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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

Why Have Jewish People Not Accepted Christ as Their Saviour?

I was laying in bed last night and this question occurred to me, as it has many times before. As a Christian I have always respected Jews as “The Chosen People” and have respect for their culture. I am not angry at them for “killing Jesus”, like some people are, because that was the prophecy. That was what was supposed to happen according to the good book. Just like Israel falling, being scattered and then reforming, it has all come true.

I ended up Googling my query and came upon some forums where people discussed the topic. I then ended up with two videos. The first is a Jewish man explaining why Christ is not accepted as the Messiah.

His reasoning seems pretty flawed to me and subject to argument. I searched further and found a different video that shows why they are having a hard time connecting Jesus with their Bible. It’s because Isiah 53 is a chapter that has purposely been withheld from them. The video below is made by a Jewish fella and really does a fantastic job of walking a handful of people through this fact. It’s a powerful video that I highly suggest watching. Continue reading Why Have Jewish People Not Accepted Christ as Their Saviour?

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

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

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?

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.