To all of my friends who ever cared about God, even long ago. Those of you I went to Sunnydale with, Oakwood, and those I have met along the way. PLEASE JUST READ THIS!!! It looks long and boring and you are probably tired of hearing it from me. But I love you so much…out of love and respect for me could you please just read what is burdening my heart and take it into consideration?

Guys… anyone who is reading this is most likely someone in my life that I treasure dearly. If I tagged you it was either out of love, concern, or even a simple request for you to pass on the words to others you care about. I am just going to speak bluntly now because that is the only way to go. I am talking to myself as much as I am talking to you guys right now. I promise you I am struggling with the same issues. WE ARE SO RIDICULOUSLY DISTRACTED RIGHT NOW!!!!!! It terrifies me how many people from my past are just seemingly giving up, hanging up the towel….GIVING IN TO THE DARK SIDE OF THE GREAT COTNROVERSY. I know it is super easy to waver…we are humans and are very weak. The Only way we even have a shot of getting through this thing is with supernatural reinforcements…we cannot take it on alone. But really guys?? Why are we so nonchalant? We are freely throwing away all of our Christian principles. It’s almost as if anything we used to believe is just cramping our style nowadays and we are conveniently letting it go as if it never held any true significance.

          Especially to my fellow Adventists.  We KNOW the truth, have it ever in front of our faces, have been to countless chapels and worships and read writing after writing of Biblically backed warnings. Why are we throwing the Sabbath away as if it is any other day? We know that the Sabbath and our commitment to the Creator will ultimately be the test in the last days. We have heard it all of our lives, and it is becoming clear how meticulously Satan is working on trashing it. Working on Sabbath, watching movies and tv, going out and partying. If Jesus asked us to make it Holy and we blatantly refuse to acknowledge it… it is like we are rejecting a part of Him. Also all of us are becoming so rapidly engulfed in spiritualism, sexuality, and drug abuse (including and especially alcohol). Others of us are just genuinely disinterested, distracted, and have “more important things to worry about”. Morals are going out the window faster and faster but what scares me is that this is all leading up to our last chance to make our decision. Guys we DO NOT HAVE MUCH TIME. We give so much time to these things that we may not even have in a few years let alone for the rest of our lives. Why is it so very easy to forget about the only thing that matters in the end?

To all my friends that are Christians and asleep….while you are remaining distracted you aren’t spreading what you have known all along deep down (and have allowed to go dormant) to your friends and children that have never really heard it. So not only will you be losing your own chance but lessening theirs as well. Anyone that has ever attended an SDA Academy or college can’t say they don’t know the truth according to the Bible. It is time to wake up!! We are risking ourselves in the most all encompassing way possible…we are bought with a price…not a cheap one. We can’t throw our one opportunity away.

Since we are alive and breathing right now…we don’t have any excuse. Because now is a moment in time where Judgment has not closed, the righteous are not yet sealed, and the plagues have not fallen. Now is a time where we can easily recommit, try again, ask for renewal. There will be a time when it will not be convenient like it is now. Here is one of the most impressionable snippets from the Great Controversy I have ever read…please read it and really prayerfully think about what it is saying. It is so important. I know this is long because I am a wordy person but please bear with me and just finish reading this post for me.

          “The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hunger–a faith that will not faint though severely tried. The period of probation is granted to all to prepare for that time. Jacob prevailed because he was persevering and determined. His victory is an evidence of the power of importunate prayer. All who will lay hold of God’s promises, as he did, and be as earnest and persevering as he was, will succeed as he succeeded. Those who are unwilling to deny self, to agonize before God, to pray long and earnestly for His blessing, will not obtain it. Wrestling with God–how few know what it is! How few have ever had their souls drawn out after God with intensity of desire until every power is on the stretch. When waves of despair which no language can express sweep over the suppliant, how few cling with unyielding faith to the promises of God.

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          Those who exercise but little faith now, are in the greatest danger of falling under the power of satanic delusions and the decree to compel the conscience. And even if they endure the test they will be plunged into deeper distress and anguish in the time of trouble, because they have never made it a habit to trust in God. The lessons of faith which they have neglected they will be forced to learn under a terrible pressure of discouragement. 

          We should now acquaint ourselves with God by proving His promises. Angels record every prayer that is earnest and sincere. We should rather dispense with selfish gratifications than neglect communion with God. The deepest poverty, the greatest self-denial, with His approval, is better than riches, honors, ease, and friendship without it. We must take time to pray. If we allow our minds to be absorbed by worldly interests, the Lord may give us time by removing from us our idols of gold, of houses, or of fertile lands.

          The young would not be seduced into sin if they would refuse to enter any path save that upon which they could ask God’s blessing. If the messengers who bear the last solemn warning to the world would pray for the blessing of God, not in a cold, listless, lazy manner, but fervently and in faith, as did Jacob, they would find many places where they could say: “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Genesis 32:30. They would be accounted of heaven as princes, having power to prevail with God and with men.

          The “time of trouble, such as never was,” is soon to open upon us; and we shall need an experience which we do not now possess and which many are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal. In that time of trial, every soul must stand for himself before God. “Though Noah, Daniel, and Job” were in the land, “as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.” Ezekiel 14:20.

           Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Saviour be brought to yield to the power of temptation. Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But Christ declared of Himself: “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.” John 14:30. Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father’s commandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble.”

I had a disturbing dream last night that left me feeling very anxious and unsettled. All of the details escaped me but what I do remember is that I had been captured along with some friends by some twisted group of people and they were going to kill us publicly for sport. The feeling the whole dream came down to was me having a clear knowledge of exactly when I was going to die…within the next few minutes, and reacting accordingly. The scary part about it was that the thoughts in my head began to torture me. I began thinking about how up and down I am with God; about how all along I have longed to be closer but never reached my full potential with Him. That sick feeling of being at the end of my road and not the least bit ready flooded through me and I felt terrified. It was almost like the feeling I can imagine having if I knew the second coming was going to take place right now and I had been doing everything else but spending time with God lately. Then I remember that by the end of the dream all I was wishing for was a second chance because the feelings of fear, being so unsure, and totally vulnerable were strong enough to almost totally break me down. In the closing scene of the dream a lady announced that for some reason they had changed their minds and that we were free to go…and this feeling of relief and new purpose came over me. I was sure that I was NEVER going to allow myself to be in that position again: feeling like I had my chance and blew it, like I had missed out by just a hair. I remember thinking at one point specifically that if I were to die right then I would be literally on the very very edge of God’s mercy because I had been doing everything but what He had been asking me to…I was literally on my knees crying and begging for Him to spare me and forgive my inconsistency.

The main purpose of this writing was to of course share the dream, because it is a rare occasion that I have spiritual dreams and they usually have some uncomfortably close to home significance, and also to send out a plea to all of my friends. The burden on my heart this morning was so strong that I am obligated to bring it forth. The plea is wake up. He loves you, and is STILL begging you to notice Him. How sad is it that the only person that ever went out of their way so far for us as to give up their heavenly place for us, be tortured and beaten relentlessly, nailed to old wood, spit on, and mocked EVEN WHILE WE WERE UNINTERESTED IN HIM STILL has to jump around, send us messages, beg us, plead with us, and lure us into caring!? Why? Why does He have to work so hard for us to love Him back and show even a little devotion….when He made us to begin with and gave us the ability to function and be caught up in all of the little things we are so distracted with in the first place?? Please people. Use today to start making the change again. Recommit, pray a prayer so simple as “God please make me willing to be willing to grow closer to you” You don’t even have to start off convinced!! Just ask Him to convince you again. Give Him permission to enter your life and work to make a few key changes. We are giving permission to Satan every day to enter our lives simply by walking around on His territory unprotected. To all of you who have had anything supernatural happen to you that scared you… you know this more than anyone reading this. All I ask is that you work on it. Make the choice to start. Try to care again. For your own Salvation’s sake, for His sake…and for the sake of those you love that will look at you in the end and ask you why you never said anything to them about everything that is going down. Events that they weren’t warned about that you knew of all along.

So I am sitting here reflecting on the past few months since GYC and feel grey with a tinge of shame. I have been so distracted with anything and everything but my relationship with God. I still have a desire to do missions and love my Father with all my heart but I don’t give Him my time or a significant amount of my efforts. It seems like once I am done with my busy weekday schedule all I want to do is kick back and watch a movie and usually not a Godly one. I have been listening to music I shouldn’t be lately as opposed to the light spiritual Christian fare I always usually have on, and I can feel the clear effects of the increased distance between me and my Creator. It kind of scares me to be honest. It is painfully clear just how easy it is to drift away from the shore…it really is like floating on the ocean. If you aren’t making a pointed effort to pay attention you look up one moment and have to ask yourself how you got so far away from the beach. Never once did I intend to distance myself or fall back into old traps but nonetheless I have. A bad feeling comes with realizing your own failures and seeing how far you are from your ideal. Spiritual warfare is not a joke. It is a constant struggle between what I know I should be doing and the things I know I have no business doing, controlling thoughts, doing God’s work, following health principles. I am in a constant self inflicted mini mental guilt trip about where I should be devoting my time yet with no consistent improvement. I really want to allow God to remedy this within me once and for all. I want to be my best through Him and leave the trash behind. I want to be fully prepared for the mission field before I make it there and ready day by day for His coming. This is a tall order as I have learned…I am all too human and all too distractible. The simple aspects of female life in 2013 according to the world’s standards are enough of a distraction by themselves. Fashion, beauty envy, vanity, sexual urges, entertainment and media, selfishness…everything that comes along with being a woman and a human in this sin cursed world. It is so hard to strike the balance between high Christian standards, having an enjoyable life, and living in the world we do. By the grace of God I am trying, I need prayer and plenty of patience on the part of my Heavenly Father which praise the Lord is one of His specialties. I would like to recommit myself to Him now as I write. Turn from my downward spiral and try anew. I want to hold His hand and walk toward my end goal and I praise God it isn’t too late to grab on.

In the mood I am in I just want to reflect for one moment on how ridiculously awe inspiring my God is. He is more massive than a million universes, more beautiful than the finest images thriving genius imaginations can fabricate, more powerful than all the forces of the cosmos combined, yet sweeter than any mother, more loving than the deepest lover, more forgiving than anyone deserves, more patient than our tiny minds can understand, and more giving than anyone we can try and compare Him to. Absolutely perfect, unscathed, omnipresent, omnipotent, eternal, and gargantuan in intellect, compassion, mercy, and creativity. So much so that my reasoning begins to rip apart at the seams when I try to process Him within the shallow kiddie pool of signals and information that is my flawed human mind. All I can do when I try to jam His mysteries in for the sake of full understanding is fall flat on my face into my pillow, admit defeat, and smile teary eyed  at the fact that ALL OF THAT, all the aforementioned glory, the biggest and most overwhelming being I can ever encounter, loves ME. A backsliding, selfish, inconsistent, sin smeared little peon that shouldn’t even have a place in His presence. And the kicker is not only does He love me…but deeply! Relentlessly! Unconditionally! He loves me no more and no less no matter what I do. He allowed a crowd of dirty hateful masochists to nail Him in all of His innocence and love to wood and leave Him thirsty, bleeding, and in agony for dead so the cycle could be broken…for me. So that even though the prince of this world, Satan, has a go at me and I would be fair game for him to destroy, the supernatural blood covering me from head to toe is my eternal loophole, my armor,  the ticket out of the outcome I rightfully deserve because I brought it upon myself over and over even while knowing better. My Father turns and sees His Son’s blood pleading my case…and the case is closed. I am His. I can be such an idiot sometimes and have a long list of regrets in life. But praise my God in Heaven I am His idiot! And in Him can be made wise! In Him I can be perfect. Halleluiah and praise be to His Holy Name! Right now in the midst of feeling horrible for the way I have been acting lately, I am crying tears of joy. He loves me…HE loves me…He loves ME! It makes no sense but I am so blessed that it is reality. Thank you Lord. Fill me up with your Spirit, renew me, forgive me for my twisted humanity, and save me into your kingdom. And thank you for taking me back again, tonight, right now, and always. Amen.

I was on my way back home from work this morning fully prepared to hop in bed and sleep for an additional 2 hours. All of a sudden the Holy Spirit impressed me totally at random to call the lady I helped before and ask her how to get to her camp site. I had an impression to go, and whoever was there, make their day somehow. At the time it was just a thought that I should maybe make them breakfast and give them a warm place to be for a while to relax. Little did I know that God had yet another eye opening experience for me. I pulled into the small encampment where there used to be 11 people from what I had heard. Now there were little to none since the city is running them out with no other option. By the end of the month all of the stuff they have collected from people over the past several months had to be gone or it would all be thrown away. These people have entire set-ups; camp stoves, tarps, enclosures, you name it. Most people having no other option abandoned their meager possessions so they could find another place to camp. They obviously had no way to truck it all somewhere else. I walked up to the couple tents I saw (it was about 7:30a) and started calling out asking if anyone was there. Finally after an abandoned one I got a response. The voice sounded confused as to why some random person named Eden would be there bright and early in the morning looking for them. A guy with a dog popped out and said he thought he was dreaming at first. He really wasn’t expecting anyone. I started asking about the people that lived here and inquiring about his situation. He showed me around and told me that all he owned was the dog that he rescued, his backpack with his few pair of clothes, and a net book someone gave him along with a digital camera. He was a traveler, by choice, that was educated and used to live the standard life but honestly got sick of working and just wanted to ditch it all. In a sense he wanted a paid vacation. He makes decent money some days pan handling while other days he goes without, but all intentionally because he claims that he chose to be homeless very much on purpose. I was somewhat bothered by the fact that he chose to live the life he was living, basically feeding on the sympathy of people to provide for him when it wasn’t circumstance that put him there. I asked how many people were left on the site. He said besides my other lady friend and her boyfriend there was one other guy. I told him I basically just wanted to know what their immediate needs were, and maybe take them to my house and let them warm up, eat, use the internet, and relax. He was very happy about this and suggested that maybe since his friend had gotten drunk last night, he may not be in the best state. I said we should go check anyhow. We woke him up and told him the plan. He looked pretty happy. When I saw their wet clothes frozen stiff on the line more thoughts occurred to me. I told them to bring their laundry so they could wash it and get a nice shower in. They gratefully gathered their few clothes. The lady and her boyfriend had been kindly put up for a night in a motel and weren’t checking out until 11. The two guys, the dog, and I drove to Walmart and gathered pizza and ice cream. I also bought a couple towels and toiletries they could use to shower with. When I came back the guys had already bought the food with their food stamps. I was going to help out but I figured they were fine since they went ahead and got it. We invited the lady and her boyfriend to come after they checked out. Well to make this part of the story short they were ecstatic to have a hot shower and to wash their clothes. The guy with the dog hadn’t washed his outfit since Halloween and they both looked so grateful the whole time. They ate their pizza and I picked up the other two from the hotel. When they were all standing near the kitchen we all talked for a moment and the couple and the guy with the dog asked about me. I told them a nutshell of my story and a bit about my passion for sharing with those I contact. Then my passion started pouring out and I was telling them about how nothing mattered more in this world to me than winning souls for Jesus and giving people hope in His gift. I told them that God wasn’t concerned with how much make up you have or how cute you looked on this or that day, or what you achieved at work (the majority of our focus sadly). All the things we have are wasted if we don’t share them with our brothers and sisters. To those blessed with much, much is expected. God isn’t happy with us when we keep all for ourselves…both the gospel and our resources. I explained to them that all I wanted to do was bring as many people with me to Heaven as possible. I painted my all time favorite scenario for them. We have the usual modern day person. Self absorbed, no concern for God, living for entertainment alone, too successful or skeptical for anything related to having a Master Creator. Well take that person and let a catastrophic event wipe out their parties, significant others, club scenes, parents, schools, jobs, and everything else they put before God and what do they have? Themselves…standing there, no hope, nothing to be happy about…rock bottom. If all they chose in life was what was right in front of them…the temporal, the selfish, or even the causes they took up with good intent but crossed God off of the necessity list they have nothing left and nothing to look forward to. They have lost everything. One really good bomb is all it would take to ruin them…in a heartbeat. Take the same scenario and pop someone in that has given their life to the Lord. Everything may be gone around them. The earth may be desolate, everything they know and love gone…but they still have something to be happy about; a beautiful hope. They have the knowledge that the things of this earth are painfully temporary. The affirmation that comes with knowing you are God’s precious child and that He bought the rights to you with His own blood. The amazing joy that comes with the imagery of everything you ever did in rebellion or ignorance, purely pointless sin, being covered up in the books of Heaven with Jesus blood so they can’t be read…all of our flaws forgotten forever because a Perfect One stands in our place as intercessor. Taking the beating for us, died the first and second death for us. Daily He pleads for us. The wonderful pleasure that comes with imagining our Hand crafted mansion glorified beyond measure and the endless, painless, timeless existence with our loving Father in paradise. Never to worry again, never to struggle, or to suffer. That Christian, that has truly given their heart to the Lord, has absolutely everything while having nothing at all in their immediate surroundings. And during that horrible time they have God to comfort them, give them peace in the storm, and assure them of wonderful things to come. All I need is my God and to share Him with as many as I can. The guy with the dog saw the fire in my eyes and with the biggest smile ever came and gave me a big hug. As if saying “God bless you! Thanks for feeling this way and for sharing it with us.”

We pretty much ate and spent the entire day until 7pm talking and hanging out. They heard about Ellen White, the Conflict of Ages series (which I had ordered to give to my Hindu friend from my “stranded” testimony but now ordered another set as I gave it to the couple), and about the DVD that my beloved friend gave me showing the Biblical archaeology finds Like Noah’s Ark, Red Sea Crossing, Ark of the Covenant etc. I put it on and they were sucking it all in. The guy in the couple was particularly interested to see it. You could tell that they all had varying life experiences and mixed views on religious matters. The couple is definitely Christian but haven’t totally completed their journey. They are pretty excited about coming to church with me which has me overjoyed to say the least. They all admitted the video was pretty cool and I think everyone was impressed on one level or another. The other guy which is in a deep struggle with alcohol was the most skeptical of the bunch when it comes to God matters. Funny thing is he has read the Bible 8 times through…imagine that. I haven’t even made it once. Two of them already acknowledge that Saturday is really the Sabbath Biblically speaking and that it’s odd that people don’t follow it. They also know that the Left Behind series is not accurate.

Eventually later that night I got them two nights at the motel to get out of the cold for a while and sent them with the Conflict of Ages series. I plan to start the Prophecy Seminar for the homeless community sometime in the near future as well. As of now this week (the rest of this story happened last Sunday) the couple came to church with us and it was really nice. I am just so impressed with how God is working in lives and how he can use small impressions to make big differences if you follow through with them. More than one person has given me the stink eye for letting strangers in my home but you know what. I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to do so at the time and it bore fruit which confirms for me that it was from Him. Jesus would have invited them, Jesus would have sheltered them, and Jesus would have and did die for them…so I can reach out in faith and do a little extra for people when I am able. He protects His children when they are working for Him and ANYTHING that happens in the lines of duty of God’s work was allowed for a specific purpose. When we are following what God calls and asks we need not fear, all we need to do is obey and fulfill His commission. Now I have some really good friends out of the deal, the couple is really nice and I enjoy hanging out with them. And to make my day the guy with the dog gave me a little Cross on a beaded bracelet that his friend gave him. He was so grateful for some kindness and when we said good by he hugged me. He said if the tables were turned he would have helped me. Then he started to tear up. When he left he called out “I love you sister!” I just felt so full…full of this unexplainable joy that comes attached with loving people unconditionally like God does and giving of yourself to help others. I will keep that bracelet as a reminder that it is ALWAYS worth helping someone.

In all of this I was also strongly impressed that our churches need to work more intently with the poor. The poor are God’s focus a lot of the time and we should go out of our way for them. We could be poor at the drop of a hat, all it takes is one mishap and any one of us could be homeless. It makes me mad when people assume that just because someone is homeless they can’t be considered human on the same level you would consider someone dressed up neatly in a Starbucks or at your school. Not someone that you should invite to your home under any circumstance, not someone you should really hang out with. I promise you Jesus’ house would be full of people, pasts forgotten, and they wouldn’t be the usual rich stuck up people who think they know everything. Jesus reaches out to people that acknowledge the fact that they need more than they have. The ones that recognize that they aren’t self sufficient. The common answer people give to someone helping people out beyond the standard “hand them a sandwich”…including people I know is “why can’t they go to a shelter” or “I feed the homeless but no way they can come to my home”. You know what…I will tell you. Where can they get a hot shower in? Where can they wash their clothes without spending their last couple bucks? Where can they sleep when it’s freezing? I just learned that the majority of local homeless shelters will flat out reject you no matter how cold it is if you have anything at all on your record that involves violence. Whether or not you really did it or if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time…you don’t deserve a place to crash. The same marks on your record make you largely unhireable. So you complain that these people should get a job and do something for themselves but if no one will hire them because of something they did years ago how can they ever get out of the hole? So you can’t get a place to crash, can’t get a job, can’t get a break. In order to get a bed for the night at the Salvation Army or something you need a police voucher saying you are allowed. Well tell me…is someone with a past less deserving of meeting their basic human needs? Praise God that because of Jesus’ sacrifice we can be new creatures no matter what we have done. We don’t have to live under the yolk of our pasts. Not so in our society, there is not much of a chance after you mess up just enough. To make it worse the next day my friend got arrested for holding up a sign to get some money. They said she was trespassing on department of transportation property. WHAT!? So you can’t stand by an exit? We walk the streets all the time. We drive on them. When do they decide someone isn’t allowed to be on certain spots??? So she can’t sleep in the shelters, can’t get work very easily, and can’t even hold a sign up and attempt to make money to survive? I wonder if that cop would have been so quick to call that policy to memory if he was the one on the streets with nowhere to go. PEOPLE ARE SO SELFISH! God help us. The churches around here that are Christ like enough to open their doors are usually too full to take more in, and those are few. The point is I think EVERY church needs some kind of ministry to help provide second chances for people. At the very least every church should have a center where people can wash clothes and shower a couple times a week and at least have shelter during the cold winter months. Additionally a program to help people recover from their addictions and work toward employment would be of great benefit. A lot of people don’t know…most of the time homeless people aren’t hungry. On occasion there will be a time where for some reason someone really does need a meal. But in our country with food banks and food stamps it is pretty difficult to starve. All of my homeless friends receive enough food stamps to eat well. They were even giving me food! Their needs are unconditional shelter, help with addictions they can’t get away from that are ruining their lives, and a way to get back into society after having something on their record. A way to live down their past and live like normal people. A way to get a simple job at a fast food joint, or even a place to pitch a tent in peace without getting run out by the state. At the very least if we would give the people a place to LIVE WITHOUT A HOME then they wouldn’t have to worry about where to keep their stuff. A lot of them have the largest concern right now of where to move their camp site since they are being forced away. Seriously? We can’t even let them camp in the woods? How cold hearted are we? Once we start meeting some of these needs THEN we are a church following Christ’s example. Don’t be so quick to judge the homeless or think all they need is something to eat. Some are playing you just to live free and lazy. But others are just genuinely having a hard time and can’t find a way out. Let God sift out the truth and the lies, you just need to do your part as a Christian and “do unto the least of these”. We are accountable for ignoring the needs around us. If you know of a community of homeless near you, see what their needs are…do they have enough supplies? Do they have Bibles? A place to pitch their tent? An opportunity or desire to work? Let’s try to kick our ministry up a notch and ACTUALLY make a difference for once instead of being so self absorbed. So distracted with school, work, and our desires. Christians give Christianity a bad name 90% of a time. If we acted like Jesus our lives would be our ministry and people would be magnetized to us. But we are just like the world, so the world doesn’t see anything in us that they need. There isn’t anything different to be desired but a new set of rules and limitations. All of this is just something to think about. Do with it as you wish. I hope you make a difference in at least one person’s life because of it. 1 soul helped, 1 soul won to God’s side…is one HUGE victory and all of Heaven will rejoice that you helped lessen Satan’s followers by 1. Then after that it can go on and on and your entire life can be one glorious blur of victories for Jesus. Think about it.

Just wanted to give a quick praise. From ONE encounter much fruit may be seen. One day I saw a lady holding a hungry sign up on the highway exit. I asked her if she would like me to bring her food and she said anything would be great. I went and got her a box meal from Taco Bell and quickly dug through my console for a piece of literature (this happened a couple months ago). I found Project Sunlight, a book, for those who don’t know, that appeals very well to seeking women in particular because it is a novel framed with dialogue like a play going through the life of a woman that wasn’t Christian as she discovers God slowly with friends in Bible study and wrestles with God’s truths. This book goes over all of the topics she studied in the story and gives the verses and all! It is like a Bible study in a story! It covers state of the dead, hell, the Sabbath, everything. It even has a love story aspect for our romantic sides. Anyways I wrote my phone number in it quickly and that she could call me for absolutely any help she needed. I quickly handed her the food and  book and she said thanks so much and I went on my way. No less than two months later I get a phone call and she tells me that she really wanted to tell me thank you, that day she was VERY hungry and it was such a blessing. And that she wanted to be friends. This made my whole day. This was about 2 weeks ago. Well today I was watching a Revelation seminar by John Bradshaw that our lovely friends gave us and for some reason was impressed with a whole idea for ministry within a minute…I know it didn’t come from me. I thought I could reach out to the people in the various homeless camps in Columbia (they sleep in tents) and three days a week provide a hot dinner for them and some fellowship as we go through this series I was given. It is about 21 parts and could make a big difference in people’s lives!!! I called the lady today to check on her and assure her she could call me for anything. Then I ran my idea by her…she said it was a great idea and she was sure a lot of people would go for it. She said she would talk to the people at her camp site and see if there was an interest. And would also ask if they needed anything such as materials or literature and Bible’s and that I would help them out. She said she would get back to me. AWESOME! Then I asked if she ever read the book I gave her. SHE READ THE WHOLE THING! AND REALLY LIKED IT!!!! I was surprised. I always half expect people to throw literature away as unimportant. I also invited her to church and said I would drive her and her boyfriend with us and she should consider coming next week. She sounded like she would very much enjoy that even though she has recently been attending a Sunday church. I told her great she can come to both! She was really happy! Now she will possibly be networking for me with this new ministry idea! I just had to write quickly that I am so pleased. Little do we know how much handing one person some food and a book can affect lives. Between the book and the food $10 was my greatest investment. Yet come to find out a full two months later that her, her boyfriend, and the unnumbered people she helps me reach in the homeless community can be potentially won to God’s kingdom. One gesture…potentially unending fruit!! How much cooler does it get than that? Pray for her and the other people as well. If God blesses this plan it can be huge. An outreach idea for all of my friends. Keep $20 in ones in your car along with 10 pieces of literature at all times. ANY time you see someone  on the side of the road with a sign. Give them no less than 2 bucks and a book. If God is impressing you to reach out with a phone number or a place to crash for a night, maybe a motel room for a night (paid a couple nights for someone once and it blessed them profoundly) then do it! Money isn’t a God problem. He never leaves us high and dry when we help others. We even gave McDonalds gift cards to someone once! You should have seen his face! We can make a difference one window roll down at a time. This is just yet another way to meet people where they are, in daily life while we are going about our business, help them with a current need, and in turn open their hearts up for life saving truth. How wonderful to bring people from the despair of a world without hope…with such a minimal investment. We truly have no excuse. *Doing mental jig over the fact that she may start coming to our church!!*

So it ended up that in order to get back to MO from CO after the break was up I had to take the Greyhound. This wasn’t the plan at all. While in the station I decided that in light of the new found philosophy I would pray for more divine appointments and opportunities to share Him. Some of my awesome friends just so happened to give me several copies of the Great Controversy to hand out. Little did they know I needed them for a specific purpose! My prayer before getting on the bus was for God to sit me by somebody that would actually want or need a Great Controversy. Just going off of how closed the general public is these days to religious material…this would be an answer to prayer in and of itself. I also had several “Share The Vision” discs I had gotten from a booth at the conference. They contained books, articles, and seminars giving the true story behind Ellen White and her ministry, which is nice since so many people post terrible lies or quote her out of context giving her a bad name when her entire purpose was to point people to Jesus and the Word while giving greater clarity to prophecies and Biblical teachings as they relate to people living in our times. So me and my bag sit on the bus and I end up by a random guy to my left ( I had aisle seat), a middle aged guy to my right, a guy in front of him, and a homeless guy behind me. The memories are fragmented now so I will just narrate what I remember. I was sitting down with my purse on my lap and my seat mate notes that I have the Bible in my purse. Somehow all the people I just mentioned and myself get into a small conversation about God and I got to show them one of the articles that  the friend that gave me the Great Controversy’s gave me that showed a lot of archaeological findings from the Bible. Noah’s Ark, the Red Sea crossing, Noah’s encampment, Sodom and Gomorrah ruins, and more. They were interested in spiritual things so I popped out the books. I handed one to the two guys next to me. Then the guy in front looked jealous. He heard my description of what it was about and you could tell he wanted one. When I pulled out another he said with joy “You have another one!” He was all smiles. Then the homeless guy behind me said something random that he thought he heard me say which was of course not what I said. I said no, I was actually discussing this book I had. I pulled it out and he happily accepted it. Come to find out one of the guys fiancees just died two weeks ago of stomach cancer. I tried to offer him some comfort and at one point was tearing up with him. I had to put my arm over his shoulder and I told him about mom and how I knew it was so hard. You could tell he was glad to have people around him to talk to. He said he was planning on killing himself but his friend who was sitting next to him saved him. He had some twisted views on the last days so I think the book can benefit him a lot. He was a very nice guy. While we were talking the homeless guy started rambling random stuff that I couldn’t quite make sense of. As I listened I noticed that a lot of what he was saying sounded like the New Age perspective that I previously posted about. He referred to Jesus as “the perfect master” (masters of wisdom) and spoke of mystical places and symbols and the fact that he had traveled for 10 years looking for true love with the one he would crown queen so they could reach Valhalla. The entire time my mind was racing…his thoughts were very esoteric and confused. I asked him what he believed of Jesus and he said he wasn’t sure about the role of Jesus as son of God or of the fact that He died for our sins. I told him that I was concerned that he was missing the entire point of who Jesus was, His ministry, and His plan for us. He asked what if it is all lies. He seemed very paranoid and full of random disjointed mystical information. I was praying in my head the whole time I didn’t know what to do. I imagined having to pray out loud for this man then and there because he was clearly dealing with some supernatural phenomena. A lot of what he was saying led me to believe he had been involved in Satanic occult groups, he associated himself with some kind of organization I don’t remember the name of, but with twisted versions of the truth like those within the New Age movement. Then on a crazy side note, the guy next to me started speaking to me as if delivering a message from the angels (he spoke of a long standing gift/duty he had to deliver important messages from God to people)…it was very cryptic and weird. I am not convinced that the spirit he was sent by was of God. His message to me was:

1. That I had some very hard times soon to come in my life based on the path I have chosen and that I needed to keep my chin up. These would be very frustrating things but I would get through.

2. That I would have to make some big decision soon and that I was looking for something. The decision had to do with my siblings and that I need to be careful how I go about it because pushing someone strongly toward the light can make them cling harder to darkness.

 3. That I have a special God given gift, that is, getting people that I don’t know to open up to me and feel comfortable with me, and to never use my gift for my own benefit. He also said, as if realizing what he speculated all along was true, that I was “one of His special ones”. One of God’s special children with a special purpose. He mentioned the broken light behind us casting a rainbow down on me which he showed me later. (The whole time he spoke to me I was totally confused and questioning where on earth he was getting this stuff, but since it was related enough to go with what was happening, I had to listen).

4. Then he spoke as if he saw things differently, like insights into the spiritual realm when he saw people, and that 3 people to be exact on the bus had already lost their souls, and due to his particular gift/calling, he was to have no contact with these people and nothing to do with them. (This whole thing screams that he was of another spirit because no one but God knows who is lost and who is saved). Once he told me this part I asked what he thought of the homeless guy situation as I’m sure he heard our conversation. And he said he had nothing to say or do with that. I asked why, and he just said he didn’t. Then as I mentally said “as in he is one of the 3 you were referring to having lost their souls?” he looked me dead in the eyes (I hadn’t verbalized a thing) and he said that I catch on quickly. I asked what he was implying. That he was already lost and there was no point in trying to work this stuff out with him? He said that was really up to me, but he personally wasn’t  allowed to associate with him. I found this very odd. Then in McDonalds the homeless guy walked by us and I looked at the message guy very casually…he said “you were looking to see what facial expression I would make when he passed weren’t you?” That is exactly what I was doing…awkward.

Later on at the bus station during a layover the homeless guy began talking to me again and reiterated his qualm that what I said to be truth could potentially be a lie. Then he mentioned that the book I gave him had a lot of wisdom in it. (I noticed him intently reading it in the bus for a while, and the two other guys clutched them like treasures and got territorial with them when people asked whose they were when they saw them on the seats…they clearly didn’t take them as some random trash book they planned on throwing away). Oh yeah I also gave each of them one of the CD’s that I had on Ellen White’s ministry so they could know who it was they were reading. They were all happy to have them. I also wrote down in each of their books a sermon title by Philip Sizemore that goes over EGW’s place in actual Bible prophecy. VERY INTERESTING! So they could look it up. Here it is for those interested. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHTWc6BwDrY&playnext=1&list=PLA769063F56C2BDA1&feature=results_video. Anyways…he asked if I could help him out with some food and I gave him some cash. He was very grateful. Once I arrived in my town and got off the bus, not expecting to see any of them on my way into the office, he popped around the corner and with a huge smile called out to me and said thanks so much for everything. I didn’t know he saw me leave! To top it off, in the spirit of sharing I tried to give my last copy of the Great Controversy to two others sitting near me in the bus before both blatantly said that they didn’t want it, not knowing what it was or caring to find out. I had become so confident that EVERYONE must clearly want this treasure of a book since obviously all these guys took them with such receptiveness. No…it was a lesson. Pray about each soul as you go along. You can’t ever assume. I had prayed initially and the fruit poured forth. The moment I just thought it was a given they refused. But yet again God’s hand was even in the refusal. Armed with ONE more copy of the book and a CD I go into the tiny greyhound office waiting to find a ride home  (I initially wasn’t going to get off in my town I was going to continue to STL so the fact that I was even in this office at the time was a spur of the moment decision, literally within 45 seconds of the driver stopping for 5 minutes, I didn’t know I wanted to get off until just then, when I asked he said if he couldn’t find my bag quickly I couldn’t get off because he didn’t have time…well he found it right away and it turns out someone needed my seat as well). So when I get into the office this mixed guy comes up to me with ONE THING on his mind. He starts asking if I am a “mixed breed” and how old am I “must be one of the young ones”, do I live here…etc. Sniffing me out like he had a specific purpose. I asked if he lived there and he said he just got out of prison. When I got silent to his questions he realized he made me uncomfortable and he said he would leave me alone. On my way to the bathroom I sat that final copy in his lap and didn’t say a word. By the time I came out he was reading it intently not looking up to see me or anything else. THIS IS WHY GOD spared that copy. Need I say more? God and His divine appointments. I am just being shocked over and over with JUST HOW MUCH God is willing to use us in regular old daily situations that under normal circumstances we waste. NEVER despise an opportunity…I am learning this loud and clear. I am just in awe that what the guy at GYC said was true. “So many miracles God had planned to work for us…for His glory, we never witness because we don’t make ourselves available to the encounter. We don’t go in faith and help the person on the side of the road or share the gospel with someone we are nervous about talking with.” (Something to that effect). The point is we could be EXACTLY what that person needed desperately in their lives right then and could have in turn been hugely blessed and strengthened in the experience yet we walk on by going about our lame daily lives, giving no thought to those around us. This is a lesson I am still learning and trying to improve on…I pray God keeps opening doors and placing me specifically in line with His appointments because the feeling is AWESOME!!!! It feels like a supernatural warfare mission and I am allowed to work special ops just for Him. And with faith and the will to submit…nothing can stop us Christians from making a huge dent in this cold world that is turning their face from God. God can use someone being attracted to you as a witnessing opportunity, he can use suddenly changed travel plans, he can use misunderstandings, and when worse comes to worse he can make the rocks cry out if we are unwilling to get it done. But how much more awesome would it be if we had a front lines opportunity to form into better Christians, more on fire for God, ready to take the Word to all that will listen and ultimately be truly ready to go home to Heaven in the end ourselves by simply SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITIES all around us rather than making God call on inanimate objects to speak of Him. Wake up my friends. God has a special and powerful work for us. 

I just felt the need to write a LONG post about this amazing conference I just got back from. Everything was a big deal. I had planned on going for a few months but with who was the question as the plan kept changing for everyone interested in going. At the very last minute the plan changed again and the group was opposite of the original plan. Once we finally settled on who was going the four of us began the journey from Colorado to Seattle. The trip there was pretty uneventful and we got there in one piece. The overall theme of the entire conference was exploring the revolution that occurred in the early church as depicted in the book of Acts. What did they do differently to achieve such results? How did they facilitate such a large increase to God’s kingdom in such short periods of time. Starting with only 12 men the world was turned on its head. One miracle and testimony at a time. They called for the youth to invite the Holy Spirit to guide us in becoming once again like the early Christians. On fire for missions, passionate about studying God’s Word, devoted to His cause, willing to lay everything on the line for Him, to let go of self and yield our paths and lives to Him. There were over 120 seminars to choose from for the separate sessions then 2 collective meetings every day. No way we could easily choose which 6 out of 120 to attend. It took at least an hour. Everything they were covering was present truth and very relevant to the times we are living in. We as SDA’s have a work to do. We have to spread the 3 Angels message and take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Well things started getting heavy on the second to last day. I have always had a part of my heart that was empty since I had to give up my decision to do long term mission work overseas. Coming back to America had its purpose and all as I needed to take care of mom and the kids but my heart still pulled and pulled at me. Well this Australian pastor was speaking and began talking about how our members needed to return to to missionary spirit it once had. “If we wait until we think we are ready we will never go.” He spoke of how we all know that if the church doesn’t get its act together and spread the gospel the work can’t be finished and Jesus can’t come back. There has to be a revolution in the church for the prophetic events to unfold. His speech was powerful and hit me right in the core of my previous stand. At the end he made a very serious appeal. That anyone that was willing to go into the mission field, and we are talking 3-7 years of your life, please come forward. Don’t come forward if you aren’t serious. There was an instance of an alter call he knew of where 400 people went up in commitment and only one person followed through and went to the mission field. He called for the ones being impressed to come up and solidify their commitment before God. My thought process went as follows. ” Man I wish I could. Ugh…I have the kids as my responsibility now, it is too complicated, there is too much involved now. But it won’t leave my heart, I can’t ever kick the urge. Huh…this is a big deal I don’t know what to do, it’s like he has been speaking directly to me this whole time, like he read my mind. Is it God’s will for me to go? Well…the great commission has been given to all of God’s followers…it’s what He expects us to do, maybe not everyone overseas…but He seems to have put a special burden within me for that kind of work. Man…it isn’t ever against His will to submit to His cause and give your life to His service. Oh…the kids. Lord Jesus help I don’t know what to do I’m panicking here what do I do? Do I go? Do I walk up? I don’t want to go up then back out. This is a huge deal! Life changing. Please Lord tell me what I need to do.” Before I knew what was happening my legs were carrying me forward and I was in tears in front of over 4,000 people with my heart going 120 beats per minute. It feels as if God decided for me and I felt happy. Peace. And NERVOUS! What did I just do! I planned to work as a surg tech in the states, buy a house, and live the normal  life. EVEN THOUGH IT IS THE VERY LIFE I AM SOOOO AVIDLY AGAINST BEING COMPLACENT WITH! It was my plan still. Not anymore. I don’t know where He is calling me or how He will work out the details but by the grace of God and if within His ordained will when I finish the surg tech program in July I am going back into the overseas mission field full time. God will have to work out the logistics all I know is that I was impressed and I am putting it in His hands. I have committed. Right now I am feeling mild impressions toward India and going back to Bolivia. But I have literally no clue which God has in store if either. I know many people will think its crazy…given my particular life situation…but I am accountable to God on this one. One or both of the kids will be going with me depending on what happens. After that meeting the conference ended with a bang. We did outreach in the city and among all of us knocked on almost 20,000 doors. Washington is said to be one of the most closed states to religion…we pray that hearts were reached anyhow. A little over 400 people pre-registered for the prophecy seminars (in a period of an hour and a half of knocking) and thousands of flyers were left for those who were not home or unsure. I believe God will work in a mighty way and if even 1 soul is reached it is worth all of the effort in God’s eyes. We are just that important to Him. We were sad to leave the conference but filled with new passion and on fire. We left with Glow tracts to hand out and the philosophy “always have literature on you, always be prepared for a divine appointment…be ready to be used always and affect as many people for Jesus as you can.” We were ready to go! Well little did we know that God would put our new commitments to the test sooner than expected.

In a nutshell we were borrowing a rental car from the father of one of the guys in our group. He extended the days so we could use it since our original transportation fell through. However we didn’t realize we weren’t listed as drivers on the agreement or listed to be taking the rental out of state. We made it 13 hrs out of 19 on the way back to Denver when one of us got pulled over for speeding. We were not thinking about the car at all. When the cop saw the rental agreement he took the driver with him to the cop car and called the company in regards to the lack of permissions on the agreement. As soon as the driver left the car I immediately began to pray that this situation would work out only according to God’s will good or bad because this was a bad situation and the only good thing to be was within His will. The driver came back distraught with news that in 10 degree weather 6 hrs from our destination we were ticketed and our car was getting towed back to the company and someone would simply have to “pick us up”. Four people and a ton of luggage stuck in Middleofnowhere Utah…great. The first reaction wasn’t to panic. It was more shock. Just within minutes of getting our bags out of the rental both of us girls were literally on the verge of frost bitten toes. I began to cry and huddle into Rachel for warmth. The cop after a while offered to drive us to the tiny town and leave us at a gas station that had a Subway. (That would really help us after closing time! NOT!) Apparently the tow truck guy said to one of the guys in our group that he would actually take us with him to the rental company with the car since that was in a bigger town 60 miles away from where the cop was trying to leave us. 60 miles closer to where we needed to go. We were told later that the cop told the tower not to take us anywhere because it was against company policy to transport towees. He said something to the effect of ” I already told them I would and they won’t fire me because I AM the tow shop in this little town.” He went against the cops advice and stuffed us all into his truck and put our stuff back into the rental. Before leaving we encouraged one of the guys to take the cop a couple Glow tracts on the true Biblical teaching on Hell, the Sabbath, and making sense of natural disasters which goes over a bunch of neat stuff. He said “in spite of you getting us towed we’d really like to share these with you.” The cop said thanks and that it was nothing personal and that he could use a little help understanding Revelation. Score! If That was the only encounter it would have been worth it but…it wasn’t even close. On the way in the tow truck we got to know the guy and he told us about his life’s turmoil. Divorces and hard times. Felt like God was smashing him pretty hard. We encouraged him and told him God had a plan for him and that we would pray for him. I also let him know that all things work together for our ultimate good, even if only after death in the kingdom of heaven and that is more than worth it. All we need is Jesus. While he was out of the car I sneakily placed the three Glow tracts in this compartment in his console and prayed quietly and fervently for his soul, his struggles, and that he would find those tracts when and only when he was open to their words and could use them. I was just tickled pink…giggling as I imagined him finding them at random. Then as if 2 seeds planted weren’t enough we stopped off at his girlfriend’s house and he let us use her bathroom. She was very nice. Rachel and I sneakily left one tract in her bathroom mirror cabinet, one clipped onto her ipod on the washing machine, and the other tucked between two towels in her linen cabinet. We giggled our way out excited that we were up to 3! For me this was great! Definitely worth the trouble already. Well…that wasn’t it. We get to the rental place and they inform us that we MAY be able to get a different car the next day but it would be $300. Money none of us planned to spend and didn’t budget for. This trip already cost well over $1,000 between us 4. That was pretty bad news considering he slapped on the fact that we had to get a hotel for the night and wait until he could help us in the morning. There’s another $100 bucks down the drain. No one fretted quite yet. I kept thinking that obviously since I prayed about this when we got pulled over it was VERY INTENTIONAL that this was playing out how it was. On top of this two days earlier my bank took $150 in overdraft fees because for the whole trip I couldn’t find a branch to deposit at and unexpected charges hit my account. This made me cry for sure since that is a huge chunk of my part for the trip and I didn’t have it to spend.  I sucked it up and stopped crying and enjoyed the rest of the conference trusting that God wouldn’t leave me hanging…we were here for Him after all. Preparing to do His work. It would all work out no matter how bad it seemed. Well the Lord had my back on that one, knowing we would be in even more of a bind and He impressed my grandparents who I saw before the pull over on the way down (while seeing my dad) for the first time in years to give me 3oo bucks (also before we left to Seattle one of the guy’s dad gave us $200 for expenses which saved us from yet another unexpected hi-jink with the hotel billing that would have definitely prevented us from checking in at all. God prepared for every detail before we knew to). Now we had to get to the hotel. Super nice tow guy to the rescue threw our stuff on the flat back of the tow truck and drove us to the hotel. We couldn’t thank him enough. Once we were at the hotel things got even more interesting. Forgive me for the length…it gets really good I promise.

After one of the guys paid for the hotel we were about to walk out of the lobby when I turned and looked at the serious man behind the counter. I asked him his name. He told me it was Sam and I noticed he looked Indian. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT INDIA…so I always have to ask. When I inquired as to his ethnicity he perked up instantly then I asked if he spoke Hindi, he said yes, then I asked if he spoke Gujarati, the language from the state my boyfriend at the time was from (never would have known about it otherwise) and he brightened up even more. He wanted to know how in the world I knew about that, because that was the state he was from. At that point we were hitting it off left and right swapping names of the Bollywood actors and our favorite Bollywood movies. He told me the difference between the flat breads in the different states because I was confused. Then he told me a little about how the caste system is still in place and how marriage among villagers works. The conversation changed when I asked him if it was true that Hindus believed in Jesus. He said yes. They believe He was here and son of a God. We continued to talk about spiritual things such as state of the dead according to the Bible and he told me how that can’t be true because of possessions he had seen in his country. I explained how that related to demons and how demons can impersonate humans perfectly and are often channeled to do so in occult ceremonies. I explained the principle of hell not being a place of eternal torment according to the Bible. I told him why we worshiped on Sabbath and why it was such an important controversy between denominations because it is the one commandment that names God as creator of the universe and is the one the devil hates most since he wants this title for himself. I also explained how it was changed and claimed by the Catholic church to uphold their authority on earth. Then people started walking into the lobby to get rooms and refill the coffee 4 total over the period of the conversation. Each of them received Glow tracts from me with a smile and a thank you. One of the ladies asked where we had been and I explained a Christian youth conference and how I was recommitted to go into the long term mission field because people needed to know Jesus and be ready since He is coming soon. She smiled and approved then left. When I turned back to Sam he looked at me seriously. “You mean to tell me that Jesus is COMING BACK…to THIS EARTH!? Literally?” I told him it was absolutely going to happen and many fulfilled prophecies and evidences stand behind the fact. He looked concerned. “Well what does that mean? What will happen.” I explained how everything will be over at that point. That the dead in Christ will go with Him and that at a later period the evil will be destroyed but not eternally tormented. He was still a little blurry on the details so I asked if I could tell him the Christian story in a nutshell. He said yes. I told him about the war in heaven and the division of the angels. The false accusations Satan made against God and the fact that Satan serves as prince of this earth basically trying to prove his point before the entire universe. How all the terrible things that go on are a necessary manifestation of what sin and separation from God causes so that in the new earth it will NEVER come up again. The case must be made plain for all thinking men without constant intervention by God. Free will and consequences as well as naturally caused atrocities must play out in order to lay all things plainly before men and angels. He then asked me why some kids are born poor and some born rich or some born deformed and explained how this justifies reincarnation. All bad lives are results of evil deeds in a previous life. I explained to him that this wasn’t the case and that each person was an individual soul…extremely important to God and that if he only knew the value of a soul in the eyes of God he would be shocked. We don’t need to live a hundred lives. We live one and it is short and should be filled with purpose. I then explained how Jesus would have died still if it was ONLY for him. Before our conversation he never knew or believed that Jesus came to DIE FOR OUR SINS.  I told him that a sould was so valuable to God that God places that selfless love for souls into his children and that if I had to right then and there die so he could make it that I would die…for him because of the love for souls God put within me. He looked perplexed. I explained spiritual warfare and the good angels and bad ones. At one point I told him that in fact there were angels good and bad in the same room with us as we spoke, watching us…hearing us speak. His eyes grew wide and concerned “RIGHT NOW RIGHT HERE!?” Then I explained that he had his very own personal guardian angel. I explained how life is never promised to be easy for Christians on earth God promises to work things out for our ultimate good and all deeds will be repaid in heaven. He didn’t understand how without reincarnation a bad man would receive punishment. I explained to him that the worse punishment is waking up and looking God in the eyes and knowing that you and your own decisions kept you from all the beautiful things He planned for you. How much of a punishment it would be to know your life was over for good and that you chose that path. Seeing everything you ever did, every opportunity you ever shunned to get to know Jesus. That would be ultimate torture. I also told Him how I believe God may allow some people that He knows will never choose Him to have some enjoyment here on this earth with their riches since that is all they will ever have and He at least wants them to have something out of love. How our lives are like specks of dust and nothing here matters. How if the entire world crashed down around someone without God in a natural disaster or something they have NOTHING left, no hope. If everything they know and love is gone they are at rock bottom. The same scenario with a Christian would be laced with hope and joy beneath the mourning because they know what to expect for their future. Eternity with their Lord.  Told him how eternity goes on and on and never runs out and makes our pathetic 120 years max on this earth look like the most insignificant chunk of time. How the hope of Jesus makes a poor man richer than any rich one. How you couldn’t get most people in our country to pay attention to anything but themselves but how the poor are so open and desirous of God. His whole world view was flipped in his head if only for but a second. He admitted how freeing it would be if there was no reincarnation cycle because men spend their entire lives trying to break the cycle by avoiding anything bad. All works and no hope. No love. At one point I kid you not he was tearing up. He had to low key wipe the tears from under his eyes because the Holy Spirit was obviously tugging at his heart! HE WAS IN THERE WITH US WORKING ON HIS BELOVED SAM! I was overjoyed and could have talked for hours. I can’t believe we went over so much in so little time and He was open and hearing me. Not blocking it out like most people who think they have it all figured out. None of us have it ALL figured out. I even gave him a mark my words moment and went over what to look for in the coming time of trouble. The Sunday law enforcement. The false Christ coming, not to believe it unless it was in the exact manner scripture lays out, how the natural disasters will grow worse and church and state will merge enforcing Sunday laws as a way to bring the people as one back to God to stop the Chaos. And how when this happens God will lay the issues plainly before ALL men so with their reasonable minds they could decide between the two sides. I also let him know that after this the second coming was very soon. I left him with a bunch of pamphlets that covered some of what we talked about and left him with the statement that he didn’t have to forsake his religion to check out the Bible. Later that night I came with more pamphlets and left a note with my name and number. This was my best encounter…in my life. I couldn’t get over how God could use me in such a mighty way, strand me in a cold town just to bring hope to an amazing Hindu man who had much truth but was missing the joy and love that comes with the gospel. On top of this when we left our cab driver to the Golden Corral got literature, the cashier, and whoever the unknown souls are that picked up the ones I left in the bathroom. Then on the way out I felt impressed to give one to a guy sitting alone at the table. I thought he was about to give it back so I walked away quickly. He asked what it was but I was gone. Luckily one of the guys was there and said it was a little happiness and to share it with others. He looked happy and said thank you!!! Then of all things the cab driver that took us back to the hotel was a paranormal activities investigator! He had a hat on that said so and all. Well we talked to him and I hid a tract by his clip board. I pray God reaches him for his kingdom. We also left a book in the hotel room. So the point is over 15 people were affected by us being stranded for one night. Any single one of them, if truly touched in any way, was worth the inconvenience. My friend Sam put more of a burden in my heart for the beautiful Hindu people and now I am feeling a pull toward India. If God opens those doors I think that’s where I will go. In addition to that the philosophy is paying off and have been carrying Glow tracts in my purse with me. Half the adults in Chuckie Cheese including another Indian couple got a set yesterday and one lady in Toys R Us. There ARE people that are open and hungry for something more. He just needs His children to care enough to trust, sacrifice, and work to bring them in. Let’s not go to heaven alone. Let’s bring as many people as we can. Don’t let Satan stop you from outreach. As I have learned you can do mission work anywhere…at a birthday party you weren’t planning on being at, in a public bathroom, at Walmart. Improve on as many opportunities as possible. ALWAYS BE READY FOR A DIVINE APPOINTMENT. And pray for a burning passion for the souls of God’s children. If we can’t be missionaries and brave here at home for our Jesus, how will be do any good abroad??? Are we disciples if we aren’t discipling? The answer is simply no. If only we take God at His word and have faith that He will move mountains and work small miracles to His glory in our day to day lives with everyone we come into contact with we may be able to see the revolution of the early church alive again. A church where hundreds of thousands are reached in a day. This must happen before the second coming. So let’s go people!!! Mobilize! This is war! A war against the thief of souls. Wake up from your stupor. Pray away your modern day distractions, and strap on the armor of God. The Coming of Our Beloved Lord is upon us and the pain is ALMOST over. Let’s do our part to finish the work. Be the first part of the revolution to take off in your circle of friends. You never know how many people the friend you reached will in turn reach. This can be REVOLUTIONARY!

This complacent, high tech, rich, overly comfortable American life is a joke. We go around…our biggest complaint being we don’t have extra this or that when we have thousands of dollars worth of stuff sitting all around us…pretty houses, surpluses of food even when we are “broke”. Not a bit

Disclaimer: I am not saying that I believe 100% this is true I just think there are enough connections to make it worth stashing away in the mind as a strong possibility…it is either true or an extremely elaborate slight of hand the Devil is using to cover his other intricate plan. For those of you that may be thinking it, this isn’t something that has consumed hours upon hours of my time. It all came together pretty quickly in a couple sessions of looking. Also I am NOT SAYING that these things should be our sole focus, or that watching the movements of the Devil is more or as important than spreading the simple truth of the Gospel and working on spiritual growth. I agree that we shouldn’t just focus on the bad. However I believe that when one is shown spiritually relevant connections it is attached with an obligation to share. We can be aware and keep our eyes open without SOLELY focusing on what the devil is doing.  SO PLEASE DON’T TELL ME THAT THIS IS IRRELEVANT BECAUSE WE DON’T NEED TO FOCUS ON THESE THINGS AND JUST NEED TO TRUST THAT GOD HAS IT UNDER CONTROL AND WE SHOULDN’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. HE DOES HAVE IT UNDER CONTROL AND I BELIEVE HE IS REVEALING CERTAIN THINGS TO US. Showing us pieces of the strategy that will be used by Satan so we can be informed if we want to be. I don’t believe we as God’s children will go into the final events as unaware as those that don’t know Him.  Also as SDA’s we are blessed with the Spirit of Prophecy and have more information to make connections with. Anyways read it and take what you want from it. It was significant enough to impress me to spend some time sharing it with anyone that wanted to take time to read it.

(Side note for later as you are reading…I have recently found that the original source of all of the Maitreya information is the Theosophical Society. So the references below on Alice Bailey and “new agers” are the original and accurate statements on the issue. The jury is out on Benjamin Creme as the “messenger” because it seems he may have studied  the Theosophical Society’s information so much that he made a related organization to call attention to himself for some purpose. So in a nutshell…what the New Ager’s and Alice Bailey say about the issue of Maitreya…definitely something to worry about as far as true prophecies may be concerned. The information regarding Benjamin Creme and when and how HE specifically thinks this world teacher will appear and some of the other things he has put out in the news and so forth…there are a lot of holes in his theories and he seems to be stealing the show in a sense from the people who truly believe in this whole thing. He is a totally separate entity from the originators so what he says on his websites and interviews doesn’t detract from their teachings at all. On that note I think only the piece below that relates directly to what Benjamin Creme said should be taken with a grain of salt and kept as an interesting side note. The original writings he is getting his theories from however ARE important to note.)

I have found all this over the past 2 years and it all fits into a grand conclusion. Especially as more and more info emerges. Please go over all of it before coming to a conclusion. It is a lot…but it all adds up. Some of it may not be directly relevant but are just explanations from the sources. This is an extra long post because I gathered together all the info I have found on it in one place so it is easy to access.

Ok so to begin with I had seen this quote over 2 years ago…why is it all of a sudden more interesting in light of this whole election?? “Back in the 1980s, Elder Jack Darnall… who ran an end-time training center to prepare people for end-time events, held a prayer meeting in his house. As the people were leaving, he called aside another man and said to him that he felt impressed to tell him an impressive dream that he had.

Now to an entirely different train of thought. The prophecy of the 112th ruler of the Catholic Church (not a pope this time) from a dead catholic named St. Malechy…(Interesting that the last pope and last president prophesies fulfill in the same time period). This is what was written of the pope that will directly follow the one currently in office. PETER THE ROMAN – The 112th prophesy states: “In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Petrus Romanus, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End.” Funny part…the New age movement teaches that Maitreya (or the God all religions are waiting for including Muslims, Hindus, Christians, and others) will take the apostolic succession/throne of Peter and revolutionize the Christian way of thinking. He needs to change such “sinful and profane beliefs as the one that Jesus died as a sacrifice for the sins of man,” and many other things Christians have apparently twisted up. He will emerge (according to Benjamin Creme, a follower taking on a “John the Baptist” like role who channels spirits appearing almost possessed to receive his messages) after a time of mass disaster and devastation to share his message of peace and sharing with the world. His coming is being allegedly heralded with star signs in the skies appearing in crazy colors and motions,(you tube it people are seeing them all over the world for more than a year now how quaint…real Christ star sign, fake Christ star sign), healing and miracles around the world, and a messenger guy with a large following to prepare the world for his message…copying Jesus again. Want to know where Maitreya as the Catholic leader fits with the prophecy? Some claim that Maitreya is now living in a 600 year old Syrian body in ROME. Hmmm. Peter the Roman. Taking the throne of Peter…residing for years secretly in Rome (according to them). Notice that the prophecy says that Peter the Roman will lead his people through great tribulations before the end of the world. It is said that Maitreya can’t appear until a massive crisis/ devastation occurs at which point the world will be open to accept his message. At first he will just be a world teacher with a well loved message and then he will emerge as God once people are ready. For my SDA friends here is another connection for you…here is a passage from the writings of Ellen White: “Disguised as an angel of light, he [Satan] will walk the earth as a wonder-worker. In beautiful language he will present lofty sentiments. Good words will be spoken by him, and good deeds performed. Christ will be personified, but on one point there will be a marked distinction. Satan will turn the people from the law of God. – {Mar 205.3}

He will declare that the Sabbath has been changed from the seventh to the first day of the week; and as lord of the first day of the week he will present this spurious sabbath as a test of loyalty to him. – {Mar 205.4}” So let’s regroup. This false God/Christ of all religions according to himself needs to come and set us all straight on our many misconceptions…including the nature of Jesus, His identity, and ministry, and we are told by EGW that the false Christ will come and be the direct speaker of the Sabbath change to the world and set it up as a test of loyalty to himself. Now how many people in this world would agree to set up an international law in honor of a supernatural being that has helped them through horrendous times, called fire down from the heavens, and asked them to do so??? There is also the undeniable connection with the Bible prophesying that the Catholic Church, the devil himself, and the United States will work together in the passing of the Sunday law and the mark of the beast. Funny that what I have found includes the catholic leadership and the devil’s plan to personate Christ. Isn’t it even more amusing that we as a country have formed such close ties with the Vatican and the Protestant denominations have been moving toward unison and reconciling with Catholicism. Hmmm. One world church? What better way to support a national call for Sunday rest!?

Who is Maitreya? (According to the New Agers)

He has been expected for generations by all of the major religions. Christians know him as the Christ, and expect his imminent return. Jews await him as the Messiah; Hindus look for the coming of Krishna; Buddhists expect him as Maitreya Buddha; and Muslims anticipate the Imam Mahdi or Messiah.

Although the names are different, many believe that they all refer to the same individual: the World Teacher, whose personal name is Maitreya (pronounced my-tray-ah).
Preferring to be known simply as the Teacher, Maitreya has not come as a religious leader, or to found a new religion, but as a teacher and guide for people of every religion and those of no religion.

At this time of great political, economic and social crisis Maitreya will inspire humanity to see itself as one family, and create a civilization based on sharing, economic and social justice, and global cooperation.

He will launch a call to action to save the millions of people who starve to death every year in a world of plenty. Among Maitreya’s recommendations will be a shift in social priorities so that adequate food, housing, clothing, education, and medical care become universal rights.

Under Maitreya’s inspiration, humanity itself will make the required changes and create a saner and more just world for all.

Here is another explanation of the ascended master Jesus, (by the new agers) that puts it the way I did in the first post:

Jesus of Nazareth and the Christ are not one and the same person. This is one of the most difficult claims for many Christians to accept in connection with Maitreya, the World Teacher, and it therefore needs some further explanation.

In fact, the title Christ does not refer to an individual at all. It is the name of a function in the Hierarchy of Masters of Wisdom, that group of advanced beings who guide the evolution of humanity from behind the scenes. Whoever stands at the head of this Hierarchy automatically becomes the World Teacher, known in the East as the Bodhisattva, during the term of his office.

Maitreya, who embodies the energy we call the Christ Principle, has held that office for over two millennia. In Palestine he manifested himself as the Christ to inaugurate the Age of Pisces, then beginning. The method he used is called spiritual overshadowing, that is, his consciousness informed and guided the actions and teachings of his disciple Jesus. It was, therefore, the consciousness of the Christ, Maitreya, which was seen and experienced by those around Jesus.

The events from Jesus’ life and his words have been greatly misinterpreted due to this little-understood connection between his work and that of Maitreya the Christ. This has given rise to the age-old theological point of contention — namely, whether Jesus was God or man, or perhaps both together. The answer is that Jesus was a man who, as a result of the process of evolution, became a Son of God — as does everyone eventually. Others had gone before him on that path and many have taken it since.

The disciple Jesus of 2,000 years ago has by now become one of the most senior Masters in the Hierarchy: the Master Jesus. During most of the current time he has lived mainly in Palestine. Since 1984, however, he has lived in Rome. The intention is that he will try to raise the Christian churches out of their state of crystallization and rivalry and, if invited to do so, to lead a newly united church. By doing so he hopes to resolve the many contradictions and misunderstandings which have arisen during the course of the centuries about his historic role and the teachings which he then disseminated as a vehicle for Maitreya.

With the emergence of Maitreya, the Master Jesus is playing a major role for the second time. This open collaboration, which will be visible to all, will end any lingering doubts concerning the true relationship between Maitreya the Christ and his disciple, the Master Jesus.

Thus the seemingly paradoxical claim that Jesus and the Christ are not the same person, in the literal sense of the word, is more reasonable than it would appear. Those Christians who find it difficult to accept that ‘their’ teacher is not the highest leader of all humanity may, however, take solace in a second paradox: Jesus and Maitreya the Christ were (and are) one, in the sense that they, each on his own level, work together in perfect concord to further the divine Plan.

If any of you have heard of Alice Bailey of the Lucis Trust (Luciferian publishing company) a very well known individual in the occult world you know why this is particularly relevant. She is pretty much like the “Ellen White” of the occult world in a sense…well this is one of her quotes on Jesus just to let you know this isn’t coming just from “nutty new agers” it’s coming directly from people with ties to Satan and the occult as a religion (who better knows the devil’s plans for his last acts then the devil himself right?)

Notice at the end of this long passage, SDA friends, that she makes a direct connection with high prelates of the Vatican being followers of “Master Jesus” there you have it guys, the dreaded modern day connection between the leadership of the Catholic church with Satan’s organization and plans for the last days. “Certain great prelates of the Anglican and Catholic Churches are wise agents of His.” It can’t get any clearer. Read ALL these posts then tell me there is no connection. I have shared all of the research I have found and it took you a lot less time then it did me to get it all.

This is from Alica Bailey’s (sacred book to satanists) “Initiation Human and Solar”:

“At this particular time the Master M., the Master K. H. and the Master Jesus are interesting Themselves

p. 56

closely with the work of unifying, as far as may be, eastern and western thought, so that the great religions of the East, with the later development of the Christian faith in all its many branches, may mutually benefit each other. Thus eventually it is hoped one great universal Church may come into being.

The Master Jesus, Who is the focal point of the energy that flows through the various Christian churches, is at present living in a Syrian body, and dwells in a certain part of the Holy Land. He travels much and passes considerable time in various parts of Europe. He works specially with masses more than with individuals, though He has gathered around Him quite a numerous body of pupils. He is upon the sixth Ray of Devotion, or Abstract Idealism, and His pupils are frequently distinguished by that fanaticism and devotion which manifested in earlier Christian times amongst the martyrs. He Himself is rather a martial figure, a disciplinarian, and a man of iron rule and will. He is tall and spare with rather a long thin face, black hair, pale complexion and piercing blue eyes. His work at this time is exceedingly responsible, for to Him is given the problem of steering the thought of the occident out of its present state of unrest into the peaceful waters of certitude and knowledge, and of preparing the way in Europe and America for the eventual coming of the World Teacher. He is well known in the Bible history, coming before us first as Joshua the Son of Nun, appearing again in the time of Ezra as Jeshua, taking the third initiation, as related in the book of Zechariah, as Joshua, and in the Gospel story He is known for two great sacrifices, that in which He handed over His body for the use of the Christ, and for the great renunciation which is the characteristic of the fourth initiation. As Appollonius of Tyana, He took the

p. 57

fifth initiation and became a Master of the Wisdom. From that time on He has stayed and worked with the Christian Church, fostering the germ of true spiritual life which is to be found amongst members of all sects and divisions, and neutralizing as far as possible the mistakes and errors of the churchmen and the theologians. He is distinctively the Great Leader, the General, and the wise Executive, and in Church matters He co-operates closely with the Christ, thus saving Him much and acting as His intermediary wherever possible. No one so wisely knows as He the problems of the West, no one is so closely in touch with the people who stand for all that is best in Christian teachings, and no one is so well aware of the need of the present moment. Certain great prelates of the Anglican and Catholic Churches are wise agents of His.

This is the teaching of the group I was referring to in that other long post about them changing what Christians “falsely” believe about who Jesus was, and how this will ultimately lead to the one world church and the passage of the Sunday law with the Pope and the different countries, and ultimately the last showdown in earths history. Please note that the quote I am posting is TOTALLY Satanic in origin and is not to be confused with Jesus’ true identity. 

“The Master Jesus
by Aart Jurriaanse

Discussion of the current status and present responsibility of the
Master Jesus.

Although the Master Jesus (J) is an adept on the Sixth Ray of Devotion and Idealism, and thus resides in the department of the Lord of Civilization, he has been seconded to serve under the Christ, the World Teacher, to promote the welfare of Christianity. He is at present the inspirer and director of the Christian religion throughout the world.

In collaboration with the Masters KH and M, the Master Jesus is deeply interested in unifying the religious thought of East and West. According to the Plan, this will lead to the One Universal Church, uniting all peoples into the One Humanity.

The Master J is well known from biblical history, making his first appearance as Joshua the son of Nun, and subsequently, 2,000 years ago, as the young initiate Jesus, who surrendered his body for the use of the Christ. This culminated in his fourth Initiation at the time of the crucifixion. Still later he was reincarnated as Apolonius of Tyana, and took the fifth Initiation to become a Master of the Wisdom. Since that time he has been moving in the world of men, but beyond the public eye, continually fostering the germ of true spiritual life wherever possible, irrespective of sect or religion, by assisting theologians and churchmen to adhere to the indicated path. Europe is his special field of endeavour and, although he has a number of pupils, his main task is to influence the masses, and gradually to guide public opinion towards better relations, and the recognition that all religions are invoking the help of the One God, and that through tolerance and goodwill this should lead to a single World Religion. The beauty of this Universal Religion will lie in its being coloured and diversified by the many languages, characteristics and customs of the constituting nations of the world, without these factors in the least detracting from its unity of motive and objective, and the close synthesis on spiritual levels.

With regard to that well-known biblical era when the Christ made his fateful appearance in Palestine, man cannot yet understand that when mention is made of Jesus Christ, this refers to two separate entities temporarily functioning as one. Firstly, there was Jesus the disciple and initiate, whose personality was born of Mother Mary, and secondly, there was the Entity whom we know as the Christ and whose spirit temporarily overshadowed and took complete charge of the personality of Jesus, whose soul during that period withdrew from the body and stood aside. With the crucifixion, it was merely the physical body of Jesus that was crucified. The Spirit of Christ had departed from this body, and as this corresponded with the time when Jesus took his fourth Initiation (the “Renunciation”), the body being crucified was that which had been renounced by Jesus.

Present responsibility

The present responsibility of Master Jesus is to raise Western thought life out of the existing morass of uncertainty and fear, where mankind has landed itself through fraud, treachery, cruelty, hate and covetousness, and a constant striving for dominance and power. It will be his task to bring about a change of heart. There are already many who through suffering have come to see that the old way of life cannot lead to peace and happiness, that selfish grasping should make way for selfless giving and service, and that hate and fear should be superseded by loving cooperation, wisdom and compassion.

All this is the responsibility of the Master J — and what a task! But there is no doubt that progress is being made, and he hopes to achieve greater success through a new approach from the Christian Churches, paving the way in both Europe and America for the return of the Christ.

Master Jesus is also striving for union between science and religion, through which he hopes to counter the extremely materialistic attitude of many people, and also to break down the unreasoning, sentimental devotion to religion so distinctive of a large section.

It is forecast that the Master Jesus will yet occupy the chair of the Pope of Rome, and that from that seat he will then be able to re-inspire and re-orient the whole field of Christian religion, diverting it from its present political and temporal trends, towards a more spiritual approach.

Eden again:
Ok guys be honest. Can it be much more blunt?! The Bible says that we won’t know the day or the hour of His coming. But it also says that we will be able to know when it is near and I fully believe that when we ask God is willing to lead to the details. Why is it such a far off thought that God would let His children in on the plan so they know EXACTLY how it is going to play out so they won’t be fooled or caught off guard. I am still looking for the quote on their view of Jesus dying for our sins. That one is a mess!

Drafty her bygone whereabouts reminiscent of ancient post storm skies,
Leaving her chilled to the bone and pondering perspectives through the Makers eyes,
Slipping off the road paved by nail scarred hands with stones of honor and perfection,
Instead of pulsating beams of outward Light one sees a gut wrenching reflection,
A masterpiece carved from scratch with skill to shape the galaxies,
Hands guided by wisdom infinite, complete, and beyond fallacies,
The sculpture, dust tainted, on The Giant Shelf awaiting The Prophetic Recollection,
Is feeling needlessly worthless due to self-denied cleansing Connection,
Trembling under the watchful eye that penetrates flesh and thought,
Reading between the finest lines and skipping details not,
When He who watches knows her every way and the count of hairs upon her head,
Growing distance between The Maker and the made leaves the latter cold and dead,
This visage so morbid…rotting, can’t bear to face the power of His name,
And the differentiation fades with quickness between self-righteousness and shame,
Found hungry…chilled…naked at the feet of Mercy clothing and filling,
While by way of human statutes He could be Vengeance loathing and killing,
Now contact is made between the Maker and her consciousness,
Continue falling apart at the seams or be consumed in Mercy’s righteousness?
The decision so intrinsic, so detrimental, and all consuming,
To choose between what sin compels and what He’d have her doing,
To have her heart guarded by the Craftsman and morphed until it seems His own,
Or placed on a faux temporal pedestal by Darkness…fiery destination known.
Her tears burst forth in awe of the proposition outstandingly undeserved,
A mortal decaying in wickedness can by consuming Blood be preserved?!
She crawls closer to Mercy and pleads He take her unto himself,
To restore her as His shining sculpture upon His favored shelf,
He picks her up dusting Darkness away and holds her close enough to break the chill,
Infusing His Spirit into her veins making things new and giving her strength to do His will.
Now empowered with new vivacity she has new things to ponder,
As days go by the Love amplifies and her guarded heart grows fonder,
Her mind is saturated with a new objective, one that leaves her never,
That the Master aches to dust all others on His shelf and take them Home forever,
The only thing outshining His masterpieces sitting upon His shelf,
Is the joy He feels when one guides others toward Him instead of dwelling within himself……