total darkness. I never want to experience it again.
Earth Hour is another cultic “celebration” of darkness. Wrapped up as feel-good virtue signalling, Earth Hour calls the faithful to purposely plunge themselves and those around them into darkness for 60 minutes, allegedly for the sake of the environment. Iconic landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House, the Empire State Building, and even the so-called Jesus statue in Rio de Janeiro annually “go dark” in obeisance to the call. School children are especially targeted to embrace the darkness and in so doing to guilt their parents into going along with them. Me, I purposely turn on all my lights during Earth Hour wherever I am as a small but heartfelt gesture towards those who are trying to guilt me into embracing the dark. I will never – not for any cause – purposely go dark, except when I’m sleeping.
Jesus’ crucifixion was marked by three hours of darkness, from noon until mid-afternoon. Given its long duration, this was obviously not a solar eclipse but a supernatural event brought by God as a sign, and not a good one. Just before the light returned, Jesus died. The supernatural darkness symbolized the spiritual darkness that had overtaken those who were once God’s people. It was a sign of judgement and condemnation, not a signal to party.
On April 8th, mid-afternoon, I will not be donning “eclipse glasses”, even though I currently live in the path of totality. I will not be staring mesmerized into the sun while it disappears behind the moon and turns day into night. I will instead be turning every light in my house on, lighting all my candles, and going into my closet to pray. Considering the elements that are pushing and promoting this dark event, I cannot see it as anything other than an ill omen, and I want nothing to do with it.
BE WARNED
MCLEODS, New Brunswick, March 28, 2024 – I went down an internet research rabbit hole a few days ago that God had invited me to explore. I needed the information (initially I wanted it; then I realized I needed it) to confirm a few other tidbits that he’d floated my way. Putting the pieces together and seeing what emerged was a shock enough, but an even greater shock was the vehemency of God’s warning not to say anything about what he’d shown me.
I’ve never been one to keep things quiet. When I was a kid, my mother would get me to tag along with my older sister and her friends, knowing that if my sister did something she shouldn’t, I’d blab on her. In my defence, didn’t think of it as blabbing; I just relayed the information as I saw it. My mother well knew my need to narrate my every lived experience to the minutest detail and so used me as her secret information weapon. But my poor beleaguered sister never did anything wrong so there was never anything to blab. When my mother realized that she’d raised a saint (my sister, not me), my intel services were no longer required.
God often shows his children things that he doesn’t want them to relay to others, or at least not for the time being. For me, keeping quiet can be a struggle, so it’s not enough for God simply to remind me to keep something quiet; he sometimes has to shock me into it. He did that yesterday, and it smarted, as shocks are meant to. So I had a double shock whammy – first by the information that was revealed, and secondly by the stern warning not to reveal it to others.
The Bible is full of such shocks in the form of revelations as well as of warnings to keep things quiet for a time. God often revealed information to his prophets and then told them only to say that they couldn’t reveal what they’d been told. Even Jesus did that with his disciples (for instance, at the transfiguration) and with the demons who wouldn’t stop blabbing that he was the Messiah.
Why does he do that? Why does God reveal something to us and then tell us only to say that we can’t say what he revealed? So that our brothers and sisters will heed the warning and likewise not reveal what they’ve been told not to reveal. It’s a built-in warning system for his children, by his children, and among his children, protecting them.
The internet can be a very dangerous tool for born-again believers. As much as it’s useful, it can also lead to our harm if we don’t use it as God intends us to use it. I’m not talking about porn sites or about going onto the deep web and hunting down snuff sites – we know to stay away from those. I’m talking about information that is generally just under the surface and needs only a little prodding to be brought into the daylight. Much of that information we also need to let be, but if God points us towards it (like a clue in a treasure hunt), we need to treat it as reverently as we would his direct revelations and follow his instructions to the letter.
The reward for keeping quiet when we’re told to keep quiet is that God will entrust us with more and greater revelations. The punishment for revealing what God has warned us not to reveal can be harsh, up to and including spiritual death. Yes, God is our Father and he loves us unconditionally, but he also has unbending rules regarding revelations that need to be followed; if we choose to break those rules, we suffer accordingly.
When the sign says to stay away from the edge of the cliff, I stay away from it. I don’t get mad at the sign, I heed it. I’m grateful for it.
My brothers and sisters: Be warned.
JERUSALEM
JAQUET RIVER, New Brunswick, March 26, 2024 – When they took us away, I didn’t know how far they would take us or how long we were expected to stay. We just went with them because we saw no other option that would lead to life, at least not to a life that was worth living.
We didn’t trust them. I need to get that out there and lay it down at your feet so that you’re clear about our motives. We didn’t trust them but we went with them because we wanted what they offered. We wanted the food and the promise of more food, and the warmth, and maybe even a bed to sleep in. We were tired of being hungry all the time and sleeping on the ground. But we didn’t trust them and didn’t tell the interpreter our real names or where we were from. We lied and then we lied about lying and we didn’t care. We knew they were lying too, but they had food and we didn’t, and so we went with them.
I don’t know where the camp was. They blindfolded us part of the way and changed wagons a few times. I lost all sense of direction and then suddenly we were there, wherever there was. I could smell something cooking, maybe soup. It smelled good. But I couldn’t see anything because they kept us blindfolded until they’d looked us over and decided who to keep. I don’t know what they did with the ones they didn’t keep and I don’t know who made that decision. I just know they took us outside to get cleaned up and not all of us came back inside. We were still blindfolded when they took us to get dressed in some kind of a uniform and then sat us down on long benches in a mess hall. That’s when we were told to take off our blindfolds.
We looked at each other’s freshly combed hair and clean faces across the tables like we were looking at strangers. They wouldn’t let us talk and there was only so much we could say with our eyes. But there was food and there was warmth. And so we ate in silence, grateful for these small mercies and for feeling strangely safe among our sworn enemies.
I think part of the reason they wouldn’t let us talk is that they couldn’t understand us. We couldn’t understand them, either, though we quickly got used to being ordered around by the swords they were always pointing at us, even when we were sleeping. They didn’t trust us any more than we trusted them. The only privacy they gave us was in the latrines or the bathhouse, where we had to go one at a time, never more than one at a time, and never more than for a few minutes. Any longer, and one of them would show up barking an order we didn’t understand and waving a sword in our face.
I’d been a prisoner before, but this was different. They used us for labour, mostly in the fields around the camp and some of us for housekeeping duties like laundry and cooking. There were no fences. We were free to leave if we wanted to, but where would we go? Jerusalem was in ruins. All our villages were destroyed. They knew our shame was chains enough. We all, at some point, thought about running, but none of us did. We stayed where we were because of the food and the warmth, and eventually because of the silence. After what we’d seen, it was better not to speak.
When the sickness started, it hit them harder than us. At first they thought we’d done something to the food and beat us for it, but when they saw that we were getting sick, too, they backed off. It wasn’t the kind of sickness you’d get from food, anyway. It was something else, something none of us had seen before. It would start with coughing and a fever and then blood would pour from every part of their body, like their swords were carving them up inside. From the time the coughing started until death overcame them was a span of only a few days. We looked after them as best we could and then some of us got sick. That’s when they decided to break camp.
I went with them because I didn’t know what else to do. I’d been with them at that point for about six months and gotten used to the harsh incomprehensible barking and omnipresent swords. It’s amazing what you can get used to and grow fond of. I even mourned their deaths, these mine enemies.
I can’t say they treated us well, but it could have been worse and it was far far better than being left to rot in what was left of Jerusalem. When we met up with some other refugees at the Egyptian border, they let us go. They were more concerned about their own survival and so had no more use for us. It was bittersweet to see them trundle off in their wagons. Whatever hate I’d felt for them at the beginning had long since melted into a kind of grateful familiarity that surprised me. They were nothing like I’d expected. Jeremiah had told us as much.
Too bad more of us hadn’t listened.
THE RISE OF THE BLASPHEMY POLICE: A FEW WORDS ON BILL C-367
MCLEODS, New Brunswick, March 25, 2024 – There’s a bill currently working its way through the Canadian parliament that will likely one day become law. Among other things, the bill proposes repealing (that is, removing) legal protections for people to speak their mind based on their beliefs. Canadians are currently legally protected to speak their mind, including about Jesus and God. If the proposed law comes into effect, we’ll still be able to speak our mind, but only if it aligns with government-approved sentiments around, for instance, the alphabet rainbow contingent or DEI dogma.
The new law being proposed is a blasphemy law. It aims to silence any opposition to the turbo-charged woke religion that now permeates every aspect of public and private life in Canada. As with other blasphemy laws, the punishment is harsh (up to life imprisonment) and wildly disproportionate to the perceived “crime” of spoken or written words. It is also sorely out of place in a country whose very anthem describes that nation as “strong and free”. Surely a strong and free nation is full of strong and free people, and strong and free people wouldn’t be bothered by mere words!
I grew up chanting “sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me”. I grew up both hearing and declaring: “It’s a free country; I can say what I want!” One of my grandmother’s favourite quips was: “If you don’t like what I’m saying, don’t listen to it”. It was inconceivable to me, as a born and bred Canadian, to be told I wasn’t allowed to say something for whatever reason. My freedom to express my beliefs was writ in stone, or so I believed. Then blasphemy laws rebranded as “hate” laws were introduced in Canada several years ago, though without gaining much traction. Bill 367 is the 2.0 version of those laws on steroids.
I have no idea what will happen to this blog when the bill passes. I also have no idea what will happen to me because I have no intention of not speaking God’s Truth, however “hateful” it may be mislabeled by the woke faithful. I’ve already been banished to digital Siberia on several platforms through shadow-banning and outright banning; I’m guessing my blog will be unavailable in Canada when the law comes into effect or it may be removed from WordPress altogether. I’ll deal with whatever comes as it comes, and with God’s guidance.
Jesus tells us to watch, not to fear. He says that when we’re unwelcome in one place, we’re to shake the dust of that place from our feet and go somewhere else. There are always workarounds that don’t involve compromise. We must never compromise God’s Word, no matter what the cost. Canada is quickly going dark in the worst possible way, which should not be surprising, considering that the majority of Canadians and “newcomers” have turned from God and are living the rewards of that choice.
Jesus was accused of blasphemy when he stood up in the synagogue in Nazareth and revealed himself to be the Messiah. The punishment for blasphemy was death by stoning, but Jesus simply walked through the midst of the enraged crowd and went on his way. God protects his children, yet we shouldn’t take his protection for granted or as license to do as we please. We need to deal with issues as God gives us guidance, all while holding tightly onto his hand. Then we get his protection.
I am watching the progression of the blasphemy bill through the Canadian houses of parliament and will act accordingly when this abomination is passed into law. Until then, I’ll air my opinions and beliefs in Canada as freely as I always have, including on this blog. And if anyone is offended by my calling a spade a spade or a sin a sin, my straight-shooting saint of a grandmother has a remedy for that: “If you don’t like what you’re reading, don’t read it.”
MIRROR MIRROR: THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY
CHARLO, New Brunswick, March 24, 2024 – There are no mirrors in Heaven. There aren’t any windowpanes either, though there are windows. You don’t need screens and windowpanes in Heaven because bugs don’t bite or sting and the weather stays outdoors where it belongs. Everything is perfect in Heaven, so everything is right where it belongs.
I’ve written before (here, here, here, and elsewhere) about Heaven, or at least about what God has shown me and allowed me to share with others. One way to describe Heaven is “Earth perfected” or perhaps you could describe Earth as an imperfect prototype of Heaven. Not all of God’s creation on Earth makes it to Heaven, and there’ll be things in Heaven that we, if we do make it there, have never seen before, things we can’t even imagine now. The visions given to Ezekiel and other prophets hint at that.
Paul talks about seeing the Heavenly realm “through a glass darkly” or seeing “in part”. God shows me little pieces of my little piece of Heaven and glimpses of other people’s little pieces, but that’s it for now. I see only in part. Sometimes he goes into more detail but tells me to keep those details to myself for the time being. But I do know, because scripture tells us, that we’re known by different names in Heaven and in fact we’re already known in the spiritual realm by those names. Each name is unique: There’s only one of each, just like there’s only one of each of us. We’ll learn our name if and when we get to Heaven.
Jesus tells us that we’ll be like the angels and that people don’t marry and aren’t married in Heaven. That’s a roundabout way of saying that people don’t have children in Heaven. There’s no procreation there or activities that lead to procreation. It’s shocking for some people to think there’s no sex in Heaven, but there isn’t. There are no sex organs, so no sex. Jesus wasn’t kidding when he talked about people becoming eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake. Sexual activity is very much a crude relic that we leave behind like so many filthy rags, some of us leaving it behind even before we leave Earth.
I wish I could describe to you the perfection of Heaven, but the best I can say is: Imagine the best day you’ve experienced on Earth being the prototype for Heaven. There are no “off” days or “bad hair” days in Heaven because the elements that cause you to have off and bad hair days on Earth are not present. There’s no free will in Heaven, so no bad choices are made resulting in bad days. There are also no more tests, trials, or temptations, so again, no bad days. There are also no ill-meaning or unhappy people in Heaven causing spiritual contagion to everyone around them. All sources of pain and unhappiness are gone and our will is completely and perfectly aligned with God’s, so every day in Heaven is a perfect day, as all our choices are godly ones.
I’ve written before about the perfection of our glorified Heavenly bodies. We’ll all be beautiful with a beauty surpassing even the greatest beauty on Earth, as our bodies will not be flesh and blood but a Heavenly substance that never decays. We’ll all have perfect athleticism, perfect pitch, perfect rhythm, and perfect form. This will make us superb athletes (though we’ll still have to work at learning our chosen disciplines), superb singers (like the angels!), and superb dancers, and we’ll all be beautiful to look at. In fact, we’ll be so beautiful, God will not permit any mirrors in Heaven lest we get caught up in the beauty of our own image and become vain, like Satan did.
Some of you will be pleased to learn that we’ll eat as much as we want in Heaven and never get fat. ;D
We’ll sleep every night (if we want to sleep; we don’t have to: I mean, our heavenly bodies don’t require sleep) in a perfect bed with perfect pillows, enjoying a perfect sleep that leaves us perfectly refreshed when we wake up in the morning.
We can talk with all the animals and insects; they can understand us and we can understand them. There’s no animosity in Heaven, so we’re all friends. If you want to have animals and insects as friends, you can. If you don’t, you don’t have to. Heaven is like that.
Nothing dies in Heaven; there’s no decay and no dirt or dust, so there’s no housecleaning. You also don’t have to cook (unless you want to) and dishes get cleaned in a way that I don’t yet quite understand. You never have to bathe or wash your hair because you don’t sweat and you don’t pee or poo. You’re perpetually clean. Being perpetually clean remains your default state for all eternity. But you can take a bath if you enjoy taking baths and you can swim with all the creatures in deliciously warm seas without fearing them or having them fear you.
Your allotted land in Heaven is made up of all your favourite natural places on Earth. When Jesus says to store up your treasures in Heaven, he also means all the places in God’s earthly creation that you love. God shows me my house in Heaven every day, and I see that it’s full of all my funny little earthly treasures that I alone value, along with all my treasured foods, while outside are my treasured trees and flowers and landscapes and views. Everyone in Heaven has a unique house full of their special treasures and surrounded by their favourite landscapes and views. Some live with others and some live alone, depending on their preference.
Our pets are there, too. You’d better believe it and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise – our beloved pets are in Heaven waiting for us, and we’ll be able to talk to them and interact with them just like we talk and interact with people on Earth. Only it will be better in Heaven, because there’ll be no misunderstandings and no biting or scratching or fleas, just love.
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One of the saddest things about unbelievers is that they miss out on visions of Heaven. They have no conception of Heaven and think that Hell is going to be a party place where they’ll be able to party with all their family and friends forever, doing whatever they want as long as it feels good, but that’s the last thing Hell is. Hell is the holding pen for those who end up in the lake of fire, and the lake of fire doesn’t sound much like a party place to me. And forget about spending eternity with all your friends and family who didn’t make it to Heaven – there are no family reunions in Hell, just fear and pain and dreading what comes next. And then there’s only pain and endless remorse.
I would rather forgo whatever I have to forgo now, doing without and allowing God to work through me in ways I might not entirely understand, than to try to get my Heaven on Earth and lose the real Heaven when all is said and done. The little bits and pieces that God shows me of Heaven are themselves sufficient for me to forgo whatever I have to forgo now, be it through a test or a trial. God says he requires mercy not sacrifice and mercy is almost always more difficult than sacrifice. Mercy is the ultimate test. Better to pass that one now, while there’s still time, and pass it again and again and again, whenever it’s required, because when the age of mercy draws to a close, no matter how much you plead and sacrifice, it will be too late.
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There are no mirrors in Heaven, though allegedly we won’t miss them. I have it on good authority that wondering what we look like doesn’t even occur to us in Heaven. That sinful part of us – the pride part – will have been removed.
That’s another reason why there are no mirrors in Heaven: We won’t want any.
LIFE IN SATAN’S WORLD
CHARLO, New Brunswick, March 16, 2024 – The dark energy generated by emotions such as misdirected anger, guilt, unholy fear, and agony is the spiritual life blood of unholy beings. The desire to feed on this form of energy drives Satan’s agents to inspire and actively encourage war, revolutions, torture, murder, pornography, unfettered sexuality (especially deviant and degenerate forms of it), violent entertainment, violent protests, horror fiction and films, and suicide. The energy released during these activities and events strengthens the demons that attend on the participants and expands Satan’s areas of influence.
Jesus stated point-blank that the world is under Satan. God has given Satan administrative authority over the world, but Satan can only do what God permits, and God will only permit what has been earned or what he’s using for testing purposes. Satan’s role, and the role of those who serve him, is to tempt people into acting in ways that are contrary to their spiritual benefit so that they’ll earn worse and worse rewards. He does this mainly by lying, that is, by misrepresenting Truth. In Satan’s economy, what is godly is made to appear “backward”, unfair, unjust, and unattractive, while evil is dressed up and sold to us as progressive, fair, just, and desirable.
It is worth reminding ourselves, lest we get too comfortable in this world, that Satan and his minions are in control. They run all levels of government and royalty, most “global” businesses, public and private education, public and private healthcare, all banking and financial systems, all military and public/private law enforcement and security, all religious institutions, most media, and the lion’s share of the communications and entertainment industries. They also control the drug, prostitution, illegal arms, and human trafficking trades. Official and unofficial mafias fall under their realm of authority as well, including supra-national entities such as the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, and their offshoot charities, think-tanks, initiatives, conventions, and meetings. All regulating and governing authorities in the world operate under Satan, but Satan is strictly limited by God for the time being. Because he’s limited by God, Satan can only do what God permits him to do, and God will only permit the precise amount of evil – to the exact iota – that has been earned or agreed to by those on the receiving end of it or what God sees as a beneficial test. Satan cannot override God’s limitations.
It’s important to understand the extent of Satan’s reach in the world in order to appreciate how deeply the demonic realm infiltrates every aspect of worldly life from conception to grave. For us born-again believers, Satan has no power over us beyond the corporeal. Spiritually, we’re under God’s authority and protection, which Satan and his demons recognize and cannot breach. This protection is the victory won by Jesus’ sacrifice and is inviolable as long as we remain loyal to God. It is for me a profound and humbling comfort to know that Satan has no hold on me anymore.
Those who are of the world, however, have no such comfort. Being spiritually deaf, blind, and dumb, they’re easy prey for Satan. No matter how many times politicians lie to them, they continue to vote for and support them. No matter how many medical errors, incompetencies, corruptions, and outright murders are exposed in the healthcare system, the people of the world (including, unfortunately, most Christians) continue to flock to doctors for treatment. No matter how much corruption is reported about law enforcement, the worldly, for the most part, continue to obey the enforcers. Those who are of the world operate in a state of cognitive dissonance, meaning that even though they are presented with clear evidence of fraud and ill intent, they continue to function as if that evidence doesn’t exist. Their entire being relies on ignoring Truth and embracing lies.
It’s no wonder, then, that human sacrifice has been repackaged as euthanasia and is being marketed as preferential to natural death. This rebranding has Satan’s claw marks all over it, as we only need to ask “Who benefits?” to see who’s behind it. Satan benefits firstly by getting the suicide victim to violate God’s law against killing (suicide literally means “self-killing”) and secondly by having the suicide victim endure horrendous suffering during his or her death throes, which, as mentioned previously, feeds and expands the spiritual energy of dark entities. Satan also benefits from the harvesting of the suicide victim’s flesh and organs during the death throes (most euthanasia victims agree ahead of time to donate their organs and flesh), which are then sold for a tidy profit.
Torture during death throes releases certain chemicals in the tortured body that tenderize the meat and give it a better taste. This is why animals are terrorized during some slaughtering processes and why many animals, both domestic and wild, “play” with (i.e., terrorize) their prey before killing them. It is worth noting that not all of the human flesh and organs harvested by medical teams are destined for transplant recipients, medical schools, or research facilities; some of it ends up on dinner plates.
This is the sad reality of Satan’s world, but none of these horrendous practices are new. In fact, they’re as old as recorded history, which not surprisingly also began around the same time as the fallen angels landed on Earth and started teaching humans their dark ways. Human sacrifice, cannibalism, and sexual depravity quickly became accepted and ritualized in most cultures, including those that gave birth to Judaism. Read the back story on Abraham and how he physically and spiritually escaped his own cultural heritage (you’ll find the story in the apocrypha). If nothing else, it very clearly demonstrates that there are indeed instances when you can never ever go home again.
We need always to keep in mind that Satan’s main mode of operation is deception. God brought him onboard the plan of salvation because Satan’s so good at deceiving. As Jesus said, when Satan lies, he’s speaking his own language. This means that everything and everyone under Satan’s authority likewise needs to be viewed as deceptive, as their orders and directives come straight from the Father of Lies.
That’s not to say that, just because Satan’s issuing the directives behind the scenes, we should actively oppose worldly authorities. Jesus never did. He well understood that everything happening in the world was permitted by God, which meant that actively opposing worldly authorities by, for instance, protesting or engaging in revolutionary activities, would be the same as actively opposing God.
Yet, that’s also not to say that Jesus went along with everything that worldly authorities dished out. Right from get-go, when Herod issued a kill order for all children aged two and under in a certain region, Joseph and Mary didn’t hang around waiting for the soldiers to arrive with swords drawn. No. God warned them about the imminent danger and advised them to grab Jesus and head to Egypt right away, which they did. They didn’t protest Herod’s decree or try to defy it; they simply removed themselves from its reach before it could affect them. This is a picture-perfect example of how we, as followers of Jesus, should deal with the ungodly laws and mandates that are being passed in this world: We simply remove ourselves from their reach.
We see this approach again when Jesus coolly walked through the midst of the mob in Nazareth that was trying to kill him and went on his way. He didn’t resist his frenzied former neighbours or try to reason with them; he simply, with the protection and guidance of God, removed himself from their reach. He did this again and again throughout his ministry until it was his time, at which point he fully submitted to the arresting authorities and to everything that came after his arrest. Peter and Paul and the other apostles likewise did the same, not resisting authorities when they arrested them or beat them, but relying on God for strength and guidance, so that sometimes they had to endure the test of a beating or an imprisonment and sometimes they were whisked away before they could be caught.
Satan isn’t going anywhere for the rest of our time here on Earth. He and/or his demons will be our constant companions, whether we see them hovering next to us or not. Most of the people we know are under their authority and can turn against us at any time, which means they can’t be fully trusted. God we can trust, Jesus we can trust, other born-again believers we can mostly trust, but everyone else we need to keep at arm’s length.
Yes, Satan is running this show, but God is the producer, and what he says goes. I write all this as a reminder of the kind of world we live in (lest we get too comfortable in it) and also as a reminder of how grateful we, as born-again believers, need to be, every day and every night, for God’s unbreachable and loving protection.
We may be in the world, but we’re not of the world: We’re God’s.
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“And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.”
Isaiah 4:5
A BORN-AGAIN BELIEVER 