personal expereinces – 153 Fishes and Me

Visions of Heaven While Falling Asleep

Religious experiences can be very personal and maybe they are intended to be that by the almighty. But I have this blog so I figured I would share a recent experience. Also, people often search the internet for such experiences as proof that people are having them.

A few nights ago I was finally starting to fall asleep after being awake for 24 hours. I had a terrible spell of insomnia, something I’ve dealt with most of my life. The feeling is awful. You are completely exhausted both mentally and physically but your brain will simply not shut off. Even when you are finally able to start drifting off to sleep there is a real uneasiness.

Right when I started drifting off on this night I had a very vivid series of images pop into my head. They were very clear. The first image was of an outline of the face of Jesus. It sort of looked like the imprint on the Shroud of Torin but the etching was just slightly light blue against a dark background, like the sky at night. Continue reading Visions of Heaven While Falling Asleep

A Dream in Which God Showed Me Something

This dream occurred a few nights ago and for some reason I didn’t write it down until now. Usually I like to record dreams that I find to be powerful or significant right away so that I don’t lose any detail.

In this dream, God permitted me to see what it was like for him to have to condemn sinners to hell. He made me see it through his eyes and see how very sad he was that he had to condemn these people, because he had created them and knew them all personally. He wanted nothing but the best for them but they chose a life of sin. They were given chance and chance again to turn their lives around but they chose not to. Free will is real.

It really hurt him to see them go to a place of everlasting suffering. I felt his immense power and strength but I also felt the overwhelming sadness when one of his children was condemned. And there were many.

I awoke from the dream with a new perspective, of course. We have always heard that he knows us all individually and that he cares for us as well (see this link for Scriptural references) but I got to witness it and feel it first hand (you know how real dreams can feel).

Are these dreams from God? I believe so. The Scriptures tell us that dreams are one of the most common ways he speaks (Numbers 12:6) and that they are made accessible to us through the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:16-17).

I always feel blessed when I have dreams that involve the Lord or Jesus. I often will pray at bedtime that he reveal something to me as I sleep.

~ Brad

More Life After Death Stuff

One of the tenets of most religions is that there is an existence after this one. Christianity is no different. Although there may be specific verses in the Old Testament which may suggest that there is no life after death, Christianity & The New Testament (some jokingly refer to as Judaism 2.0) certainly make it clear that there is:

Matthew 25:46 ESV
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

John 3:16 ESV
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Matthew 10:28 ESV
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Hebrews 9:27 ESV
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

Luke 23:43 ESV
And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

There are many more. Continue reading More Life After Death Stuff

What Do We See When We Die?

I know all of us have heard the stories of NDS’s (near death experiences) where people see a light. Sometimes they recall seeing a dark tunnel with light at the end. Other times people will recount how they actually visited heaven or even hell in some cases.

Scientists have explained these end-of-life experiences as natural phenomenon associated with shock. Or they explain it as the brain hallucinating as it is being deprived of oxygen. Well, people pass out all the time for lack of oxygen or blood to the brain and they do not wake back up with tales of seeing deceased relatives or tours of Heaven. But I digress.

Recently, I was made aware of a website which uses a Google invented AI engine to create an image based on whatever you type in. The site is called craiyon.com. Naturally, my mind went to fullest and farthest edges of what this AI might be capable and I typed in the very question which is the title of this blog. I wanted to share the images which came back. I found them very interesting. Continue reading What Do We See When We Die?

Near Death Experiences from Very Credible Scientific People

Some of the better near death experiences (NDE’s) or after-life experiences you will ever hear are from people who were either skeptics or are trained and practicing scientists. They have solid reputations and there is no angle to be had by confabulating a story.

Today, I want to share two of those stories here on this blog. Both are profound. Both occurred to Doctors. One Doctor was a witness and the other experienced it first hand.

It can be said that since these guys went on to write about their experience and sold books and that this was their angle the entire time. But I assure you that that they were making great money already and did not want to invite the inevitable ridicule from their colleagues.

Hippie Girl Finds Jesus in Most Unconventional Way

One of the Youtube channels to which I am subscribed belongs to a documentary filmmaker who was very active from the 1960’s until the 2000’s. He often posts interviews he conducted of people who were young adults in the tumultuous 1960’s.

Recently, he created a mashup of people giving their interviews and released it on Youtube. One woman in particular really stuck out to people, so much so that they contacted the filmmaker and asked him to post her entire interview. He obliged.

From the moment you hear and see this person speak you will be able to tell how intelligent, bright and well-spoken she is. Her path to finding the Lord Jesus Christ is so very interesting. She basically had to take the long way around but she had one experience that is truly fascinating and was powerful enough to make her a follower of Jesus for the rest of this life. Please enjoy.

Being Aware of Satan

I think that many people try to live in a world where they think the key to a happy life is to focus only on the good. But, only fairy tales have no evil and even most of those have an antagonist.

I was watching a video earlier by Pastor Francis Chan where he emphasizes that we should all be aware that Satan exists and that he is always working against us (video posted below). If you believe in Christ, you must believe that Satan exists too. Satan is the antagonist in our story. In fact, like Mr. Chan says in his video, Satan comes at us all the time through popular media and culture. Shows and movies involving spiritualists talking to the dead, crime and gore are just a few of the many themes in which he gets to us. But I digress.

Watching the video got me to thinking about a very vivid dream I had a long time ago. I am thinking I was in my teens, so at least 22-27 years ago. In the dream, I was living in a world being ruled by Satan. Myself and countless people were chained to a machine that resembled a furnace but with levers and such. We were made to work endlessly and not stop for a second or Satan would notice and punish us. My brother was in the spot next to me. No talking. No anything. The world was consumed with fire and the sky was red. Satan himself was enormous, like a giant. The landscape resembled the burnt out cityscape of New York or any other large city with skyscrapers. It truly was hell on Earth.

Continue reading Being Aware of Satan

An Amazing and Powerful Personal Experience

by Gary

Grand Island Nebraska, 1980. At this time I was in my apartment…

It was quite late at night and I was getting ready to go to bed. I had sat at the base of my bed and started to pray with intercession. I had been praying for some time and then prayed this prayer as I started to fall asleep:

“Lord, cover me with your full armor. Clothe me with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the swiftness of your sandles, the shield of faith to deflect the fiery darts of the evil one, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is Your word. Lord also surround me with Your angels for protection and in some way, use me tonight.”

All of a sudden I heard terrified screams Continue reading An Amazing and Powerful Personal Experience

Welcome to my Christian Experiences Blog

I felt compelled to create this blog to document my own journey of life in regards to my experiences of God and Jesus Christ. Perhaps others seeking testimony about God and Christ may find it useful.

I was not brought up in church. In fact, as far as I know, my parents were athiest or agnostic. My grandmother took my brothers and I to church several times as kids but we were busy goofing around and never paid much attention.

But, I have always felt the presence of God. I’ve known he was there from my earliest memories. I even remember writing him letters and stashing them behind my dresser as a little kid, maybe 7 years old, hoping he would read them.

After my mom died when I was 14 years old, I had a very powerful dream where God revealed himself to me. It was astonishing experience. Continue reading Welcome to my Christian Experiences Blog