The Choosing Ground

I have two stories in my life that whenever I share them with others they often
say, “You need to write that down in a book.” I thought this little booklet would do.

– Scott

Christmas Vacation Story 1988

Home for Christmas over college break… ahhhh… what a nice break it had been. Tomorrow morning I would be returning to college – an 18 hour drive from Iowa to Virginia. I would be giving a friend a ride back to school as well. It was her first year in college and my second. She was a little homesick and sad to be leaving again, but like all breaks or vacations – they go by so fast.

That evening was a family get together with many of our relatives. We were enjoying our different and many conversations when I noticed my grandparents with their coats on heading toward the door to leave. “That’s odd,” I thought…even though I said my good byes 20 minutes earlier, Grandpa would always come by and pray with me before a big trip or a long good bye. Maybe he is not feeling well or is really tired. Grandpa’s hand was on the door knob; the large kitchen and living room were still full of conversations, and then I thought I heard his voice. He was still facing the door with his head down. I then realized he was praying – out loud – I think he was too tired to ask everyone to take a break in their conversations. As he prayed, group by group began to notice and a hush soon replaced all the conversations. He prayed only a few minutes… I have heard my grandpa pray many times… this felt different – strong, imploring, asking for great protection, seeking angelic intervention and His blessing on my next semester. I gave him and my grandma another hug good bye and thanked him for his prayer on my behalf.

That morning we left for college around 9:00 in my used, deep red 1970’s Subaru. I had purchased it at the end of my first year of college in Virginia. It was affordable at $750. It was my first stick shift, and I had to learn how to drive it right after I bought it. I remember getting it down pretty well the first day. That night I remember thanking God for such a good deal when I felt a very strong impression on me. “Give Me your car.” “Lord,” I thought,”It’s really a nothing car.” But again – “That’s fine… you can use it, take care of it – but… give it to Me.” I thought,”Sure it’s Yours.” It had been mostly a reliable car in the short time that I used it. The car got us home to Iowa from Virginia for Christmas break and now it would get us back. We left on Thursday, January 12, 1989. I remember that because we would get to college early Friday morning on January 13… Friday the 13th. I am not superstitious, but I remember that it was Friday the 13th when we arrived at school.

We traveled through Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and were now in Virginia. I drove the whole way and now it was 1:00 or 2:00 AM Friday morning. I was beat. I was spent. I could no longer keep my eyes open. I could not go on. I woke my friend and told her I could pull over and sleep a couple of hours or she could drive if she felt up to it. We were 2 or 3 hours from school at this point. She said she was fine with taking over the driving. We were now off the interstates and on country state roads. I gave her directions, switched places in the front seats and were off on the last leg of our trip. Leaning the passenger seat back so that I could sleep, I noticed that the seat belt was across my neck. I thought, “This might not be a good idea if we were in an accident… stop thinking that way Scott – go to sleep.” I was soon off to a deep sleep.

I was in a very deep dream – the kind you can remember if you wake up abruptly. I recall almost a battle scene – not of colors and visions but full blown audio. Huge explosions, cries and distant screams… but they kept getting louder. Crunch, slam, impact, scream, shaking, rattling, explosions, metal crunching, and more screams all growing with volume. Moving out of the nightmare into consciousness, I opened my eyes…blackness…I could see nothing…and then I heard these words, “The car is going to explode, we have to get out now!!” I felt my face – my glasses were gone… looked around, ”Why is it so dog-gone dark? I cannot even see my hand in front of my face. Why am I so completely disoriented?”– I just could not get my bearings. “We have to get out, I can’t get out, I can’t get out, we must get out!” I was now in sensory overdrive. I was scrambling for my seat belt button but was having a hard time pushing it correctly. Click… I found it…wait a second…Am I falling? I landed on my head…What? I am upside down! The car was upside down; the windshield buried into the ground. My face was facing out my side window. The window was shattered and the opening was crushed down to half the opening. My eyes were now adjusting and I could begin to see a little out the side window area. I was able to crawl out the opening and stand to my feet. I began to take in the enormity of the event we just went through. “My car is demolished… crushed from every angle – Whoa!” As I was looking something happened that stunned me. I felt something like a hand rest on my shoulder, and I jumped and looked that way. Then what felt like a large bubble surrounded me and blocked out any noise and was filled with great love and an overwhelming peace. Then words, not audible, but words went right through me. “You’re okay aren’t you?” I looked at my hands, arms, legs and body and looked at the destroyed car. “Yes,” I said. “Scott…” “Yes,” I said. “The car” “Yes,” I said. “The car is mine and I’m taking it back.” “ Okay, no problem.” Then the bubble surrounding me seem to vanish away and I could hear the screaming again. I bent down and helped my friend out of my side of the car. I gave her a big hug and told her we were both safe and okay and to forget about the car. I looked at her and she was fine just like me.

It was around 3:00 or 4:00AM. No one came by for a good 20 minutes. The car was exactly parallel with the road on the shoulder by the white lines. While we were waiting I began to survey our surroundings. A little bit behind us was a driveway with a large 10 foot drop off on each side of it. A large gully opening for water flow ran underneath the driveway. The driveway led to a home about 100 yards back. I examined the large frontage grassy area between the house and the road. Just how much trash could someone have sprawled all over their yard I wondered? What a mess. I walked about 50 feet to something that drew my attention. I bent down and picked it up. “No way! “ This was my stereo system that I was bringing back to college. Here it was in pieces attached together by a pile of wires. The more I walked the more I realized all this ‘stuff’ was ours. It was everywhere. I leaned against a hill of dirt and grass where my friend was standing. I noticed in the dirt was a plastic item of some sort. I began to dig it up. Well what do you know – it was my mom’s homemade chocolate chip cookies in a plastic jar. I opened it up and offered her one with a smile. She said, “No thanks.” I munched on about 3. I have to admit I do have a little bit of a sweet tooth. Thanks for the cookies, Mom.

My friend was still shaken from this experience. I don’t blame her, after all she was wide awake for this rolling nightmare and still coming in for a landing. I slept through the nightmare and only experienced the sounds of it in my dreams. The best I can tell from later seeing this area in the daylight and hearing the account from my friend is the following. She was driving in an area that had rained a good amount before we got there. She had barely moved off the road with no shoulder when the right tires both sunk into the mud which pulled the car further off the road. That is when we hit the driveway – the tire marks went across the driveway right to a very thick stone wall which was about 3 feet high. I saw no broken or chipped stone or mortar. “How is that even possible?” I thought. We were probably going 55-60 mph when we hit the mud and maybe 40 when we hit the stone wall. No chipped or broken anything after impact – wow! We hit the wall and cleared it! Just past it was a 10 foot drop off into a large ditch which worked itself back up to road level 50 feet or so down the road. She remembered flying through the air – heading down into the ditch and then impact – all went dark – the battery tore loose and the lights went out. We must have flipped front to back once or twice and then sideways back over to parallel against the road. She said it felt as though it would never stop rolling – all in the dark.

As I leaned against the grass mound eating my mom’s chocolate chip cookies I saw a car approaching. We waved him down and he pulled over. He drove us 2 miles down the road to a gas station. I used a payphone to call 911 for the police. The operator said she would send the police but needed to clarify. “Is this the accident with the bull?” I thought,”The bull?” She explained someone had just called in reporting a bull had gotten out of a farmer’s field and had hit a car a mile down the same road. I replied that it was not our accident. When the police arrived at the gas station, he took us back to the car and called for a tow truck. By the time the tow truck arrived the sun was dawning and we could assess things more clearly. The car was so destroyed. How would we ever get our suitcases and belongings out of a completely crushed trunk?

The tow truck driver’s garage was just a couple of miles down the same road. We agreed that he would just keep the car as payment for the tow. It took a while and many tools to get the trunk pried open to retrieve our belongings. I called the college which was now about 45 minutes away and they said they would send a van over to pick us up in an hour.

As we waited I was looking out a window down that same road and my jaw dropped open. Can this day, along this road get any more bizarre? A farmer with a pick up truck heading our way seemed oblivious to his truck bed being engulfed in flames. About a football field’s length in front of the auto garage, he quickly pulled over and jumped to the back where he started throwing hay bails of fire off his truck. I don’t know how he did that without getting fried – the flames were so high. He must have been smoking with his window open, but who knows.

Taking this whole morning in, I thought we must be in the Bermuda triangle of country roads. It’s Friday the 13th and on a 2 -3 mile stretch our car flips over and over and is destroyed, another car is slammed into by a bull and a fire ball truck shows up that was barely spared! I remembered my agreement with the Lord about giving my simple car to Him, and that He told me after the accident that he was taking it back – it belonged to Him and not to me. I was just using it and taking care of what was His. I explained this new information to my friend. I told her to not feel bad or obligated for anything. God was taking His little car back.

I thought of the prayer my grandpa prayed for us just 2 days ago and how powerful it felt. I thanked God for my grandparents and for the Lord’s help. We had a few scratches on us. I learned at a deeper level to take prayer more seriously. It can pack a lot of power and help.

The Dump Truck

It was the winter and heading towards spring of my junior year of college. I would periodically attend ministry chapel as opposed to the general chapel that most students attended. One of the students at the ministry chapel was sharing about events over the past weekend. He had shared the truth about the forgiveness of sins through Christ and following/obeying Jesus and 30 some people talked with him and wanted that change in their life. I sat there listening and pondering. I have told others about Christ throughout my life and I don’t think 1 or 2 ever said they wanted that change in their life. That night I went for a walk and talked with God about what was in my heart. If you want people to know you, why is it so hard to talk with people about you and so often not much interest? My prayer was this – I will meet with you, God, every morning in the little chapel for half an hour a day before class for 30 days. Lead me to talk with someone who needs you and wants to hear about you and don’t let me chicken out of the situation. I had kept my promise and was up to 3 weeks.

The day began as any other ordinary day but would end in a most bizarre way. That morning after praying in the chapel, I had breakfast and classes. I went to lunch and then needed to drive off campus to go to the bank and store. It was going to be a quick trip… I had a big test to study for and needed to get back. Two friends tagged along as well who needed to go into town, also. There was a lot of construction going on around the campus and I noticed it every time I would head off campus. We passed the security gate and crossed the bridge and turned left with a mountain jetting up to my right with no shoulder, and a drop off on the left side of the road. I was approaching a stop sign with about 10 cars in front of me. I heard no audible voice but a different kind of voice seemed to shoot right through me – “The dump truck behind you is going to hit you.” It stunned me so much I blurted out, “That dump truck behind us is going to hit us!” The guys in the car turned and looked behind us to see the dump truck, starred a few seconds, and then back at me with a look that said, “How would you know that?” They continued talking while I kept an eye on the rear view mirror.

The truck got closer… moved back, then closer…moved back again. I thought, I can’t go to the right, there’s a mountain… I can’t go to the left, there is a drop off… and there are cars in front of me with a stop sign ahead. It happened. He moved in quite fast and slammed into my trunk and after we lunged forward, he ran into my car two more times and came to a stop. Everyone was stunned – they looked over at me as if to say, “How did you know?” I got out and walked to the large truck. I looked up… he looked down. I said, ”Why did you run into me? He replied, “I didn’t run into you, you coasted backwards and hit me. That’s a stick shift you’re driving right?” (WHAT!) – now this was over the top. “I am driving a stick shift, but I did not hit you, you hit me… 3 times!” He stuck to his story – “No, I didn’t. You hit me.” I replied, “ Well I do have two witnesses in my car that say different, but we need to get campus security to fill out an accident report.”

We pulled ahead to the stop sign, turned left heading down the mountain and pulled off to the right on the grass. We were all getting out of the car when the “voice” shot right through me again. “I want you to tell him … about me.” I sat back down in the car completely broadsided and stunned. “You can’t be serious! Are you kidding me?” I thought about the past 3 weeks of getting up early everyday – going to pray in the chapel – looking for the right opportunity that God would bring my way. “God, you want me to tell this obnoxious guy about you?” This … was the someone. I looked at my watch – 3:00. I got out of my car and walked over to the truck and talked to the guy about the accident. He was sticking to his side of the story. I walked away and over to my friends. They suggested one of them catch a ride back to campus to get security to come out and fill out an accident report. One of them did. He was gone for a while. Meanwhile, I was mulling over what to say to the guy and found myself saying, “I can’t do it.” I “heard” the voice again – “It’s not that hard… tell him I love him, died for his sins, and I can give him forgiveness.” Half an hour goes by of me going back and forth over what I should say. “I can’t do it Lord.” Then the voice said again, “Fine … the police are not coming until you do this.” Then I panicked. By now it was after 3:30. I had a huge test to study for and I needed to get back to campus.

Finally, my friend arrived … but with bad news. The campus security could not come because the accident occurred past the bridge and we were in the city limits now. The city police would have to come. However, for unexplained reasons, every available officer was backlogged and they had no idea when they could come. 4:00. I told my friends they might as well catch a ride back to campus since I did not know how long it would be . 5:00. The guy was now getting very impatient and irritated saying he needed to leave. He called his boss that owned the dump truck. The owner arrived with what I thought to be his 5 year old grandson, but later realized was his son. He looked worn out by life, weary and tired, but came across gentle and nice. I talked with him and the guy about the accident and the owner heard both sides. I think he believed my side of the story. I went about 50 feet away and sat down in the grass. I kept thinking … the police are not coming until you tell him about the love of God for him and what Jesus did for him on the cross. Finally, knowing full well this was the Lord speaking into me and what I was suppose to do, I prayed this. “Lord, if you really want me to do this… without a shadow of a doubt… have either the owner of the truck or the guy that ran into me come over here in the next sixty seconds and ask me any kind of question.” Ahhh … freedom. I had been sitting in the grass about twenty minutes – I was here and they were over there. My prayer was not very likely to happen.

Twenty seconds later the owner stood up, dusted off the grass from his pants, picked up his son, and headed my way. “No way … my heart started pounding and I started getting tunnel vision and a huge dread settled over me. I thought, “If I don’t tell this man about God, I will be dead tomorrow morning.” I’m not saying God spoke this into me, but I felt that way. He came up to me and asked me a question. To this day I cannot remember what he asked me, and I don’t think I even answered his question. I prayed, “God help me to know what to say.” “Have you ever been to church,” I asked? He looked at me kind of confused and said he had before. “Has anyone ever explained the gospel that Jesus died for your sins, and by repenting of breaking Gods ways and commands, He will transfer the punishment of all those sins to what He did on the cross for each persons benefit if they want to follow Him and His ways?” We talked for 10 – 15 minutes, and the driver of the truck was now standing near as well. I asked him if he wanted to transfer any wrongs done against God to the cross – that’s why Jesus died and rose from the dead. One verse in the Bible says the will of God the Father is that we believe in the One that He has sent. The word “believe” is always present tense and implies “obedience to”. The One sent was Jesus. The man was still holding his son when he replied that he wanted that. We prayed and when he was finished I looked at him and was surprised by his countenance. It was so different – happy, peaceful and almost lit up in a way. The “guy” standing near-by came over and asked, “Does God expect us to tell the truth?” He asked it with almost a fear and conviction. I answered, “Yes, He does.” He was quiet and really thinking. I then looked down the mountain road and what do you think I saw? The police car was coming up the road to fill out the accident report. They arrived right after I finally obeyed what God was telling me to do.

It was an amazing day. God answered my weeks of morning prayer by boxing me in and providing an off the wall situation. I finally obeyed and felt God’s blessing and relief. I have no idea how well I did on the test the next day.

The Choosing Ground Conversation

Life and the meaning of it has been the age-old question. What is the meaning of life and what is its purpose … or is there none. Some may think, “Why bother caring? You can never know for sure, and in the end you may have it all wrong.” This little closing is to point you to finding out this answer if you really want to know. God in His mercy will not hide this truth if you humble yourself and desire Him above anything else. Faith in God is not blind, ignorant faith – it is putting faith in the evidence He provides, and seeing the finger prints of His fingers in what He has done so that you may rejoice in it and give Him glory and embrace someone who deeply loves you and cares for you.

On the last pages of this booklet I have included a resource list of mostly You tube links and small books to give you heartfelt details to provide for you evidence, warnings, insights and care that life… created by a very personal God, is indeed … a choosing ground. He wants you to make a choice. Somewhere around 13, 14, 15 years old we mature and God moves along our heart in a deeper way and says, “Let’s reason together. I have the ability to make you clean – not guilty, and white as snow in your spirit – fresh, cleanly washed.

We are made in His image and in 3 parts – Body (our flesh), Soul, and Spirit. Our flesh side is what we are most familiar with – what we do with our bodies. Our soul, I have heard explained, is in layers. It is your emotions and personality and can be wounded by life or deeply blessed. Sometimes you feel deep inside that something is wrong but you can’t put your finger on it – it is buried in the layers. Our spirit, I have heard explained, is from within the expanse (almost ocean-like expanse) of God the Father. He knits your eternal spirit, which is from Him, into your fleshly body at the one cell level – at conception by your parents.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made by God. You are the clearest mirror of God’s creativity in all of his creation. Humans have the ability to make moral judgments, unlike the animals, but like the angels. The Scriptures in the Bible state that everything that was created in heaven and earth was created through Jesus and for Jesus (Colossians 1:16). Jesus was actively involved in creating this world, animals, the first man and woman, and all other living things long before He entered into it as a baby. The point of Jesus dying on the cross was to pay for the sins that we have committed against His established rules, which are for our protection now and for eternity. The Bible also says He is called the Word. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Jesus is not just the Son of God… He is God the Son.

Scripture after scripture points to the fact that God is love and God is judge. The Bible explains that there is a major glitch in this life that is being passed down in the flesh or gene pool. God has set up laws or rules to protect and provide for us – huge safety nets. Once sin touched mankind it is automatically passed down generation after generation. It messes with our flesh and constantly pushes us to break more of God’s laws and protective rules. The laws of God simply reveal good and evil. For example, in the law, do not steal, reveals evil. The polar opposite is giving. This is good… it is right, it’s where the word righteousness comes from. If it is right in the eyes of God, it is righteousness. You can see this comparison in each of the ten commandments. The last commandment, do not covet, seems to explode out into many applications. For example, God said if you will not forgive those that sin against you he will no longer forgive you. You can covet yourself in such a way as to say “How dare you do that to me?” And you may be justified in feeling that way, but it cannot rise above God’s command to forgive. Why? FOR YOUR PROTECTION. When you forgive, it allows God to zero in on those that were very inappropriate to you and to deal with them – your grudge can block that and block your very own forgiveness between you and God – that is big time serious. Let’s look at another – fornication – sex before marriage. Hey, you say, that’s not one of the 10. Do not commit adultery is for married people. Back to coveting – you’re coveting intimacy with another that you have no right to without being in covenant with. God is the very one that made intimacy and passion and in a covenant of marriage He encourages to let the fires burn bright and throw another log on the fire. Outside of marriage however, this act will burn down the house … and possibly the forest. Jesus went a step further to talk about coveting. If a man lusts in his heart after another woman he is guilty of adultery. The last of the ten commandments, do not covet, encompasses so many areas of our lives that it is impossible to rid it from our hearts completely. For that reason, Jesus came as a baby to be born and to fulfill the law. He died on a cross and was resurrected from the dead, never to die again, so that you would have an opportunity to repent, accept his free gift of salvation and become righteous again. In a sense, it’s like going back to the garden of Eden, being sin-free before eating of the tree. But now, just like then, you have a choice. The commandment, “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” has transitioned into “Do not break the ten commandments”.

When we ask Jesus Christ to be our God and follow and obey His ways there is still this lingering problem or concern. “What if I ‘eat from the tree again’ and once again break His laws? I am afraid I cannot pull this off.” After we receive Christ we still have our fleshly nature that wants its own way. It wants to still sin against God’s rules. Once we come to God, we need to realize this. We have this beautifully wrapped gift that lays next to our bed every morning and every night – it is called repentance. You belong to God now, and He commands that if we love Him, we will obey Him. Once again, this is for our protection. Sincerely repent. Tell God you’re sorry, and He will keep you clean and close to Him – purified and holy.

Here is a tip: God summarizes the way to live all in four verses; Matthew 22:37- 40 – “Jesus said you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” You don’t need to live your life trying to earn brownie points or gold stars. He wants to love on you and be with you as a close friend. Satan is the one that beats people over the head with their sins. And when someone may warn them of a sin, they run the other way because they have been beaten up enough already. This is why Jesus showed great love to the prostitutes and tax collectors. First things first. God draws souls to Himself with the fragrance of His love. He shows love and then later, as you belong to Him, He shows you how to avoid the sins that will pull you down.

This is a daily walk. If you believe on Him and repent, you’re now forgiven and have a right standing between you and God. Sincerely repent when you sin against Him. Walk this life HUMBLY. Humility is like an oil that prevents your spiritual enemies from deceiving you or alluring you away from God’s commands. What spiritual enemies, you may ask? Angels have always had a free will of choice. They chose to honor and serve God and enjoy His goodness, or they chose to rebel against His divine order and suffer the consequences. Those that rebelled, hated God’s laws. The Bible describes one of the chief rulers in heaven as beautiful, stunning, brilliant, and had the ability of music and leadership built into the core of his being. His name was Lucifer. He was a cherubim, a very high-ranking angel. He was the lead worship angel with intense power to sway, and had great charisma. Think of the best concert you’ve ever been to – how it pulls you in and you become a part of a great event. Multiply that by ten times and you get the feel of what God put into this cherubim to draw all the created order in heaven to give worth to God for His awesomeness. But then … somewhere down the line … sin entered into his heart and he wanted to be worshiped as God. He led, some believe, 1/3 of all the angels in following after him and the new order he would create. All the angels were tested with this drawing temptation – and it was mesmerizing. God allowed this sifting of testing for a period of time… and then He said time is up – enough. Lucifer and the rebel angels were thrust out of heaven and to the earth. We call them many names – Satan, devils, demons and evil spirits. It is debated if they came to earth for a very long time and the earth became void and without form, and then God started the 6 day creation, with resting on the 7th day. These amazing angels became very dark and evil adversaries of God. God was about to replace them with a new created order that was a step up – mankind – made in His image. Made to rule after righteousness and goodness with His kindness and intelligence. But they, like the angels, were to be tested … to go through a choosing ground.

This is where we find ourselves in this world. If God is God why are things in the world so nuts. God is allowing free choices and allowing all people to decide personally if they want His leadership and ways in their lives. I want you to picture something. When you sin against God it is like a sin wrap – call it a sin DNA wrap. You’ve seen a spiral double helix – picture that wrapping around your arm or leg or foot. “Once it is there it grows and new sin DNA wraps form. The more you break God’s laws the more sin wraps form. You can be as good as you try or super nice but it will not go away. You can practice any religion out there and it will not go away. What is happening is it is moving from your body to your spirit and will not leave unless you do one thing. The Bible says to confess your sins, repent of them, ask God to transfer them to the cross by which Jesus paid for them and ask Jesus to be your Lord and God. It is not that there are not really nice people in all kinds of religions that do helpful and kind things for others. But it is really important that you nail this down – The sin DNA wraps have to be dealt with. God really loves and cares for you but He will not let this slide. It’s like going to traffic court after receiving a speeding ticket and telling the judge,” I’m a very nice person and here is a list of all the good deeds that I do.” He may look the list over and say, “That is impressive, but you’re here because you broke this specific law.” Do you get the picture yet of what is going on here? You may say, “I would consider more of the things of God but do you know how many hypocrites are out there that say they love God?” Ignore the hypocrites except to pray they humble themselves and repent. They have no idea what nightmare judgments are coming otherwise they would have already humbled themselves. Don’t let hypocrites derail your focus on God. Each person has their own opportunity to come to God and reason with Him.

I would like to tweak the gears of your thinking, if you don’t mind. Ever since the first man and woman sinned, the deed to ruling the earth has passed to these fallen angels. Their kingdom or dominion is established over people when you sin against God’s laws. They cannot get at God but they can get at what is created in His image – us. They hate God and they hate us. Their every move and desire is to pull us away from God who loves us and died for us. So many aspects of life are to make God look like make believe or some kind of an ogre. They allure you to sin after sin and later come across as the twisted lawyers that they are and beat you over the head with the rules you broke. They let you know good and well what a sinner you are and God would never want the likes of you. If we die in these sin DNA wraps – picture this – a devil approaches your bedside in the hospital wearing the doctors garb, grabs your medical chart off the bed and on it is listed every sin wrap that is now part of your spirit. He looks up with an evil grin,”My, my what a bad little man or woman have we here.” All along they have been working overtime to part you from God – and those sins on the chart give them specific access over you. Someone had a near death experience and right before they revived to life they remembered God saying, “make sure everyone knows this: Those that own you will come to collect you when you die.” If you ever read the Bible, or do a search, you will find that those who follow Jesus Christ are provided for. Some provision is here on earth but 100% in Heaven such as the following: food , drink, peace, comfort, rest, protection, love, kindness, mercy, and purpose. None of those blessings follow you if you do not have Him … and this is a forever state. These dark and twisted angels have no compassion, not one drop of mercy, no love or kindness. There is no 911 there, no helping hand or kind expression, no food or water or a refreshing shower or bath to get cleaned up. There is no rest there … not even for one minute. Beyond the grave, underneath the surface of the Earth in Hades is a real spiritual place. In that spiritual realm Jesus is a powerhouse that all darkness and evil spirits fear like crazy. Everyone there wishes for one minute to come back to the surface of the Earth so they can repent of sins and ask for God’s forgiveness through Christ. It only works here – on this Earth – while you are still alive – before death. After death the choice is locked in and eternity never ends. This is worth talking to God about right now in your own heart. You research many things in life: education, vacations, insurance, retirement, etc. Take time to do some research here. You are very important to the Lord and it breaks His heart to loose anyone. Read the famous chapter in Psalms 23. It is only six verses, and the last verse ends with,” goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.” That is not just talking about here on earth. In heaven where the Father dwells, goodness and mercy will never stop hunting you down. Everything only gets better and better. God has purposed in His creation of mankind to give him and her a choice in wanting Him or rejecting Him. He will respect each one’s decision.

Listen to God’s heart as I close this out –

“This is the work of God the Father, that you believe (obey) in Him (Jesus) whom He sent.” John 6:29

“For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that who ever believes (obeys) in Him will have eternal life.

Speaking in regard to the soul or spirit – The LORD speaking – “Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul will live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you.” Isaiah 55:2-3

“Seek the LORD while He may be found (in the choosing ground of life upon this earth), call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:6-7

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Isaiah 55:28-30

“Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for you are my God and Savior.” Psalm 25:5

A.W. Tozar We were made for God, to worship and admire and enjoy and serve Him forever.

RESOURCE LIST

1. Bill Wiese

Book – 23 Minutes in Hell

Youtube – Bill Wiese – 23 minutes in Hell (time 1:03:03)

2. Tim Tebow

Youtube – Tim Tebow shares John 3:16 Story (time 1:37) H.Connick Jr

3. Bryan Melvin

Book – A Land Unknown: Hell’s Dominion

Youtube – Atheist who saw Hell speaks (Bryan Melvin NDE) (time1:03:42)

4. Living Waters (Ray Comfort)