God – 153 Fishes and Me

The Trendy Gratitude Movement

You can hardly go a day without hearing a celebrity speak about how much gratitude they have. It’s the buzzword of the 2020’s. They go on and on about accepting all people, being inclusive and having gratitude. But this begs the question “to whom or what are they so grateful?”. They never seem to answer this question.

It’s safe to say that most of the people using these buzzwords are not truly grateful at all. They just see it as a way to virtue-signal to other folks in their buzzword club.

People can be grateful for a myriad of reasons and show their appreciation by stating to whom or what they are grateful. They can be grateful to their parents for giving them a good upbringing or to their school for providing them a sound education, for example. But some people claim that they are grateful to “the universe”. If only there were another name for the being or power which powers the universe, right?! Lol.

Are they grateful to the many billions of hydrogen-powered stars burning at millions of degrees? Are they grateful to the black holes? Are they grateful to “dark matter”? No. That would be silly and no different than pledging your gratitude to the dirt you are standing on or the big rock at the end of the street.

Numbers 6:24-26

24 “‘“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’

The ultimate gratitude should only be shown to he who created you. Only God is deserving of this ultimate compliment. Without him, there is no life. Without him there is no consciousness allowing us to reflect upon these things and to have the feeling of gratitude. Continue reading The Trendy Gratitude Movement

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

The Meaning of Life

When I was a kid and we would be watching a movie where the main character was able to ask God one question and they asked “what is the meaning of life?” I was always perplexed. I didn’t understand this question. As I got older I started understanding it a little more because I realized there are many people living rudderless and meaningless lives. That is not a dig at them. Many of them would probably admit as much.

In my mid-forties I still think the question is a little silly. The meaning of life is to find meaning in your life. Pretty simple right? But on a deeper and more spiritual level, it really means to worship God and put him before everything. It also means to follow his commandments. These commandments have true meaning and are a blueprint on how to live life.

One excerpt from scripture I found today which kind of sums this up is

Ecclesiastes 12:13

“Fear God and keep his commandments: For this is the whole duty of a man”.

There it is. That is your entire duty and purpose here.

Former Mobster Who is Now a Soldier for Christ

The mafia is known in the United States as “organized crime” which specializes in making money from illicit activities. These activities include extortion, theft, racketeering, gambling, prostitution, drugs (sometimes) and violence.

Its safe to say that anyone who partook in the “mob life” for any length of time has participated in at least some (and sometimes all) of these activities. It takes a hard heart to rob, beat and even murder people.

One of these mobster’s name is Michael Franzese. He is now very famous after he has written books about his life and has appeared on many show. He is a reformed mobster. One thing which makes him different from some other reformed mobsters is his love of and belief in Christ. You can tell by the way he speaks about Christ, by looking into his eyes, that he is all-in.

Recently, I saw an interview he did where he spoke of his days as a mobster. It should be noted that he never brags or boasts. He always admits that it was wrong and that he has many regrets. Continue reading Former Mobster Who is Now a Soldier for Christ

A Thought Occurred Me Today – What Earth Actually Is

I was laying in bed this morning and thanking God for another day on his beautiful planet, something I try to do every morning, and this morning I felt the power of Lord moreso than most mornings.

As I lay there I could feel the warmth wash over me and I was unable to continue with my morning prayer. The power of the Holy Spirit made clear formulation of words hard to accomplish. That got me thinking about the seraphim (illustrated above) which constantly fly around the Lord in heaven. They are only able to repeat “Holy, Holy, Holy” over and over again. Perhaps they are so overwhelmed by the power of the Lord this is the only thought that gushes from them. I found myself only able to repeat those same words when the power of the Lord washed over me this morning as well.

This also got me thinking about life on Earth. Maybe it is a gift to be in a sort of outpost from heaven. This space allows us to have free will and to choose our path. If we were simply born into existence near the Lord our God we would be heavily influenced by his sheer power. Here, you are in as neutral an environment as you can get. You can choose good or bad. You can prove to the Lord that you want to be with him.

‘Earth is a middle-ground’ or ‘a testing-ground’ is a concept most all Christians are familiar with. The cynical may try to look at God through human eyes and assigning him human thoughts, so they think there is some self-entertainment motive there. To look at the God, who is almighty and all good, in that sort of way is blasphemous. We will never be able to understand the mind of the almighty. The best we can do is worship him and pray.

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.

When to Pray

Many people, and I have been guilty of this before too, only pray when things are going poorly for them. They usually ask for help from almighty God. But, I have found that praying and giving thanks is just as important when things are going very well.

It is definitely a rewarding experience to thank the creator of all things for the blessings he has bestowed upon us. I often thank him for creating this universe and allowing me to take part in it. I then pray that I really hope to join the Lord in the afterlife through Jesus Christ. Continue reading When to Pray

The Eternal Orb

I had a dream a few months ago that I wanted to share. I don’t know how profound it is or even if it is profound at all. But anytime you have God speaking to you in a dream, it probably is well worth sharing.

I don’t remember how the first part of the dream went. Somehow I ended up in Heaven, on a tour. The first item I want to share about this dream is a feeling I received. That feeling was that Heaven is God’s home. It’s not a place created for good humans to hang out after they die, like some country club. The feeling was that Heaven is God’s living area, and those who are truly good, get to join him. Kind of like a grandfather with an enormous farm where all his offspring are happy to be visiting and want to stay indefinitely Continue reading The Eternal Orb