|
Did
Anyone Ever See or Meet Jesus? We get letters from people who shared their experiences
of meeting Jesus and Angels! Not that it is necessary to see Jesus in
order to believe in Him, but stories like this encourage people's faith
that He really exists and cares for us. The people that had these apparitions
most likely needed an extra boost to keep trusting Him or to keep functioning
or even to survive in this evil World. | |
|
These statistics
courtesy Dr. R. Moody's Website © Copyright
2000 Theater of the Mind, All rights reserved 1) 66% of widows experience apparitions of their departed husbands. 2) 75% of parents experience apparitions within a year of death of the child. 3) 25% of Americans admit to seeing ghosts. 4) 33% of Europeans admit to seeing ghosts. 5) 7 reasons why society has tried to suppress mirror gazing: 1) Fear or the unconscious 7) NIWJ in LA (434 respondents) reported 44% were convinced they had several experiences of post mortem contact with the dead. 8) 60% of these involved dreams. 9) 25% reported dead person actually visited them. 10) More than 50% believe in life after death. 11) 44% of Canadians who catagorize selves as "very religious" believed communication with the dead is possible. 12) 42% of "somewhat religious" believed communication with the dead is possible. 13) 35% of "not
very religious" believed communication with the dead is possible. |
PEOPLE WHO SAW JESUS! I SAW JESUS Hello, Here is my URL http://www.geocities.com/page4jesus/ THE
NIGHT JESUS CAME TO VISIT. As my life unfolded my parents abandoned me after years of emotional, mental and physical abuse. At the age of 12 my parents paid to have me live in a Girls Ranch for 7 months. The program did not feel that I belonged there, and released me back to my parents. My parents told me to leave and never come back within weeks after I returned home. I then became a child of the streets in Phoenix Arizona. Many bad things happened to me during this time in my life. I had no home, no money, food was hard to come by, and I remember not wanting to live during most of those long years. My parents had thrown me away, like trash. They simply could not be bothered with a child they did not want. My spirit broke. When I was 16 years old, the Phoenix court system had heard about my situation, and I became a ward of the court. I was placed into a foster home till I was 18 years old. I would grow to an adult, still broken. I abused drugs, and alcohol. I tried very hard to take my life on two occasions. I learned some things about Jesus Christ in the 5 seconds; I spent with Him as a child. As I grew even older, I often meditated on that visit. It turned out to be what fixed the brokenness. Here is what I learned: * Jesus Christ knew what was going to happen to me, years before it happened. * Even if we do not have parents in this world, we have a Father in heaven. * He cares about us, even when no one else does. * He knows what we think, and what is in our heart. * He can communicate to us, without speaking. * Although He came to me first, it took me coming to Him before I could start living life in the light. *Jesus had wisdom about not arguing with my sister. I know that her lifestyle today has everything to do with the abuse that she suffered as a child at the hands of our parents. In many ways my sister suffered a worst fate. She lived with abusive parents, till she was a young adult. The short time her and I would share together, should not have been wasted in quarrels. * I was blessed to be thrown away, because Jesus caught me. * Jesus had long brown wavy hair. He had a white robe on, and He stood in the air with confidence and ease (much like we stand on earth or solid ground). I am 42 years old as I type these words, I have never seen anyone in our world with that ability besides Him. WOMAN SEES HEAVENLY BEING 08 22 03 DEAR STARGAZERS
Your web site is remarkable! I've often wanted to tell someone about my spiritual experience, but it's not a NDE, rather what many would class a religious experience. I lay awake one night praying, with my husband asleep at my side. I was in a crises period of my life, a time of personal despair. Like many I was questioning why I was on earth. I sincerely wanted to get closer to God, I needed his help, and feeling alone & unloved I desperately needed his divine unconditional love. I felt like my spirit was dying, & if God didn't come to my rescue, well I would die inside. God must have opened my spiritual eyes and allow me to see into the spiritual real because a divine being did visit me that night by my bedside. It came cloaked in a grey mist or cloud, talked to me; or rather to my inner spirit. The communication was a telepathic clear voice between the heavenly being & my inner spirit. Wow! I was and still am totally amazed, that my spirit has its own voice, it was clear yet not verbal. We were talking but I never opened my mouth. I want to call this spiritual being an Angel and just like in the Bible in Isaiah 6: 6 the Angel touched my mouth with what I believe to be a piece of coal -it actually clicked on my teeth. I was awake during this experience , laying flat on my bed, on my back, face up yet unable to move anything but my eyes,kinda frozen in time. I saw only the bottom of his long light grayish robe, with blue circular stripes around its bottom. I saw feet & sandals just like men wore in biblical times. I remember my face had a mild burning sensation for the following three days. This happened when I was 43, I'm now 52. My personal life took a major turn for the best. I came to realize I'll never be alone, unloved, or unprotected. That everything happens for a much greater divine purpose. I have been a cheer leader for the Lord Jesus Christ, to the best of my ability, & always will be. I feel my purpose on earth is to simply spread unconditional love in everyway possible to as many as God puts in my path. The Spiritual message to me was a simple one: that I was already forgiven of all sin, as soon as I repented and to give to everyone & everything unconditional love like God gives to all His creation. Please place this event in its proper catagory. My e-mail is gloria.joyce@aliant.ca , if anyone wants to talk or reach me. It's time I shared my experience to edify or strengthen others faith. Note the Book of Revelations is quickly coming to pass. God Bless us all - "JESUS IS COMING BACK SOON LOVE Gloria E. Joyce SWISS
FARMER SAW JESUS This story was told me--the webmaster--by a close woman friend of mine, who is a missionary in the Ukraine. She used to be a missionary in Switzerland doing Christian outreach in towns and villages door to door. One day she and her partner came to the end of the village and rang the bell of the last house, and afterwards asked the lady there if there were any more houses down the road. The lady told them, "Yes! But not anyone that you would like to meet, as there is a farm with a couple of brothers, who are a bit strange and no one really has much contact with them. Afterwards the girls prayed about whether or not to continue on to this farm, and recalling that most people that Jesus ministered to were not always standard fare system people, but odd balls, sinners, publicans & harlots, they felt compelled to go on. They came to a little farm at the end of a little lane and knocked on the door. An older man answered the door, and after explaining their work, he invited them in. He was very sweet and after a while he told them, that one day when he came out of the livingroom to go to the kitchen that Jesus was standing in the corridor connecting the front with the back of the house. The girls didn't understand the entire story, as he spoke Swiss German. But the sincerity of the man was clear. It was also obvious that they needed the encouragement of a personal visit by the Lord, perhaps because they were somewhat ostracised by the community. (If you ever read this Ruth, please send me the finer details please. Thanks! Dan Free.) I Saw Jesus By Donna Dearman There are so many people in America and all over the world whose unbelief is rooted in their own life's circumstances. They have formed an opinion of God based on what the people they know best are like, and how those people treated them. I made this same mistake until I found out that God is not like most people. My parents told me that I never talked until I was three or four years old. In high school, I quit taking speech lessons because I decided there wasn't anyone that I ever wanted to talk to. At that point in time, talking seemed to be a waste of time. Going to church as a child, I had heard about God's love. But when I compared what I heard about Him to what I had learned from life, it didn't seem to add up. I believed that if there was a God, He must be just like the other people I knew, and I didn't want anything to do with Him. The Lord is not like people. His love is real. His love is much greater than you can imagine. When I was a teenager, the pastor of our church came to our house one Saturday when my Dad was not home. He didn't know that someone had told us to never believe anything that they tell you in church, "There is no such thing as getting saved and don't believe a thing they tell you about Jesus." The pastor wanted to know why none of us five kids had ever gotten saved. He prayed with my two older sisters, and they gave their hearts to the Lord. When he asked me if I wanted to give my life to Jesus, I didn't want to. He pressured me to pray the sinner's prayer and I did, but I did not mean it. Some years later, I almost got saved at a revival meeting but the pastor insisted that I was already saved. "Don't you remember?" he said, "I came to your house and prayed with you." When I decided to forget the whole thing and go back to my seat, he decided to make me pray the sinners prayer again. By then I was mad and didn't want to get saved anymore. At that point, he insisted that I get saved so I repeated the prayer after him, but once again my heart was not in it. I quit going to church a few weeks later. Eventually I ran away and got married. After we had been married seven years and had two sons, my husband told me that he had decided to leave me and the children and move to San Francisco. I was shocked and brokenhearted. The pain in my life was so intense and not knowing what else to do, I started drinking. Eventualy, I figured out that I couldn't fix myself and decided to try God. After going to Victory Harvest Church for about a year and a half, sitting in a different place every Sunday so that God would not recognize me, I finally began to believe the truth. I realized that the Lord really does care and that He didn't seem to be like anyone else I had ever known. Alone in my apartment, I gave my life to Him for the first time. A few weeks later on Valentine's Day, Jesus came and appeared to me. I spent the night at a friend's house in a room that was so dark that I could not see my hand in front of my face. I had just received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit a half hour earlier and was lying in bed praying in tongues. Suddenly I felt the love of God come into the room. It was so intense that I looked over to the corner of the room where it had come in. By now the presence of the Lord was so strong that I could no longer move a muscle and could not breathe. I saw a blue light with tiny white sparkling lights in it. The small white lights exploded into a huge light that lit up the room. Jesus was standing there now in the room with me. His robe was a brilliant white, and light and love shined out from Him. I could feel it pouring into me, as my body lay pinned to the bed. At first I was so surprised and shocked to see that Jesus was actually here, but when I realized that He was smiling so happily I was amazed. I could feel His love and knew that He was not unhappy about being there. No one had to make Him come there. He was there because He wanted to be there. He held out His right hand, and I saw small beams of light leaving the area of His hand. These beams of light grew much larger as they curved around and came to me. Each beam of light was about a foot wide when it reached me. This light landed all over my body. It was not like the light from a light bulb that seems to stop when it hits you. The light from Jesus' hand began to pass right through my body. I could feel it passing through my body and going out the other side. After some time this light stopped and Jesus motioned to me and said, "Come here." Immediately I wanted to get up but I had not breathed since He came into the room and still could not move. My body still had no strength because of the presence of the Lord. When I tried to get up my spirit came out of my body and seemed to leap over to the other side of the room to where Jesus stood. When I got there I was the size of a three- year-old child wearing a white dress, and He caught me in the air. Jesus sat down and put me on His lap. He put His hand on my head and looking in my eyes He said, "You are my little girl, you always have been. You just never knew it." He talked to me for a long time. I could still feel His love flowing through me. When He would speak to me His words seemed to go into my heart, my spirit, my mind, and my emotions. His words affected my whole being. I looked at His eyes and they were a gold color with little lights shining from them. Light shined out from His face, and His eyes. His eyes were so beautiful and so full of life. When I looked into His eyes I felt so loved and accepted. His eyes were so pure and gentle and yet full of strength to protect the weak. I looked into His eyes for a long time and I could feel that Jesus was somehow filling the emptiness in my life. He seemed to pour something into me as I looked into His eyes. After some time passed, I looked at His smile and saw that it was so beautiful. He was so full of joy, and His smile was so real. The joy in His face was something I had never seen before. Everything about Jesus was so full of life. As any three-year-old child would, I sat on His lap and looked up at Him, at His beard of coarse hair, at the beautiful tan on His face and neck. His tan was unlike any other tan I'd ever seen. Jesus' tan was not from the sun shining from the outside, but it was a tan that came from the brilliant light that shined from inside Him. It was such a beautiful tan. The color of His tan was brighter and more alive than any I'd ever seen before. The light came shining through His skin. He is so beautiful, so different from anyone else. In the light was such love and life. Love that shined out from Him and kept flowing with the rays of light. Light that traveled out from Him, into and through every thing around Him, and then on into the distance. The love of Christ for me and for you is so very real and He wants us to believe it and to know it. Eph. 3:17 "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge that ye may be filled with all the fullness of God." Any time that you or I come into His presence we will begin to be filled with all the fullness of God, we begin to be rooted and grounded in love. He is so full of love and so alive, so real. Jude 21 "Keep yourselves in the love of God." After some time Jesus said to me " Come with me I want to show you something." Then He got up and took my hand in His right hand and as His left hand began to pass right through the wall He and I just followed. We walked right through the wall and on the other side of it was a bright sunny back yard. It was my parents back yard, not the way it looks now or even the way it was when I was 10, but it was just as it had been when I as 3 years old. Still holding my hand Jesus stood with me there in the yard and showed me a little girl who played there with a ball years before. It was a white ball with blue circles on it. The little girl was me. I kicked the ball, and it rolled across the yard pretty fast and then suddenly stopped. I ran after the ball to pick it up again. Jesus and I had been standing in the yard watching, and He turned to me and said, "Let me show you what really happened." This time I could see what I had not seen before. The ball had stopped suddenly when it had rolled up to Jesus' feet. He was standing there in the yard smiling at a little girl who could not see Him. With eyes of love He had watched her play. His hand reached out for her as she ran up and grabbed the ball and kicked it again. I could see now what I had not seen before, He was there when I was just a little child. He had always been there. He had always loved me. He had loved me even when I did not know that He existed. We stood there in that yard for a moment and then still holding my hand He said "Come, there's more to see." Again, He moved his hand, and we stepped into another place. It was Chippewa street between Plank road and Acadian Thruway. Jesus and I stood there beside that road and watched for a moment as I remembered and saw all the times that I had walked down this same road on my way to the store. I was very angry, and was kicking the rocks in the road as I walked. Continued I Saw Jesus (Continued) By Donna Dearman After some time this light stopped and Jesus motioned to me and said, "Come here." Immediately I wanted to get up but I had not breathed since He came into the room and still could not move. My body still had no strength because of the presence of the Lord. When I tried to get up my spirit came out of my body and seemed to leap over to the other side of the room to where Jesus stood. When I got there I was the size of a three- year-old child wearing a white dress, and He caught me in the air. Jesus sat down and put me on His lap. He put His hand on my head and looking in my eyes He said, "You are my little girl, you always have been. You just never knew it." He talked to me for a long time. I could still feel His love flowing through me. When He would speak to me His words seemed to go into my heart, my spirit, my mind, and my emotions. His words affected my whole being. I looked at His eyes and they were a gold color with little lights shining from them. Light shined out from His face, and His eyes. His eyes were so beautiful and so full of life. When I looked into His eyes I felt so loved and accepted. His eyes were so pure and gentle and yet full of strength to protect the weak. I looked into His eyes for a long time and I could feel that Jesus was somehow filling the emptiness in my life. He seemed to pour something into me as I looked into His eyes. After some time passed, I looked at His smile and saw that it was so beautiful. He was so full of joy, and His smile was so real. The joy in His face was something I had never seen before. Everything about Jesus was so full of life. As any three-year-old child would, I sat on His lap and looked up at Him, at His beard of coarse hair, at the beautiful tan on His face and neck. His tan was unlike any other tan I'd ever seen. Jesus' tan was not from the sun shining from the outside, but it was a tan that came from the brilliant light that shined from inside Him. It was such a beautiful tan. The color of His tan was brighter and more alive than any I'd ever seen before. The light came shining through His skin. He is so beautiful, so different from anyone else. In the light was such love and life. Love that shined out from Him and kept flowing with the rays of light. Light that traveled out from Him, into and through every thing around Him, and then on into the distance. The love of Christ for me and for you is so very real and He wants us to believe it and to know it. Eph. 3:17 "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge that ye may be filled with all the fullness of God." Any time that you or I come into His presence we will begin to be filled with all the fullness of God, we begin to be rooted and grounded in love. He is so full of love and so alive, so real. Jude 21 "Keep yourselves in the love of God." After some time Jesus said to me " Come with me I want to show you something." Then He got up and took my hand in His right hand and as His left hand began to pass right through the wall He and I just followed. We walked right through the wall and on the other side of it was a bright sunny back yard. It was my parents back yard, not the way it looks now or even the way it was when I was 10, but it was just as it had been when I as 3 years old. Still holding my hand Jesus stood with me there in the yard and showed me a little girl who played there with a ball years before. It was a white ball with blue circles on it. The little girl was me. I kicked the ball, and it rolled across the yard pretty fast and then suddenly stopped. I ran after the ball to pick it up again. Jesus and I had been standing in the yard watching, and He turned to me and said, "Let me show you what really happened." This time I could see what I had not seen before. The ball had stopped suddenly when it had rolled up to Jesus' feet. He was standing there in the yard smiling at a little girl who could not see Him. With eyes of love He had watched her play. His hand reached out for her as she ran up and grabbed the ball and kicked it again. I could see now what I had not seen before, He was there when I was just a little child. He had always been there. He had always loved me. He had loved me even when I did not know that He existed. We stood there in that yard for a moment and then still holding my hand He said "Come, there's more to see." Again, He moved his hand, and we stepped into another place. It was Chippewa street between Plank road and Acadian Thruway. Jesus and I stood there beside that road and watched for a moment as I remembered and saw all the times that I had walked down this same road on my way to the store. I was very angry, and was kicking the rocks in the road as I walked. Continued I Saw Jesus (Continued) By Donna Dearman At first it appeared that I had been walking alone, but then I could see what I had not seen before. Tears rolled down His face as Jesus walked along beside me. He wanted to be a part of my life. He tried to talk with me and to share His heart with me. He wanted to comfort me, but I could not see Him, and I would not listen for His voice. I had heard of Him but refused believe. I had heard of His great love for me, but thought it was a bad joke. Jesus had always been right there with me. Because I had never really sought Him out, I never found Him. I could see now what I had never seen before. I was the one who had shut Him out all those years. The times when I had been so alone, so hurt, so afraid, so filled with fear and dread, I thought He did not care, but really He did care. I thought He would not help me, but I would not let Him. As we stood there beside that road, Jesus again moved His hand and we walked into another scene. There was a strip of concrete about 3 inches wide and 5 or 6 inches tall separating two sidewalks that had been build at different times. I had put my books on my head and was walking along on this strip of concrete on my way to school. For some reason, I lost my balance causing the books to fall. I tried to catch them and did but now I was falling. My hands and feet were in the wrong position to catch my balance and my body continued to fall toward the lower sidewalk. Some how just before I should have hit the ground, I seemed to be standing up straight again. It had been too late; there was no way I could have caught my balance. But there I stood again on that strip of concrete. When Jesus showed it to me I remembered it immediately, but now I could see what I had not seen before. Now I know why I never hit the sidewalk. While I had been busy not believing in God or caring what He had to say He was right there beside me. Just like He is right there beside you. When I lost my balance and was falling He caught me. He is always there to catch us when we fall. He cares, and He loves us all more than we will ever know in this life. Because of His love He did not want me to be hurt. If He cared about a small thing like a child falling down He had to care about the painful things that had happened in my life. Jesus moved His hand again and together we walked into my parent's backyard again. Each time that He brought me to a new place, I was a little older. He placed His hand on my shoulder and together we stood there watching. I must have been about 11 now and we had just cut the grass and had raked it all into one huge pile next to the house. It was just before dark and everyone had gone into the house except me. I climbed up on top of the weeds and sat down. That day had not been a good day, my dad was home now, and it was almost dark. I was very much afraid of the dark and never wanted to be outside alone when it was dark, but I was also afraid to go into the house. Leaning back against the house, I looked up into the sky and said aloud, "If there really is a God and if He really has a Son named Jesus, I just wish He would come here and sit with me for awhile." I had always remembered saying that and sitting there on the grass with my head leaned back against the wall. Somehow over the years, the words I had spoken had lost their importance to me. The thing that I really remembered was the way I felt after saying them. I felt better, like everything would be all right. I felt comforted for the first time in my life. It felt good, and it made me forget that the yard was now totally dark. I sat there for a long time before going inside. As I stood there in the yard with Jesus, I was now able to watch and to see what I had not been able to see for years before. Climbing up onto the pile of grass and feeling the familiar anxiety that had gripped me for years I considered the thought that I might throw up again if I had to go inside the house. The same moment that I leaned back against the wall and looked up and said, "If there really is a God and if He really does have a Son named Jesus, I wish He would come here and sit with me for awhile," Jesus came and sat down next to me. He held His arm next to the wall and when I rested my head back against the wall my neck was right in the crook of Jesus' arm. It was Jesus who had comforted me. It was Jesus' presence that made me forget about the approaching darkness. It was His love that held me. The words I that I had spoken to Jesus were not words of faith, but because of His love, He does honor our sincere requests for His help. Don't you see, the love of God that I felt so saturated by, the love that so overflowed me in that room, it is a love that when it is shown full strength, is so strong you can't even breathe. That was not just God's love for me, its God's love for you, too. He feels the same way about you. God is no respecter of persons. He would in no way love me any more or less than He loves you. He loved every one of us so much that He was willing let His own Son die a cruel death, so that we could receive forgiveness and enjoy a full and real relationship with the Father. That is real love. I don't know what you have been through, but the Lord wants you to know that He loves you and He has been right there with you through it all. He will never leave you or forsake you. Sometimes you may not be able to see how He is helping you. But believe me, He is even helping you right now. It is no accident that you are reading this testimony. Jesus wants to comfort you and He knows the circumstances that you are dealing with. When Jesus brought me back to the room we entered through the wall near the ceiling. My spirit immediately flew back into my body, but my body was cold and clammy. I was still unable to breathe. Jesus was still hovering up by the ceiling. He told me some things that He wanted me to do, and just before He left He said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." There on the bed, still not breathing, I felt like I had just spent my whole life with Jesus. The thought occurred to me that if He loved me enough to come to that room and show me His love, I believe that He can make me breathe. The very moment I believed that He could make me breathe, my lungs filled up with air. It's so important what you believe. There is power in the truth, and when you believe the truth, it can change so many things in your life. Jesus loves you more than you could ever imagine. God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He does not make us automatically love and obey Him. He gave us a free will to make our own choice. When we disobey God and go our own way, it causes us to be separated from God. In the Bible it says: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23 People have tried in many ways to bridge this gap between themselves and God. But the Bible says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Prov 14:12 "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." Isaiah 59:2 The only way to bridge the gap between God and man, is through the Cross. Jesus Christ died on the Cross and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and People. The Bible says "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." 1 Tim 2:5 "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." 1 Peter 3:18 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 Jesus said "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20 Here is how you can receive Christ: 1. Admit your need. (I am a sinner.) 2. Be willing to turn from your sins (repent). 3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the he Cross and rose from the grave. 4. Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit. (Receive Him as Lord and Savior.) How to Pray: Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, Amen. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please take a moment to send an E Mail and let me know. Email Donna Dearman 'Mommy, I Saw Jesus' It began as a typical late spring evening in our little city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. But June 15, 2000, was destined to become a night my family will never forget. My oldest son Jacob's junior league baseball team had just lost a playoff game that, on paper, they were supposed to win. My husband, Craig, who was helping coach the team with a friend, had promised the boys that if they won, they would have a big pool party. But seeing the sulking faces of a bunch of 10-year-olds, Craig and his friend decided to let the boys have the party anyway. So, at the home of one of the young players, the team and their families enjoyed the warm evening air. Everyone was having a great time in and around the pool. After swimming, we all gathered together to eat on the patio. The nine-foot-deep pool lay 20 yards away from the patio. After getting our five children settled, my husband and I sat down to eat. Kennedy, our 4-year-old son, sat a few feet away on his towel, eating a hot dog with the "big boys." Halfway through my meal, I realized Kennedy was no longer on his towel. At this point, many of the younger children had finished eating and were up playing on bikes and riding toys. I thought Kennedy was probably riding one of the toys, but I had an overwhelming sense that I needed to find my son. I immediately went to the pool and did not see him. I scanned the area in and around the pool, looking for his little red swimsuit. I never thought to look on the bottom of the pool's deep end. I headed to the front of the house thinking the street would be the next worst place he could be. I returned to the patio and told Craig that I could not find Kennedy. He also got up and went to the pool area. We searched and called for more than five minutes. As we were both returning from searching around the yard, we heard the screams. Above them all was our 10-year-old son Jacob yelling, "Daddy, Daddy, Kennedy was on the bottom of the pool!" I heard someone yell, "Call 911." I ran toward the pool, and what I saw makes my heart ache even now. There on the concrete lay my precious Kennedy. He was limp, bloated to twice his size, and his coloring was a sick grayish blue. Craig, a family physician, was already crouched over our son, performing CPR. Kneeling behind him were two men praying and quoting Scripture. This could not be happening, I said to myself, not to my child. I fell to my knees, grabbing Kennedy's legs, which felt like rubber, and prayed for the Lord to please save my son. I found out later that Kennedy did not have a heartbeat for the first five minutes of CPR. After 12 minutes of CPR, the ambulance arrived. Kennedy was breathing and he had a heart rate of 120. Craig rode to the hospital in the ambulance with Kennedy. Our 5-week-old baby son and I were driven by our dear friend, who was also one of the men on their knees praying for Kennedy. This friend prayed and quoted Scripture the entire trip. After arriving at the local hospital, Kennedy was intubated. His lungs were swelling and he was having seizures and posturing, which is a sign of brain damage. Several of Craig's medical colleagues were there at the hospital, taking care of Kennedy. They worked feverishly, but they were not optimistic about his chances. He had been without oxygen for too long. The pediatrician who had trained Craig several years ago actually pulled me aside and explained how bleak the situation was, that Kennedy would likely have severe brain damage—if, in fact, he survived. The ER doctors worked diligently, but they knew Kennedy needed to get to the children's hospital in Birmingham for the best care. It was a 20-minute trip for Kennedy on the Lifesaver helicopter. It would take Craig and I an hour by car. As we left, we knew things were not looking good for our little boy. A
small comfort After the doctor left, I again prayed for my precious little boy. I prayed for complete healing, but I would take Kennedy anyway God would give him back to me. We were able to see Kennedy a few hours later. My little man had tubes everywhere, one down his throat into his lungs, one arterial line into his heart, numerous ivs, and a catheter in his bladder. He was a pitiful sight, but he was alive. Later that evening, we were unable to recall the name of the icu doctor who attended to Kennedy. He had been such a wonderful caregiver. Craig asked a nurse what his name was. She said, "Oh, that is Dr. Buckmaster." Craig and I looked at each other and smiled. My loving brother, Mark Kennedy, who had died of brain cancer six months earlier, was nicknamed, "The Buckmaster" because of his love for deer hunting. It was a small comfort God gave us to let us know that he was in control. The next morning, we found out that Dr. Buckmaster's first name was Mark. Out
of deep waters The first signs were fighting with the tube down his throat, squeezing our hands on command, and the most exciting moment was the first time he gave us a little thumbs up. Throughout this time of waiting, God sent us caring family, friends, and hospital staff. But most comforting was his Word. Each day, the Lord spoke to us through Scripture. On Sunday, June 18, God told me to read Psalm 18:
Exactly one week after the accident, Kennedy was released from Children's Hospital. A child who was supposed to die, or at least have severe brain damage, left the hospital on his granddad's shoulders. Minutes after arriving back home in Tuscaloosa, he asked his dad, "Daddy, will you play baseball with me?" I am sure you can guess what his daddy's answer was. To
heaven and back I desperately wanted to know how Kennedy got on the bottom of that pool. There were almost 40 people at the party, and no one saw him get in the pool. Why hadn't I watched him more closely? The guilt began to gnaw away at my conscience. After Kennedy was able to talk, I said, "You were asleep for a long time, I have been missing you. What did you do?" He answered, "An angel picked me up and we flew. We flew through walls, clouds, and I flew through you, Mommy." I asked him what the angel looked like, and he told me the angel had long white clothes. Kennedy told me they flew to heaven and that there was a door with jewels all around it and "when they opened that door, it was snowing in there." I was careful not to put words in Kennedy's mouth, I wanted this to be his memory. The only time I asked him a detailed question was when I asked him if he had seen his Uncle Mark in heaven. Kennedy told me that he did see Mark in heaven and that he looked "just like Jesus, and all his boo-boos were gone." He told me Mark was happy and that he wanted to stay in heaven. Kennedy told me that Jesus held him and that there were a lot of angels. Kennedy also described seeing a volcano. He told me, "There were people in the volcano, there was a dragon in there with them and they were sad, there was fire all around the volcano." As Kennedy was describing all this to me, I asked him continually if he was ever afraid. He said, "No, I was with Jesus and Uncle Mark, and I was standing on glass; I was invisible." I asked Kennedy how he got back, and he told me Uncle Mark gave him a push and an angel flew him back. I asked him if he would like to go back to heaven again someday, and he said, "Yes, but Jesus is coming here." Kennedy was a little boy who two weeks before his accident would have gotten upset if you discussed death and going to heaven with him. He was just 4, and he wasn't prepared for that. He didn't want to leave Mommy. Now, suddenly, he's a boy who tells us about Jesus and heaven with excitement and joy. Our son saw Jesus. Many people have asked us how this experience has changed our lives. For one thing, it has turned us into fanatics when it comes to children and swimming safety. But more important, it has given our family a boldness to shout from the mountaintops what the Lord did for our little boy and what awaits us when we leave this world. I know that Kennedy's experience will sound unbelievable to most people. And I understand. In fact, it would mean nothing to us if we did not have God's Word. Kennedy's story is a whisper, and God's Word is the trumpet. Adapted from Kids Life: The Magazine for West Alabama Parents (May/June 2001), © 2001 Amy Buettner. Used by permission. Jesus
is Coming Back Soon! He said to me in pleading compassion, beyond human comprehension... I've had one vision of Christ. He said to me in pleading compassion, beyond human comprehension, "I know what you're going through. I've been there. I know. I have no favorites. I love all of you the same. Race, social status, and money are not important." (He indicated the learning experience was.) "I'm the same yesterday, today, tomorrow." He indicated I'd have a difficult life and would lose faith, but that he would have it for me. "My words never change. Just come to me. If you will only come to me. You can't imagine the joy. You'll never be sorry. You'll never regret it, if you will only come to me. I can give you that love for others." This vision happened in broad daylight as I was driving my car in 1979. He had long, beautiful auburn hair, that glistened when the sun shone on it. He had a spiritual body, had a beard. His face, I could not see, as he seemed to be telling me no one can look upon my face and live. Angela
I looked up into the sky and there was Jesus just smiling at me Hi, when I was a little girl, before kindergarten, I was outside playing. I looked up into the sky and there was Jesus just smiling at me. I waved and I yelled his name but he just smiled. He had beautiful blue eyes. I ran into the house to get my Mom but when we got back, he was gone. That's it. What is interesting is that when my son was in the first grade he had almost the exact same vision even though I never told him about it. Love Barbara M.
My story is a long one but I hope worth
your time. When I was in the hospital on a respirator, I had a vision
of Jesus on the cross. A BRIEF TESTIMONY I've been a quadriplegic since a 1982 diving accident when, after hitting my head on the muddy bottom of a incorrectly marked shallow lake, my vertebrae was crushed at level C4-5 instantly and permanently causing me to become paralyzed from the shoulders down. One day I was a music teacher with the ability to play several instruments. Then suddenly, in a split second, my life was destroyed and my talents laid waste -- or so I thought -- and I wondered how or even why I should continue to live. I had so many questions along the lines of why bad things happen, not just to "good" people, but why they happen at all. I never thought about it in my rose colored world before the accident. I had been given so much and I dedicated all my talents and efforts to God. Then I lost everything. Two years after the accident, my brief, untested marriage crumbled and I had to move in with my parents who lived in another town, far away from all my friends. Then to top it all off, less than five months after I moved in with them, my father succumbed to unbearable bone cancer. It was hard for me not to envy him as he slipped into eternity but I also know how hard it must have been for him in his last days to see his youngest son totally paralyzed. At least now he is in paradise and knows the reason for it all. I spent the next few years living with my loving mother, holding on to my fraying faith, and praying that God could somehow sustain me as I struggled to learn this bizarre new way of life where I had to rely on someone else for virtually every detail. In a few years my faith was rewarded. I found a wonderful woman to be my wife, we have a child, and thanks to the remarkable progress of computer and music technology, I'm able to create music again. Living as a quad, in itself, is not an easy existence but life is enjoyable again and my firmly planted faith in God has harvested a relationship with Him that, without the storms of suffering and desperation I have endured, I never would have known. THE VOICE AND THE VISION In early March of 1998, I was admitted to the ICU at a local hospital suffering from pneumonia. I was hooked up to a respirator for the fourth time in the [now 18] years since my accident and as I laid there, I remember just wanting to go home to be with my family. On Friday the 13th, my 41st birthday, my wife walked in with some CD's and a portable CD player. This quickly became one way I was able to escape reality and lose myself in the music of my headphones. Inevitably, though, the music would end and I would find myself back in that cold room of the ICU at the mercy of my frail mortal shell and its current dependence on the man made breathing machine. Sometimes I would lie there and wonder where God is when we suffer. The next day I would find out. Early Saturday morning, March 14th, I was deep in my slumber, breathing in time with the respirator that was connected to me through a tracheotomy going through my neck into my lungs. The time for what had become the daily routine of doctors and nurses had not yet come. Quietly, I was awakened by a warm, soothing voice. "Jeff, it's time to wake up." The voice was friendly and welcoming. I opened my eyes expecting to see a doctor but there was no one in the room with me. Above me on the ceiling, however, was the life-size image (like a large black and white photograph) of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. His head was down to the right and still. His eyes were closed and His muscular arms were stretched tightly across the center of the rugged crossbeam, held in place by those horrible spikes. His physique was that of a perfect human. He had a broad chest and you could count every rib as they rippled His tortured skin. His hair was shoulder length and like His beard, was tattered from the beating of that day. Upon His head was the tightly woven crown of thorns and I am sure that whoever was ordered to create this spiny head piece received several major wounds in the process. The vision was in shades of gray, so the blood that had dripped from the thorns in His brow appeared only as so much sweat. There was no wound in His side so I believe it must have been the moment in time He gave up His Spirit but before the Roman soldier plunged the spear into His perfect side. It was horrible. It was beautiful. It was frightening. It was enlightening. It was dreadful. It was divine. It was God's perfect love manifested right there before my eyes. This is the result of my sin. If I was not paralyzed on my back, I would have been prostrate with my face to the ground. As I laid there, silently gazing at that awesome vision, I realized I had been granted an audience with the Lord God. If I asked Him a question, would He answer it? Would He reveal to me any of the secrets of the universe? I thought of my Dad. I wondered about what sort of activities he's doing in heaven. I figured that this would be a unique question to ask the only Person Who could convey this classified information, but before I could even formulate the question in my mind, the Voice said, "I'm your Father now." I felt His interest in the here and now and that I should only be concerned with that. Hearing Him refer to Himself as my Father, I knew I was truly an heir with Christ. I don't remember my next words. I do remember, for whatever reason, He said, "Don't repeat history." I will examine this later. Since I was on a respirator, I was unable to speak audibly, so all my words to Him traveled by thought. His words to me were not spoken from the vision (from the cross) but rather as though He was standing beside me, speaking right into my ear. I had had a terrific dream the night before where I was involved with making a music video at a carnival and I experienced the thrill of going on all the rides. I thought it was a great birthday present. I have always cherished my dreams, at least the good ones, because I'm not paralyzed in them. And if it's a lucid dream, where I have some control, it's better still. So I asked the Holy Presence, "What are lucid dreams?" He told me, "Lucid dreams are the Holy Spirit, man." * His answer amused me in that he would use modern vernacular. He made me feel so at ease. I was talking to my God, my Father, my Friend. It didn't matter that I was paralyzed and confined to a respirator. Asking Him about my healing didn't even cross my mind, although He did later rescue me from the grip of that infernal breathing apparatus. I wanted to know about bigger things. My mind began swimming with all the countless things I've wondered about all my life but before I could go on He said softly, "Get ready..." Then, as I laid there in the quiet stillness of that hospital room, I felt the warm breath of God as He blew across my right cheek. I thought I was going to melt. I felt so humbled that He had graced me with His holy presence. Who was I that He should choose to visit me in this way? Suddenly, the vision changed. Now, instead of a frontal view of the crucifixion, I saw the scene from above. There I saw so clearly that horrible crown of thorns and the crucified Son as God saw Him that day. It was not there long, however, and it was then He spoke His final words to me, "Remember Jesus and the cross, Jesus and the cross, Jesus and the cross..." and it was over as quickly as it began. In His Service, SEE ALSO THE FOLLOWING SPIRIT TRIP:
|
