This ones for Timor

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rand NobleBlade
  • Start date Start date
R

Rand NobleBlade

Guest
The following are the events that led up to the vission that led me to Christ.

Take care and God Bless


i have noticed that alot of people of other belifes and also some christians have had a badd experience with organized religion, perhaps this will help someone, i felt leed to post this and so here it is.

My name is Rob. I was born in 1975, and was baptized in the catholic church the day after i was born( i was a primi and they didnt think i would make it) but i did, and grew up in a family that was 100% Roman Catholic. we went to mass every sunday, and went through all the sacraments. i had a happy childhood, but i was quite sheltered. and so when middle school started I was totaly unprepared for the riggers of adolesence. and so i became the brunt of every joke anyone could imagine. i even tride switching to a catholic school, but my nievaty folowed me there as well, and things became twice as worse casue it was such a smaller school, i had seventh graders makeing fun of me behind my back, casue everyone knew about me. let us say it was aliving Hell.

well around my senior year I started looking into paganism,the occolt and new agism, and sieng as i felt nothing coming from the catholic church that gave me answers, i through myself headlong into it. I read everything i could get my hands on. got totatly into getting my Tarrot read. started plannign my next incarnation so on and so forth.

College only served to further my studies on new age thought, it was also here where i started to debate with christians on how close minded, and judgemental they were. it was also here that i started playing D&D. And belive it or not it was D&D that taught me what faith in God was. My avatar here Rand, was actualy the paladin i played, in a world where it was just God and the devil. Well my paladin got imprisioned in Hell and tourtured by a Night hag. he got free by finnaly realizing that he carried God inside him, even though he was in hell God was with him. Unfortunatly this did not lead me back to christ, it was just a seed that God planted to grow later.

I fluncked out of college and had to live with my parents. my friend and i spent every weekend drinking and doing other things. basicaly my life was spiraling into a dead end. then in the beginning of 1997 i started getting into all these car accidents, and everythign else in my life started to go downhill, i kept thinking that some one out there had it in for me.
well toward the last week in may things came to a head, i totaled my Dad's car. this was the finnal straw. i felt worthelss. i was no use to anyone, and so i tried to kill myself, which my dad (Thankfuly) stopped. i felt wretched,i couldn't even kill myself.

That weekend i sat crying on my bed, and finnaly somthing clicked. i yelled out to God that if he was trying to tell me somthing that he needed to stop beating around the bush and tell me. as i lay back on the bed i felt this energy go through my body, i tingled all over, and then i felt myself floating upward, then i fliped around and when i opend my eyes i was in a room that had alot of antiques in it. set into the wall was a door, and so i went and opend it and it opend onto a lush green lawn, it had just rained and everything felt so fresh. so i stepped out onto the lawn, and looked up and saw a large building, like an old mansion. i walked around to the front and found a sign that said Jesus, Jesus, Jesus cafe. (The Jesus cafe was a christian chat room where i had spent many hours trying to win canverts away from christ, and trying to win back anyone who had been starting to turn toward christ) this made me real confused, i couldnt figure out what was going on. behind me i heard some people and i looked and saw three children siting on a triangle rolling a ball back and forth. i went over to them and said hello. they looked up at me and i had to take a step back, where their eyes should have been were covered over by skin and on the skin were pictures of angels Blowing horns. Who are you, where am I. i asked, they in turn asked me if i Knew Jesus. i said that i knew who he was, and then they said do you Love him. and as soon as they said this i knew that it was the Love of Christ that had been missing from my life. THe void that each one of us has in their lives and tryies unsuccsefuly to fill,well i had found the thing that fills it. and so right there i said Yes, i accept and love him.

the scene changed and there were all these people around me and they each had a cup and they shared their cup with me, and what waqs inside tasted soo good. this one guy however steped up and i couldnt see his face, casue when you tried to look at it it shifted and dissapeared. so i took his glass and right before i drank he put somthing into it and it felt like i had a snot ball in my mouth and so i spit it out. i heard the person swear, and so i told him he didnt belong here and that he needed to be gone, and so he fled. and when i looked up the crowd parted and walking toward me was a person of indescribable beauty. he wore white robes that were stained with blood, and he had wounds in his wrists, side and feet. all i could say was Its you. he then gave me his cup to drink from and when i did all my depression and self loathing were gone.

when i looked up agian i found my self chained to a table in a sweat shop, and thier were thugs with whips and clups walking around and beating myself and the other slaves around the room. they started to beat the guy next to me and so they told me to renounce Jesus. i told them no and so they started to attack me. all i could think of doing was to sing, and so i sang Amazing grace, the louder i sang the harder they hit, untill the guy next to me picked up the song, and then the next and then the next. untill the whole room was singing. well the thugs couldnt stand it anymore and they fled, and then the chains broak and the Lord appeared agian with the group of people from before, and then i started to float away with them waving good-bye. i woke up the morning of May 26th, and it had just rained that night and everyhting felt freash and new. for the first time in years i smiled, and i said I love you Jesus. i then grabbed my journal and wrote down everything i could remeber. in that moment i gave myself to Christ. six years later i am still learnign and growing in Christ. if anyone thinks being a christian is easy they are wrong, its the hardest thing i have ever done, but well worth it. Just like Tomas it took me actualy seeing Jesus to belivie in him.

THe point really is, is that God dose exsist and that he dose appear to us still even today. This humbled me more then anything else, For blessed are those who have belived and not seen, i wish i had accepted Jesus before that nightl, but way glad that i had Belived finnaly in him.

What happend to me is eaxactly what God said he would do for each of us. Seek and you will find. I will leave the ninety -nine and go search for the one who was lost. The father welcomed his son back with open arms, and ordered a feast to celebrate. Just like paul no matter how much wrong we have done, even when we think we are doing right, God will take us back and forgive us.

Take care and God BLess
Rand NobleBlade
Paladin
 
Very interesting, Rand. Before anything else, let me just say that I respect your decision, your experience, and I would never mock a serious person (aka NOT adelpit) such as yourself when so honestly coming forth with something like this.

Now.

http://www.ehendrick.org/healthy/000617.htm

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Definition

Hallucinations are false or distorted sensory experiences that appear to be real perceptions. These sensory impressions are generated by the mind rather than by any external stimuli, and may be seen, heard, felt, and even smelled or tasted.

A hallucination occurs when environmental, emotional, or physical factors such as stress, medication, extreme fatigue, or mental illness cause the mechanism within the brain that helps to distinguish conscious perceptions from internal, memory-based perceptions to misfire. As a result, hallucinations occur during periods of consciousness. They can appear in the form of visions, voices or sounds, tactile feelings (known as haptic hallucinations), smells, or tastes.

...

Common causes of hallucinations include:

* Drugs...
* Stress. Prolonged or extreme stress can impede thought processes and trigger hallucinations.
* Sleep deprivation and/or exhaustion. Physical and emotional exhaustion can induce hallucinations by blurring the line between sleep and wakefulness.
* Meditation and/or sensory deprivation. When the brain lacks external stimulation to form perceptions, it may compensate by referencing the memory and form hallucinatory perceptions. This condition is commonly found in blind and deaf individuals.
* Electrical or neurochemical activity in the brain. A hallucinatory sensation--usually involving touch--called an aura, often appears before, and gives warning of, a migraine. Also, auras involving smell and touch (tactile) are known to warn of the onset of an epileptic attack.
* Mental illness. Up to 75% of schizophrenic patients admitted for treatment report hallucinations.
* Brain damage or disease. Lesions or injuries to the brain may alter brain function and produce hallucinations.

Now, if we look through your post, we see that you experienced a lot of emotional trauma, you used a lot of alcohol, and all throughout your life (especially right when you had your vision) you were under EXTREME stress. These are all perfect ingredients for a hallucination.

Next, we see that your vision DOES fit the definition of a hallucination, as you use all five senses in your description very vividly, and furthermore, things from your memory show up in your hallucination (Jesus Cafe).

I'd also like to mention that I have experimented with meditation (see the above article) and have experienced a "vision", though it was a much weaker and shorter lived one than yours. It was pretty darn cool, though
biggrin.gif


It can clearly be seen that what you experienced may easily have been, and probably was, simply a hallucination (albeit a life-changing one).

I would like to say, however, that I think it's great that you've cleaned up your life, be it at the cost of religion.

Thank you, Rand, for posting that! I'd like to reiterate once more than while I don't believe that what you saw was of God, I certainly respect your opinion and the effects it has had on your life.

P.S. I like how you say "surprisingly" about D&D =D D&D is an awesome game, and is only bad when it gets way out of hand by people that take it too seriously - just like anything. Also, I'm curious as to how you chose the name Rand. Rand is the main character of the Wheel of Time series - are you a fan?
 
First let me coment on the the case you make for a halucination. you might have a case if the story ended there. I'm not sure I brought across how changed i was after i opend my eyes. it was like night and day. and it wasn't just the change, i felt God move in my life. He led me to a great church, and eventualy to my wife, who i know i never would have met if i had't of come to know him. i have also seen his power, i was driving down the highway and i was going up an on ramp and fell asleep at the wheel. when i opend my eyes there was a car on my left and i was headed right toward a car on my right, and the only way i can say that i avoided an accident was that my car passed right through part of the car on my right, casue there just wasn't enough room for my car to fit between them.
God has given me a wife, a good job, and alife i couldn't of even dreamed of having before that day.

I like D&D alot too, the thing i like most is that it is Generic. You create your own worlds, and rules, and chariccter classes. most other RPG's i've played have been limited in thier creative scope. When i creat a world i dont use pantheons, just God And the Devil. As a DM i am acoutable for the worlds i produce and i figured that if i'm gonna do it, God's gonna have a place in it.

You are Corect about Rand. I was reading the Wheel of time when i created him and so i used his name. I'm on crossroads of Midnight right now but haven't had much time to read it though. I still think Lord of the Rings is still the ultimate in fantasy books, but Jordans up there.

Just remeber above all i was seeking the truth when i was exploring New Ageism, and Jesus says Seek and you will find. Well he was right.

Take care And God Bless
Rand NobleBlade
Paladin

P.s. What is your favorate Charicter class in D&D?
And what do you think of Third Edition?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Rand NobleBlade @ Sep. 30 2003,5:47)]P.s. What is your favorate Charicter class in D&D?
And what do you think of Third Edition?
Elven Bladesinger.

3ed is inferior to 2ed. ;)
Nah, there are some good things in 3ed, but I liked 2ed better.
 
Dude you read my mind. I got two fav's Bladesinger and Paladin.

3rd is most definatly inferior to second. I mean look what they did to the bladesinger for instance. You can only use your "Bladesong" a certain amount of times per day.

The group i play with has kinda gone to a 2.5 version. the best of 3rd, while keeping what made two so great.

take care and God Bless
Rand NobleBlade
Paladin
 
I'll play any class, as long as it's not a melee warrior (unless the melee is martial arts or something like that, and fits with the character)....really, i enjoy the roleplaying a lot more than the fighting, so i choose a class i want to roleplay

as for 3rd, i haven't played it, i'm actually in a game of d20 Modern right now.....if you haven't played it, it's INCREDIBLE, and i HIGHLY recommend it
 
" my car passed right through part of the car on my right, casue there just wasn't enough room for my car to fit between them. "

The fact that you have had more than one hallucination seriously worries me. You definately should see a doctor. Funny how God would save you, but he sure didn't mind the two planes crashing into a certain pair of towers, I know I certainly would have believed in the supernatural had this happened, though it would give me no reason to assume it was the Christian God that did it.

D&D is awesome, I play 2.0 as it is the best edition out there. Any fellow DMs here or are you all (I can't think of a word to call you so um...) 'non DMs'?
biggrin.gif
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Funny how God would save you, but he sure didn't mind the two planes crashing into a certain pair of towers
God works on a personal level. We have turned our we have turned our hearts away from YHVH and he is not going to protect this nation. Besides he wasent allowed in there.
 
Well here is another Instance where God saved my life. I'm posting these for the sole reason of giving God The Glory and to show that the mericles that the bible talk about are still happening today.

Today at work i was hooking this safty net onto the racking and i went to turn around and my foot got caught up in the netting. i fell forward and would have hit my head on a computer cart that was infront of me, but somthing caught me and held me there till i could right myself. I garentee i would have broken my neck if i had hit that cart.

Mrpop is right God works on a personal level, if we want him to start working on a national level then we as a nation have to turn back to him and let him back in. God Will not interveen where he is not wanted, he will not force his love upon us, cause if her did it wouldn't be love. you have to chose to love someone.

I love the roleplaying aspect of D&D more then the hack and slash too. We got some great roleplayers in the group i play with back home.

I'm a DM too, i got a campaigne i'm trying to start with some guys from work too. Its set in the forgoten relms, cept its 3000 years into the future. the lands have been torne apart and all the races have had no contact with eachother in 3000 years. the largest Mythel ever cast was erected to seperate the races. as the campaigne opens the Mythel has fallen and the races start to encounter eachother agian. of course the PC's and the players don't know that it is set in the relms , the'll have to find that out throughout the course of the campaigne.

Take care and God Bless
Rand NobleBlade
Paladin
 
So only people who didn't believe were killed? I find that rather disgusting, in fact I would think it more merciful of him to save those who didn't believe and to let the believers die, after all, the believers go to heaven, the non-believers, well you know...
 
Honestly people, God doesn't interfere in the ways of man in anyway that we'd be able to see. God didn't send those planes into those towers. People did. I agree with popdrinker when he said God works on a personal level. I think that God did work on a broader level at the beginning of civilization as described in the Bible but he doesn't anymore IMHO.

I really am not sure what to believe about those who have hallucinations/visions. Considering many of those who are mentally ill do claim to see God through their hallucinations I'd say that in these cases its very doubtful that God is speaking to them. Why speak to only mentally ill people? My other question is why does God speak to some and not others. I've never had a "vision". Why? At this point I'd say that anyone having visions that they believe to be from God really aren't but who am I to say that? It's quite possible that Rand is actually having visions.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Medjai @ Oct. 02 2003,12:16)]So only people who didn't believe were killed? I find that rather disgusting, in fact I would think it more merciful of him to save those who didn't believe and to let the believers die, after all, the believers go to heaven, the non-believers, well you know...
kind of like wondering why Christians are against abortion

after all, they beleive that those babies will go to heaven (most christians, anyway).....therefore, that would be better than letting them live and possibly spend eternity in hell

*shrug*

im pro-life, btw =D
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (GeekforChrist @ Oct. 02 2003,12:14)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Honestly people, God doesn't interfere in the ways of man in anyway that we'd be able to see.

Why not?

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]God didn't send those planes into those towers.

But if he was omnicient, he would have known about it, and could have done something. Hey, if you want to go with the "secret" god that refuses to directly reveal himself...maybe strike them with mild food poisoning so they spend the whole trip in the latrine. Or, if you want to go old testament...give them a stroke or Something.

(sarcasm)
Obviously this was a wakeup call from Allah that we should be following the teachings of Mohammed.
(end sarcasm)

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I think that God did work on a broader level at the beginning of civilization as described in the Bible but he doesn't anymore IMHO.

Why not?
Why should the Isrealites have direct proof of god (him appearing and striking their (non-Iron chariot using) enemies down, and all the other stuff he directly did) and nothing for us?

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I really am not sure what to believe about those who have hallucinations/visions.

They have problems and need help, IF they want help. Some people like hallucinations.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Considering many of those who are mentally ill do claim to see God through their hallucinations I'd say that in these cases its very doubtful that God is speaking to them.

Why? I mean, surely it has to come from somewhere.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Why speak to only mentally ill people?

They are more like children. Jesus said you have to be like a child, non-questioning, submissive, and so forth.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]My other question is why does God speak to some and not others.

*snicker*
God spoke to me when I was a child, and look at me. A bitter atheist who comes to Christian chatboards wondering if there are any Christians who can explain the problems he has.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I've never had a "vision". Why? At this point I'd say that anyone having visions that they believe to be from God really aren't but who am I to say that? It's quite possible that Rand is actually having visions.

It's all in the brain. It is left overs from stuff you got as a kid.

Why do Hindus never see Jesus?
Why do Christians never see Krishna?
We all see what we would "expect" to see, baring a conversion (Hindus will see christ when they convert to Christianity...Christians get visions from Allah when they convert to Islam...and so forth)
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (mrpopdrinker @ Oct. 02 2003,2:49)]Murder is murder. I am glad you are pro life Timor how anyone could murder a child I dont understand.
Exodus 12:29

And Joshua 6:21 & 10:28-32

Psalm 137:9
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

But, hey...if God's doing it, or God "ordered" it, it is OK, right? (Seriously, I'm asking how you guys make it OK.)
 
Big J does have a point.

And I said that I'm pro-life, I don't like the murder either, but I'm just saying, its an interesting theological paradox, eh? Live and possibly be damned, or die and live
 
It has been asked why did God Allow those people to die on Sept. 11th. But just as the Isrealites Chose to have a human king rule over them, so have we chosen to have a government that has no place for God. God Led the isrealites personaly in all their wanderings through the desert, before they came to the holy land. Just as our founding fathers put their trust in Devine Providence, as did those who sucseeded them. until we came to the 20th century, when we decided that we could do a better job then God and drove him from our government.

It is a simmple truth, our country has rejected God. If a people do not want God to Guide them, then he will oblige them and alowthem to thier own devises, this how ever leaves said people open to the wolves that prowl the night. But he dose not abandon them, he raises up people umong them to try and stear the flock back to him.

We face a worse problem now, not only have we told God that we don't want his guidence, but we are also lessening our support for Isreal, his chosen people. If we continue to aid the enemies of Isreal in dividing her up, then we face a new danger the Wrath of God. The bible says that those who stand agiasnt isreal will be destroyed.

Our nation Prospered since its inception becasue we offered a safe have for peopel to practice religion as they saw fit, including the Jews. And during World war two our country provided a safe haven for the Jewish people, a bastion where Hitler could not reach them, as long as america stood his plan of Genocide could not succeed. and after the war we were one of the few countries to suport isreal.

the past decade our country has tride to broaker treaty after treaty that would devide up the land God gave the isrealites. and the peopel who seek the land also seek the destruction of Isreal.

and so our country is in a decline, and it will continue to decline until one of two things happen, we returne to God with a repentant heart, or we deminish into obscurity.

Isreal will always stand. The question is Will Americal stand Beside her, or fall by the way along with those who oppose her.

These words come from a deep love for my country and a desire to see it become great agian.

Take Care and God Bless
Rand NobleBlade
Paladin
 
Back
Top