Torben Søndergaard, Danish pastor still in American jail for no reason

Please pray for Torben Søndergaard, the Danish pastor who is still in American jail for no good reason.

He fled to the US due to being harassed by Danish authorities and for accumulating opponents even among Christians who have started false rumors about him. Had Torben been lukewarm this of course would not have happened, but Torben is an active Christian preacher of the gospel (including the need for repentance) who believes that the gifts of the holy Spirit are still valid today. This fact has been used against him by his opponents to quench his fire, and they hate to see that loads of people have turned to Jesus Christ due to his teachings, not only in Denmark but all over the world. Torben’s preaching and popularity was deemed so dangerous that Danish media even made a hit piece against him. Denmark is sadly no longer a country where you have freedom of religion or even freedom of speech, unless of course your opinions line up with the establishment’s views and are not controversial.

Grant Amato who murdered his family over an internet dispute

Sep29

Fear Being totally obsessed with someone on the Internet …

It is hard to phantom that the story about Grant Amato is true, but it sadly is.

Grant Amato, Florida, is serving life in prison ever since 2019 for murdering his family over his relationship with a Bulgarian web cam girl. He stole approx. USD 200.000 from his parents and brother which he sent to this girl, and when they found this out he was required to follow a certain set of rules if he wished to remain in their household. For obvious reasons one of the rules was to have no further contact with the Bulgarian lady, and when he broke this rule he was consequently kicked out of the house.

Or was he? In order to get continued access to his internet friend he killed both his parents and one of his brothers. Grant has one surviving half brother who did not reside in their home.

There were lots of evidence against him such as admittedly being in the house during the time of murders (shots were also heard from neighbors), and there was proof of immediate internet connections stemming from the house just after the death of the family. Who was online unless it was Grant? It also looked bad for him to be in possession of his father’s and brother’s debit cards while being away after their deaths.

The Bible says that God does not tempt anyone but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. I do not doubt that this Bulgarian girl meant the world to Grant and that he felt that nothing made sense unless he could continue to have her in his life. However, Grant should not have entered such websites to begin with! Once he decided to open the door of temptation he was trapped and had the hardest time getting out. In his case he decided to not fight the sin any more but to continue on the same path no matter what.

Jas 1:¹²Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.¹³Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:¹⁴But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.¹⁵Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.¹⁶Do not err, my beloved brethren.

The story also says that Grant happened to have had lots of time at his hands (to visit porn sites) since he lost his job due to stealing medicine at work. It seems like Grant sought temptations in his life rather than seeking God and his will. If you make no effort to stay on the right path but seek after temptations, they will come and might knock you down completely. You might find yourself in a situation which is incredibly hard to get away from and you might wish you did not open the door to sin to begin with. Grant ended up in jail for life with no possibility of parole. How much internet connections is he allowed to have in jail? He did not think this through.

Jas 1:²My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;³Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.⁴But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.⁵If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

See the short version of the trial below and the police interrogation where he denies everything (which he also did in court). He sounds incredibly intelligent and logical throughout this interview but the he seems to lack both emotions and remorse.

About Trump’s claim that Sweden was wrong for not having a Corona lock-down

May2

Sweden compared to neighboring countries

Below are some reasons why I personally believe Sweden has had a much higher number of deaths (at least for a couple of weeks in April) compared to the other neighboring countries.

Sweden has the most amount of inhabitants of the Scandinavian countries, 10 million and rising (about 2 million immigrants).
Sweden has accepted approx. three times more asylum seekers than the other Scandinavian countries together. What does this have to do with anything you might ask. Lots! A friend of mine works an assistant nurse at Karolinska Sjukhuset – the largest hospital in Stockholm. She told me a couple of weeks ago that 100% of the patients she worked with on her ward for Corona patients with intensive care, 129 patients, were all immigrants! Not even one ethnic Swede. Countries which stand out are Somalia, Iraq and Syria and she expressed how difficult it was to communicate with some of them who did not speak either Swedish or English. This naturally does not mean that all Corona patients in Swedish hospitals are immigrants, but it could give us an idea in which groups we can find the most deaths. (According to Karolinska Sjukhuset, 80% of the patients survive at the unit for Corona intensive care.) My friend is an immigrant herself so this has nothing to do with racism.
Mainstream media has admitted that certain countries do stick out in the statistics, like Somalia. The life expectancy rate in Sweden is 84,7 years for women and 81,3 years for men. Compare this with for instance Somalia (2016, Wikipedia): Women 56,6, Men 53,5.
We can also find lots of deaths among the elderly who live in retirement homes. Sweden has lots of elderly people, and due to Sweden’s poor economy the homes are often very crowded. Sweden has a shortage of retirement homes which means that there are tough conditions to be entitled a place. If you do not meet the conditions, there is no point standing on a waiting list with the hope to get a place. To make the matters worse, we sometimes hear about cases where retirement homes are shut down with the excuse that they need severe maintenance work. After the retirement facilities have been reconstructed, immigrants are moving in. The cost for retirement homes always falls on the local communities, but hosting immigrants will bring the communities a nice income from the state for a couple of years. Horrible news have surfaced lately that the elderly in retirement homes do not get oxygen treatments if needed, and oxygen machines are only found in the hospitals. But the hospitals are full, and maybe therefore sick people at a younger age must be prioritized … ? The staff is told to give the elderly with breathing problems other types of care, like the use of morphine, but not oxygen treatments likely because it is not available as an option. The elderly will basically only get palliative care when they have reached a certain stage.
Due to a constant bad economy, few care givers must provide help to lots of elderly people at a retirement home. One common complaint from the elderly is that the care givers are lacking in the Swedish language which makes communication difficult. This applies for areas with a lot of immigrants and those areas are quite common. Again, immigrants from certain countries seem to be more at risk to catch the Corona virus than others, and the elderly belong to another risk group. We know that certain factors increase the risk, such as other known illnesses, asthma, diabetes, hyper-tension (high blood pressure), over weight, smoking, etc. It looks like the lack of vitamin D and C also plays a part. Interestingly, my immigrant friend above actually told me that both she and her husband have been diagnosed with a lack of vitamin D.

Please note that Swedish hospitals were in DEEP TROUBLE long before Corona! At times patients had to sleep in rows in the corridors due to the hospitals being so over-crowded. The problem is not the lack of physical beds but due to a permanent shortage of nurses, doctors and other hospital workers. The situation has been unbearable for many years, but it has still grown increasingly worse. It is not uncommon that nurses are offered extra money if they skip their summer vacation and work instead. If you need to go to the Emergency department, at least in certain cities, you have to expect to wait for many hours before a doctor will finally assist you. Obviously not if you are close to death, but certainly if you (or your kid) have a broken arm or similar. It can be a true night mare, and the poor doctors are often working over time in order to see as many patients as possible.

Was it really a choice to avoid lock-downs, or is the case that Sweden had no other option due to lack of police (or military) who can help out enforcing the lock-down laws? Sweden is not like the US where you can call a cop just because you have a nasty quarrel with your neighbor. The police will come if there is a murder, but other than that you can never be sure they will come. We have a huge amount of rape cases in Sweden (and gang rapes) and the police have a hard time to keep up since they cannot even keep up with all the frequent shootings, thefts, car fires and school fires in or outside of the many no go zones.

Even if Sweden has not had any lock-downs, you can still see empty restaurants and public places because people are too scared or not in the mood to visit them. There will be loads of bankruptcies soon, and naturally the unemployment numbers are rising.

Seems like it does not matter whether a country has a lock-down or not, and if that is the case, why do we even have lock-downs? How will crashed economies help anyone but the globalists?

Interesting fact: Compared to the previous years’ first six months, 2015-2019, Sweden actually does not have a higher death rate this year, 2020. I have no idea how the situation is compared to the other countries.

Short hair for girls in the 1960’s due to TWIGGY

Mar10

1968 during a wedding

My first memory – a sincere desire to have long hair!

I have a couple of vague memories from the time when I was very little, maybe from the time I was only a baby (but hard to verify). Apart from those baby memories, I suspect that my first memories derive from the time when I was about four years old – as in the picture here to the left (where I was not recently cut but actually had a little length to my hair).

One of my very first memories/feelings concerned my sincere wish to have long hair instead of the short hair that I was forced to have. The British model Twiggy was popular at the time, and also her hair cut which was unfortunate for me.

The picture is from a wedding and I remember that there was another girl just like myself on that wedding. She was about the same age, and she was also blonde with blue eyes. The difference was that she did not have short hair like I did, but she had longer and a little curly hair. If I would be allowed to have longer hair, that is what my hair would have looked like. Still, at this time I did not care about hair color or even hair type. I just wanted longer hair!

Did I long for long hair just because other girls had long hair? No, I was not the only girl with short hair during this time in the end of the 1960’s, but then again there were also girls with long hair and I wanted to be like them. I believe that I naturally longed for long hair and that it would be my true wish even if every single girl around me had short hair.

Having hair long enough to be able to braid it or put it up in a pony tail would be too good to be true for me, and therefore I did not even consider it as a possibility. I felt that it was totally out of question so I only dared to dream about something within my reach; as in at least not having short hair. In shops I would sometimes see pretty things to wear in the hair but I knew that I could not even wear the smallest types of barrettes in my very short hair. I envied girls who wore various hair ribbons or barrettes.

After some time (after a visit at the hair dresser) my hair started to grow out a little and I remember how I liked to sit in the bath tub (we kids took a bath every Sunday …) with my hair dipped into the water so that I could feel it spread out, even if it was still very short. My hair grew each day but when I started to feel successively more content it was time for a visit at the hair dresser again together with my brothers, and I felt so depressed and sad after each visit. My brothers and I actually had a similar hair cut. I remember that I sometimes placed a cardigan on top of my head as a veil and pretended that it was my own really long hair that I felt on my back.

I just felt so unnatural and ugly. It did not help that my brothers and/or their friends occasionally teased me about being a boy. In order to compensate for my short hair I liked to wear skirts and dresses to feel more feminine, but I sadly did not have that many. I do not even remember owning or wearing a dress during those times, apart from the dress in the picture above. I do remember wearing a skirt occasionally, and I just hated wearing trousers which I had to wear from time to time. I complained to my mother that people would think I am boy with my short hair and trousers, but she did not believe me. However, it turned out that I was right about my fears.

twiggy I remember once when I went out shopping with my mother when she ran into an acquaintance who later in the conversation asked with reference to me: “What’s his name?”. I was really hurt that she thought I was a boy but how could someone blame her? I had short hair and I wore pants, so why would she not assume that I was a boy? For some reason my mother seemed to think that this woman should have known better.

Another time I sat with my brothers on the stairs in front of our little village shop, and a girl (maybe someone who knew one of my brothers) asked me if I was a boy or a girl. I replied “a girl”, whereupon she requested that I should sing to prove it (!). Just as though singing a tune would be able to prove my gender. I was hurt (and I did not sing for her). This girl apparently was allowed to have long hair, so why was I doomed to have short hair?

When I started school there were at least a couple of other girls who had short hair like myself, but not all girls had short hair. There was particularly one girl with very long hair and we told her how beautiful we thought her hair was. I do not think she cut he hair for the whole duration of our school years together …

There is a lovely picture of my mother at around the age of three, and she looks just like Shirley Temple with long curly hair partly tied up with a large bow, and she was wearing a lovely dress. I believe she was even holding a doll to top it off. How I wanted to look just like that! Maybe she grew up being tired of all the hair brushing, the hair ribbons, the dresses and the white socks that she had to wear. Maybe she wanted her own daughter to look more modern/casual and took the chance when the Twiggy movement came along.

I do not believe it is unnatural for girls to long for long hair. It is true that it is sometimes harder to maintain long hair when growing old when the hair becomes more fragile and gray, but that is another story.

1 Cor. 11:14 Doth not even NATURE ITSELF teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

Today our neighbors have one little boy and one little girl and both children have really long hair and look like girls. As far as I know, and from what I have heard myself, they are both called “boys” by their parents (unless they perhaps take turns and sometimes call them “girls”). It is more common today to be “gender neutral” towards children, but I do not believe this is beneficial for the children.

I believe it was the British super model Twiggy who influenced my mother and other mothers during this time to cut their hair short, as well as their daughters’ hairs. Twiggy apparently started a new phenomenon, but at least she had bangs which I did not have. In our family we even named our dog Twiggy. Later in life I had a daughter myself and I would not dream about cutting her hair short.

In Hungary on vacation

When one of my brothers fell in to a bucket of paint

Bible verses about our SHORT and TEMPORARY life – the days are evil

May11

Where is the sun, based on the sun beams? Are all clouds lit up?

The days are evil – and short

Days are not evil in themselves since God created the heaven and the earth and all that is in them as “very good”, but the phrase “the days are evil” in Eph. 5:16 signifies that the days (when we are normally active) are filled with temptations with the subsequent risk that also believers choose to give in for them and sin. We are also told to redeem the time.

Adam Clarke says “Let time be your chief commodity; deal in that alone; buy it all up, and use every portion of it yourselves. Time is that on which eternity depends; in time ye are to get a preparation for the kingdom of God; if you get not this in time, your ruin is inevitable; therefore, buy up the time.”

Eph. 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

While death is uncomfortable to think about (our own and others) it is at the same time comforting to keep in mind that the upcoming world – the new Jerusalem – will be a permanent dwelling with no more tears. We are told that we will never ever die if we are true believers. Yes, our physical bodies will die, but our souls will get new bodies and live forever in an environment without death, pain and sorrow. Paul explains it well:

1 Cor. 15:35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in in corruption:43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

2 Cor. 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Paul also explains that the suffering of this world cannot be compared to what is awaiting us: “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us”:

Rom. 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Time is short and so is our life time here on earth. It might not always seem that way for a young person with 50-80 years ahead of him/her, but once you reach an older age and look back on your life the feeling is often that time has gone by in a rapid pace. We do not have much time to share the gospel because time is short. If there are also many uphills in our lives, such as pain, loneliness, melancholy, etc, such things will also soon cease!:

1 Cor. 7:29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;30 And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;31 And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.

Peter says about heaviness through temptations that this will last only for a season. Sometimes trials might even be useful for us so that we put our focus and hope on the only one who can save us, and to live a righteous life. The end result of our faith is the salvation of our souls.

Pet. 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

All flesh is as grass, and the glory of man as a flower:

1 Pet. 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

The things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal:

2 Cor. 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Matt. 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Man is like dust, or as a flower, or as grass. All of them last just for a moment:

As a flower of the field

Psalm 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;

Is. 40:6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Psalm 49:12 Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.

The good piece of news for believers who love God is again that we will not perish but have eternal life. Our strength comes from reading and hearing the word of God until the second coming of the son.

John 3:16 — For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Sleep paralysis, inability to move or speak – testimonies

Aug17

What is sleep paralysis?

Sleep paralysis is when during awakening or a falling asleep, a person is conscious and aware but unable to move or speak. It can occur while falling asleep (predormital sleep paralysis) or when waking up (postdormital sleep paralysis). It is equally common among men and women, but it is more common among young people (like young teens.)

Feelings of fear and panic are naturally common during a sleep paralysis, and some have felt sensations of electric vibrations running through their body as well as hearing static sounds. Some have had such bad experiences during their sleep paralyses, like seeing the shape of someone in the room, that they fear going to sleep. Some suggest that lack of sleep might be a contributing factor for people prone to get a sleep paralysis, but I have heard of even more testimonies where the exact opposite is true – where individuals have had plenty of regular sleep and yet experience sleep paralyses.

Factors that may be linked to a sleep paralysis might include:

Being a young teenager
Sleeping on the back
Having had lots of sleep and feeling relaxed

I have often wondered if the blood factor RH 0 Negative (0 -) might be one of the triggers for a sleep paralysis, but I have no statistics for this. About 7% of the world’s population have this blood type including myself.

My own experience

My first postdormital sleep paralysis lasted about 15-20 minutes, and the second one lasted for a couple of minutes.

My first one occurred when I was a young teenager, about 14 years of age, and I believe I was sleeping on my back. It was late one morning, about 10.30, and that is when I usually woke up in my teens without an alarm clock. When I woke up I could open my eyes and look around, but I could not move or speak. My entire body was completely paralyzed and I could not move even if I tried. I was wide awake so it was definitely not a dream, a hallucination or similar. Naturally I was frightened but I took for granted that this highly unusual condition surely must stop right away because I was awake after all! However, regardless of my severe attempts to move I was still paralyzed.

If I would not have been able to see, I would likely have panicked, and also if it had happen during the night when it would have been dark. Fortunately I was able to see, and it was light with sunshine coming in from the window. Apart from my paralysis, everything looked and appeared as normal and it was therefore not a frightening atmosphere. I still longed to hear sounds from any family member outside my door, because this would hopefully help my body to wake up? But I heard no one, and after some time my body woke up by itself.

My second experience happened soon after, but I cannot remember if it was days or weeks in between.

I have had numerous predormital sleep paralyses in my life, even if I had not had them the last 10 years. I did not realize at the time that the two types of sleep paralyses were connected, nor that they were even called sleep paralysis. In a way the predormital sleep paralyses were more frightening even though they only lasted for seconds, because then I could not even open my eyes, it was dark in the room and I had a strong sensation of fear. Usually you are not aware of the moment when you fall asleep but during a predormital sleep paralysis you will suddenly be aware of the exact second of falling asleep. Maybe this does not sound too bad, but it is extremely frightening to not be able to move or speak in combination with a nightmarish feeling – and the knowledge that you will likely not succeed to overcome the situation (by sitting up in bed) but you will be dragged down into a sleep against your will. This type of paralysis might happen both when you are about to sleep for the night, but also later during the night when you wake up with a paralysis.

I remember when I was a very young child – like 4 or younger – when I was afraid of sleeping due to the feeling of being totally absorbed into my pillow and not being able to move. I felt that I was dragged into a nightmarish feeling from the very start, and I desperately tried to prevent it but always failed. I also had plenty of nightmares and hallucinations during this time, but this is not uncommon among small children. (These types of hallucinations should not be compared with sleep paralyses, which are real.)

I have read testimonies from people who have had “out-of-body experiences” (or astral projections) and it seems like at least some of them start with a sleep paralysis. It is when they fight hard to get out of the paralysis when they suddenly feel that they are being lifted up and move towards the ceiling, where they turn around and can see themselves in bed. I have no means of knowing if these experiences are true or not, but maybe they are since “near death experiences” definitely seem true. Sure, some of them might be lies, and others might be exaggerated or misunderstood, but I truly believe people have experienced them. At times they have been able to describe dialogues among the hospital staff during the time when they (the patients) were actually “dead” – before returning back to life. Many have described the light, an encounter with angels, communication without words and even a meeting with God who tells them that it is not time …

Up to as many as four out of every 10 people may have experienced a sleep paralysis. Have you? Please let us know about your sleep paralysis experience or an out-of-body experience.

Eccl. 12:6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Contacted by “Evangelist so-and-so” from India or Pakistan?

Oct7

India and Pakistan replete with evangelists and orphanages?

If you are a Christian who is sometimes engaged in social networks such as Christian forums, chat rooms, blogs, Facebook groups, etc, then you might have been contacted by individuals from India or Pakistan who commonly, but not always, have user names starting with “Evangelist” or “Pastor” and who claim to be involved with Christian missions and/or running an orphanage. Considering the amount of times I have been contacted in this way throughout the years, you would think there is a church or orphanage in every street corner in India/Pakistan.

I am not suggesting that all such contacts are fake, but I would advise people to not give financial aid to strangers they meet online (particularly if they are from India/Pakistan – where soliciting seems to be a common problem), and I would advise people from India and Pakistan to not contact strangers in this way since it might give all Christians from India and Pakistan an unwarranted bad name. There are of course sincere Christians from India and Pakistan who are engaged in the very work they claim to be, but since you cannot expect people to know this with certainty it is much better for them to give money to charities that they know and can trust. The best way to help financially is to do so through people who you know personally, or through churches or organizations that you really have confidence in.

The conversations with such Indians/Pakistanis that contact you online always tend to be the same, and they go through the same phases. (I am not suggesting all such individuals have the same interior motives as I describe here below.)

First they make sure I am a Christian – something they probably know in advance since they chose to be contact me in the first place. Christians are supposed to be kind and giving…They might ask you what church you attend, to make sure you are an active Christian.
After the first greetings, they usually start off asking “What do you do”? This gives me the feeling they want to know if I work, and if there is a chance I even earn a lot of money which I perhaps could spare. If there is such a possibility, it might be worth while chatting with me and becoming friends with me.
They explain they are involved with missionary work and/or run an orphanage. They sometimes ask you if you want to see some photos which they are happy to send to you.
They ask for prayers for their Christian work, due to the many needs.
They express themselves with Christian phrases, they praise God, they repeatedly call you sister (or brother where applicable).
They show an overwhelming interest in your country and in your Church.
They proceed to invite you to India/Pakistan to evangelize, without even knowing anything about you – apart from your claim that you are a Christian. I wonder to myself how they know I am a good preacher and how they can be certain of that I do not teach heresies? When I tell them that I am sure they can spread the gospel in India/Pakistan just as well as I can, they still insist I should come. I explain that I would love to visit their country, but if the idea is that I should pay for costly travels to India/Pakistan surely the money could be spent more wisely on more important things? If I go to India/Pakistan to preach, then someone must translate to their language, so why not preach in the correct language to start with without my participation?
They might even suggest they need evangelists from abroad due to the difficulties they have in their area to arrange Christian meetings considering much persecution, etc. But do they think a random Christian Swedish woman they meet online will sort it out much better? They might have heard about large Christian organizations that have arranged large meetings also in their countries, but what are the chances that I am involved in such ministries? Would it not be better to use google and contact such ministries directly?
If the conversation lasts long enough, they might even more openly ask for money. You might suggest sending them Bibles, but remember that they would prefer money so that they can buy Bibles in their own languages. (With other words – it is more safe to not send any money.)

Again, I know there are well-meaning Christians from India and Pakistan who are not fake at all (some I have spoken with even know the names of some Swedish evangelists) but I still wish they would use another approach online. Each time I get contacted by someone from India/Pakistan, I get a red warning sign from the very first Hello.

My advice is: Please do not ask for financial aid online, and please do not give financial aid online. There are better and safer ways to support Christian projects.

Do not encourage anyone to ask for financial help from people they meet online. If you give money to people who contact you online, this will encourage even more people to do so and naturally also people who are not engaged in any Christian activities at all.

WordPress shows its true colors – the rainbow colors

Jun27

So do you have the politically correct views, my friend, or do you have the wrong opinion?

Let me here express my sincere disappointment with the rainbow banner that is forced upon all the WordPress users today, resulting in promotion for same-sex marriages and influencing the users to hold the “correct view” about the same.

But I suppose it’s perfectly legal for the leaders of a blog provider to decide to NOT run a neutral blog system when it comes to politics and various moral issues. So if WordPress would decide to promote a certain president, a political party, polygamous marriages, war in Ukraine, or abortions, who am I to protest against it? I do suggest the following though:

Wouldn’t it be even better if WordPress would be more clear about their views and let their users know that they have decided to not stay neutral when it comes to political and moral issues, and that they have rather taken sides? Same-sex marriages is a controversial issue (both christians and muslims are normally against it), so how about stating under “About us” that WordPress is officially FOR same-sex marriages? In that way users won’t feel cheated and can avoid WordPress from the very beginning if they so choose.

(This article shouldn’t be against any WordPress rules considering that none of the information provided above is false, and that WordPress’ promotion for same-sex marriages is made public through their rainbow banner.)

Can DREAMS be interpreted and tell us something special?

Mar21

I’ve had a few vivid dreams from my childhood which I still remember, and I thought about writing them down once and for all. I believe I was about 4-5 years old when I had these dreams, and I have no idea if they mean anything in particular.

Dream 1 – Left behind in a cafeteria

The dream starts in a cafeteria where my parents, my two older brothers (1,5 years and 4 years older than me respectively) and I were having a “fika” (normally coffee if you’re an adult, or a sweet drink if you’re a child – together with maybe a cinnamon bun, a few cookies, a sandwich or similar). The cafeteria is adjoined to a large store, and we are the only ones in the cafeteria.

My parents suddenly rise and leave for the exit door and I’m the only one who notices it. I get frightened and I immediately warn my brothers about the situation. They race after our parents and they manage to catch them just as they are leaving through the exit door. I’m struggling desperately to run after them but – as it often happens in dreams – it’s like running in heavy mud. My legs seem to weigh several tons and I can hardly move them. In the large window to the right hand side of the exit door I can see our light blue car leaving with my family members in it. They had apparently forgotten about me and I feel so sad and desperate. I take a look around me to see if I can see some service personnel who might be able to help me in this store that seems to be void of both buyers and sellers. The store is about to close, and maybe that’s also the reason why my parents left? I do find a salesperson by my side and I desperately ask her “My family has left me behind! Can you help me?!”. She replies with no emotions “I’m sorry but we’re closing now”, and then she turns around and leaves me while the entire store gets really dark when all the electric lights are turned off and all the doors automatically close. I’m standing there all alone in a very dark store, in between some shelves, and I know that I have to spend the entire night there.

Dream 2 – Saved by a swing

My brothers and I were close to a little lake (it might have been somewhere on my father’s premises) and there was also one lady in our company who I can’t identify. Maybe it was a relative, or maybe she was a friend of the family. I don’t believe it was my mother. In order to reach the water of the tiny lake one would have to go down a steep dirt cliff which was all around the lake. I noticed a large yellow plastic bowl/container on the edge of the cliff, and I thought to myself that I should not go near it or else I might slide down the cliff. Unfortunately it didn’t seem like I had a choice in the matter because I ended up too close to this plastic bowl and of course I found myself rapidly sliding down the cliff toward the water – and I hadn’t learned how to swim yet. The lake was tiny but I knew it was very deep. Just when I was about to fall in the water a swing suddenly appeared just beside me, and the strings to which it was attached reached all the way up to heaven. I sat down on the swing and I found myself swinging back and forth over the tiny lake a few times while watching my brothers and this lady on the other side of the lake where they were busy in a deep conversation. Or rather, my brothers listened attentively to this lady who gave them many compliments and if I remember it correctly she also said some negative things about me. They proceeded to leave the area and none of them gave me a second thought, and they didn’t even take a glance at me. My brothers gladly followed this lady, despite being aware of that their sister was no longer with them. If I remember the dream correctly, they even knew that I was in danger but they didn’t care. I had no other choice but to keep swinging over the lake, and I also started to realize that the whole swing construction was slowly sinking…

Imaginations

Maybe it’s common for some children to experience “imaginations” (having illusions/hallucinations) under the age of 5 during night-time. I know I was not the only one, and I know that my son experienced such things when he was a young child. I also remember one summer when I was a teenager and took care of some children – one of them a little girl who imagined that there were scary things in her room at nights. She was about 3,5 years old and sometimes during the night I rushed into her room if I heard that she was afraid of something that she saw. I used to stand beside her bed to speak to her until she calmed down. Once when I came into her room and spoke to her she eventually asked me to “take her away”. “Who?”, I asked. “The girl right beside you”, was her answer. I realized that she saw another girl just like me in her room and we were standing right beside each other looking at her. Fortunately the other girl left once I turned on the lights.

I imagined scary things in my room when I was a small child, and that’s why I didn’t want to go to bed. I often felt that I was absorbed into the pillow. Sometimes I could hear the steps of heavy boots coming from the old barn on our farm, and slowly but unmistakably they would take the route toward our house. I knew the steps were coming for me as soon as I started to hear them and I was terrified! My room was placed in the near back of the house and I could hear the loud steps slowly walking around the house until they were right under my window, and from there they went up into my window and then – explosion of various colors and I was paralyzed with fear. Maybe I would also feel that the intruder poked me, and it felt so real.

Once I screamed for my mom because I saw a bunch of spiders on my floor. My mother happened to step on a few of them and the ones she stepped on disappeared. I encouraged her to continue until they were all gone. She told me that they were only hallucinations, but I didn’t care what she called them. I just wanted them out of my room. I stayed corrected and I often called for my mom to remove some “hallucinations” from my room which I started to call them.

Once when I was a teenager I saw a strange image/illusion which scared me half to death even though it was so innocent. I couldn’t sleep and I watched my big toe that was the only part of my foot free from the bed covers. I wiggled with it once in a while before I moved my foot back into the covers. The toe was still wiggling in the same place! It freaked me out totally…Probably because it looked so incredibly real – just as real as any other object in my room.

Once I spent a few days in my grandparent’s house, and I was not allowed to have the lights on during the nights. If they only knew what sort of nightmares and imaginations that I had to suffer through, I’m sure they wouldn’t be so adamant about it. Just asking them if I could please have the lights on was not enough to convince them, and maybe I failed to tell them WHY I so desperately wanted to have the lights on. My grandparents belonged to the generation where lights were supposed to be shut off during the night when people were supposed to sleep. What reason would there be to have lights turned on in the middle of the night? I knew that obedient children were supposed to be quiet and sleep at night (I didn’t want to get criticism for having disturbed my grandparents in the middle of the night), so I had to accept whatever the dreadful nights had in store for me and that was a lot. Once I had to watch the whole floor getting filled with large rats that hurried around everywhere, including climbing on chairs and other furniture. There wouldn’t be any use to say “thank goodness they are at least not real”, because they looked just as real to me as anything else in the room. I could of course close my eyes, and I usually did, but it was hard to keep them closed for a longer period of time. No matter what my eyes would detect and how scared I would become, I knew that I was not supposed to wake anyone up for support.

When cars drove by, which didn’t happen so often in the middle of the night, I could see reflections on my wall from the lights in the windows and sometimes I could see these imaginary reflections moving across the walls even though no cars were driving by. Once I saw a movie on my wall! The “film screen” was a large square-shaped “reflection” right beside my bed, and I was amazed by what I saw. The film was in slow motion, and naturally it was a horror movie. A man was sitting in an armchair reading a newspaper, and behind him was a door. It was very dark in the room but a lamp radiated at least some light. Since the man was sitting with his back toward the door, he couldn’t see what took place behind him. He couldn’t see that the handle of the door started to get pressed down, but I could see it. The door handle slowly moved downward, and eventually also the man started to realize that someone was at the door since he dropped the newspaper (in slow motion) and his wide eyes expressed pure terror. I too was out of my wits with fear, and I saw the door slowly started to open behind this man. Just when I was about to see who was behind the door I couldn’t take it any more but hid under the covers. I was very afraid by this film, but no matter how terrified I was, I knew I had to face such imaginations all alone because good girls don’t wake people up in the middle of the night.

Sleep paralysis and RH-negative blood?

I wonder how common it is to wake up after a night’s sleep before the body wakes up? I experienced this a couple of times when I was about 15-16 and it was very uncomfortable to wake up and being totally unable to move any part of my body. I couldn’t move a finger and I couldn’t make a sound. I was wide awake, it was late in the morning (about 10-11 am), the sun was shining through the window, I could hear the wind outside and I was completely unable to move. Had it been in the middle of the night I would have been terrified.

I read a testimony from a person who has had “out of body experiences”, and she explained that it started with a body paralysis which she had during the day when she took a nap. She started to be frightened and it was during the stage when she couldn’t stand it any more as she realized that she started to rise toward the ceiling and looked down on her own body. I have no idea if she is telling the truth or not but at least I know that I’m not lying about my sleep paralysis. I wonder what would have happened if I too ended up in a desperate state of mind? A friend of mine also told me about one sleep paralysis experience and a consequent experience of looking down at himself from the ceiling.

I’ve experienced sleep paralysis twice while waking up, but I’ve experienced it several times when I’m about to fall asleep (even if it was years ago since I last had this type of experience). Both types are very uncomfortable! It’s scary to experience the very second that you make the transit into sleep (not being able to move or draw back), and it’s also scary to wake up without being able to move. There are scientific terms for these experiences:

“If it occurs while you are falling asleep, it’s called hypnagogic or predormital sleep paralysis. If it happens as you are waking up, it’s called hypnopompic or postdormital sleep paralysis.”

I’ve read that people with RH-negative blood (about 7% of the population) are more prone to “paranormal activities” than others. Some traits for people with RH-negative blood are reported to be: a feeling of not belonging, being a truth seeker, predominantly having blue or green eyes , love for space and science, unexplained scares, high blood pressure, higher than average IQ, ability to disrupt electrical devices, experience of unexplained phenomenon, empathy and compassion for mankind, etc. I wonder if there is a connection, because I have RH-negative blood.

Out of body experiences are very common during near death experiences, and people have given support for their experiences by summarizing what they have seen and heard to those who were present in the same room. I’ve read a few NDE experiences where the dying person describes a silver thread between his dead body and the “soul” (the “me”) from the ceiling of the room where he/she looks down on himself/herself.

Eccl. 12:6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

A film with students mocking a preacher of God on college campus

Mar5

Wow what patience Jesse Morell (the preacher) has! Students are shouting, showing filthy signs and purposely standing in his way on the sidewalk. A guy proudly starts ripping his motor cycle as soon as Jesse speaks. If these individuals won’t repent, I fear for what is awaiting them on judgment day.

Matthew 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Proverbs 14:9 Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.

Jude 1:18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.