-
When I was a young single guy of 24 years old in 1968, and living solo in a
tiny rented room in a family home's daylight basement in Portland Oregon; I
had lots of time to myself to think about things since I had no friends, nor
any kind of social contact whatsoever other than at work. I wasn't distracted
with a girl friend, nor by pals and beer buddies, nor by an obsessive hobby.
It was just me, my 1961 Volkswagen, and a 305 Honda motorcycle that I
rode all over northwest Oregon. One of the things that occupied my thoughts
a lot was hell and the very real possibility of my going there.
At the time, I was working as a welder in a large metal shop located in an
old WW2 Kaiser shipyard located in Vancouver Washington on the banks of
the Columbia River. The layout man was a Protestant minister who, one day,
out of the blue, asked me if I was ready for Christ's return.
Well, I had never been taught about that in Catholic catechism so I asked
the man why Christ would want to return. He responded: to rule the world. I
had mixed emotions to the man's reply: I was half afraid and half indignant
to be made afraid. But I instinctively knew that were I subpoenaed to stand
before Christ to answer for the things I had done in life, it would not go well
for me.
Anyway I demanded of the man to know where he got his information. He
replied: from the Bible. So I informed him that I was a Catholic and trusted
only Rome's version of the Bible. He responded that all Bibles say pretty
much the same thing; which was news to me since in those days the Church
insisted that Protestant Bibles were unreliable.
Then he asked me the million dollar question: Would I be going to heaven
when I died? I responded, in so many words; that I had no clue. And he
replied: Don't you believe Christ died for you?
BANG! for the first time in my life; Christ's crucifixion made sense; and not
only made sense, but seemed a very possible ticket to heaven. In point of
fact, in an instant I was positive it was my ticket. Up till then I had always
thought of Christ as a sad victim of circumstances beyond his control; never
dreaming his ordeal made an acquittal possible.
In time; the man suggested that I come with him to his church and make a
public profession of my acceptance of Jesus' death on my behalf. So I went
with him and we informed the Pastor why I was there.
After the service was over, and the people had left; the Pastor and I, plus
my friend and an elder, went down to the rail in front of the stage; where I
prayed a very simple, naïve prayer that went something like this:
"Lord, I'm a sinner. I would like to take advantage of your son's death."
While saying my brief, unrehearsed prayer, I became strangely aware of a
heavy chair just in front of the rail, suspended maybe about four feet up in
the air, and a bit off to the left side, with a lone figure sitting on it looking in
my direction.
I couldn't really make out the face, but the person wearing that face was
just sitting there, silently, neither moving nor uttering a sound while intently
observing me speak every single syllable of my childish prayer. I was
thoroughly unraveled, and could hardly wait to get up and get out of there. I
told no one what happened, and the scene I perceived vanished as quietly,
and as suddenly, as it had appeared.
The human mind is produced by a 3-pound lump of flabby organic tissue,
and not even all three of those pounds are devoted to cognitive processes.
It's very likely that the scene I perceived in front of the rail was the result of
emotional stress that pushed my flabby little mind into imagining things;
who really knows for sure? But I will always be fully persuaded that at that
very moment, the Bible's God made Himself real to me in such a way as to
convince me that I no longer had anything to fear from the wrath of God.
Believe me when I tell you I was overwhelmed with immense relief-- to the
point of weeping uncontrollably like a man condemned to the guillotine
suddenly given a 12th hour pardon --because the one thing Rome had
succeeded in instilling in my heart was a dread fear of hell. Having the
assurance I need no longer fear going there has been the happiest happy
thought that to this day has ever gone through my mind; and I know for
myself, by personal experience; that the passage below is true and reliable.
†. Rom 8:15-17 . .The Spirit himself corroborates with our spirit that we are
God's children.
I never told either of my parents any of this. They were impious brutes who
would have surely mocked and laughed me to scorn as a superstitious
lummox gone mad from spending too much time alone.
Anyway; in time I learned that Christ's version of Christianity is a lethal
religion. It quite literally, in some supernatural way that I don't quite
understand; put Christ's believing followers to death. Their entire existence,
as natural-born human beings, went up on the cross with him.
†. Rom 6:3 . . Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
†. Rom 6:6 . . Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him
†. Gal 2:20 . . I am crucified with Christ
†. Col 3:3 . . For you died when Christ died
One of my biggest fears as a Roman Catholic was that something fatal would
happen to me in between confessions. Well; you can just imagine my relief
at discovering that people punished on the cross with Christ are in no danger
of double jeopardy; which Webster's defines as: putting someone on trial for
an offense for which they have previously been put on trial under a valid
charge viz: two adjudications for one offense.
The Great White throne event depicted at Rev 20:11-15 is for the purpose of
putting people on trial for the things they did in life. Afterwards their lives
will be terminated by death akin to a foundry worker falling into a vat of
molten iron.
If I appear at that event at all, it will be only as a spectator and/or a witness
for the prosecution because I was put on trial for the things I do in life when
Christ was put on the cross, and my life was terminated when his was
terminated. I have no clue how this works; I only know that I'm supposed to
reckon it true. (Rom 6:3-11)
Christ offers a version of Christianity that guarantees a Ten Commandments
proof, God proof, sin proof, Devil proof, temptation proof, fool proof, human
nature proof, human error proof, mortal sin proof, fail-safe rescue from the
wrath of God and full time protection from retribution. It just amazes me the
number of people, even those warming pews in old-school Christian
churches, who want nothing to do with it.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
When I was a young single guy of 24 years old in 1968, and living solo in a
tiny rented room in a family home's daylight basement in Portland Oregon; I
had lots of time to myself to think about things since I had no friends, nor
any kind of social contact whatsoever other than at work. I wasn't distracted
with a girl friend, nor by pals and beer buddies, nor by an obsessive hobby.
It was just me, my 1961 Volkswagen, and a 305 Honda motorcycle that I
rode all over northwest Oregon. One of the things that occupied my thoughts
a lot was hell and the very real possibility of my going there.
At the time, I was working as a welder in a large metal shop located in an
old WW2 Kaiser shipyard located in Vancouver Washington on the banks of
the Columbia River. The layout man was a Protestant minister who, one day,
out of the blue, asked me if I was ready for Christ's return.
Well, I had never been taught about that in Catholic catechism so I asked
the man why Christ would want to return. He responded: to rule the world. I
had mixed emotions to the man's reply: I was half afraid and half indignant
to be made afraid. But I instinctively knew that were I subpoenaed to stand
before Christ to answer for the things I had done in life, it would not go well
for me.
Anyway I demanded of the man to know where he got his information. He
replied: from the Bible. So I informed him that I was a Catholic and trusted
only Rome's version of the Bible. He responded that all Bibles say pretty
much the same thing; which was news to me since in those days the Church
insisted that Protestant Bibles were unreliable.
Then he asked me the million dollar question: Would I be going to heaven
when I died? I responded, in so many words; that I had no clue. And he
replied: Don't you believe Christ died for you?
BANG! for the first time in my life; Christ's crucifixion made sense; and not
only made sense, but seemed a very possible ticket to heaven. In point of
fact, in an instant I was positive it was my ticket. Up till then I had always
thought of Christ as a sad victim of circumstances beyond his control; never
dreaming his ordeal made an acquittal possible.
In time; the man suggested that I come with him to his church and make a
public profession of my acceptance of Jesus' death on my behalf. So I went
with him and we informed the Pastor why I was there.
After the service was over, and the people had left; the Pastor and I, plus
my friend and an elder, went down to the rail in front of the stage; where I
prayed a very simple, naïve prayer that went something like this:
"Lord, I'm a sinner. I would like to take advantage of your son's death."
While saying my brief, unrehearsed prayer, I became strangely aware of a
heavy chair just in front of the rail, suspended maybe about four feet up in
the air, and a bit off to the left side, with a lone figure sitting on it looking in
my direction.
I couldn't really make out the face, but the person wearing that face was
just sitting there, silently, neither moving nor uttering a sound while intently
observing me speak every single syllable of my childish prayer. I was
thoroughly unraveled, and could hardly wait to get up and get out of there. I
told no one what happened, and the scene I perceived vanished as quietly,
and as suddenly, as it had appeared.
The human mind is produced by a 3-pound lump of flabby organic tissue,
and not even all three of those pounds are devoted to cognitive processes.
It's very likely that the scene I perceived in front of the rail was the result of
emotional stress that pushed my flabby little mind into imagining things;
who really knows for sure? But I will always be fully persuaded that at that
very moment, the Bible's God made Himself real to me in such a way as to
convince me that I no longer had anything to fear from the wrath of God.
Believe me when I tell you I was overwhelmed with immense relief-- to the
point of weeping uncontrollably like a man condemned to the guillotine
suddenly given a 12th hour pardon --because the one thing Rome had
succeeded in instilling in my heart was a dread fear of hell. Having the
assurance I need no longer fear going there has been the happiest happy
thought that to this day has ever gone through my mind; and I know for
myself, by personal experience; that the passage below is true and reliable.
†. Rom 8:15-17 . .The Spirit himself corroborates with our spirit that we are
God's children.
I never told either of my parents any of this. They were impious brutes who
would have surely mocked and laughed me to scorn as a superstitious
lummox gone mad from spending too much time alone.
Anyway; in time I learned that Christ's version of Christianity is a lethal
religion. It quite literally, in some supernatural way that I don't quite
understand; put Christ's believing followers to death. Their entire existence,
as natural-born human beings, went up on the cross with him.
†. Rom 6:3 . . Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
†. Rom 6:6 . . Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him
†. Gal 2:20 . . I am crucified with Christ
†. Col 3:3 . . For you died when Christ died
One of my biggest fears as a Roman Catholic was that something fatal would
happen to me in between confessions. Well; you can just imagine my relief
at discovering that people punished on the cross with Christ are in no danger
of double jeopardy; which Webster's defines as: putting someone on trial for
an offense for which they have previously been put on trial under a valid
charge viz: two adjudications for one offense.
The Great White throne event depicted at Rev 20:11-15 is for the purpose of
putting people on trial for the things they did in life. Afterwards their lives
will be terminated by death akin to a foundry worker falling into a vat of
molten iron.
If I appear at that event at all, it will be only as a spectator and/or a witness
for the prosecution because I was put on trial for the things I do in life when
Christ was put on the cross, and my life was terminated when his was
terminated. I have no clue how this works; I only know that I'm supposed to
reckon it true. (Rom 6:3-11)
Christ offers a version of Christianity that guarantees a Ten Commandments
proof, God proof, sin proof, Devil proof, temptation proof, fool proof, human
nature proof, human error proof, mortal sin proof, fail-safe rescue from the
wrath of God and full time protection from retribution. It just amazes me the
number of people, even those warming pews in old-school Christian
churches, who want nothing to do with it.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
