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Entrance Only
REVELATION 8
"And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.
And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!"
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I grew up poor, learning at an early age that if you didn't work, you didn't eat. I started mowing lawns at the age of 9. At 10, my daddy died a drunk. His pancreas ruptured, spilling hydrochloric acid (which was used for stimulating secretions of the pancreas) inside of his abdomen area, bathing his vital organs in fire. I will never forget the last night we saw him---mom, my sister and I stood helpless as he cursed God, screaming so loud I thought the windows would shatter. His pain was excruciating; unbearable. Then, the ambulance took him to the vet’s hospital, where he died. Wanting to follow in his footsteps, I started drinking in Jr. High, figuring that would prepare me for High School. I graduated in a special class set aside for troublemakers in 1966.
On to Jr. College, which lasted a month. Alcohol and drugs started to become a part of everyday life. “Life? What life,” you might ask. And you would be right---instead of going forward, I was going backward. Then, I started abusing speed. "Warning Hazardous Material" Speed kills it almost killed me That led to what you might call the ‘shooting gallery.’ Let's just say that the paranoia became more than I could bear. Next stop, heroin---shooting up for about four years, I developed a $350.00-a-day smack habit.
After working during the day at an honest job, I would then go to my second job---at night I worked as a burglar, I soon found out that wasn't enough to support my growing habit, so I began a job as a Salesman: selling LSD, speed, heroin, and grass. Then, everything changed. I call it my '23 years of hell-on-earth,' or, to put it another way:
II Peter 2:20 “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21 For it had been better for them not to know the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”
Twenty-three years…those words rang through my mind: twenty-three years of hell-on-earth.
In 1972, I met Jesus, He and I had what you might call a 'working relationship.' Signs and miracles followed me. “Everything I read in the Bible is true,” I said to myself. My success was in believing all that He said. And, in fact, I'm surprised at today's church: a good number of people don't believe, and I suspect the reason is, there are too many books that tell us how we should believe. Fast-forward several years: Seattle, The Farmers Market, or as it's called around here, “The Pike Place Market.” I would go there and share Christ with the hundreds of people milling around. It was glorious knowing that Jesus is right there with you; and in the power of His presence, I had no fear. The best part were those people that gave their lives to Christ. Next stop, a grade school south of Seattle. The principal and a teacher both asked me to speak in front of two classrooms of students. I accepted, but here's the rub: preaching in a public school was illegal at the time! Nevertheless, both the teacher and the principal told me, “Go for it!” So I did. Many of those children came to Christ. It was great! You couldn't ask for anything better. Then, my bubble burst---the Lord was about to spring something new on me. Basically, He came to me and said, “You’re doing fine, but something’s missing.” That 'something,' as He would show me, was Him. He said, “I want all of you.” That felt weird; I thought I already had done that, but come to find out, all the fun I was having was for selfish reasons---my reasons. Then, I realized what He was saying: “Give God the glory.” I had been glorying in myself. I told Him that I liked the feeling good part, but as to the part about complete surrender (just like any fool in their foolish mind), I said, “Not now.” Rather than choose the road that led to righteousness, I took the road that led to destruction. A word of advice when it says ‘road to destruction:’ it means just that. The one thing He told me before I went on this journey-through-hell was, "I'll leave the gate open."
If I were to fill you in on all 23 years of my testimony, it would turn into an Encyclopedia, and time is running out, because Jesus is coming soon---a lot sooner than people think.
In summary, I had a $350.00-a-day smack habit and a $250.00-a-month Tequila habit. Those 23 years began gradually enough at first, until all hell broke loose.
Then, three years ago, at the kitchen table, I was sitting with my head in my hands. Suddenly, I cried out, “Lord are you still there?” I said, “Lord, remember when You said that You would leave the gate open?” I was afraid of what was coming next. All I could think of was, “There ain't no way, no how, He'll ever speak to me again.” But then He spoke! “The gate is still open,” He said. I replied, “OK, Lord, I'm all Yours. I don't care if You kill me doing it, but get me back where I belong!” After a month in a coma I suddenly came to, and there He was: my Lord, my Savior and my God! and most of all my best friend, Thank You Jesus!
# Post note: from the bible in the book of James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Imagine that if you will, being a friend of God
In His Service,
Lee
BTW, when I was in that coma the hospital tested my blood, and found that the ammonia levels were so high that the doctors fully expected me to die; I had become, in layman's terms, a complete vegetable.
Hi, Jeff.
ENTRANCE ONLY D0 NOT ENTER. That reminds me of some of the double talk one can run across debating on-line.
Thanks, Lee, for sharing your testimony. Praise God that He changed you, redeemed you, saved you and has given you eternal life in the Kingdom of God! Only the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit can do what He did in your life.
Hi, Jeff.
ENTRANCE ONLY D0 NOT ENTER. That reminds me of some of the double talk one can run across debating on-line.
Russ,
So true, so true.
Congrats on your DW blog comments/work.
Please vote again.;) If you wish, of course.
Hey, we should post some our comments from the DW article. I could post mine in reply to yours.
Thanks, Russ. My comments will show up as articles here, after my Revelation series ends.
Russ,
My number of visitors went from 3492 on Aug. 16 (and 85 countries), to 4045 today (and 88 countries). That's 553 visitors in 20 days, and 3 more countries added. I don't get as many visitors as you, and certainly not even close to Doug Wead's site, but the growth rate on my site is increasing.
Good for you, please share some of your info in my blog (s) comments.
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