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In this blog, I share true, real life testimonies about miraculous survivals, as well as a parable about one.

As the Scripture says:

"A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the LORD, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent. For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone." (Psa 91:7-12)

I hope this will be an edifying and encouraging experience for you.

Angelic Escape from Terrorist Assassins Head on Collision with Highway Overpass Abutment Head on Collision with an Oncoming Car
Head on Collision with a School Bus Bridge Crash (a parable) Angelic Encounters
Escaped Having a Possibly Fatal Accident


You may also access my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.

Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. "Archangel" painting © 2012 Danny Hahlbohm all rights reserved by the artist.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

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___________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org. Partner with us online by giving to DMI.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Angelic Escape from Terrorist Assassins

Michael Sambo
I have previously written about the acceleration of persecution against Christians in these last days in my article Faithful Until Death: The Glory of Martyrdom for Christ. It's truly a sign of the times in which we live.  It's coming soon to America, but the current situation in Nigeria is already dire.  About half of the 170 million people in Nigeria are Muslim, and the Christians are experiencing intense persecution from their Muslim neighbors. They are victims of all kinds of pranks, gimmicks and evil atrocities committed against Christians and humanity by them.

Today I would like to highlight one recent example.  It took place in Kaduna State, Nigeria, where tremendous tension has existed since the implementation of shari'a law beginning in 2001. Many Christians have been martyred there in recent years.

Initial Report of the Attack
On October 19, 2013, I got an email from a friend of mine, sister Claire Andoun Atongo, alerting me to an attempted assassination of our brother in Christ, Michael Sambo just eight days earlier on Friday, October 11. She wrote to me:

“Do you know that brother Michael Sambo was captured on his way going to a conference on Friday evening by six Boko Haram men?  One of them texted his wife stating that we must come and carry his dead body from the bush.  I was supposed to go to Dubai with sister Linda. Pastor Rika cancelled her trip due the sad news we heard.  I was so down. I could not stop crying and praying GOD for a miracle. I traveled alone, but when I arrived at the airport in Dubai, one of our sisters gave me the great news that brother Michael Sambo was found alive in a bush.”

”What really happened? He missed his flight to Kabi state, so he decided to take a ground transport to Kabi. Unfortunately for him, Boko Haram (Nigerian Muslim terrorist group) captured him.  They brought him to a bush ...they shot him with gun and texted his wife to come and carry the dead body, because they had finally finished with him.  So we contacted the police, who located the bush, but they didn’t see him there.”

“Meanwhile, when the Boko Haram shot him, after texting his wife on the phone, they discovered he was still alive ..and no bullet touched him. Alleluiaaaaa.  I really really thank God for proving to us that He is with us. Amen.”
 
I then personally contacted brother Michael directly by phone, and after he had verified my identity for his own security, we spoke briefly and exchanged emails.  He gave me the right hand of fellowship, and agreed to share his full testimony with me after he returned from a series of meetings he was preaching at throughout Nigeria.

On November 12, I got an email from sister Claire, in which Michael gave his full testimony to a church in Nigeria, which is nothing short of amazing. All glory be to God! Here is a summary of his testimony.

How the Journey Began
He had been traveling to a town in Nigeria to preach.  But he missed his flight.  No matter what he did, he could not get on another flight, since they were all booked. 

So he took ground transportation, even though he did not want to travel at night.  He paid for two seats in the front of the car, and two other men he did not know were passengers in the back seat.  He was very serious and conscious of his security.  He was determined to stay awake during the night journey, so he bought a bottle of water from the driver and drank it.  He also chewed on something to help him stay awake.

He said, “But once the vehicle started moving, eventually I slept off.  When I slept off, quite later, I began to sneeze. As I was sneezing, I became unconscious.  My muscles and joints had been weakened.  In my subconscious mind, I tried to flex my feet, but there was no energy in me at all.  When I awoke, I could not move my hands.  I was incapacitated. All my joints and muscles were weak.” 

“While I was in that condition, I saw how the vehicle parked.  There was no energy to talk.  I saw how two men came to the passenger’s side, took me out of the vehicle and transferred me to another vehicle.  They placed me into the other car. I was conscious and already watching, but I was helpless. They turned around and headed in the direction we had just come from.  (It was not until the next day when I recovered that I noticed pain in my buttocks.  I discovered it was pain from an injection.  I had been drugged).  By and by, they eventually parked by the roadside, and two people again came, carried me out of the vehicle, and we began to enter into the bush.  Then I slept off finally.”

The Presence of God in the Shadow of Death
“When I awoke from that deep sleep, I discovered that my hands were tied.  My feet were tied.  I was blindfolded, and my mouth was sealed up. So when I woke up, they removed the blindfold.  Since my eyes had been sealed up, I had only been seeing darkness.” 

It was a deep forest – bush – in the dead of the night. I didn’t know the hour of day and I didn’t have my bearing.  So I was wondering where I was.  When they flashed their flashlight, I saw a human being lying down next to me.  I discovered it was a lady who had been freshly slaughtered.  In fact, the knife was still on her neck.  When I saw that, I knew the end had eventually come.

“When I looked around, I discovered I was surrounded by six heavily armed people.  They had rifles and chains of bullets around their necks. Their faces were marked, and they spoke good English, as well as Hausa. As I saw them, fear overtook me.  I knew I was in the midst of people that hated me.  They wanted to squeeze the life out of me.  I was facing death.  Tears flooded my eyes.”

“But suddenly it was as if somebody placed his mouth over my ears and began to read out a portion of Scripture.  I began to hear this very clearly in my heart and in my spirit: ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.’”  (Psa 23:4)

“When I heard this Scripture, the inspiration, the grace and strength came.  I began to pray.  I was praying in tongues.  I don’t even know what I was praying.  Strength came and all the fear I had left. The presence of the Lord was so strong that I felt as though if I stretched out my hand, I could touch God.”

"I began to remember the three Hebrew young men, who were thrown into the furnace, how God was with them."

“Suddenly one of them spoke and they introduced themselves to me.  He said, ‘We are Boko haram. We have been looking for you for years now.  But now that we have got you, consider yourself dead, because there is no way you can leave this place.’”

“They said I should deny Christ.  They said, ‘We will break you into pieces.  You will get your blood.’”

“I didn’t speak, because my mouth was gagged.  I considered my options. But I shook my head, ‘No.’  I was not going to deny Christ.”

“I then begged them not to kill me. I asked if they wanted money. I offered to give them a phone number.”

“But they said, ‘Our assignment is to kill you.  We were assigned to kill you. It’s your life we’re looking for.’”

“They saw I was perspiring and I was very thirsty.  So they asked if I wanted some water to drink.  I said, ‘Yes.’ One of them went and got something and brought it to me.  When I began to drink it, I realized it was urine.  It was not even fresh urine, but it had been fermented.  I drank it anyway.”

Assassination Attempt
“Then they put the blindfold back on me.  The leader now ordered that they should shoot me.  One by one they began to shoot.  One of them cocked the rifle and pulled the trigger.  I heard, ‘Ka-ka-ka.’  The second person cocked his rifle and pulled the trigger.  I heard, ‘Ka-ka-ka.’  The third person cocked his rifle and pulled the trigger.  I heard, ‘Ka-ka-ka.’ Because my eyes were closed, I was only hearing sounds.  No bullets came out of the rifles.”

“At this time, my confidence and trust and faith grew.  Then I heard one of them urinating on his gun, because he thought I was using magic.  I heard, ‘Ka-ka-ka.’ Then I only heard his foot hitting me in the back of the head, and I fell forward.  He said, ‘We will break you to pieces!’”

“When they tried and nothing happened, one of them said to another, ‘There is a poison in that particular place.  You should bring that poison.  There is acid in that particular place.  You should bring that acid.’ They brought it and I heard them mix it.  As a scientist I knew that this was not water and I should not drink it.  They said I should drink it, and I said, ‘No.’ They ordered me again to drink it, and I refused.  ‘Why are you talking like that?’” 

Angelic Rescue
“Suddenly I saw a bright light.  Remember I was blindfolded. I saw light!  When I saw light, I focused on the light.  The light shined all around me.  And an angel showed up in the light.  He instructed me through sign language that I should drink.  So I who had refused to drink the poison, later I now called them.  I asked them to please bring the drink, so that I could drink it.  It was in a bottle and my wrists were tied, so they placed the bottle in my hands and I drank it all and nothing happened.  When I finished drinking it, suddenly the angel came down from the sky stretched his leg into our midst.  When he did, the whole group of men fell down.  They all fell down.  When they fell down, strength came into me, and I jumped up and began to run.  I started running."

"When I was running, the light was before me directing me which way to go.  I followed that light.  I followed to a point of exhaustion and then I fell down suddenly.  When I fell down, the angel came down from the sky, picked me up by my left arm, placed me on his shoulder and began to fly with me. We ran until we reached a certain point under a tree.  The angel laid me down on my back under the tree.”

“He removed the blindfold and questioned me, ‘Do you know who I am?’”
“I said, ‘No.’”

“He said, ‘I am angel Michael. Jesus sent me from heaven to this place to come and deliver you from the shadow of death.  Lay down and rest for a while and I will come back.’”

“The Lord’s angels encamp around His people.  The angels are ministering spirits to the saints. In times of difficulty and times of hardship, they are there to serve you, if you are a saint.” 

“I lay down and slept automatically.  After a while, I felt like somebody was waking me up from sleep.  When I awoke, I opened my eyes and saw three persons.  When I saw them, fear came again.  I thought the people had traced me, and I wanted to jump up and start running again.”

“The angel said, ‘No no.  I’m angel Michael, I have returned back.’”

“I asked, ‘What about these other people with you?’”

“He replied, ‘Don’t worry.  I will tell you about them later.’”

Worshiping God with the Angels
“So that is how the four of us sat down under the tree and spontaneously started worshipping God.  It was a heavenly language.  There was only one song, a hymn, that we sang in English, and I don’t remember what it was.  It’s like the heavenly host. We sang and sang and sang.  We worshipped and worshipped and worshipped.”

“After a while the angel stopped the worship and opened to Ps 23.  He read the entire Psalm:

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

“When he finished reading this, he asked ‘Did you know that goodness and mercy are names of angels in heaven?’”

I replied, “No. I didn’t know that.”

“He said, ‘Well, I want to tell you that goodness and mercy are names of angels in heaven, and these ones before you are angels.  This one is Goodness and this one is Mercy. Jesus dispatched them from heaven to deliver you from the hands of the people who hate you.  I have instructed them from today to follow you wherever you go.’”

Onward to Kaduna
“He then said, ‘Do you know Kaduna?’”

“Yes, I know Kaduna.” Kaduna is the capital of Kaduna State, Nigeria, and this city had a population of 760,084 as of the 2006.

“He said, ‘I am going to take you to Kaduna.  But Kaduna is too small to step my foot there.  But when we get to Kaduna where we will drop you, remember one of your phones is in your backpack.  Take it out and switch it on, and call your pastor (Paul Rika).  Tell him where you are and he will arrange for someone to come and pick you up from where we will drop you.’”

“My wife was the last person who called me, so the men had seized my phone and sent text her to tell her to come collect my dead body, because they had killed me.  And the second one they sent to her said she ‘Should not come to look for him, because she wouldn’t find him.’  They have carried me away.  It was through that text that the brethren got to know I had been kidnapped and began to pray.”

“But I had another phone that I had, which I had used earlier that day.  I had switched it off and put it in my backpack. This is the phone the angel told me I should use when I would get to Kaduna.”

“So we now stood up, and walked for a long time through the woods.  After a while I started to hear the sounds of vehicles and people.  I saw a vehicle parked by the roadside.  The angel instructed that we should enter the vehicle.  Goodness and Mercy entered the back seat.  Angel Michael entered the driver’s side and I entered the passenger’s side, then we began to drive.  We drove past a check point and we entered a town.  People were passing by.  The angel stopped and said I should alight from the vehicle. I stepped down from the vehicle, which was actually a spiritual vehicle, not a natural one. He said I should cross over to the other side of the street, and that I should switch my phone on and call my pastor.”

“Later I came to consciousness and found myself lying in a gutter, and I saw people passing by.  One of my legs was in the gutter and my back was in the gutter.  They had spread my suit out and laid it in the sand across the gutter.  I began to recall, ‘Yesterday I was traveling. Where am I now? Why am I lying down now?’  I suddenly remembered the angel had said to switch on my phone.  I saw my backpack beside me, so I reached inside and took my phone out.  I switched it on and I called pastor.”

Having begun his perilous journey on Wednesday, and having been captured on Friday night, this is how brother Michael made it to his destination of Kaduna on Saturday morning. 

Fervent Prayer by the Church to God
As when the apostle Peter was kept in prison by Herod, and God sent an angel to help him miraculously escape, the Lord did the same for brother Michael.  While Michael was in the hands of his captors, prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

On Friday night, the news of the kidnapping came to brother Paul Rika, (pastor of Holiness Revival Ministry Worldwide, aka. Holiness Revival Movement Worldwide).  He said, “There was an investigation going on, and the police would not give us a report. I began to send around for prayers.”

Many people were praying for Mike. The Kaduna state coordinator, brother Emmanuel Ilemaiye was one person who prayed all night with his family for Mike, calling upon the Lord on his behalf.  And only the Lord knows how many other saints were praying.

Brother Rika continues, “Our sister Linda, and sister Rose were in Lagos.  They had just finished a crusade in Badagry.  They were in the house of pastor James. So I told them that they should go into prayer, because this is what had happened to Mike.  So in their prayer, they got back to me.  Sister Linda said God had told her that we should just be thanking God and praising Him, because Mike was alive!  Sister Rose told me the same thing that she had heard an audible voice of God, saying Mike was alive!  He had given her two verses: Luke 4:1-9 and Acts 8:1-9.”

Brother Rika said that on Saturday, “Already prayers were going on.  That day we were fasting because of him.  What the sisters told me really kind of gave me peace.  I became more relaxed somehow, although not completely, because this was prophecy.  It had to be fulfilled. What if they are not speaking by God?”

Brother Rika said, “So that day in the guest house of pastor James, I just felt motivated that we should pray again. So I told the brethren there that we should pray for Mike.  So when it was 2:00 PM, when I said, ‘Let us pray,’ the pastor reminded me that the Lord had said we should just be thanking God and praising Him. So as we began to pray to thank the Lord, my phone rang.  I saw ‘Michael Sambo’ – his glow line.  I thought, ‘Who is speaking here?  Who is ringing me?  Is it his assassins that want to mock at me that they have killed him, just as they did to the wife? Or what?’ I picked up the phone and it went off.  I didn’t even want to tell the people around, because I didn’t want to give them excitement it was Mike, when it would end up not to be Michael again. So he rang the second time. I picked it up and heard his voice.  ‘Hello?’  Hey, this person is still alive! Praise the Lord!  ‘Where are you? Where have you been?’”

The Final Leg of the Journey
Michael was able to describe his location, which was right across from one of the two police stations in that part of Kaduna.  Through the coordination of brother Rika, a local pastor in Kaduna got a ride with an Air Commodore, named Stephen Jeff-Zanni, who was with the Army Staff Command College, stationed at the Air Force base in Kaduna. They rode together in his vehicle to the location where Michael was across the street from the police station.  When they arrived, brother Emmanuel Ilemaiye spotted someone laying down in the gutter.  Brother Emmanuel said, "It was as if he was being lifted up for us to see. I just saw him very, very weak."  He realized it was Mike, and said, ‘Look at him!’  Once the Air Commodore stopped the car, the pastor got out and crossed the street.  He bent over and embraced Michael with many tears of joy.  Mike was so weak he could not stand.  Yet brother Emmanuel found that he was able to pick up Michael, even though he is a large man, and carry him to the Air Commodore's vehicle.  He placed him in the car.  Then he went back to collect Michael's backpack and coat from the place where he had been lying in the gutter.

Brother Emmanuel said the spot where the angels dropped Mike was very close to where he was.  But he said that as they tried to leave the area with Mike in the Air Commodore's car, after they had picked him up, there was a terrible traffic jam, which had not been there when they came.  There was a huge commotion in the city for some unknown reason.  It was so bad that they couldn’t get out of there.  They had to turn around and take a different route, but the Lord was glorified, because they were able to complete the rescue and get Mike back to safety once again at the home of the Air Commodore.

Epilogue
When the Church was praying fervently to God for Michael in the midst of his crisis, and the Lord told sister Linda and Rose that Michael was alive, the Lord gave sister Rose two Scriptures (Luke 4:1-9 and Ac 8:1-9).  There are clear parallels between those passages and Michael’s situation. 

In the Luke passage, Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, and led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.  But Jesus overcame every temptation and returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, where He began to preach and perform signs and wonders.  The Spirit also allowed Michael Sambo to be led into a wilderness place deep in the bush to be tempted by the devil to deny Christ.  But he also overcame temptation, and returned by the power of the Spirit to preach; signs and wonders marked the entire incident.  

In the Acts passage, as a result of great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem, they were all scattered, except the apostles.  The result was that those who had been scattered went about preaching the Word, and some like Philip, were performing signs and wonders, setting people free, and bringing about much rejoicing. Likewise, in Michael’s case, he was in the midst of great persecution taking place in Nigeria, where many Christians are giving their lives as Stephen did. But the result is that Michael is now going about preaching the Word again, testifying of the signs and wonders that marked his miraculous escape; this is setting people free, and bringing about much rejoicing.

There are at least six witnesses to this miracle, who have testified that it really happened.  God is alive!  He answers prayer.  And He provides angelic protection for His saints.  Hallelujah!

The Lord has highly favored His servant, brother Michael Sambo, who has had face to face encounters with the Lord and His holy angels, as well as experienced heaven.  The Lord's seal of approval is upon him and his ministry, and the Lord has given him some very important messages for the Church.  In the face of death, he refused to deny Christ. Therefore, I recommend following up this article by reading and listening to his other messages.

If you have not already heard brother Michael Thomas Sambo's Revelation of Heaven and Hell, I would like to strongly encourage you to do so.  I have written about it my article by that title, which you can read at that link. The article will also provide the video, if you wish to watch the testimony.  I have also featured his testimony in another article I have written called, Godly Attire & Adornment -- Seven Divine Revelations.  Among the seven divine revelation highlighted beside brother Michael's are the testimonies of sister Claire and sister Linda Ngaujah from Sierra Leone, who are both mentioned in this story.  I also recommend my Interview with Michael Thomas Sambo on March 4, 2015 on the Preparing the Way Radio program.

If you would like to hear brother Michael Sambo's entire testimony of his miraculous escape from assassins, along with the eye witness testimonies, you can do so here at this link or on the video below.  Be sure to give God and the Lord Jesus Christ His Son all the praise, who has rescued his servant from the hands of wicked men.



Authors Note: According to Wikipedia, "On 7 March 2015, Boko Haram swore formal allegiance to ISIL, giving ISIL an official presence in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon." Also see Angelic Encounters, as well as the other articles on the Home page of this blog. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Monday, December 31, 2012

Bridge Crash

Today is New Year's Eve, and tonight there will be people across the world partying, while others are on their knees, seeking the face of God.

So I want to tell you a parable about a widow, who had only one son.  One New Year's Eve, in the middle of the night, he was driving home from a party.  Having had too much to drink, he was dozing off at the wheel, as he traveled down the highway. So he didn't notice the sign that said, "Road Ends. 1 Mile."  Up ahead, a bridge had recently collapsed in an earthquake.  And now the road ended at a sheer cliff that descended straight down 230 feet to a rocky gorge below.

His mother was at an all-night prayer meeting, calling out to God on her knees with her eyes closed. Suddenly seeing her son's face before her, and sensing he was in great danger, she began to pray earnestly for him.

As he nodded off at the wheel of his car, he then passed by another sign on the road side that said, "Road Ends. 2,600 Feet."  Then another sign that said, "Last Exit." Seconds later he was speeding toward an orange, wooden sign in the center of the road.  It was 30 feet wide and 15-feet high, spanning both travel lanes, and it read, "DANGER! ROAD ENDS 100 FEET!"  He didn't see the sign, which was flanked by many flashing orange lights on both sides, because he had gone to sleep at the wheel. 

His car smashed through the wooden sign and veered off the right side of the road, where there was a sloping embankment down into the woods.  As the car left the road, it went airborne over the right-hand embankment and crashed into an oak tree that stood only 5 feet from the sheer cliff.  The oak tree had two large, V-shaped limbs at the top, and his rear tires became caught between the limbs. So his car came to rest there at the top of the tree, facing downward.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself at the wheel inside his car, suspended over the edge of the cliff, staring into the pitch blackness in front of him.  He called for help on his cell phone, but the emergency vehicles were unable to reach him from the road with their heavy equipment.  So he waited until a rescue helicopter arrived.  As New Year's Day dawned, and there was light, he discovered could see the bottom of the rocky gorge through his windshield.  Finally the rescue helicopter sent a medic down on a line with a basket, which was used to place him in and hoist him up to safety.

This is a parable and not a true story.  It is meant to show the danger of ignoring the warning signs that God has placed before us, in order to keep us from perishing.

If you do not know Jesus, then this post is your warning sign to turn around and follow Jesus, so that you will live forever with Him and not perish.  If you are a believer, who has fallen away from the Lord, the message is the same.

Those who crash through that final sign at the end of the road will certainly perish.  There are rare exceptions, where a miracle may happen, giving the person another chance to live.  When that happens, it is because of the grace and mercy of God.  But the person must still repent, or else they will eventually die and perish forever. 

Warning Signs
Here are some examples of warning signs for all of us, especially those who don't know Jesus Christ:

Jesus said, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. (Joh 3:16-19)

Jesus said, "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Mat 10:28)

Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? "I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."  (Luk 13:1-3)

Jesus said, "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned."  (Mar 16:16)
 And here are some warning signs for those who know the Lord, but are tempted to fall away:
For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. (Heb 6:4-6) This verse means what it says.  It is impossible, except for God!!
Jesus said, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."
(Mar 10:27)

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire." (2Pe 2:20-22)

But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luk 9:62)
'But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 'I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. 'Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. 'And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. (Rev 2:20-23)
There is Hope for You

You may feel that you have crashed through that final barrier and you are hanging over the side of the cliff.  You feel the terror of dangling there. Enough light is given to you in your heart to realize you are staring down at hell, expecting certain judgment.  You may be wondering if there is any hope for you.  If that's you, then I've got good news!  There is hope for you in Jesus Christ.
"Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. "Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. (Mat 12:31-32)
If "My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2Ch 7:14). Note that this is about God's people, who are called by His Name, turning from their wicked ways.
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."  (Rom 10:9-11)

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (1Jo 1:8-9)
God's "mercy triumphs over judgment." (Jam 2:13-b)
Repentance is Necessary for Everyone, Including Believers
If you are a backslidden believer, it is not enough to simply believe in the Lord in your mind.  You must repent and do the deeds of one who is absolutely in love with the Lord Jesus. Or don't you know that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? (Rom 2:4) The Lord warned most of the pastors of the churches of Asia to repent.  Here are some examples:
'Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place--unless you repent. (Rev 2:5)

'Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. (Rev 2:16)

'So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. (Rev 3:3)

'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent." (Rev 3:19)

There was a king named Mannaseh, who did evil in the eyes of the Lord.   He misled the entire nation back into idolatry, after it had been wiped out by his predecessor. He put idols inside God's holy temple.  He even offered his own sons up as human sacrifices on the devil's altar. But when he repented with his whole heart, God forgave him.
Therefore the LORD brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon. When he was in distress, he entreated the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God. Now after this he built the outer wall of the city of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance of the Fish Gate; and he encircled the Ophel with it and made it very high. Then he put army commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah. He also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city. He set up the altar of the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel. (2Ch 33:11-16)
Manasseh ACTED on his repentance by breaking with sin.  His repentance was not just words.  And after he repented, he did not sit and wonder if God had really forgiven him.  He did not question whether God could be so merciful.

Putting it All Together
Don't spend your time any more, wondering IF God will forgive you.  Be zealous and repent.  Call upon the all-powerful name of Jesus Christ, asking Him for mercy and forgiveness.  Believe that He will forgive you!  "Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning;" (1Co 15:34a)  Follow Jesus, obeying Him as your Lord in all things.  Don't drive past any more warning signs, because you never know if this could be your final warning.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like "The Lord Healed My Backsliding," "Drifting Away" and "Keeping Power of God." My daughter has written a poem, called "At the Crossroads" that speaks a very thought-provoking message related to this blog.  Now that you have read this parable, I suggest reading some true stories of people I know, who've had miraculous survivals, which I've recorded in "Angelic Escape from Terrorist Assassins," "Head On Collision with Oncoming Car," "Head on Collision with School Bus," and "Head on Collision with Highway Overpass Abutment." You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Head on Collision with an Oncoming Car

I still remember the first time my friend, Mike Durand (pictured below), told me about his head-on car accident that happened during his morning commute in Idaho. He was still in the early stages of recovery, so it was all still fresh for him. I marveled at the way God protected him through this terrible accident, and I still do today, three years later.

Here's the story as he tells it:

"On December 17, 2007, I was driving my car to work at UPS, just like every other weekday morning. At that time of year I still had at a few hours to wait for the sunrise. A few light snowflakes were falling but the road was clear and the patches of fog weren’t a problem. I was maintaining a good following distance from the car in front of me and traveling around 40 mph, a good 30 mph slower than normal. But I leave early, so the weather was factored in. My 45-minute commute becomes an hour and fifteen minutes in the winter time, and today would be no exception. Usually I fill this time with a few great bible study programs, or when times are tough, like that day I have an open dialogue with God. Oncoming traffic is light, because everyone is traveling to work, so I was surprised to see a very fast moving car sideswipe the car in front of me. It over corrected and nearly went off of the hill, and I thought, ‘I’m going to have to help that person back up the hill’. The car then rebounded off of the snow bank, and without slowing down, swerved directly into my lane again. My last thought was ‘Mike you’re not getting out of this one’.

I woke up twenty to thirty minutes later with my hands still gripping the now bent steering wheel. I saw the deflated airbag with my blood on it and could taste the non-stick agent that they cover it with at the factory. I couldn’t move because the seat that I was still buckled into was slammed against the steering wheel and dash at the moment of impact. My driver side window was out and I notice that it was cold. I could only remember at this time waving at a friend of mine who was manually taking his hubs out of 4-wheel drive about ten minutes drive down the road. I called my still sleeping wife on the phone and left her a message that I was ok and then passed out again.

Sometime later I woke up again for good this time. I had briefly stirred as the 79-year-old lady who hit me was staring at me, and a nurse had come by to inform me that the ambulance was on its way. The friend of mine that I had passed earlier was unsuccessfully trying to get the car door opened and the EMT’s had arrived on the scene and cut me out of the car. The sun was up now and I had been exposed to temps below freezing for 2 ½ hours. That warm blanket from the ambulance really felt good.

I was hospitalized three times in the next 5 ½ months due to internal injuries that eventually led to removing a portion of my small intestine. My left leg was fractured in two places and four ribs were broken. For several months I had some small difficulties with my speech due to the concussion.

While all of this may sound awful it has been an extremely positive experience. Was the thundering voice of God heard, or did I see a guardian angel jump out and absorb the impact of the crash? The answer is no. But God worked on me and my family through this in such a personal way that we have seen His hand everywhere in the details. This accident could have created an extreme hardship for us. We have six children, a mortgage and a car payment and suddenly no income. Since daycare for six children is prohibitive and because UPS provides a decent enough living, my wife, Aimee is able to stay home. And while we are happy, it is generally a payday-to-payday life. No savings and no slush fund for a rainy day. Thanks to God’s work in our lives, we never missed a meal, or a payment throughout the accident recovery period. If it weren’t for a few occasional aches and pains, I would question that the crash happened at all. So complete was my recovery both physically and financially.

In Psalm 139 David declares that God knows his sitting down and standing up, is both behind and in front of him, and if David ascended to heaven or descended to hell, God is there. Truly the presence of God is everywhere and He is that interested and concerned with every detail in your life. Luke 12:27-34 lays out nicely just how concerned for our well being He is. ‘…Seek ye not what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be of doubtful mind.’

Thoughtful reviews of the facts have proven the accuracy of these words. Literally every detail was taken care of by His hand. Consider the following: The 79 year old woman who hit me admitted to the police that she had taken pain medication for her back prior to leaving the house to see her doctor 70 miles away. She had been having difficulty keeping on the road and several people had called to report her. The police had been alerted to a speeding car and were traveling toward the scene of the accident before the accident even happened. The first officer on the scene was a family friend and the person behind me was also a family friend. The crash scene was in a low spot without reliable cell phone service, yet I and the people around me had no trouble calling out that morning. I spent nearly three hours in an open car in sub freezing temperatures and have no frostbite or cold weather injuries of any kind.

When the EMT’s arrived and finally got me out of the car they completed an in depth triage. All of my first aid training from the military snapped back into my foggy mind and I am able to accurately articulate my many injuries in spite of a concussion. Normally I am a guy who always forgets to mention something at my checkups.

I prayed before going into surgery that the surgeon’s hands would be God’s hands, and sure enough, once the damage had been repaired, he acts on a feeling and discovers an extra stomach that will likely turn cancerous and removes it. Later at a follow up visit while he was answering my questions about how intestines heal, he stood up and stated, ‘I don’t care what you believe, this (pointing to the picture of my insides) didn’t evolve’. Out of the blue and to my delight I was treated to a lecture on the wonderful design of the human body by a man who is in love with the Designer, thrilled to be doing what God put him here to do!

Anyone who deals with a tort claim is at the mercy of the insurance companies. No one wants to pay until fault has been established, and hospitals don’t want to treat you until they know who is paying. No one wants to pay until all treatment has been completed. Call it a Catch-22, a vicious circle or whatever. It is a grueling experience for the patient. I had to hire an attorney to help me in the fifteen-month fight. In the end, I was able to recoup my lost wages and pay the hospital bills. God did a work in my neighbors and the local community in the mean time and I was able to live through their kindness. As things happened, God provided. Just because I couldn’t make a living did not mean that living stopped. Appliances die, doorknobs still fall off and driveways still need the snow shoveled out of them, regardless of your ability or capability. In every instance, every need was met with a perfect timing that only God can pull off.

Could all of these things be coincidence, some possible harmonic convergence of the ‘Universe’ in my favor? Perhaps I received some special blessing from delivering packages to the house that the Dalai Lama stayed at on his recent visit to Sun Valley. Some might say that my Karma from a past life provided supernaturally. Some might also say that because my belief in a higher power has been conditioned by years of faith that I manifested my own personal power in a time of crisis and without my conscious awareness, creating a set of conditions favorable to me. Certainly all these explanations would fit within the parameters that many of today’s belief systems. But I know better. I was the one trapped in the car and despite my considerable physical strength was helpless to free myself. Even with the aid of my friend (a strong carpenter) I was stuck in that car until the EMT’s cut me out.

Some would ask how I know that it was really God that helped me through all of this. To them I say that you know without a doubt when the hand of God is moving in your life. My earthly father pulled me out of a very tight situation when I was a teenager. My Jeep had slid off of a bridge on a muddy road. No matter what I did it only made the Jeep more stuck. When I finally admitted defeat and had my father pull me out, the feeling was very similar. When Dad pulled me out, I felt relief and embarrassment. When my Heavenly Father pulled me out I actually felt joy that only comes though the proximity of His Spirit. Even though I was in pain and cold I knew that I was in His presence, and He is big enough to get you through. So, in both cases I was in a very familiar presence. Just as you know your own Dad, you also know your Heavenly Father.

So why was I involved in a car wreck at all? After all here I am spouting off about God, so I am obviously a Christian right? How come some old woman who liked drinking (in her obituary a year later) and driving fast while stoned on pain meds hit me, a Christian? How in the world did she avoid all of those other cars just to hit mine? Jesus promises that the rain and the wind will come on believer and non-believer alike in Matthew 7:24-27. So, true to His word, a storm came upon my house. My house stood, because it was built upon Him.

I am not special. I am a sinner, and I make mistakes daily. I do, however, have a great relationship with my Creator and trust in His Son for my salvation. While that is what is special about me, it is by no means exclusive. My prayer is that anyone who reads this will act upon what God is offering to everyone through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus paid the price for our sin, and belief on Him is the price of admission to Heaven. If you reach out to Him, the circumstances won’t matter."

Author's Note: Also see Angelic Encounters, as well as the other articles on the Home page of this blog.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Head on Collision with a School Bus

A couple years ago, my friend Nick Mancino (pictured below) had a head-on collision with a school bus (pictured left) and survived to tell about it. Here's his unbelievable story:

"One afternoon on January 2, 2008, I was in Windham, NH, driving my Fedex truck, which was a box truck. I took a right hand turn onto a side road, got distracted and slammed head-on into a school bus. When we hit, it tore the box right off the truck. Snow came dumping down from the top of the bus onto me. I remember seeing debris flying all over the cab. Shattered glass showered all over me. My eyes were open during impact, as I was fully aware that I hit something not knowing what it was at the time.

When I came to a stop, the cab of my truck was completely gone. The only thing that was intact was the seat I was sitting in. The rest of the vehicle was destroyed. My immediate concern was for the children in the bus. 27 children escaped injury. There are no seat belts on school buses. I was so glad to hear that none of them were hurt. It was a miracle. This could have been a deadly accident. The news broadcasts said I was in serious condition, but I wasn't. As it was, I escaped with only minor injuries and walked away with the Lord’s protection.

If I could have seen in the spiritual realm that day I know that I would have seen angels with their wings mantled over my truck and the school bus, as a bird of prey mantles over its quarry. If you have ever seen birds do this, once the prey is subdued, the bird usually 'mantles', spreading its wings out and over the prey. Mantling shields the prey from theft by other birds. That's what I imagine the angels must have done to protect me and the passengers on that bus.

I spoke to the lieutenant of the fire department a few days later and he said that in all his years of service he had never seen an accident of this magnitude on a secondary road. He said that usually you see accidents like this on interstates. I could have gone home to be with the Lord that day. I guess in one sense you can say that I died that day. My life will never be the same. My identity is in HIM, and now I take life one day at a time!"

You can still find the original news story of Nick's accident online. It has some excellent close up video footage of the accident scene. In that footage and in the photo above, you can see that the only thing left to the passenger cabin of Nick's truck was the seat he was sitting in. He came very close to death that day. What an incredible testimony of God's protection!

I'm reminded of the passage in God's Word that says: "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.' " (Jam 4:13-15). We all need to be reminded once in a while how precious and brief our lives are. And we need to live for the Lord very day, knowing that it's only if He wills that we will live another day.

Attribution notice: Scripture quotation taken from the NASB.

Author's Note: Also see Angelic Encounters, as well as the other articles on the Home page of this blog. 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"