Serving those who Served our Country

David remarked longingly to his men, “Oh, how I would love some of that good water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem.” So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew some water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out as an offering to the Lord. “The Lord forbid that I should drink this!” he exclaimed. “This water is as precious as the blood of these men who risked their lives to bring it to me.” So David did not drink it. These are examples of the exploits of the Three[1].

Few things are more rewarding than volunteering at the Veteran’s Restoration Quarters, locally known as the VRQ. I always say that I hate cooking, but that’s not entirely true. I hate making the decision of what to cook for others. Our team of volunteers included a sixteen year old boy, a girl with down syndrome, a young woman with autism, their mothers or caregivers, and a few older people, like me.

At the VRQ we show up, put on a hairnet and an apron, and after washing our hands, we put on gloves and go to the station assigned to us. Tonight I was assigned to the hard-boiled egg station. They gave me a screen, placed it over a deep serving tray, and instructed me to mash the already shelled eggs through the screen. Mash, mash, mash. The task went by quickly. One volunteer passing me commented on how I had gotten the stinky duty. The smell of the eggs hadn’t bothered me. In fact, I hadn’t even thought of it until she said that, and even then it didn’t seem so bad.

I have an average sense of smell, but my best friend, Nina (indeed her whole family), has an extremely acute sense of smell. Nina often refuses to drink from a glass that has been washed in a dishwasher, saying that it “smells of eggs.” On smelling one of her rejected glasses, I could smell something, too, but it hadn’t been strong enough to bother me. I’m glad that I don’t have a strong sense of smell like Nina (or my fellow volunteer) because there seem to be many more bad odors than good ones. Eggs don’t have much of a smell at all—certainly not enough to gross me out.

When the tray was full I put the lid on it and stuck it on the salad bar. Then I cleaned up my station and went to where I saw a young volunteer struggling to peel an onion. He had been tasked with chopping onions. So I started preparing the onions for him to chop. That made the task much faster for him. But then he started exclaiming: “Hey! Onions really do make you cry!” At sixteen I guess he’d never chopped onions before. I suggested that he not stand bent over the cutting board, but upright. That helped. Gradually, I took over and finished for him. I know that there are ways to minimize the effect of onions, but at that moment I just couldn’t remember them. Something about holding a lemon slice in your front teeth, I don’t know. Chopping onions is another thing that’s never really bothered me.

As we finished the chopping a man came by with a photocopied handwritten note. He wanted to be sure that each of us got one. It read:

TO ALL THE VOLUNTEERS THAT COME TO THE ABCCM – Man, Women, Boys, Girls

Thank you for everything that you do when you come. I have been a resident here at the ABCCM for six years now, and I have enjoyed the way you help my day go on. Me and all the guys here even the newest ones like the way you treat them, and the way you take time out of your day to wait on them each day while you are here. Even though you don’t know everybody’s name, you still help them and they love having you here. I know God really must have been thinking about everyone because they all like it. And because you love doing what you do to make everybody’s day a great day, I also want to say thank you for being who you are. You can tell by the look on everyone’s face that they had a good time. And this is worth thinking about, some people love to watch tv and some just like to talk. And you know they are talking about the good time they had and how you treated them like a king. And that really is a good thing to talk about.

Your friend and also the head volunteer at the VA,

Michael

Soon it was dinner time, and I volunteered to go out to where they were lined up and bless their meal. Back at the line, I was loading spaghetti onto the sectioned eating trays while my sixteen year old partner ladled sauce on top and put a piece of garlic toast on the tray. I lost count of how many meals we served, but it was a lot.

In the kitchen, we really only had contact with other volunteers, but out there serving, we got to see the men we were there to feed. Some were too shy to look up at us as they took their tray. Others boldly thanked us for their meal. I thanked each right back—for their service.

They rang the bell when we began serving seconds, and they even rang it a second time for thirds. After everybody had eaten their fill we got a chance to talk with the veterans who wanted to talk with us. One man showed us pictures of his nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. All are in another state, and it was clear that he misses them. Showing us their pictures was a way to cope with the loneliness. Others cracked jokes, loving the opportunity to make a fresh audience laugh. Still others continued to bear the emotional scars of all that they had been through for the sake of our country.

Tonight was the coldest night of this winter season: eleven degrees, with a wind chill of five degrees below zero. The cold made this a code purple night, which means that before dark they had sent several teams around the city, looking for people to bring back to the shelter. There are several places around the city where you’re likely to find homeless people. It’s surprising that in a city of only about 90,000 there are 562 homeless, most of them veterans[2]. And it’s a real shame that there should be so many homeless veterans in such a small city with a big veteran’s hospital.

They have a full house tonight. I hope and pray that nobody has to sleep outside in this cold. It has been a real privilege to serve those who served our country. God is good!

[1] 2 Samuel 23:15-17, emphasis mine.

[2] According to Asheville-Buncombe 2018 Point-In-Time homeless count results tabulated homeless, admin, Asheville City Source, 25 June 2018.

Fasting Prayers

Fasting will open doors for you–if you do it right.

Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid. Tell My people Israel of their sins! Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about Me. They act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask Me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near Me.

“We have fasted before You!” they say. “Why aren’t You impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and You don’t even notice it!”

I will tell you why! I respond. It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers. What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with Me. You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the Lord?

No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then when you call, the Lord will answer. “Yes, I am here,” He will quickly reply.

Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors! Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.

Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.

Then the Lord will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the Lord, have spoken! (Isaiah 58, emphasis mine).

Today is the first day of a three day fast at my church. I will be fasting for four days because Saturday is my weekly fasting day, being the Sabbath. I admit that I don’t always join corporate fasts just because if it’s not the Holy Spirit urging me to fast, then I struggle (food obsession being a real problem in my life). But this time the church and Spirit are in perfect agreement.

At Bible study last week, Shekinah (our pastor) led us through Isaiah 58 (above). This struck a note with me on many levels. But first we need to recognize that a fast without prayer is just a crash diet: as bad for the body as it is for the spirit.

There are many different ways to fast (this list is by no means complete):

• Moses fasted on nothing at all: no food, no water for forty days, and then another forty days, so eighty days altogether. Obviously, this was supernaturally supported because in most cases a person will die after a week without water. Moses went over two and a half months without food or water. I don’t recommend a Moses fast unless God Himself tells you to do it.
• Then there’s the water only fast. Gandhi did a water only fast for three weeks. Others have done it for as long as forty days. Since we’re only talking three or four days, this one is doable, but I wouldn’t do it for a long fast.
• A juice fast is an excellent way to cleanse the body. I have done a forty day juice fast, which is basically nothing that would have to be chewed. What I like about the juice fast is that there is very little preparation and cleanup. So I devote the time saved to prayer.
• A Daniel fast is also very healthy, though I’ve never done it myself.
• You can also do a fast of something you really like. I have a friend who does a chocolate fast each year for lent.
• There are also habit fasts, some of which could lead to permanent behavior change:
  • Cigarettes, alcohol, or gambling are all bad habits that you might consider fasting.
  • Gossip, arguing, or negative speech are also bad habits you could fast.
  • Related to that last one is a total silence fast—be sure to warn family and friends first!
  • Social media or video gaming are things you could consider fasting from, too—especially if they are taking up too much of your time and attention.
  • And related to the above: a total electronic fast (no television, computer, tablet, or phone). I’ve done this and it is very soul cleansing. You’d be surprised how much negativity comes across those various devices.

The common thing in each of these different kinds of fasts is to take your attention off of yourself. Every time I start to think of myself, I take my attention back to God in prayer. And doing it that way, how can you help but get closer to God?

So this morning I went back over Isaiah 58, and here’s how I prayed (using NKJV, not NLT, as above):

Lord, please help me not to fast with strife and debate. Help me not to smite with the fist of wickedness. And help me not to seek pleasure as I fast. But please, Lord, guide me continually. Satisfy my soul as I fast.

Please help me to make this a fast that is truly acceptable to You! Help me to honor You as I fast on the Sabbath.

let this fast:

1. Loose the bands of wickedness in my life.
2. Undo the heavy burdens, and help me to know that You will help me supernaturally.
3. Let the oppressed go so that I can know true freedom, especially the freedom from the bondage of food obsession. And
4. Break every yoke of oppression and obsession in my life.

I declare that the defeated enemy has no more power over me. I serve the One and Only Living God of the Universe. Amen, alleluia!

Happy fasting, dear friends! God is good!

Helping Hands

Follow them on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeartsWithHands/

Last night there was an announcement at church about helping with the relief effort for Florida in the aftermath of hurricane michael[1]. Tim and I decided that we would go help out. So this morning we arrived at the designated warehouse used by Heart with Hands, a local relief organization. At the entrance was a sign-in table with name tags. After signing in, we were directed to a place in the middle of the warehouse, where toiletries were being sorted into bins marked men’s deodorant, family toothpaste, individual soap, etc.

After sorting toiletries we were assigned to open cartons of food donated by the large local grocery chain. Some of the cartons had smaller boxes inside, like boxes of granola bars, while others had canned good inside, like soup. Once opened, the foods were put into boxes or bins for distribution.

I spent the rest of the morning opening gummy fruit cartons, gummy fruit boxes, and putting the gummy fruit packets into a box. I also flattened the boxes and the cartons as I went along, even though there were people doing nothing but flattening boxes for hauling away. As I worked, I found myself next to a young girl who was wearing a Heart with Hands T-shirt. So I asked her about herself. Kimmy said that she is fifteen and homeschooled at her small town about an hour from Asheville. She told me many of the people there were people from her church. I told her that I’m a missionary, and we talked about missions. Kimmy and her family had gone on a mission trip to Costa Rica last year. She said that her church, though small, is a big supporter of missions. I said, “Mine, too!” It is so refreshing to hear about churches that have a missional focus.

Kimmy pointed out her mom and sister to me. They were working halfway across the warehouse from us—about 100 yards away. When we finished our tasks, Kimmy took me to where her mom and sister were, and we got to work helping them sort diapers into baby bins and pet food into another bin.

Just before lunch I joined Tim and others at the box assembly station. They were assembling boxes for distribution to individuals. The boxes were a little taller and bigger than a shoebox, and printed with pictures of people with encouraging sayings, and the Heart with Hands name and logo. Tim demonstrated for me how the boxes are assembled, and we put several together until a lunch break was called.

Tim and I had assumed that we would just go to a fast food joint down the road, but Kimmy’s mom had made us all hamburgers and spaghetti. It was nice to get a chance to sit down. I hadn’t realized how tired I was until I sat. After lunch we got back to work and finished assembling all the distribution boxes.

The truck that was supposed to bring some final items for the distribution boxes had been delayed. So we finished sorting some odds and ends, and I got to talk with a few other people there. After waiting about two hours, someone in charge decided that we should put the stuff that we could into the distribution boxes, and when the truck arrives, the last items could be added. So we constructed an assembly line and put into each box: 2 bottles of water, a can of soup, a can of spaghetti, a can of mini sausages, 2 granola bars, 2 gummy fruits, and various other items. The bins were lined up, and a group of volunteers stood behind the bin tables, restocking the bins as needed while the rest of us took a box at a time down the line, filling it as directed, and leaving it open on the last table, where other volunteers stacked them to await those final items.

As the boxes were filled and the day came to a close, volunteers began to trickle out as they had trickled in this morning. Finally, around five, Tim and I agreed that we had done all that we could do for one day. It’s been a physically exhausting day full of hard work, but also very rewarding. Whenever I thought I was too tired to go on, I thought of the people who would be receiving the boxes. That thought kept me going. I prayed throughout the day, since most of the jobs were not conducive to conversation.

My bed is going to feel so good tonight. And having a bed to sleep in is something to thank God for. It’s another prayer point for the hurricane refugees: a bed to sleep in. Jesus said:

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world, (John 16:33).

This was their turn, another day it could be our turn. But thank God we don’t have to go through it alone. God is good!

[1] As many of you know, I refuse to capitalize organizations, objects, and events involved in witchcraft. I don’t know if there was witchcraft involved in this hurricane. Rather I refuse to dignify this destructive event with a capitalized proper name. I understand that it’s easier to remember hurricanes by names like this, rather than numbers, but there’s just something not right about anthropomorphizing a hurricane.

How to be Rich

Guess what: it’s not all about the benjamins!

The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, (1 Timothy 6:10a).

This is probably one of the most frequently misquoted Scriptures of all times. People leave out those first three words and reduce it to “money is the root of evil,” as if something inanimate could really be the thing that brings all kinds of evil into this world.

But it is the love of money. Some people love money more than they love their spouse and children. I think this is why we see so many workaholics and gamblers. They are two sides of the same money-loving coin.

And many people trust money more than they trust God. This is because money is a god that they think they can control. Of course, money is probably the most fickle god there is. Riches can slip through your fingers all too easily.

Something that God has had me praying about lately is deception in the church. Of course you’re too smart to be drawn in by the prosperity gospel, and the deception that God will make you rich if you tithe. It’s true that God will bless tithers, and He will prosper you. But God’s idea of prosperity is different from ours. I’m sure that you have heard of the law of first mention, that the first time a word is used in the Bible it characterizes that word for its subsequent uses. The first use of the word prosper in the Bible has nothing to do with money:

But [Abraham] said to me [Eleazar], “The Lord, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son [Isaac] from my family and from my father’s house,” (Genesis 24:40, NKJV, emphasis and clarifications mine).

Abraham sent his servant Eleazar to find a bride for Isaac from among his relatives. Now, Eleazar could have spent months looking for the right family, but instead, God led him right to them. The family might not have had a young woman for him to marry, or Rebecca might have been too young, or might have been too ill (or ill-tempered) to go with him. Or Eleazar might have been attacked by bandits and robbed. Or Eleazar might have gotten sick along the road. You see, a thousand things could have gone wrong on this mission, and Eleazar knew it. But God prospered Eleazar’s way, just as Abraham had said—and it had nothing to do with money. This is the true prosperity gospel right here. I want God to prosper my way just like he did with Eleazar.

And even though most of us are not falling for the prosperity gospel, nevertheless many American Christians still think that their money can keep them safe in a crisis. How many of the 3000 people killed on 9/11 were able to save themselves by their money? Do you think that they would if they could? Of course! Sometimes bad stuff just happens—and it happens to good people as well as bad people. Jesus told us that there would be trouble in our lives (John 16:33). And if you’re living an authentically Christian life, you’re going to get push-back from non-Christians. Look at Paul, the super-apostle. He was being obedient to God, and he got stoned and shipwrecked and snake-bit and jailed and all sorts of crazy things. He didn’t get rich, but God did prosper his way. The exponential spread of the Gospel that has lasted to this day is evidence of that.

But let’s go back to 1 Timothy and look at that verse in its context:

True godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. . . . Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life, (1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19).

Our attitude toward money should be that it is a useful tool—and especially a tool for spreading the Gospel, but our love and trust must be only in God. Without God, even the wealthiest people are hopeless. God is good!

The Prophecies of the popes

castel sant’angelo–living quarters for the mistresses of the popes.

There has been a lot of interest in the last few years in the prophecy of St. Malachy, archbishop of Armagh, Ireland in the 12^th century. Malachy prophesied about the last 112 popes. According to Malachy’s prophecy, Francis is could be the last pope.

Does this mean that the catholic church will disband? That’s an idea so unlikely that it isn’t even worth speculating about.

But Malachy isn’t the only one who prophesied about the popes. Read what Enoch wrote about the last 12 popes:

Then I saw that the man who wrote the Book at the Word of the Lord opened the Book of Destruction of that destruction which the last twelve shepherds wrought; and pointed out before the Lord of the Sheep that they destroyed more than those who preceded them, (Enoch 90:25, emphasis mine)[1].

When I read this, I wondered who were the last twelve popes and what have they done? So I did some research, counting back from the twelfth to the present:

12. pius ix (1846–78) – Real name, Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti – He is the pope who came up with the doctrine of the immaculate conception of mary[2]. He also invented the handy doctrine of papal infallibility[3]. He refused to set foot in Italy, preferring to stay holed-up in the vatican, claiming to be a prisoner there. If you’ve ever been to the vatican, then you know what a luxurious place it is. He was only a prisoner in his own mind.

The prophecy of St. Malachy says about him: Crux de cruce, cross from cross. What I believe this means is that his actions (above) as pope took the power of the cross from the cross by exalting mary over Jesus.

11. leo xiii (1878–1903) – Real name, Gioacchino Pecci – The pope who promoted the rosary. He was also the first pope to fully embrace mary as mediatrix—in other words, the first to pray to mary.

The prophecy of St. Malachy says about him: Lumen in cœlo, light in the sky. I believe that this is because ufo sightings increased exponentially in the 20^th century. Like I said in fatima, ufo’s are not aliens, they’re demonic. There are no extraterrestrial aliens.

10. pius x (1903–14) – Real name, Giuseppe Sarto – The pope who established the doctrine of transubstantiation. As I said, the doctrine of transubstantiation is pagan (see fatima, link above).

The prophecy of St. Malachy says about him: Ignis ardens, burning fire. I believe that this is the fire of hell, where he is leading the catholic people.

9. benedict xv (1914–22) – Real name, Giacomo Della Chiesa – The pope who codified canon law in Latin—and forbade translation. This forbidding of translation was repealed in 1983—so much for papal infallibility!

The prophecy of St. Malachy says about him: Religio depopulata, religion destroyed. I believe that this is about as clear as anything could possibly be.

8. pius xi (1922–39) – Real name, Achille Ratti – His last name is rat in English. A rat in the vatican—and he’s but one of many. He’s the pope who signed the lateran treaty, which established vatican city as a sovereign state. Mussolini boasted that the lateran treaty would “bury” the worldly power of the pope, but it did the opposite, launching the church onto the international scene. All the popes since pius ix (#12 on this list) had stayed inside the vatican. The lateran treaty freed the pope from his self-imposed prison in the vatican.

The prophecy of St. Malachy says about him: Fides intrepida, intrepid faith. I believe that this means that true believers need bold, indomitable faith, especially now that the church has come upon the world scene.

7. pius xii (1939–58) – Real name, Eugenio Pacelli – Inventor of the doctrine of the assumption of mary into Heaven. He invoked papal infallibility, and was conspicuously silent about the nazi industrialized mass murder of millions of Jews. He also claimed to see a vision of the fatima apparition (since the apparition is a demon, I believe him).

The prophecy of St. Malachy says about him: Paſtor angelicus, angelic shepherd. Yes, but not the godly kind of angel.

6. john xxiii (1958–63) – Real name, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli – The pope who convened vatican 2, which ended the liturgy in Latin and embraced ecumenism (provided that Protestants embrace catholicism). He basically modernized the catholic church.

The prophecy of St. Malachy says about him: Paſtor & nauta, shepherd and sailor. He had the title Patriarch of Venice—an important seaport.

5. paul vi (1963–78) – Real name, Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini – The pope who condemned artificial contraception.

The prophecy of St. Malachy says about him: Flos florum, flower of flowers. His shield has three fleurs-de-lis.

4. john paul i (1978) – Real name, Albino Luciani – He is the first pope to use i as his papal name. Only served 33 days.

The prophecy of St. Malachy says about him: De medietate lunæ, of the half moon. His papacy barely lasted longer than a moon cycle.

3. john paul ii (1978–2005) – Real name, Karol Wojtyła – He was the first pope to travel extensively. He canonized more saints than any other pope. There were solar eclipses on the day of his birth (18 May 1920) and the day of his funeral (8 April 2005).

The prophecy of St. Malachy says about him: De labore solis, from the labor of the sun, meaning of the eclipse of the sun. Interesting, given the significant solar eclipses bookending his life. Solar eclipses are God’s warnings to the world (while lunar eclipses are warnings to Israel).

2. benedict xvi (2005–13) – Real name, Joseph Ratzinger – He promoted the use of Latin and reintroduced several disused papal garments. But most significantly, he was the first to renounce the papacy since celestine in 1294. He has retained the title pope emeritus, and resides at mater ecclesiae monastery in vatican city. His resignation was predicted in 2011 by Tom Horn.

The prophecy of St. Malachy says about him: Gloria oliuæ, glory of the olive. This may be because of his ties to the olivetan order.

1. francis (2013–) – Real name, Jorge Mario Bergoglio – He is the first jesuit pope, first to use a new, non-composed regnal name since lando in the 10^th century. He is also the first to open st. peter’s basilica to non-Christians, allowing their prayers to be prayed inside the basilica.

The prophecy of St. Malachy says about him: In persecutione extrema S.R.E. sedebit Petrus Romanus, qui paſcet oues in multis tribulationibus: quibus tranſactis ciuitas ſepticollis diruetur, & Iudex tremẽdus iudicabit populum ſuum. Finis. In extreme persecution there will sit Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills (i.e. Rome) will be destroyed, and the Dreadful Judge will judge His people. The End. This makes it sound very much like francis will be pope during the Great Tribulation, and Rome will be destroyed (see Revelation 18).

Between Malachy and Enoch, I believe that it’s very clear that the catholic church will be center stage during the Great Tribulation, with francis most likely serving the antichrist as the false prophet of Revelation. By inviting muslims into the vatican to pray their prayers in the basilica—prayers to which he agreed with an “amen”—he’s positioning himself to become the leader of the one world religion. I know it seems impossible right now, but I believe that between the two: islam and the catholic church, the church will come out on top. There is evidence that islam was an invention of the catholic church (more on this below).

My catholic sisters and brothers: if you will, please take these things seriously and listen when God calls to you:

Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to Heaven, and God has remembered her crimes, (Revelation 18:4-5, NIV, emphasis mine).

Even though the catholic church is an evil, witchcraft institution, it doesn’t mean that you’re evil or gullible. What you and your family partook of in sincerity of heart is only because the defeated enemy is a very clever liar.

catholicism has been a witchcraft religion from the start, in 313, when Constantine legalized Christianity and took it over. He mixed pagan beliefs and practices in a deliberate attempt to derail Christianity by polluting it. History seems to record catholicism as the only game in town for many centuries, but that’s simply not the case.

There have always been those of pure faith who have resisted this evil. The Waldensians are the most obvious example, and many of them were martyred for their faith, refusing to give up their beloved Bibles.

When explorers went out to conquer other lands, catholic priests went with them to win converts at the point of the sword. Mostly, this was easily accomplished because the people were trading one witchcraft religion for another. Where they met with resistance was where they encountered true praying faith: Christianity and Judaism. In both cases, they murdered those who refused to convert. The reason we don’t know more about this history is because the catholic church has been in charge of recording history for many centuries.

islam is another witchcraft religion that has gone out and made converts at the point of the sword. They easily converted people in the Middle East and North Africa, where they were trading one witchcraft religion for another.

True Christianity has never had to resort to such methods because the Gospel really is Good News for a lost and dying world. When people today blame religion for all the world’s wars, they are not wrong. Religion did much of that. But Christianity is not religion, and Christianity didn’t start any wars.

The vatican created islam, according to Alberto Rivera, a murdered ex-jesuit priest. They did it in order to get control of Jerusalem. They had been blocked by the Jews. They also had problems with the true Christian believers who were sharing the Gospel in North Africa. So islam was their answer to getting rid of both. They looked for a charismatic young Arab who the rest of the Arab world would unite behind. When they learned of mohammed they sent teachers to train the young man. At the same time, Arab catholics were assigned to spread the news that a chosen one was coming who would show them the way to God. mohammed’s trainers told him that the Jews were his enemy, and that the only true Christians were roman catholics. Anyone else calling themselves Christians, he was told, were liars and deceivers. Many muslims still believe that only catholics are true Christians. Soon mohammed began receiving divine revelations and his wife’s cousin (a catholic) helped him to interpret them, and it became the koran. The thing that convinces me of all this: the virgin birth of Jesus and the eternal virginity of mary is written in the koran, and is identical to what catholics believe.

But once islam became strong enough to take Jerusalem from the Jews, they kept it for themselves, not wanting to simply give it to the catholic church. And it was this refusal that gave rise to the crusades a few centuries later.

This islam scheme backfired on the catholic church spectacularly. And it was this massive failure that led to the rise of the jesuits. The church learned from this failure that they can’t trust anyone outside of the church—and really, not everyone inside the church, either. When pope clement xiv disbanded and outlawed the jesuits in 1773 he said:

The suppression is accomplished; I do not repent of it, having only resolved on it after examining and weighing everything and because I thought it necessary for the church. If it were not done, I would do it now. But this suppression will be my death[4].

And he wasn’t wrong, either. He knew about the jesuit oath (see fatima, link above), and what the jesuits were capable of. And here’s what happened to clement xiv:

A peasant woman was persuaded, by means of a disguise, to procure entrance into the vatican, and offer to the pope a fig in which poison was concealed. clement xiv was exceedingly fond of the fruit, and ate it without hesitation. The first day the same symptoms of severe illness were observed, and to these, rapidly succeeding violent inflammation of the bowels. He soon became convinced that he was poisoned, and remarked: “Alas! I knew they [the jesuits] would poison me; but I did not expect to die in so slow and cruel a manner.” His terrible sufferings continued for several months, when he died[5].

The jesuit order was restored in 1814 by pope pius vii.

With a jesuit as pope—possibly the Tribulation pope—we need to be really alert. What is coming is the greatest deception the world has ever seen. Jesus said to watch. In fact, He said it a few times:

Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man, (Luke 21:36, NKJV, emphasis mine)[6].

If we know it’s coming, we won’t fall victim to the great deception. More on that in another post. God is good!

[1] Or 89:25, depending on the translation. The Book of Enoch is an extra-biblical text that is quoted in the Bible.

[2] As I said, the theological problem with this doctrine is that if Jesus wasn’t fully human (and also fully divine), He could never have died in our place. See fatima.

[3] A great way to silence your critics. Don’t forget that the popes were all human. Many of the earlier popes had both wives and mistresses. That’s why they built the passetto del borgo—the secret passage between the vatican and castel sant’angelo. The mistresses were housed in the castle.

[4] clement xiv, The history of Romanism by John Dowling.

[5] Ibid.

[6] See also: Matthew 24:42-43; 25:13, & Mark 13:35-37—all in the context of the End Times.

fatima – Part Three

The sanctuary at fatima. Looks like a storm is brewing.

Then this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, [the leaders of the catholic church]. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep [the common catholic people]? You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve. You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty. So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal [demons]. They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. And though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey, (Ezekiel 34:1-10, explanations mine).

Processing my fatima Experience

As I showered in Lisbon that evening, the Lord revealed to me one last horrifying thing: the real reason why the catholic church has never dealt with pedophile priests. It’s because the pedophilia and other sexual abuses goes all the way to the top. I realized that, hard as it is to fathom, it must be true. It’s the only thing that explains the church’s response to the many accusations of pedophilia.

As I write this, the pope has just visited his home country of Argentina and also Chile where he embraced the bishop accused by thousands of parishioners of pedophilia. Many people were shocked and outraged. Now why would he do this if he genuinely loves God and wants to serve Him? Wouldn’t he at least hold some kind of inquiry and keep the man at arm’s length? Would Jesus embrace an unrepentant pedophile? And it’s not just this current pope. Every pope since the pedophile scandals became public has sided with the pedophiles. The pope is supposed to be God’s mouthpiece on earth. Unfortunately it’s not the God of the Bible. (See the horrific jesuit oath in my recent post: fatima.) This pope is a jesuit. He swore that bloody oath.

I know all this, together with my recent posts, may seem like a big, long diatribe against the catholic church. And I guess it is. But I cannot just go my merry way while countless millions of people are being deceived and the vast majority of them end up in hell. God has shown me things about this so-called church that reveal this institution to be a “synagogue of satan” (see Revelation 2:9). Throughout history the catholic church has responded to expressions of true faith with excommunication (Martin Luther[1]) or murder (the Waldensians and the Jews). This is what I’ve been telling you: God loves the catholic people, but the institution is satanic and full of witchcraft. Since the dawn of time pagans (the original satanists) have been abusing and murdering children. The catholic church is doing it, too. As with every secret society out there, the vast majority have no idea what leadership is doing behind the scenes.

Then my thoughts turned to how we had physically arrived at fatima. We walked our Backward Camino as far as the Portuguese border. Judging from the spray-painted blue arrows that began appearing several miles from the border, it looks like a lot of people also make a pilgrimage on foot to fatima. From the Portuguese border the Backward Camino that we had done would have become a pilgrimage to fatima, and we couldn’t have that. Well, it’s a good thing that God didn’t allow it.

And the problems with the car rental agency were a typical defeated enemy attempt to discourage me from going there at all. It’s a good thing that God made me too stubborn to give up.

And all the difficulties of doing a Backward Camino (where all the signage is geared for those heading the opposite direction) had been made easier by having Tim’s help—especially in orienteering and navigating the languages.

And realizing all this makes me understand that God is in control, and He’s got my back. He is guiding me even when I’m least aware of it: like those times when I’m just fumbling along, trying not to make a mess of things. I’m so glad. I wouldn’t dare to try and tackle the biggest witchcraft institution on earth without Him. Together, victory is assured, and that’s good to know. God is good!

[1] It’s true Martin Luther was not perfect. The man was an anti-Semite. But he was sincere, he read the Bible, and that led him to understand how the catholic church was unbiblical in its doctrines and practices. He had hoped to change things from within, but he was excommunicated, and so started the Protestant Reformation.

fatima – Part Two

Three dirty, disoriented doves at fatima.

You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires. (Such women are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth.) These teachers oppose the truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith. But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as with Jannes and Jambres, (2 Timothy 3:1-9).

Because I knew fatima to be a place of very heavy demonic activity, I wasn’t keen to go there. But the Holy Spirit was insistent. And because of the demonic activity there, I really didn’t want to spend a lot of time there—certainly not overnight. And that was when the Holy Spirit gave me an idea how to get this task done in the quickest possible time frame: rent a car. So we rented a car in Porto, one-way overnight Porto to Lisbon[1].

The car rental didn’t go as smoothly as we had hoped. The rental agency had canceled my online rental and sent me an email in Portuguese. The only thing I had understood in the email was my cancellation number, which I had taken to be the number I would need if I decided to cancel the reservation since it was prepaid. When we arrived the rental agent told us that the rental had been canceled. I asked if it was possible to rent a car, since we had come to the Airport specifically for this purpose. The answer was yes, but it will cost more, since there was no reservation.

That was when Tim went into bad cop mode, seeing that I had remained calm in the face of this. He said, loudly enough for all the other customers to hear: “This is bait and switch! This is a bad business practice! We’re going to give your company a bad rating,” and so forth. It was only later that Tim revealed to me that he was just doing bad cop to try and get the agent to give us the online prepaid price that we had asked for. The prices are fixed by the company, and the agent couldn’t give us the online rate. But she did give us a lower price than she had originally quoted, so bad cop worked—well done, Tim!

For my part, I had no trouble at all being the good cop because I have worked in the kind of job where clients get mad and yell at you for something you have no control over. So I have a lot of sympathy for people in her position.

We got the car and drove to fatima. When we arrived we found that there were several entrances into the parking lot, each manned with a guard waving you in. We went in the third entrance. The parking lot is a gigantic uneven dirt lot with trees, and extended as far as the eye could see in all directions, and was full of people coming and going, sitting in their cars, sifting through the contents of their trunks, etc. The cars and tour buses were all parked helter-skelter. It seemed very odd to me that there were attendants at the entrances to the lot, but nobody actually in the lot, and no order to it whatsoever. Looking back, I realize that the confusion of the parking lot was indicative of the confusion of the people there.

I hoped that nobody would block me in so I parked in such a way that I had nothing in front of or behind me. Tim opted to stay in the car, so as I walked through the parking lot toward the shrine, I looked back several times, hoping to burn into my memory where the car was parked.

From the parking lot I first came to a huge camping area where dirt became grass and there were more trees. The camping area also full of people and extended as far as the eye could see in all directions. Seeing this, I began walking much faster, keeping to as straight a course as I could. All along the way, I was asking God for instruction on how to pray here, and praying in tongues as I walked and waited for God’s answer.

From the camping area I entered a gigantic piazza with a round building in the middle. I continued walking, faster and faster, finally passing the building and the surrounding piazza. Past this was another huge piazza with an even bigger crowd than the parking lot, camping area, and round piazza combined. This second piazza sloped down toward a building in the distance that I realized must have been the shrine. Most people were clearly in groups of varying sizes, walking, eating lunch, praying, singing, or talking together.

At one point I passed through a part of the piazza that was relatively empty. There in the middle of the empty space were three white doves on the ground. They looked dirty, disheveled, and disoriented: staggering along on the ground. I snapped a picture and walked on. Finally when I got to the cross in the middle of the piazza, the Lord stopped me and spoke audibly. He said: “These people are like sheep without a Shepherd[2].” His voice broke, and was filled with such sorrow that I began crying, too.

I understood in that moment how much the Lord loves these people, and how deeply grieved He is for them—heartbroken. They jump through all these hoops that the church sets up for them: pilgrimages, rosaries, Saturday confession, and so forth. And they do it all in the hope of somehow getting closer to God.

The catholic church leadership don’t read the Bible, and they deny the people the right to read the Bible, which would bring them closer to God. The church doesn’t allow Bible reading because if they read the Bible, the people would understand the many unbiblical doctrines and practices of the catholic church. So they tell the people that they could never understand the Bible without a priest to explain and interpret it for them. And telling them that they can’t understand the Bible not only keeps them from ever reading the Bible, but it’s also a curse spoken over them so that the seeds of faith from reading the Bible never take root in their hearts[3].

The Seven Woes that Jesus pronounced over the Jewish priests of His day apply equally to the leadership of the catholic church today. Especially:

What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either, (Matthew 23:13, emphasis mine).

So the people desperately pray to mary and get no results. They come to places like fatima, hoping that she will appear as before, but she doesn’t. And even if there is an apparition, it’s a demon masquerading as mary. The real Mary has never been to Europe. She has never been to Portugal or to France. And her house is not in Italy, as church claims, saying that angels picked up mary’s house and flew it to Italy, to the town of Loreto. The catholic church has told such massive lies that they throw doubt onto Biblical miracles when the people begin to question the existence of God. And as I my thoughts followed this path, suddenly I began to grasp the enormity of the mass deception and the horror of it all.

Then I knew how to pray. There, surrounded by probably as much as a million people, I wept and prayed fervently for their salvation, and for God to open their eyes and to show them the truth. I broke every witchcraft spell off the people there, and prayed that God would extend that to include all catholics everywhere.

Then I felt an urgency to leave, so I turned and retraced my steps, continuing to pray for the people. When I came to the open space where I had seen the doves, they were still there, but they looked completely different. They held their tail feathers erect and they looked whiter than before. Instead of being isolated, now there were children gleefully chasing them. I took another picture of the doves. Then they suddenly took flight, all three together into the sky—a really beautiful sight, and confirmation of the answer to my prayers.

The doves perked up after prayer–and so did the children there.

As I continued praying and walking, a feeling of confidence bolstered my prayers. I knew for sure that I was praying in accordance with God’s will. And knowing that, I also knew that He is already answering those prayers.

As I entered the parking lot, I looked for the landmarks that I had hoped to remember, and they led me straight to the car where Tim was waiting. He was surprised at how quickly I had come back, and he looked at me with concern, seeing how pale I looked. He said: “Mom, are you OK?” I burst into tears again and said: “I’ve gotta get outta here.” I started the car and exited the parking lot, heading back toward the highway. The more distance I put between myself and that place, the better I felt.

God has promised me invisibility from the defeated enemy and his minions—both human and spirit—so I know that we were not seen, but as soon as I had prayed, we were probably sensed. I think that’s why I had felt an urgency to leave quickly. But I left knowing that my prayers were not in vain. Jesus came to set the captives free (Isaiah 61:1), and He will indeed do exactly that:

Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve Him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek Him, you will find Him. But if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever, (1 Chronicles 28:9, emphasis mine)[4].

God wants to see everyone saved (2 Peter 3:9). These catholic brothers and sisters are precious to Him, but their sins must be brought to Jesus.

He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins, (Ephesians 1:7).

This is why God sent me to fatima, and on this Backward Camino: to pray for the catholic people to come to Him. And there at the foot of the cross, they will find what they’re looking for. God is good!

[1] In general, I travel as cheaply as possible, since this is God’s money, and not mine. But I didn’t hesitate to spend the money because this was definitely in the service of God, and it was God who gave me the idea to rent a car.

[2] Quoting from Matthew 9:36-38.

[3] Luke 8:5-15.

[4] See also Deuteronomy 4:29 and Jeremiah 29:13.

fatima[1]

Cross at fatima. Even the sky mourns.

When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a Shepherd. He said to His disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields,” (Matthew 9:36-38, emphasis mine).

After walking the Camino de Santiago (which I did backwards as a prophetic act[2]), the Lord instructed me to go to fatima. fatima is the site of the most clearly demonic apparition claiming to be the virgin mary[3]. In truth all of the so-called mary apparitions are demonic because the Bible is very clear about the fact that the dead do not come back. Nor can the dead communicate in any way with the living[4].

The doctrine of the assumption of mary states that at the end of her “earthly course,” Mary was assumed into Heaven. This doctrine was invented by pope pius XII in 1950, and it’s simply not true. The only instances of people who were Raptured to Heaven, and thus didn’t die are Enoch (Genesis 5:24 & Hebrews 11:5) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). This doctrine contradicts the Bible that says:

Each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, (Hebrews 9:27, emphasis mine).

The apparition at fatima is clearly demonic because this thing accepted worship from the children. The real Mary always pointed people to Jesus (see John 2:5). This thing also caused the children to suffer many bad effects: physically, mentally, emotionally, and relationally. Check it out:

1. The children parroted the prayer they were given by the first apparition.

But Jesus said:

When you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words, (Matthew 6:7, NKJV, emphasis mine).

Why would His mother have the children do something that Jesus had said not to do?

2. And they continued repeating the prayer in a “dissociative state[5]” until the next day.
3. After each apparition the children felt a loss of their free will.

God never, ever violates a person’s free will.

4. The children were left physically and mentally exhausted after each encounter.

What mother would make children feel weak and exhausted like this? It certainly sounds out of character for the real Mary.

5. Sometimes they were hardly able to speak or walk afterwards.

And does this sound like something a good mother would do to children? Jesus’ mother?

6. They also suffered headaches and parched lips after each apparition.

These are physical symptoms shared with many people that have come in contact with UFOs and aliens—which are demonic in nature (see the note for point #13, below). Indeed all of these bad effects suffered by the children are so far from the character of God that they could only be demonic.

7. Two of the children were told by the apparition that they would die young—and they did.

Jesus is the Lord of Life. There is not one single incidence of someone dying around Jesus that He didn’t raise them back to life. Death is the tool of the defeated enemy.

8. Some of the spectators reported a drastic cooling of the summer air.

Cold zones are a phenomenon noticed by many ghost hunters—but of course there is no such thing as ghosts. Every instance of ghosts or spirits is demonic unless it’s a godly angel.

9. The children saw fire and tormented souls in hell.

Although He called the Pharisees vipers, sons of vipers, sons of the devil, and sons of hell (Matthew 12:34, 23:15, 31, 23:33; & John 8:44), Jesus absolutely never interacted with children like this. Jesus was always tender and gentle with children. So why do you imagine that his mother would be any different? What mother would show children visions of people suffering in hell? The real Mary wouldn’t do any different than her Son because she always deferred to Him (John 2:5).

10. Lucia’s own family said that her story was a lie.

Would the mother of Jesus put a child at odds with her family?

11. The Portuguese government thought the whole thing was a lie cooked up by the jesuits[6].
12. The mayor had the children thrown in jail for fraud.

Would the mother of Jesus let children be put in jail like this? This is out of character for any mother, much less the mother of Jesus.

13. At the last apparition spectators saw a spinning silver disc.

UFOs and aliens are demonic phenomena. We know this because alien abductions can always and exclusively be stopped by using the Name of Jesus. This is according to former agnostic and MUFON investigator, Joe Jordan.

14. The apparition never said that it was mary, but referred to itself as the lady of the rosary[7] and the immaculate heart[8].
15. All the apparition’s prophecies were vague and could not be understood.

In contrast with Biblical prophecy. People think the prophecies of the Revelation are vague, but that’s because they’re not reading them in any literal sense. Prophet and Preacher, Perry Stone says: “If the plain sense of the Bible makes sense, seek no other sense.”

Also, remember that John was a first century man seeking to describe things from our day: tanks, nuclear weapons, airplanes, cell phones, and the internet, for example.

Among the unbiblical doctrines of the catholic church is the immaculate conception. Most non-catholics think the term immaculate conception refers to the sinless birth of Jesus. It does not. In 1854 pope pius IX declared that the virgin mary had been born sinless and called it the immaculate conception of mary. He reasoned that a holy savior would only suffer to be born of a sinless vessel. The theological problem with this idea is that if Jesus, whose Father is God, wasn’t born of a human mother, then He couldn’t die in humanity’s place. To me this makes Him all the more wonderful. Just think: Jesus humbled Himself enough to really become one of us and be born of a human woman and raised by human parents—being obedient to them and honoring them even when He knew that they were wrong, as being human, they probably were from time to time.

Now I know that what I’m about to say is going to shock a lot of people, catholics and non-catholics alike. All I ask is that you read the rest of this post with an open mind, and then go check these things for yourself. Check the Bible, check the facts on the internet, and find out for yourself the truth of the things I’m about to reveal to you.

The problem with catholicism is that it is the largest and foremost witchcraft religion of the world. Derek Prince said that wherever you see intimidation, manipulation, and domination, you’ll find that is witchcraft in the church. The catholic church uses the many methods of witchcraft to entrap and enslave its people (and of course the vast majority of catholics don’t have any idea that they’ve been tricked and lied to by the church. The Seven Woes that Jesus pronounced against the scribes and pharisees of His day apply equally to the leadership of the catholic church—see Matthew 23:1-36). And the whole time the catholic church disguises itself as being Christian, when in reality, there is only a counterfeit Christianity, with just enough truth to fool the masses who have never read the Bible.

The most incredible thing of all is that despite the witchcraft and lies, I do know several people who came to true faith in the catholic church. That just goes to show the vast power of the Word of God to overcome even the cleverest lies of the defeated enemy.

Intimidation

The catholic church intimidates people by telling them the following lies:

• That without the catholic rite of baptism, they won’t go to Heaven.

However, pope francis is now opening Heaven for people of all religions, even those that deny Jesus’ divinity, such as islam, hindu, and buddhist.

Jesus said:

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through Me, (John 14:6, emphasis mine).

How much clearer could He have been? To preach otherwise is to call Jesus a liar.

• The church also threatens to excommunicate a person that marries a non-catholic or uses birth control.

And, of course excommunication means that they will go to hell.

• The church tells the people that they must confess their sins to the priest, and do penance in order to be forgiven.

Penance does nothing. A person can only be saved and forgiven by the blood of Jesus.

• The unbiblical doctrine of purgatory, where they say that even good people go through tormenting fire in order to be “purged” and purified so that they can be made good enough to go to Heaven.

Again denying the sufficiency of the blood of Jesus to save even the faithful.

All of these doctrines are not only not true, they amount to control by intimidation.

Manipulation

The catholic church manipulates people in the following witchcraft ways:

• Incantation – The catholic church uses incantations (verbal charms as ritual magic) in the form of recited prayers like the rosary. Chanting, like the gregorian chants, are also incantations. Incantations are done to invoke the help of spirits (demons).

The church teaches the people pray to mary or some other saint, and the people do this in all sincerity, but they are sincerely wrong, having been told a lie. They may eventually be successful in getting a spirit to appear, and they may also get the thing that they were praying for, but demonic help comes at an extremely high price that could have eternal consequences. The only safe way to pray is directly to God, Himself, in the Name of His Son, Jesus. Anything else risks demonic intervention.

Incantation is the satanic counterfeit to singing worship songs or praying Bible verses to invite the Holy Spirit’s presence. One heartfelt and sincere prayer prayed directly to God is worth 10,000 rosaries—and could save you 10,000 sorrows.

• Sigils – Sigils are magic symbols, and occult signs which represent the various demon spirits which can be summoned—think of it like writing someone’s name on an email or a letter. The sigils used by the catholic church are very revealing:
  • The crucifix – Jesus dead on the cross is what you see when you enter virtually any catholic church in the whole world. The defeated enemy wants to keep His body on the cross because it symbolizes his momentary victory over God. He also wants to keep that image of the dead savior fresh in the minds of the people. The catholic church is a death cult (see Relics, below).
  • The obelisk – Many catholic churches have an obelisk, like the one in St. Peter’s Square. The obelisk has been used for thousands of years as a symbolic representation of the male part of nimrod (and subsequently pan, horus, osiris, and others).
  • The dome – Often the obelisk is erected in front of a large dome, which represents the pregnant belly of semiramis, the wife of nimrod (and subsequently isis and others). semiramis was the first woman called the “queen of heaven.” For the catholic church to use these symbols and this name is not Christianizing them, it’s revealing of what those high up in catholic church leadership actually believe in—and it’s not the God of the Bible.
  • The pyramid – pyramids are ancient architectural power structures for concentrating satanic incantations. Many catholic churches have a pyramid, and some have the all-seeing eye in the pyramid. That is not the eye of God, but of the masonic god, who is the defeated enemy.
  • The sunburst – sunbursts are also used in catholic churches. The sunburst is a sigil for the sun god.
  • The crescent moon – crescent moons are sigils for the moon god—and the moon god is the one worshiped in islam.

The monstrance holding the supposedly transubstantiated communion wafer is always either a sunburst held in a crescent moon—symbolically very sexual. Is it any wonder that the catholic church finds itself always embroiled in sexual scandal?

The catholic doctrine of transubstantiation asserts that when the priest consecrates (blesses) the communion wafer it actually changes into the physical body of Jesus—and then His body is eaten. This, too, is a symbolic action that re-enacts the defeated enemy’s one moment of victory over God.

Furthermore, the faithful are taught to keep a prayer vigil over the consecrated host, praying to and worshiping a wafer. The defeated enemy will say or do anything to keep the faithful from praying to God, Himself. Just think of all the hours wasted in praying to a wafer, praying to mary, praying the rosary. Imagine if just a tenth of all those prayers and time were spent in heartfelt prayer to God. Talk about a revolution! The defeated enemy knows that if God’s people spend time in communion with Him, it would change the world.

• candles and incense – Lighting candles or incense symbolize prayers, which is not a bad thing, but the catholic church teaches that these are acceptable substitutes for prayer. And for good measure they are often lit to a saint.
• witchcraft sigils – Often you will see common witchcraft sigils in catholic churches like pentagrams (five-pointed stars) and the zodiac. Sigils are a satanic counterfeit to holy symbols like the cross or the fish.

• Holy Days – The Bible is really clear about what day is the Sabbath. A careful reading of Colossians 2:16-17 leads me to believe Paul was saying that whichever day you celebrate as the Sabbath (Saturday or Sunday), celebrate it unto the Lord and don’t worry about those who criticize you. Just keep a clear conscience about it and why you’re celebrating it on that particular day. So whichever day you celebrate, the Sabbath is so important that keeping the Sabbath holy is the Fourth Commandment. It was Constantine—a pagan who probably never converted to Christianity—who changed the Sabbath to Sunday.

The Bible specifies seven feasts, which God calls His appointed times: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. Each of these foreshadows something about Jesus’ incarnation and soon return. There are two other feasts celebrated since Bible times until today among the Jews: the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah, also called the Feast of Lights) and Purim (the Feast of Esther). (The Bible records Jesus’ attendance at the Feast of Dedication in John 10:22.) But modern Christians don’t celebrate any of these Biblical feasts. Instead we celebrate:

• christmas – a Christianized winter solstice celebration where santa[9] is more often the central figure.
• easter – a Christianized spring equinox festival of fertility and rebirth. Resurrection Day should coincide with the three spring feasts of Passover (Jesus’ crucifixion), Unleavened Bread (Jesus’ burial), and First Fruits (Jesus’ resurrection), but easter is celebrated coinciding with the spring equinox, instead.
• halloween – a Christianized version of the druidic feast of the dead, samhain[10]. The catholic church took halloween and made it a time to commune with the dead saints[11]. Nothing about halloween is Christian, and every year I say it: we should not be celebrating halloween.
• Praying to the Saints – The Bible is very clear about the fact that the dead do not return to earth, wander through the earth, haunt places, or communicate with the living (see 1 Samuel 28). Speaking with the dead is actually speaking with demons. demons can appear in various forms and sometimes do communicate with the living. They’ve been around for thousands of years, so they know how to impersonate Mary or your dead Aunt Gertie. And they’re expert liars, knowing just what it’ll take to make the lie believable. You will never get the truth from a demon. Praying to a dead saint is no different from necromancy (see Deuteronomy 18:11). This is a satanic substitute to praying directly to God, as Jesus instructed us to do (John 15:16).
• Images – The Bible is very clear about the fact that making and worshiping images is forbidden (see Deuteronomy 5:7-9). In fact it is the Second Commandment. Yet the catholic church has put icons and statues up for hundreds of years as objects to pray to and to worship. The danger in images is that paintings and statues can draw and actually host demons—especially those used in worship.

Even if you don’t worship the image, using it as an object for prayer is a dangerous thing to do. God very clearly says not to even make an image.

• Relics – The altar of every catholic church in the world is consecrated by placing a reliquary inside the altar. Reliquaries are little boxes that contain a body part of a dead saint. Can there be any more clear sign that the catholic church is a death cult? Every time they bow before the altar, they are bowing to death.
• Robes – The vestments that the priests, nuns, monks, cardinals, bishops, and pope wear are designed first of all to separate them visually from ordinary people. But there are hidden meanings behind the vestments, too. The rope belt echoes the first degree initiation into freemasonry[12].

Furthermore, the pope’s mitre, the one that looks like a fish head, is exactly like what the pagan philistine priests wore because theirs was a fish god.

All of these things are forms of manipulation, either overt or covert.

 

Domination

In the catholic church you see domination in various forms:

• Architecture –The vaulted ceilings of many old churches are designed to tell you that you’re small and insignificant. This was one way to bring the people into submission. Another was the extravagant show of the church’s riches as a way to show the people how poor and insignificant they are.

The catholic church has based many of its structures on masonic and occultic architecture. There are certain structures that can play host to demons. Pyramids, for example, as noted above. I’ve already discussed the meaning behind the obelisk and dome, as well (see sigils, above).

• Secret Rites and Rituals – John Todd and William Schnoebelen and other former witches say that all secret societies are suspect: skull and bones, illuminati, masons, witch covens, etc. The catholic church has a secret society called the jesuits. The initiation ceremony for the jesuits includes swearing to do some really horrific things. They say that in defense of the one true faith (Roman catholicism) they swear to:

Make and wage relentless war, secretly or openly, against all heretics, Protestants and Liberals, as I am directed to do, to extirpate and exterminate them from the face of the whole earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex or condition; and that I will hang, waste, boil, flay, strangle and bury alive these infamous heretics, rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women and crush their infants’ heads against the walls, in order to annihilate forever their execrable race. That when the same cannot be done openly, I will secretly use the poisoned cup, the strangulating cord, the steel of the poniard or the leaden bullet, regardless of the honor, rank, dignity, or authority of the person or persons, whatever may be their condition in life, either public or private, as I at any time may be directed so to do by any agent of the Pope or Superior of the Brotherhood of the Holy Faith, of the Society of Jesus[13].

The oath is then signed in the initiate’s own blood. pope francis is a jesuit, and he has never revoked or repented of this oath. He took the name of St. Francis, a humble and gentle man, to disguise the kind of man he really is.

The only reason to hide these things is because they are hiding the biggest secret of all: that the jesuits, and indeed all the leadership of the catholic church, are luciferians—worshippers of the defeated enemy, that is. Of course the vast majority of catholics have no idea about this, and many of them do worship God to the best of their ability.

Have you seen pictures of the pope’s audience hall? It looks like the head of a giant snake—both inside and out. When the pope is in there, he appears to be speaking from inside the snake’s mouth. And there is a deep, secret truth to this that is staring people right in the face.

Through all these things and more, the catholic church seeks to intimidate, manipulate, and dominate the people.

To my catholic brothers and sisters I say: God loves you. Although the catholic church is deeply steeped in witchcraft, there is truly redemption for each of you. Don’t take my word for it. I don’t want to persuade you with clever arguments. Instead I encourage you to go directly to God, and to God’s Word and look for the truth for yourself. The pope told you that a personal relationship with Jesus is a dangerous thing. It’s true. If you develop a personal relationship with Jesus, you had better be prepared for these dangers:

• The Status Quo – Your life is going to change. You will learn to forgive the people that have hurt you. You will have God’s help to overcome your addictions. You will learn what true love is. Yes, a personal relationship with Jesus will absolutely change you—if you let it.
• The Financial Cost – A personal relationship with Jesus will cost you, not only in terms of putting money in the offering basket, but there will be times when God will ask you to buy someone a meal or a car or maybe even a house.
• The Physical Cost – A personal relationship with Jesus will also cost you in physical terms. Sometimes God will tell you to go somewhere or do something that is completely out of your comfort zone. Sometimes God will wake you to pray for something or someone in the middle of the night.
• The Recreational Cost – A personal relationship with Jesus will cost you some things that you think are fun: casual sex, intoxication (of whatever sort), wasting time and money gambling or going to the movies, etc.

Don’t use me or your priest or the pope or any other human being, dead or alive, as an intermediary. The Bible says:

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as My priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. . . . I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes—a people without understanding will come to ruin! (Hosea 4:6 & 14, NIV, emphasis mine).

It is my sincere prayer that catholic people will read these things and understand that God is not distant as they’ve been taught. He is as close as your own breath, and He desires to have a love relationship with you that is deeply intimate and will last forever. God is good!

[1] Because this is a site of witchcraft, I do not capitalize fatima.

[2] Starting at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela and walking the Portuguese trail to the border of Portugal.

[3] According to catholic doctrine, Mary was:

virginal not only of soul, but also of body, both before and after giving birth to Our Lord.

This is why she’s called the virgin mary, but the Bible is very clear about the fact that Jesus had brothers and sisters (half-brothers and half-sisters, that is), and actually names His brothers in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3.

[4] See Praying to Saints, below.

[5] Wikipedia defines a dissociative state as: Dissociative fugue, formerly fugue state or psychogenic fugue, is a dissociative disorder and a rare psychiatric disorder characterized by reversible amnesia for personal identity, including the memories, personality, and other identifying characteristics of individuality. The state can last days, months or longer. Dissociative fugue usually involves unplanned travel or wandering, and is sometimes accompanied by the establishment of a new identity. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5).

The identity problems cited here in Wikipedia are due to the attempts of demons to take over the person’s body—possession.

[6] You will hear a whole lot more about the jesuits later on.

[7] The rosary is an unbiblical practice, since it “prays” mostly to mary and actually worships her:

Hail mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

So for the apparition to call itself the lady of the rosary, this was probably the only true thing it said, since the rosary has absolutely nothing to do with the real Mary.

The rosary is also unbiblical because it is repeated so many times that the words cease to lose their meaning (see Matthew 6:7, above).

[8] The immaculate heart of mary is just another catholic device to draw worship away from God by having people worship mary’s heart.

[9] Unscramble the letters of this name to reveal who is behind it all. Yup.

[10] Although I do celebrate a santa-less christmas and a bunny-less easter, keeping my focus on Jesus, I absolutely do not celebrate halloween.

[11] More proof that the catholic church is a cult of death worship.

[12] The first degree initiate is blindfolded, left breast bared, right sleeve rolled up, left pant leg rolled up, and there is a rope in the form of a noose around his neck.  Higher degrees of freemasonry also feature ropes: tied around the waist, tied around the wrists, etc. indicating higher and higher degrees of bondage.

[13] You can read the whole oath at: http://www.reformation.org/jesuit-oath.html.

A Hard Truth

Keeping the Truth out of reach of the masses.

This year God has launched me into a new direction in ministry. I still encourage missionaries in Europe. My understanding is that this will not change. But without an apartment, hospitality ministry has been phased out. I don’t know if I will ever be doing hospitality ministry, or if I do, to do it on the scale that I have been doing it.

The new direction is one that God has been preparing me for since I started as a missionary in 2010 (and really, since I was a teenager). God has given me a special discernment for spotting witches and witchcraft. This is nothing that I ever asked for. Like I said, my primary calling is to encourage missionaries, in addition to that I am called also called to edify (build-up) God’s people, both missionaries and non-missionaries. Encouragement is something I do mostly one-on-one. Edification is something I do mostly through writing, and it involves a lot of research. Often God will drop a tantalizing nugget, and I will research it to learn more, and then write about it. Writing is how I process new information. Sometimes I don’t really understand a thing until I’ve written about it.

Most of the things I write about in my blog are me processing that new information. In April and May, the following is information that God doled-out to me like breadcrumbs along the Camino de Santiago. He instructed me to do the Camino backwards: starting at the cathedral and ending at the border of Portugal. This is why I titled my new book about the Camino Walking to Portugal. I started the Camino believing that the catholic church[1] is essentially Christian, but preaches a watered-down Gospel. I no longer believe this, as you will see.

To my catholic sisters and brothers:

In writing this, I understand that I might lose some precious friends who are catholic. I came to this information gradually, but I realize that I am dropping a massive Truth Bomb on you all at once. I apologize for this. I wish that there was a gentler way to do it. I wish that you could learn the things I’ve learned gradually, like I did. I wish that I wasn’t so brash and clumsy in handling this Truth Bomb. I pray that as you read these things you will hear the love I have for you, and understand how my heart breaks for you.

I know that some will reject my conclusions about the catholic church, and I accept that. But I pray that you will do some research. Please don’t take my word for any of this. The Bible says:

Test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good, (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

And that is what I’m inviting you to do. Don’t accept things just because I said it. No human being has all the revelation and all knowledge.

If you could know all the secrets of Heaven and earth, wouldn’t curiosity drive you to seek them out? Well you do have access to all the secrets of Heaven and earth. They’re all in the Bible. If you have a Bible, I urge you to open it. Read it. Read it daily. The Bible is the primary way that God speaks to people today—it’s the primary way that He speaks to me. In my blog I often quote the Bible. The Bible looks like a book, but it is so much more than a mere book. The Bible is the Living Word of God—a supernatural book. Check it out:

• The Bible consists of 66 books, divided into 1,189 chapters made up of 31,173 verses.
• The Bible was written by 40 writers.
  • They wrote over a period of 1,500 years.
  • The Bible writers were businessmen, tax collectors, shepherds, fishermen, soldiers, physicians, priests, kings—people from all walks of life.
  • Some of the writers lived in the northern kingdom of Israel, some in the southern kingdom of Judah, some in Egypt, some in Babylon—different cultures, different philosophies, different time periods.
  • The writers of the Old Testament didn’t know each other—couldn’t have known each other.
• Yet the 66 books of the Bible—Old and New Testament—are in perfect harmony.
• The longest chapter of the Bible is Psalm 119.
• The shortest chapter of the Bible is Psalm 117.
• The chapter in the middle of the Bible is Psalm 118.
• There are exactly 594 chapters before Psalm 118, and exactly 594 chapters after it.
  • When you add the number of chapters before Psalms 118 and those after, the sum is 1,118.
• The verse at the very center of the Bible is Psalms 118:8:

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in people.

• The longest verse in the Bible is Esther 8:9.
• The shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35 – Jesus wept.
• There are 21 epistolary letters in the Bible.
• The King James Version of the Bible has 783,137 words.
  • 783137 is a prime number.
• There are hundreds of versions of the Bible in the English language.
• The Bible has been translated into more than 2000 languages.
• The accuracy of the Bible has been proven by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
  • The Dead Sea Scrolls had every book of the Bible except for Esther.
  • The Bible from the first century is exactly the same as the Bible of today.
• The many repetitions of the number seven—the number of perfection—in both the text and the subtext (gematria) of the Bible are too many to be a coincidence.
• The Bible says that God formed man from the dust. Our bodies are made of the same 14 elements found in a handful of dust.
• The Ancients taught that there were at most a thousand stars, but the Bible says that the stars are innumerable, which we now know to be true.
• The Equidistant Letter Sequences of the Bible Code reveal some very surprising things. The ELS predicted the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin before the fact—a fact which unfortunately, he chose to ignore.
  • The name of Rabin’s assassin is found in the ELS, too.
  • In Genesis at 49 letter intervals appear these names in this order: Boaz, Ruth, Obed, Jessie, David.
    • Boaz married Ruth, they had a son named Obed, Obed had a son named Jessie, and Jessie had a son named David.
    • Genesis was written about 1000 years before the birth of Boaz, the patriarch of this family.
  • The ELS discoveries could never have been made without computers.
  • The rise of computers and the internet fulfills the prophecy in Daniel that in the End Times knowledge will increase.
  • In that same verse about the End Times the angel tells Daniel that people will be rushing about—there was no rush hour, traffic jams, or high speed travel in Daniel’s time. Check it out:

But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”

• Experts from Harvard, Yale, and Princeton say that the order of creation as given in Genesis is correct.
• The Bible has been proven to be historically correct:
  • Proof of the worldwide flood is seen in the chalk layer and the many upright trees that go through the so-called geological time layers.
  • Evidence has also been found for the story of Joseph and the seven years of famine in ancient Egyptian tablets and monuments, which recorded and verified the story in every detail.
  • Five thousand places spoken of in the Bible have been definitely located by geographers and explorers.
• Jesus fulfilled 191 messianic prophecies in His earthly incarnation.
• The remaining prophecies (those concerning Jesus’ return at the Rapture and His Second Coming) are lining up to be fulfilled soon.
  • For example, that Israel would be a nation once again. This was fulfilled in 1948.
  • And Jerusalem would be the capital of Israel. This was fulfilled in 1967.
  • That the Jews would return to Israel from all over the world.
  • That the Jews would fly to Israel, which was impossible when Isaiah wrote it about 700 years before Jesus was born:

Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests? (Isaiah 60:8, NIV).

There are many, many other proofs of the Bible, but this is just a sampling.

Given the supernatural wisdom found in the Bible, wouldn’t you want to share its wisdom with everyone? So why doesn’t the catholic church allow Bible reading? I’ll tell you why: because the Bible will expose this satanic institution for what it is.

• The Bible says do not practice necromancy (consulting the dead)[2].

But the catholic church encourages prayer to dead saints.

• The Bible says do not touch a dead body[3].

But the catholic church puts body parts of dead saints in their altars—and then bows down to them.

Putting bones of the dead on the altar defiled the altar[4].

• The Bible says do not pray repetitious prayers[5].

But the catholic church teaches people to pray the rosary.

• The Bible says to worship only God[6].

But the catholic church has people worship mary[7].

• The Bible says that Jesus is the only way to God[8].

But the catholic church teaches that the church is the only way to God, and now pope francis is opening many ways to God.

• The Bible says that salvation is a free gift[9].

But the catholic church teaches salvation by works (baptism, church membership, etc.).

The catholic church also sells or gives indulgences—as if salvation can be marketed like merchandise—another practice condemned by the Word of God[10].

• The Bible says that Jesus paid the full price for our sins on the cross[11].

But the catholic church has people do penance.

The catholic church also has people pray for those in purgatory (a place that doesn’t exist).

• The Bible says that it is better to marry than to burn with lust[12].

But the catholic church imposes celibacy on all of its leadership. And now is it any wonder that there are vast numbers of people (children and adults) who have been sexually abused by catholic priests? Why does the pope embrace (literally!) priests accused of pedophilia?

Except for Paul, all of the apostles were married—including Peter[13].

And speaking of Peter: Peter was not the first pope. How could he be? The catholic church didn’t come into existence until 313—almost 200 years after Peter’s death. Also, Peter’s time in Rome was not spent in the lavish lateran palace, but in prison until his public upside-down execution by crucifixion.

The actual first pope was Melchiades. In his time there were some Christians who handed over rare Scriptures to the roman government in order to escape torture. Melchiades is said to have been one. Then in 313 Constantine legalized Christianity and made Melchiades pope. He changed his name to miltiades and as his first act, he pardoned the cowards that had escaped torture through this betrayal, and made them bishops.

Constantine gave Melchiades the lavish lateran palace. To me all of this is very suspect and smacks of bribery and collusion.

Constantine only pretended to be a Christian for political motives. Constantine wasn’t baptized until he was on his deathbed some 64 years later—just in case the Christians were right.

So please forgive me for the clumsy way that I handle this Truth Bomb. I would rather be slapped in the face with a hard truth than kissed with a sweet lie. In the end, the lie will hurt far worse than the truth slap. Again, I encourage you to check all of these things for yourselves. Be aware that if you only check catholic sources, you’ll get the sweet lie. But even some of their own sources reveal truth unintentionally.

I pray that this information helps you on your journey to the Truth because only the Truth will set you free.  God is good!

[1] I refuse to capitalize institutions and practices that are steeped in witchcraft.

[2] Leviticus 19:31; 20:6; 20:27, Deuteronomy 18:11 & Isaiah 8:19.

[3] Leviticus 21:1; 11-12, Numbers 5:2; 6:6-7 & 9-11; 9:6-10; 19:11-19; 31:19, Haggai 2:13.

[4] 2 Kings 23:16.

[5] Matthew 6:7.

[6] Exodus 20:3; 34:14, Deuteronomy 5:7, 2 Kings 17:36-39, Matthew 4:10, Luke 4:8, Revelation 15:4; 19:10 & 22:9.

[7] I’ve had catholic friends tell me that they don’t worship her, but many times I see catholics on their knees in front of a statue of mary. Friends, that is worship! You wouldn’t kneel before a statue of the devil, would you? or a statue of Abraham Lincoln, even.

And by the way, I don’t capitalize the name of entities that are not God or human. The human mother of Jesus is capitalized: Mary. But the demonic entity that calls itself by that same name doesn’t deserve the right to the same respect.

[8] John 14:6. See also Acts 4:12, Ephesians 1:13; 2:8-10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9, 2 Timothy 3:15, Hebrews 2:10 & 1 Peter 1:9.

[9] Ephesians 2:8-9. See also Romans 6:23.

[10] Acts 8:19-21.

[11] Romans 6:23.

[12] 1 Corinthians 7:9.

[13] Matthew 8:14-15.

Getting Ready for the Next Adventure

Sitting between my two suitcases–my two worlds.

Greetings from Biella, where I’ve had a few days to rest before my next adventure: Spain.  I’m going to Spain with my son, Tim, to do the Camino di Santiago.  We have budgeted a month to do it, and the biggest challenge is packing for a month in just one backpack.  I want to be sure to have all that I need, but I don’t want to over-pack because I’ll have to carry everything I have for several miles each day.

While I’ve been here I’ve also tried to organize the suitcase holding the things to take back to the US with me next month.  When I did, I found that it was overweight by fifteen pounds, so I had to really put some thought into what I’ll need in the US next month and what can wait until fall.

During the process of moving out of the apartment I had left two large suitcases lying open on the floor side-by-side: one for things to go back to the US and one for things to keep here in Europe.  I had a third suitcase for more immediate travels as well.  As I went through all my belongings, I threw them into one suitcase or the other or into a giveaway pile.  The vast majority of things went into the giveaway pile.  In this way I filled each suitcase, but not in any organized or careful manner.

I’ve learned something about myself through all this: my process for packing involves a lot of whining about all the packing I need to do.  So far I haven’t been able to accomplish much of anything without a lot of whining at the beginning.  Then I start packing, but find myself easily distracted by friends, phone calls, and Facebook.  Finally as the deadline approaches I throw myself into the task and get it all done.

I prayed for wisdom to know how and what to pack, and I believe that I got it.  The hardest thing to decide was whether to take the computer or not.  Finally I decided that my phone will suffice for computer tasks[1].  And most of what I’ll need a computer for is communicating, so the phone should be enough.

And since it’s impossible to take a month’s worth of clothes with me, I’m taking just a couple of changes of clothes and a bar of soap to wash clothes with—and the clothes that I’m bringing are mostly things that should dry very quickly.

Toiletries are also problematic because we’re flying Ryanair[2], which is notorious for charging if you have more than one carryon (like a purse in addition to the backpack) or if the carryon doesn’t fit in their sizer.  I made sure that my purse will fit inside my backpack for the flight, and that I don’t have any but the most essential cosmetics.  I’m going to use that bar of soap for washing my hair and body besides my clothes.  Too bad it won’t work for toothpaste as well.

The one really good thing about my packing process is that I do get it done on time.  I would love to be able to do it without the whining, but so far it seems to be an essential part of my process.  In any case, I’m ready to go now.  See you in a month.  God is good!

[1] Besides, Tim will have his computer, so if I find that I really need a computer, I can use his.

[2] Every time I fly Ryanair I say, “Never again!”  I hate the sneaky ways that they have of making you pay more than the low price advertised, like the extra bag charges.  More than that, I hate the non-stop noise pollution of their constant advertising, plugging food and drinks that most airlines give you for free.  Traveling Ryanair with an MP3 and earbuds is an absolute must for me.  I’m sure I’d go buggy if I had to listen to all that for the entire two to three hour flight.