July 31, 2000
This is unedited, exactly as it appeared when sent from the Listbot mailing system
July 29th update Greetings, This is the latest e-message from Year 2000 Economics/ Final Book of Daniel [http://bookofdaniel.terrashare.com] and is long (100k). This edition contains a brief economic update, followed by some general commentaries concerning recent events including various observations, criticisms of Daniel/angel, recent, current and future happenings, followed (Soon--in a few days, in a separate e-message) by a request for another mass prayer initiating the Holy Spirit for the readers' benefit and growth with nothing whatsoever expected in return, save for the well-being, spiritual upliftment, and health of those involved, as well as the progressment of their families and friends. Don't underestimate the power of prayer; particularly group prayer. Don't be left out! That comes in a few days. **** **** **** Latest economic news and insights: As one may have noticed, not much new has been written on the site regarding economic analysis since March 17. This is primarily due to diversion of attention and focus of the author since the Daniel/angelic adventure began some months ago. Scarcely any thought on the economy has been on the author's mind for obvious reasons, and, at least for now, not much will occur for the time being. Besides, there is nothing dramatic to report now or in the immediate future. As one will have noticed, virtually everything forecast on the at the beginning of the year has come to pass, including the April (spring) market crashes in the Nasdaq, as well as the half-point rise in interest rates which came in a precognitive dream in early March. This forecast, made on March 17, is now removed from the main homepage and is available untouched, for the record at this location: http://www.angelfire.com/or/truthfinder/march17.html Some vindication should be in order. It is critical to point out that prophecy is far more than simply "making predictions, then hoping they come true." Prophecy is about issuing a warning of what could happen if the message is not heeded, with the intent of offering a solution to change the outcome. Prophecy is never written in stone. Although the content of the dream came to pass, it did not ensue in the chronology expected (the rate rise came after the crashes), it came true nevertheless. So, also projected was a sideways and/or rising market through this fall, at which time there is an extremely high possibility of further declines before election time. Recently, mid-July, I had another vivid dream which I regard as precognitive which will be mentioned. This vision was too phenomenal to be 'just another dream.' In this vision I was actually out-of-body, behind the scenes, present with them inside the Federal Reserve, in the same room with Alan Greenspan and his colleagues, and witnessed their distress and conversations with respect to the economy and upcoming interest rate rises and their relationship and intentions. Greenspan was leaning on a table discussing with colleagues in an informal manner with his face distorted. The 'distress' of their conversation conflicted what the board has been saying to the public as of late. It concerned the public view of their intentions to orchestrate a 'soft landing' which indicated they were (PRIVATELY) actually attempting to do more than this by continuing even further rate rises, almost deliberately (?) plunging the economy into recession next year! So despite the public overtures of knowing control in keeping the economy prosperous indefinitely, the behind-the-scene situation differs markedly to that of agony and conspiracy, at least that's what I saw while in this vision. As this letter is written, the economy is showing some tangible signs of slowing, even though the latest figures showed Gdp expanding at an annual rate of 5.8% in the second quarter. The author has maintained for some time now that this is just the beginning of something far more dire. Obviously this view is not very popular considering the prevailing attitude amongst many (or most) economists and public who have grown accustomed to the long boom which the U.S. has experienced for so many years now. It is so easy to be deceived into the belief that "this time it's different" in such an environment of popular opinion. Although nothing earth-shattering is likely to occur in terms of world altering events until roughly late 2004, a general economic shake-up is certain. It will revolve around the 'New Economy' paradigm of the computer/internet economic revolution/bubble/boom. This shake-up will involve mass consolidation of the thousands and thousands of internet start-up businesses we've witnessed blossom of late. The vast majority (90%) will go belly-up and therefore consolidate over the short period of a couple years, which shall involve an ultra nasty recession with the stock prices of these tech-companies with the indexes thereof (i.e. Nasdaq) plunging to unheard-of lows before recovering. This, by the way, is a necessary component of such consolidation: it cannot occur on a mass scale until share prices are sufficiently low enough to make such large scale buy-outs economically feasible. However, despite all of this economic shake-down and corresponding pain thereof, the technology boom and spread of the internet will not only continue well into the years ahead, but will ultimately become standard and indispensable for businesses to EVEN SURVIVE beyond the times ahead. Therefore businesses and organizations MUST aggressively expand with great ingenuity into this new medium if they even expect to stay in business; even if it means no profit and losses for some time to come. Competition is fierce indeed. It is not the strong that survive...but those most adaptable to change. This is true of life in general. Don't be afraid of change and therefore growth. Don't go with the flow...swim faster than the flow. **** **** **** PART 2: Recent Occurrences, Observations, Criticisms of Daniel/Angel More dissertations on religion. Salvation. This is a rough, draft copy of this version and also can be found at: http://www.angelfire.com/or/truthfinder/July1.html Again, this is just a rough copy that will be further added to. It is not the inerrant word of God. "We understand why children are afraid of darkness, but why are men afraid of light?" - Plato What has Daniel been doing since the last message two months ago? Quite a bit, yet also very little... In terms of writing, virtually nothing on the website or on the Book of Daniel has been added or inscribed. There obviously is much continuously happening within Daniel's life, where what we call miracles are commonplace and routine, and daily, therefore, the original excitement of newness and discovery has worn off. The past couple months involved mostly prayer, reflective meditation, continual study, and growth. Daniel and pertinent angelic duties is a 24 hour per day job involving every waking thought. But not the writing portion. To put into perspective what a typical day includes, picture Daniel reading and absorbing 2 to 4 books PER DAY, reading about a third of the Bible (plus other scriptures as well--not canonized in (Christian) Bible) PER WEEK, and visiting at least 2 church sermon/masses every Sunday morning, in transfigured state. For the time being this will continue through this fall. This winter will be dedicated to writings and further study/thought/contemplation. The book probably won't be completed until mid-2001, and writings on this site are only very preliminary and rough. One reason I share these publicly at the present is to test the waters of reader reaction. One may not realize it, but all of you are in a sense editors from a distance. I do not actually receive many e-mails concerning this subject, only about 15 altogether, despite having almost 700 subscribers. Instead, when a certain percentage of readers start thinking about various points of what is written so far, it is possible to telepathically sense reactive emotions from a distance. This is because all of us are tapped into the collective unconscious, and an angel is acutely tuned into this universal mind. Amazingly, the overall response has been favorable. Only a small handful have sent derogatory messages; it's about 2 positive responses for every negative. Quite understandably I've lost about 100 subscribers (originally 800) since early this year. This is fine by the way, and doesn't bother Daniel in any way. I've sensed the overall reaction is divided into three, roughly equal reactions: about a third are convinced and will stick with the program regardless of the circumstances; these are the blessed, loyal souls who acknowledge my integrity and know what I write is the truth. Then there about another third in the middle who may find it interesting reading, but don't know what to make of it all, but tag along for the ride nevertheless. Then there is the extreme on the far end, roughly 20 to 30% who are hostile unbelievers looking to find any flaw to criticize, for reasons that are various. These are the critics, eye rollers, religious extremists, those filled with fear and distrust, over-skeptics, or those still sour over the outcome of y2k, or just not interested in "religious stuff." About half of this last group has already unsubscribed, yet I pay close attention to the critics, their beefs, and vigorously respond for the practice; there will be much more to deal with when the book is published and Daniel starts his angelic ministry in full force next year. Naturally, the negative messages are either from fundamentalists with deranged arguments or other narrow-minded folks who absolutely refuse to even reason with the possibility that Daniel has returned and is an angel, and therefore make every attempt to "figure me out," and cast forth insults, or pass judgement and "psychoanalyze" my character: "You must have low self-esteem...sexual problems...looking for attention...you're out of your mind...leading astray...you're ignorant of the Bible...you're 'of the devil'" etc. Now, one must realize that this work is not some fly-by-night undertaking by some shady character pulling off a hoax to "sell books" or "lead astray." These are the issues that separate the false from the true prophets. Daniel is not after riches or luxury. No interest in political office. Not a power-hungry cult leader looking to bring in some twisted doctrines to enslave gullible cultists. Could care less about fame or recognition, and do not desire this in the least; my glory will come from God, not mortals. Being free from self-deception, am able to spill the beans, knowing it is all truth, free from hypocrisy. Therefore, these being congruent, function from freedom of fear. I mentioned in the last update: "How would you approach such a situation if YOU were told to be someone similar?" The reason for this brief, countering question was to acknowledge that there may countless, misguided people deluded into thinking they are some famous historical figure (especially in Jerusalem or in some new age circles, and some schizophrenics), and that there is an obvious answer if a person really is that figure: Truthfully and courageously! Not 50% truth, or 90% truth, but 100% truth...all of it. One thoughtful reader pointed out that the odds of the real article (in this case Daniel) appearing at any given time being so low as to be negligible. I agree, but virtually none actually walk the talk, nor have anywhere near the 'gifts' I have received. Few are willing to gleefully DIE in order to testify to their incarnation as Daniel (or Moses, Elijah or what have you). I am, because this dissertation of identity is known with 100% certainty--there is no doubt at all, and any "recanting" of this identity would be a lie on my part, and treachery to the One who sent me. This situation is ironic, considering I was one who also scoffed at such people, and now in a precarious predicament to defend such an identity. Once again, absolutely no glory in this identification is expressed by the author; it is a matter-of-fact observation. When this occurred (when God came into my presence in October 1999--which is too powerful to even attempt to describe) I was sitting, listening to music, just thinking about nothing, I unexpectedly became overwhelmed with what was unmistakably the Most High God. It bowled me over and rattled every atom and fiber of being. In a telepathic "voice," (sorry, cannot describe) if it can be put into English words, was with great authority, "Beloved, you have purified your heart, it is now time to tell you who you are. You are the figure behind the Biblical, Old Testament book Daniel. You are now back in resurrected form, and as of now, are also an angel." This was too profound for me to handle all at once and I was blown away; I had no clue who Daniel was, as I was not into Biblical matters or Biblical prophecy, or angels. In fact, I immediately broke down into tears at this revelation, shaking my head; my life would never be the same from that day forward. Therefore, regardless of whether one wishes to accept this or not, it matters not to Daniel. Nothing--insults or rejection or criticism, will change who I am. This also pertains the documented angelic activities occurring since October 1999, which are countless and ever growing. As a reader, who can go by little more than what words I write, it may seem difficult to grasp, and some measure of faith is required; the same faith a Christian would take in the Bible, or a Muslim in the Koran. Yet with me, these experiences are happening not 2000 or 2500 years ago, but in the here and now, and witnessed by dozens of 21st century people week after week in churches and other public establishments. Again, HUNDREDS of people in the city in which I live know me as a genuine angel, emitting dazzling, divine white light, and dozens more are added weekly. All I can do is attempt to pass these experiences on to you in concentrated form with as much universal clarity as possible, and shout once again, that this is not only 100% the truth and nothing but the truth, but also conservatively written with much material excluded. I know now why Jesus never bothered to write much (or anything) during His ministry. It not only is a distraction, but an impediment to the Mission. I will also not be around on this planet to fully chronicle everything Daniel does, including elaborating into lengthy discourses on theology, science, religion, God, etc. So this must be as succinct as possible, touching only on the big picture, Truth, and hoping the reader will gleam universal truth from the words without literalistic mis-readings or mis-interpretations. It is also important to acknowledge that this is just the beginning of the angelic journey; Realize that what you see in these writings is merely a condensed fraction of all that transpires...I can't keep up with it all! For instance, not all of the public, angelic experiences are even documented, because they are so seemingly bland (from my perspective--an everyday routine). Nor are all the dreams documented, even though relevant to the subject, but a few are included in this message. For instance, in recent years the author has had progressive dreams that involved me actually flying. Recently, situation where, after falling asleep, I actually left my body--in purified angelic state, was consciously aware of it and able to see the dazzling white continence of the (real) body and wings from an external standpoint. Now the flying dream was different: I was fully visibly aware of not only the newfound angelic spirit, but within the dream/OBE state itself, consciously recalled the numerous, flying dreams. With this lucidity in mind, I made an attempt to fly around the city where I live. Sure enough, I began flying without any restriction, wings out-streched (but not flapping like a bird). With such exhilarating freedom to soar above the city, then land on a nearby foothill (Which, by the way, has a 60-foot, lighted cross erected on it). Like a bird, I perched, descending on the right-hand beam of the cross. In another instance, a second vision occurred about 2 weeks after the first dream with Christ (which occurred on April 23/Easter). Instead of a dream with its usual vivid imagery, this one was deeper; it was in pure spirit composition in a fashion similar to that of near-death experiences. It is next to impossible to accurately describe, because the three dimensions are no longer applicable; traveling through the black void, where space and time are surreally irrelevant and distorted, but perception was clear enough to describe. The true spirit essence traveled in an upward direction until I approached Christ in his spirit form, alone in this void. It was extremely obvious this was Christ and was communicating in thought patterns (as opposed to words). As my spirit form ascended in an upward direction, through this void, and approaching Christ's spirit body, the thoughts were of an overwhelming joy; as in, "Welcome home, Daniel..." Our appearances were identical, and this part is difficult to describe. The countenance of our bodies were without distinct or detailed features; although roughly in the shape of a human, we resembled distorted shapes, like blobs of dark gas fumes; like jelly, shimmering with purple and blue, like burnt chrome. The legs, arms and head were not discernable, as they are melded into the torso. The rapture one experiences in this state is phenomenal. Imagine the most contented, euphoric time of your life, after a full belly laugh, no worries at all, and combine that with the ultra pure love and safety a baby feels in her mother's comforting arms. Then multiply that by a factor of ten. Christ's expression was pure jolly with an impossibly wide smile, stretching beyond where the ears would normally be located, and eyes--if they could be seen--squinting profusely. As I approached, He gave me the most blessed bear hug and my spirit actually merged into His! Our bodies became one. After a short while we bid farewell thoughts, and proceeded to descend back to earth. This whole incident was effectively a follow-up and congratulations to the April 23 meeting. One observation made in all of these dreams involving Christ and angels, is that the author is always on the side. A bit of Biblical congruence to contemplate. Another example of an incident too "bland" to elaborate or document was during an appointment at a local government building to conduct some routine business. While waiting, sitting at the chairs provided for some twenty minutes, the employees of the office down the hall started gathering and peeking around the corner at me, pointing, with humble glee and giggling, saying, "He's an angel!" In fact, I've heard the above phrase countless times since October, 1999. Hundreds of times. They all can visibly see the etheric, divine white Light with the extended wings, exotically radiating with crystalline, snowflake-like sparkle surrounding and emanating from the body. Purity of angelic spirit is the perfect and balanced blending of mind/body/soul where the energy forces unify with the earth and divine Holy Spirit. This is the fusion of all the colors of the spectrum, and energy points of the body, which are called Chakras. Out of curiosity, the author recently tried a Chakra meditation, but came to the conclusion that in the angelified body, all the Chakras are already in perfect unison and balance, and (the seven seals) open at all times. This is how the Divine white light and spiritual energy can be easily and constantly accessed and directed when displaying the wings and angelic spirit. This also explains the extreme purity of what I call energetic "Spiritual Radiation" that so often overwhelms those within a 10-15 foot radius of my body. This energy contains such healing, white, divine light, with such powerful healing force, uninitiated souls cannot tolerate it for very long. The unpurified, material, corporeal body is not designed to endure this essence of the resplendence of God even with reduced, angel power levels. It is difficult to comprehend, and for the author just as difficult to describe, but too much of a good thing--just like the blinding white Light seen in NDE's--is an all too real situation for many. The word 'holy' in this case means to be "whole." An angel is spiritually "Wholey" and at One with the Creative forces and will of God. After numerous glorious and profoundly divine experiences in churches (so profound, in fact, they are far too sacredly precious to write in detail) a few points can be discussed. It is the very presence of the mass or congregation of people, the very divine conglomeration of human souls and their collective, divine power (along with the numerous unseen angels and higher Selves they bring with them) which empowers Daniel's angelic spirit, which in turn enables Divine duties to be performed with great intensity. By collecting and absorbing this Force, it is possible magnify and multiply the Love energy which is available in infinite quantities God generously makes available. This in turn allows Daniel to expand the wings and spirit to encompass the entire church in question, and generously dispense this ever-multiplying, Divine essence of spirit and Glory into the souls of those present; to anoint, heal, inspire. It can be likened to a perpetual motion machine where God's Love and essence is available in infinite and ever-growing quantities in a positive feedback cycle. The routine when in churches generally proceeds as thus: stay awake all night Saturday night/Sunday morning continually praying, meditating, blessing the churches to be visited. Try to find an area where there are several churches nearby, so as to visit one service after another. Quietly slip in and sit down near the front, praying. Usually within minutes of the start of the service, wispers start spreading all around behind where Daniel is sitting, from the crowd, come the hushed words: "Angel...he's an angel!" Some, now seeing the angelic spirit radiating with ever-greater strength, begin shedding quiet tears of astonished joy, and some get giddy. Attention increasingly moves away from the sermon and toward me. Those within a fifteen-foot radius, who are absorbing the divine, illustrious Spirit blazing forth, begin shedding controlled tears and begin wispering to those around of how profoundly beautiful it makes them feel, yet try to maintain composure. They are often without words, as there words fail to properly express such an experience; comments are sometimes heard that it feels like butterflies in the stomach. Most will experience a spiritual awakening right then and there, and occasionally a very profound response occurs, especially to those very close by. The time of communion--eating of the bread and wine, mostly near the end of the service--is when the Spirit becomes fully illuminated, with divine, exotic white Light, profoundly visible to virtually everyone present, blazing several feet from the body. It is not only visible Light, but is a tangible force that can be felt, almost in a physical sense; a sensation of ultra-refined purity, sometimes as though as heat, or crystalline, frostiness. The wings are fully illuminated, blazing from the back, outstretched 30 feet in each direction, majestically arching across the chapel, with me in intense prayer. At this point, many of the multitude can no longer take it; absorbed in witnessing this miraculous spectacle, some break down in tears of utter tears of joyful exhilaration, hands covering mouth. While in this state, I will then expand the wings fully to the side, then magnify and inflate them backwards in order to encompass the entire congregation of people and anoint them with the Spirit, with me acting as a sentinel conduit of the Holy Spirit. When it is time to leave, near the end of the service, everyone is in stunned shock, trembling, frozen in place, eyes agape, red and moist. Then I slip away. At one church, the service completely halted as the minister (and everyone else) began breaking down as they watched this transfigured angel diffuse the Light of Spirit. In another church, my heart, as I first walked in and sat down, began beating so hard it pounded against the ribcage, and felt as though it would become a heart attack! This was due to the tremendous, divine energy signature of the mass of souls present; their very presence stirs up my spirit uncontrollably! Throughout the service I exude forth as much angelic energy as possible, diffusing the Love with all my strength for the sake of those nearby. After two or three services in a row, in one morning, having expended all available divine power the body can withstand, become completely exhausted. After resting for some hours, the Spirit is recharged, stronger than before, and a state of euphoria takes hold as I reflect on a days work of an angel. It is important to note that the Laws of the Divine do not even permit use of this Energy for selfish or uncalled-for, negative purposes, but only according to will of God, which is goodness and righteousness and blessing. It is this angelic obedience that gives them their power. It is not possible, for instance, to give telepathic messages to suggest any thing ungodly, and there is absolutely no temptation to do so. Such temptations and thoughts simply do not exist in the purified angelic being. This may seem like heresy to some Christians, but just like Jesus two centuries ago, where the Word and Spirit of Truth became flesh, so it has through 21st century Daniel. Before one gets incredulous and indigent at such a (seemingly arrogant) proposition, let me explain. The qualifications for being (in my case becoming) an angel does not necessitate taking courses in theology or extensive literal knowledge of the Scriptures and details contained therein. Because the Truth and Word as it was meant to be, is already ingrained in the mind, body, soul and thought pattern. It is not necessary to refer back to any particular section of the Bible to find out whether "it's in there," as an angel of God will speak candidly from the heart, yet can also point to relevant quotes from relevant sections to illustrate a position with respect to historic/scriptural or theological discussions. In other words, anything Daniel says will and must contain eternal truth as the Bible contains, so as not to contradict the eternal message and truths of the Bible and other Scriptures. Unlike fundamentalists (scribes and Pharisees as Jesus would call them), however, any quotations or passages Daniel mentions will be and are founded in Truth, from which the perspective the Bible must be taken. That is, from the Spirit, in context and with relevance to the issue at hand. You may be an expert on the stories and details of the Bible and can quote ad infinitum in strings and twist them into what may seem like an emotionally appealing argument on the surface, but this is actually intellectual (and spiritual) dishonesty. Daniel, as Jesus, was and is capable of translating the true Scriptural meanings into universal truths; it's like child's play, and comes naturally with the territory. In other words, Daniel need not read the Bible or other scriptures to expand by spiritual awareness/consciousness, but merely for the educational knowledge necessary to effectively deal with critics in writings and arguments. An analogy is someone who would enroll in a school course in "learning how to walk" when he is 5 years old, then this same thirty-year old turns around and says to a 3-year old, "I can walk better than you!" "Why do you say that?" The 3-year old would respond. "Because I learned every nuance about walking, I've studied it and read all about it for months! And there's only One way to do it right, and only I can tell you how to walk properly, and if you don't accept my way, you shall certainly trip and kill yourself. The books I've read on the subject are infallible...and I can show how to save yourself from tripping and falling! If only you follow my every word to a TEE!" The three-year old, because he mastered the truth of how to walk, and already knows that he has saved himself from tripping and killing himself, because it is naturally ingrained into his being and thought process. In attempting to show his adversary the truth of discovering how to walk and save himself from tripping, without the requirement of doctrinal study, and how incredibly simple it is, will thenceforth be persecuted by his elder adversary. In this situation, the 3-year old, seeing the 5-year old old's staunch resistance to change, and inability to see the light, will shake his head, and move on to find the lost, and show them that they can save themselves, through themselves--with some effort, but point out that the scriptures teaching the finer points in walking are invaluable, and quite handy to refer to, from time to time. And there you have Jesus, Buddha, Daniel, and the various teachers of days gone by. Moreover, back to the subject of scriptures, the current canoconical Christian Bible is not the "only" Bible, does not comprise the WHOLE truth (no one book can), and while it may form a complete picture in that it has a beginning and end, vast tracts of writings were excluded when formed by the (Roman Catholic) Church "fathers." How one should read the Bible (as well as Daniel's writings) is not literally, but through the process of seeking self-evident, eternal truths, done prayerfully. Not treating it as the "inerrant word of God." Yet spiritual truths are very difficult to understand when in words, being an inefficient means of communication, subject to mis-interpretation. There are a million different ways people interpret scriptures, which explains the hundreds upon hundreds of different sects. God did not write the Bible. Inspired humans did, and humans are imperfect. God is not limited to the Bible, and did not stop revealing 2000 years ago. God is constantly showing His existence, and the Near Death Experience is one of the most conventional, modern form which God manifests. Simply because certain topics that have come to light in the modern age are not discussed at length in scriptures (such as NDE's, reincarnation, UFO's, evolution and other sciences), does not mean it is "of the devil." Those who limit God to a book or a narrow interpretation thereof, no matter how great that book or interpretation is, are creating a false idol to be worshiped. To perceive scriptures in such a manner that implies writings from such manuscripts as Luke or Matthew--compiled an entire generation after Jesus' ministry, and from word-of-mouth-sources--is somehow the "absolute word of God." Much of the New Testament, as well as the formation of the early church, originated from Christ-oppressor-turned-apostle Paul. Is it in any way rational, with intellectual honesty to presume that Paul's personal letters to the churches, such as Corinthians, Romans etc., be taken as God's infallible word, simply because "it's in the Bible?" Should we take literally Paul's comments that women should remain silent in churches, because it's "in the Bible?" Paul was human, and obviously had his own brand of mysticism, and was not omniscient. Should we put to death anyone who works on a Sabbath (Sunday) as is suggested in Exodus 31, because Moses said so to the ancient Israelites? "...Six days shall work be done, but the seventh is a sabbath day of solemn rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death.." Moses (Exodus) Am I obligated to kill myself because my employer schedules me to work Sunday evenings? Am I morally obligated to visit every 24-hour convenience store and start shooting all the employees on duty because "it's in the Bible?" Isn't the commandment "Thou shall not kill" seem contradictory in this case? Slavery and laws thereof are strewn throughout the Old Testament. In the past slave holders have certainly used the Bible to justify such actions. Does this mean it is right or holy to own and trade in slaves? According to the Bible, pork, ham and bacon are not to be eaten. Does it make me any less holy if I eat pig's meat? Why is pork any less holy than beef, or chicken? The answer is that it is not. Now, from a health standpoint, pork IS unclean in relation to other meats because it disproportionately contains saturated fat--which clogs arteries and induces cancer and other ills. So in this sense, such Kosher food laws often do make sense from a nutritional standpoint, but are not indicative of "holiness." Should I sacrifice and burn a prime steer cow in my backyard on an altar as a sacrifice, because the odor is, "pleasing to the Lord?" (These were actually pagan rituals adopted by Moses). What would my neighbors make of such a situation? The broader teachings of Jesus--which were actually highly spiritual and metaphysical--can only make perfect sense when read from an unbiased, metaphysical, and not literal standpoint. The phrase "I am the way," for instance, actually means he found the keys to salvation and concurred death, where the carnal body is no longer a hinderance to free expression of the soul, and His life pattern is something to be led and copied by man as a way out and ascension. The phrase also implies He is also the Rescuer (Savior) so many people experience as the Light in NDE's: "No one come to the Father except through the Son" ... "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." (John 12:32) Yet this can also be interpreted to imply that one must take an oath and declare "I accept Jesus as my savior" as the "only means to salvation" as so many evangelistic preachers suggest, often with more out-of-context quotes. Example: "...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." (acts 16:31) Believe what, exactly? That Jesus was born, lived and died? Or believe in the way--the pattern He lived--as a way to salvation? What am I supposed to be "believing" in this case? See how this can get confusing? Of course, every fundamentalist is right now jumping up screaming "I know! I know! Our doctrine states..." I'm sure you do. Jesus demonstrated this fallacy of how literally his disciples took the phrase "...Watch out, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducee." They said to one another, "It is because we have brought no bread." And becoming aware of it, Jesus said, "You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread? ... How could you fail to perceive that I was not talking about bread?... Then they understood he had not told them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matthew 16) More on salvation; doctrine vs. reality, example of Daniel. The Gospel of Jesus was about freedom...not enslavement. The truth shall set you free. He brought light into the world--too much for people of those times to handle. He did not bring wrath and condemnation. Daniel also brings light into the world. That light consists of: Why then be so concerned with the literal mechanics of "Salvation?" In the sight of God, WE ARE ALREADY SAVED. All of us--universal! By grace...Christian or not. None of us are condemned to the "lake of fire." There are no damned souls, except--EXCEPT those who damn themselves through guilt, fear and shame. That is the gospel Jesus really intended to spread, and that is the gospel Daniel expounds, and it is also the message of the NDE. Is hell real? Yes, I've seen it (Lake of fire). But does that mean those going there have no way out and are condemned to burn forever and ever? No, God is not that cruel; His saving grace extends to even those 'down there'. Hell exists forever, but those going there are NOT subject to everlasting punishment...rather, it is a place of temporary purification. Wait a minute, Daniel, you say, that's poisonous nonsense! It threatens virtually every Christian religion set in place! If that is correct, then they are all operating under apostasy! These are vast organizations, I've been told all my life that the key to salvation is to do (fill in the blank)...it can't be that simple, can it? First realize that Christianity in its current form barely resembles the original movement, in the early years, and what Jesus intended. All the religions of the world are based on various, narrow interpretations of particular Scriptures. Christians have a Bible, Islam has one based on Mohammed's insights, and Buddhists have their own. These are all condensed and incomplete that have come through inspiration to man in various times and forms. They all contain congruent, universal truths and each has their own concept of the afterlife. Beware of any group that claims to be "the only true religion, and Way." Reincarnation, for example, was accepted until the politics and formation of the Roman Catholic Church when it was formed. Jesus knew about it. Reincarnation was viewed as a way to 'get it right' and to be awakened to God, and Jesus showed us the way. It is not by raising your right hand, proclaiming, "I believe in Jesus!" It's about actually living as He did, not just following, or "belonging to a church" or calling one's self Christian, but becoming Christ. God is ultra merciful and desires no one to reside in hell. No souls are "doomed to eternal punishment by God." Jesus became Savior to the lost souls. And for all people. The souls who live in their hell; that of their minds, and rescues, as is shown in so many Near-death experiences, even those who find themselves in a hellish place. It is those who leave (and live) this life with a plethora of repressed guilts that require such salvation--from themselves. Accordingly, it should come as no surprise that those in the southeastern USA Bible belt (a fundamentalist hotbed) who often harbor strong beliefs of an after- life of fire and brimstone and "Satan" and a punishing, wrathful, angry God are far, far more likely to end up in such a place when they have a Near Death Experience. In other words, they create their own hells, yet also hold the keys to their own salvation; with the HELP of the Savior. Here's a hint: whether you believe in Christ or not, try this when on the death bed, or find yourself unexpectedly out of your body due to death: Yell out and pray for God and Jesus to come and save you. Then everything will be fine. Don't underestimate the power and mercy and amazing grace of the Most High. So why not do yourself a favor and save your self and ascend while here, alive on earth? "From what may anyone be saved? Only from themselves! That is, their individual hell. They dig it with their own desires." ... But it's not as easy as it sounds; it takes personal effort, sacrifice and suffering; it is a continual, evolutionary journey, and it can bring pain and anguish, but it's worth it! There is a home prepared and awaiting our arrival when the journey in the physical realm is complete. How high do you wish to ascend? "The conquering of self is truly greater than were one to conquer many worlds." - Edgar Cayce The main lesson learned during the life review that occurs shortly after death is what have you have done with your life in relation to others, positive and negative. Treat others with selfless charity (giving without expecting recognition or anything in return, and other-centered), as you would like to be treated, and clean your thoughts. God knows them all, and are written in the Book of Life, and all hurt will have to be re-lived and re-experienced, whether we like it or not. This is why you should not be a hypocrite; many claiming to be "Christians" are in reality nothing of the sort. One may follow very carefully whatever doctrine their particular religion espouses, but if, between Sunday church meetings one harbors and carries around spiteful hatreds towards others, along with judgements, guilts, irrational fears--either in thought or deeds--is a hypocrite and will suffer accordingly at the judgement (life review). By doing so (allowing God's Love and peace to fill one's heart--which means these negative thoughts can no longer have room), the world, nations and communities not only become strengthened, but improves ones own life on earth (give and ye shall receive, judge not, lest ye be judged, love your neighbor, etc.), and treasures are also stored up in the Kingdom of Heaven, where such acts are rewarded. The key is conquering Self now while still on the earth so that one may advance sufficiently to move up and beyond, where the need for continual reincarnations is negated. One of the major issues is FORGIVENESS; of self, and others. Cleanse and purify all trash dragging one down, consisting of thoughts of fear, guilt, envy and shame. Let go of the past, and whatever you may have done, don't worry: God forgives you. Again, such a cleansing process takes time, sacrifice and diligent prayer, and is a never-ending evolution of being. It really is the small things that count as treasures to be built up in heaven. A smile here, a helping hand there; you would be surprised at the macro-effects these have on the world and people around us. For instance, Daniel recently spotted a homeless transient walking in a dejected, burned-out manner along the street. Although I am not rich, I took out a roll of dimes ($5.00), approached him, stuffing the roll into his pocket. His attitude was that of irritation and of not wanting to be bothered. He didn't say thanks, and I merely walked away briskly, not expecting any reward or ego stroke from him, but I know he will ponder this charitable situation for the rest of the day. When acts like these are shown and magnified in the NDE life review, the angels will be cheering! And money in the heavenly bank is repaid, with interest. But remember that other events, such as the time you bullied Mary-Jane in 4th grade and called her names, can also come back to haunt you. You will be shown how such a minuscule and seemingly innocent act as this can cause negative karma; her hurt then cascades to her life, peers, and the world as a butterfly effect, creating a dissenting domino effect. Just as negative emotions can feed upon themselves resulting in damaging and unnecessary consequences in a feed-back loop, so too do positive, loving thoughts and actions. Imagine living in a world where everyone knows everyone else's thoughts, there are no miscommunications like those inherent in traditional, restrictive, human means (speaking, writing, body language). Telepathy is the norm and dominate means of conversing. There can be no hiding behind a mask, deception. Therefore everyone is forced to be true to themselves and others. So be your true self, as there are no secrets kept in heaven. Heaven and hell begins right here on earth within people and it is carried with them at death: "...the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20-21) "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:36-37) "Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?" (Matthew 9:4) (Jesus was psychic) "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." (John 3:19-21) Since consequences follow actions, and actions follow what flows from the heart, make certain your heart is in the right place! When the heart has been purified and full of truth, it shall set you free. Rudolph Steiner, in his book Life Between Death and Rebirth, he says, "We shall discover that during our normal life on earth we are able to change things, to correct what we have perceived or done wrong. This is no longer so in the spiritual world. There we realize that things present themselves in a true or false aspect according to the condition we are in when entering the spiritual world. Therefore, all preparation for a correct insight into the spiritual world must take place before entering that realm because once we have passed the threshold we are no longer in a position to correct, but we are forced to make the mistakes consistent with our own disposition of character." "Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise." (Exodus 21:24-25) "In anger his master turned him over to the jailers until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." (Matthew 18: 34-35) "People who say they will first die and then arise are mistaken. If they do not first receive resurrection while they are alive, once they have died they will received nothing." - the Gospel of Thomas (A repressed, ancient Christian gospel) Genuine service to God, as well as serving/helping and treating others with love, kindness, respect, dignity, empathy and tolerance are pathways to reconciliation in circumventing the "Lake of Fire" and continual re-incarnations. Letting go of the past and all its miseries, pains, grudges, living for the present, to be at peace with yourself and therefore with God, and appreciate what you have, not what you don't have. FORGIVE AND FORGET! This is what counts, not religious rites or theological systems or other superficialities. Remember this and never forget; you save, redeem and heal yourself. You always have. You always will. You were created with the power to do so from before the beginning of the world. It is love that saves...and it is the Bible that says so: The way to salvation, heaven and eternal life is the path of love. "On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the law?" he (Christ) replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and, love your neighbor as yourself." "'You have answered correctly," Jesus replied, "Do this and you will live." (Luke 10:25-28) "They (people going to hell) perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved." (2 Thessalonians 2:10) Daniel's Salvation--on earth. Case in point. If one looks at Daniel's 21st century adulthood (pre-October 1999 version, before being told of who and what I am), he has followed a path of intense suffering (like Job times three) since the Near Death Experience of 1991. Yet through this time, years of solitary meditation, self-searching, of trauma, immense learning and growth occurred following this NDE, which shook my very foundations. Perhaps one day this will be discussed in detail, but this suffering ultimately resulted in "Christ consciousness" being nearly fully attained by late 1999, and this was achieved not by following any religious systems, reading scriptures, good works of sainthood, or any other stereotypical means of being "saved." So many religions exclaim punishment of actions that if you "do such and such" then "such and such" will happen to you, and then offer a particular doctrine of salvation for you to follow. It is merely a fantasy and fairy tale to imagine perfect sainthood of Daniel before 1999. If this were really the case, based on the bad things I've done in the distant past (again, I was no where near being a saint, either in thought or action--I'm being frank and honest here: I've broken every commandment, except for murder, adultery and false witness!), then I should be "burning in hell." Let alone the apparent and illogical concept drawn of becoming an angel henceforth. But, I tell you, God's grace knows no ends. Amazing as it may seems, God does not judge and condemn in a mortal fashion! Humans and religions judge with wrath and anger; they are patterned from man's perspective of God, not from true and divine perspective. God forgives and is ultra-merciful. Let me make a self-evident point: Moses was a MURDERER; he violently killed and buried an Egyptian who hit a Jew, and this occurred 40 years before being selected as God's prophet. Mohammed, founder of Islam, was a thief. Paul of the new testament persecuted Jesus and aided in the crucifixion before becoming an apostle! David of the Psalms was an adulterer and a murderer! God does work in mysterious ways. At least mysterious from a lower, human perspective. My salvation in this lifetime arrived through a tough process of trial and error, pushing the limits to extremes, intense and continuous self-searching; a self-realizing "Getting to know thyself" and suffering. It is the path of excess that led to the road of wisdom; of extremes. This endowment of the Holy, divine, angelic spirit would have been impossible had the heart and mind remained corrupt. Only after and until Daniel sufficiently purified his heart through such rigorous growth and suffering, and correction of Self toward Divine will that God fulfilled and completed the remainder via the 1999 angelic anointing. In other words, I saved myself, with God's help, of course, and was rewarded. The lesson further is that if God can turn someone like me into an ascended angel, then so can it be with you as well--if you purify your heart sufficiently. "...Many of the wise shall be cleansed, purified and made white, even to the end..." (Daniel 11) "...Many who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame and contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But you Daniel, keep the words secret and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be running to and fro and knowledge shall increase..." (Daniel 12) Well, 21st century Daniel has been purified, cleansed, and (literally) made white, shining like the sky, in my resurrected, angelified body. And since I am merely a precursor to this major event, I urge all who read these words to listen to the "secret" and be wise; cleanse and purify your thoughts and heart, so you are not left out, so you too can shine with dazzling divine, white light. (Besides I need some company LOL!). This angelification of Daniel will soon no longer seem an aberration, but increasingly commonplace over the decade(s) ahead in accordance with this shift in energy that is now becoming universally available. But not everyone with make it. It is an opportunity of the age that no one can pass up; these divine energies enable far greater spiritual growth to take place in a much shorter time frame than in years gone by. Another observation: The only ones who ever make an exclamation that the one they are looking at is a "fallen angel" are those who a) Take popular culture and scriptural literalism too seriously, and, b)cannot actually see the wings. Such comments mostly originate from individuals overhearing nearby conversations from those who CAN see the angelic spirit then make the erroneous conclusion that an embodied angel must somehow be "evil." (Generally this comes from John's apocalypse with the single, literal phrase, "...And Satan was cast down to earth, and all his angels with him," then proceed to make a judgement based on an illogical interpretation thereof.) However, this generally occurred only in bars; those who witness me angelified in churches don't make that assumption...it's the environment and location. In a bar, their "logic" goes: "angels don't drink, and if they do, he would be a fallen angel...what's an angel doing in a place like this" (answer: to seek out the lost.) And of course, an angel in a church is deemed to be a good angel. The reaction is immensely contrasted from those who do see the beauty of the wings and spirit, and don't make such bizarre judgements based on a superficiality as drinking a beer. Almost all of the Biblical prophets drank wine. Our culture, has developed a very prohibitionist attitude toward drinking, smoking, drugs, etc., and therefore views these things as "bad." Additionally, I live in a region where the predominate religion reside Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints) Where the official doctrine, founded in human precept, prohibits consumption of tobacco, alcohol and caffeine (that's right, even a can of Cola!) in order to give a "pure and wholesome" image--as viewed by other humans. This all happened to Jesus as well: "For John (the Baptist) came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, "He has a demon;" the Son of Man came eating and DRINKING, and they say, "Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!" Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds." (Matthew 11) Angelic/Christ-like perfection does not mean looking or dressing perfect, eating perfectly, or behaving according to cultural expectations of others, or through fear and doubt. Daniel could care less what human judgement consists of, because it is by divine judgement I am subject to, and because the definition of Daniel is "God is my judge," there is no sense in answering to false charges as these. Advanced spiritual perfection has nothing whatsoever to do with such fleshy, earthly and cultural matters. Bad for the health? Sure. But the body is temporary and expendable. If people are going to judge, they had better do it from a divine perspective, not human. Do you think GOD views Daniel or you any less holy if he drinks? Or smokes? No! In fact these things have no bearing at all on divinity of spirit in God's eyes, unless it is overdone to where it brings a person away from God (i.e. abuse, therefore imbalance). Rebellion is sin; anything that tears one away from God, destroys the soul, or does not proceed from faith is a sin; murder, pride, envy, corruption neglect, malice, hate, anger, greed. These things you will not find a holy, purified angel expressing in thought or action. If Daniel is a "fallen angel," as a few erroneously accuse, then we all must be. You. This would be "The Fall." But instead of damnation, there is the opportunity of reascension back to God. The song "What if God was one of us...just trying to make his way home...Just a slob like one of us" comes to mind. All that is in Daniel's heart is compassion, peace, mercy, joy, truthfully innocent goodness, divine Love toward others and wish for this to be shared. Daniel wishes to not only saved the lost, but to help in the ascension of those still residing in the spiritual dark ages. That means most. Jesus, while already having a 'perfected soul' from birth, also had to learn the scriptures, travel around for years learning Ageless Wisdom from masters in schools and temples of Tibet, Egypt, India, Persia and Greece. Like the rest of us who wish hyper-spiritual advancement, He too had to conquer the lower Carnal Self through many tests. He, like Daniel of the 21st century, albeit in radically different form, conquered these trials of the lower self through vigorous effort in the missing 18 years prior to beginning His ministry: Sincerity (free from self-deception), Justice (conscience and truth without hypocrisy), Faith (trust in God, not human fame or approval), Philanthropy (loss of greed, compassion for less fortunate), Heroism (loss of fear), and last but not least, Love Divine (companionship humbly and wholly in God, not human/opposite sex). Then only after these were completed was the final award given: The Christ. In other words, it was necessary to overcome the lower Self; carnal desires of flesh through tests of temptations through lengthy processes to receive the reward of Christendom. 21st century Daniel has essentially overcome the worldly matters and lower, carnal Self as well; which is why there is no longer any desire or temptations for fame, power, riches, sex or woman companionship, selfish greed, nor deceptive hypocrisy. The only thing that can disturb or anger Daniel is falsity and lies, particularly when passed off as truth. There is a total absence of fear--even of death. These distortions of being are absent. It was also necessary to clean, purify, mind and soul, let go of and forgive the past and others. Therefore all that remains is peace, Love, loss of Self in others and God. And the Self in tune with Deity and the Word becomes flesh. It was for this reason necessary for God to wait until late October 1999 before consciously informing me I was Daniel and activating the angelic spirit; it would not have possible to handle such a responsibility until graduating from these trials. This is why attempts by critics to "psychoanalyze" Daniel fail miserably: they are judging by human standards, not divine. If one judges by divine standards, however, one sees that every test is easily passed. For instance, a human would make the shallow assertion that because I don't want nor need female companionship that this "must be due to a bad relationship with a previous woman." Or, "must be ugly, gay, impotent, or posses some other 'complex'." But, verily I tell you, NONE of these are true in any way shape or form! Those who surmise such 'hypotheses' do not understand the ascension to Love Divine! This is not to say that sex is bad or evil, because it is not, and there are no particular "rules" Daniel has been given to obey concerning this issue. It simply means that within the initiate, and embodied angel, lusts of the lower Self have been vastly overshadowed by the Divine Love and higher Self, and it becomes a distractive impediment to the higher purpose and Mission. In other words, Christ--and Daniel--do not see the physical or superficial in others; it is invisible to the utter beauty and unconditional Love for the androgynous soul encased within their carnal being. Besides, according to Biblical/scriptural legend, the fall of the angels was a result of this lusting after woman with a desire to procreate. This is why sex or other relationships with women were never mentioned in the gospels of Jesus. Through process of conquering Self, He ascended beyond mortal, carnal lust to Love Divine. I would like to see the psychoanalysts try to figure out Jesus' "sexual problems" as critical types attempt to do with Daniel. Jesus also came casting out demons and doing other good (supernatural) things for others and the Pharisees said: "...For people were saying, "He has gone out of his mind." And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub (Satan), and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons..(He responds here)...how can Satan cast out Satan?...People will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemies against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but he is guilty of an eternal sin" for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit." (Mark 3) "And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." (Matthew 12:31-32). It was the fundamentalist religious leaders who Jesus pointed out as the hypocrites (Scribes, Pharisees) who ultimately persecuted and conspired in bringing on the crucifixion. These are the ones who go out of their way to find a single convert, yet lock people out of the kingdom of heaven and make the convert as much a child of hell as themselves. Passing off human precepts as divine doctrine. Jesus, just as Daniel is now, tried to bring Light into the world, which is Truth, by challenging the doctrines and hypocrisy of his day and was therefore persecuted and killed. "Therefore I send you prophets, sages and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your (churches) and pursue from town to town." Matthew 23 So may it be with Daniel (how about October 2004?) It's because of jealousy people do this. Dozens of visits to church masses and congregations have been (and will be) made where Daniel transfigures in super-natural, majestic glory, anointing the beloved children of God attending with the wings and Holy Spirit, to conduct the righteous will of God for these folks, and bring the Light into their life. These experiences are so Holy and sacred I've decided not to put into words. It is done for the benefit of the beautiful souls present, expending the Spirit at my expense. Now, do you think the preachers (If they are narrow-minded fundamentalists) see this as a blessing? Are you kidding? You see, their favorite friend is Satan. Anything and everything that does not fit into their narrow views, or that which may threaten their security (Which is based on an inerrant, literal Bible) such as light, or anything new, is attributed to "the work of the devil." In fact, they give so much power to this "Satan" that one might even conclude they are Satan worshipers! You know what the tools of "Satan" are? FEAR AND DOUBT...fear of growth, and of true spirituality, and light. And fundamentalist preachers use generous quantities of fear and doubt in the way they scare their congregations with such dark age thought, and it is THEY who can be accused of leading people astray! Satan is the angel of darkness...not light. The heart of the fundamentalist is driven by closed minded rigidity, passion and belief, fear, using tactics and arguments based on fear, emotion and rhetoric rather than facts, rationality--or even truth, ignoring vast tracts of reality--such as selecting out of context passages of Scripture from the Bible, twisting it to what ever argument they believe their religion believes, often using it to justify sexism, racism and wars, etc.--which Jesus nor any other true prophet ever promoted. And if you dare challenge with facts, common sense, or don't agree with someone whose basis of religious security is rooted in the idea of an inerrant, literally-true-right-downto-the-last-punctuation-mark Bible? Well, then you are "going straight to hell," or, "must be influenced by the devil." Anything which a fundamentalist cannot easily explain or rationalize, conceptualize into the framework of their belief system, in their mind, must be excluded by assigning any or all anomalous phenomenon to "Satan." This can include virtually anything new, scientific, unknown or revolutionary, such as NDE's, UFO's, reincarnation, evolution, science or any other religion perceived as a threat to their doctrine. In such a distorted world as theirs, the power and influence given to this "Satan" is used for control by using Satan's own best tools: doubt and fear. Indeed, this grotesquely borderlines on Satan-worship! Demons have little real power over us; only as much power over your life as you are willing to give them. Yet some imagine "Satan" as some sort of hyper-potent entity, almost equal to God, running around with horns and pitchfork, causing all the problems of the world. That kind of "Satan" simply does not exist outside of ancient writings. This quotation from Paul the apostle is (too) frequently used to instill fear and doubt by many fundamentalists, and something that has been attempted to be applied to Daniel, as you might imagine: "Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light!" (Corinthians11) The fundamentalist, by extracting such a quote from the Bible, the "absolute inerrant word of God" (That's right! Every single word was written by a Divine hand sent down to grab Paul's hand and write exactly The Word! And if you believe that, here's a bridge for sale.) First of all, that particular quote was not at all the emphasis Paul was trying to make in this passage. He was trying to warn against 'false apostles' who were boasters who challenged his authority, and leading their thoughts away from a true devotion to Christ with 'gospels other than he taught' during the divisionary start-up of the early church. An in-context dialog looks like this: "...For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is not strange if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness. Their end will match their deeds." Exactly where did Paul come up with such a concept as an angel called Satan who "disguises himself as an angel of light?" Was he repeating material from other scriptures around at that time? He certainly did this repeatedly. Satan, by the way, referred to many things to many people in Biblical times. It's definition meant "adversary," tempter, serpent, deceiver. Satan and his servants can only "masquerade" as angels of light, according to this quote. They are NOT angels of light. God is light. There is no light in Satan, otherwise, God would be in Satan. Accordingly, the affirmatory, "Their end will match their deeds" applied to the works Paul's adversarial 'false apostles' should be judged by: Their fruits. If their fruits were not of righteousness and goodness, their end would come. When confronted by apostle Peter who wished to prevent Jesus' execution, who said, "God forbid it Lord! This must never happen to you." Jesus replied, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are a stumbling block for me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but human things." Peter must be "Satan" then, HMM? If one reads it properly you see that Peter was merely a stumbling block, an adversary. The Phrase "Satan" originally came from the fallen angel "Satanail" that came from the book of Enoch. Also (incorrectly) called Lucifer which was erroneously linked from a passage in Isaiah. Continuing further in the fundamentalists' adversarial role is the other favorite quotation from Matthew 7: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them from their fruits..." Also from Matthew 24 (dealing with the second coming, where Jesus quotes from me--Daniel): "...Then if anyone says to you, "Look! Here is the Messiah (or Christ)...do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect..." If I were into the futile type of discussion as a fundamentalist is into, I would retort with something such as: "There will be scoffers in the last days." Ok, I think we've already established that I'm not a 'false prophet,' and I don't even feel it necessary to answer to false charges, but again, I am actually a sheep in sheep's clothing. Inwardly I am innocent as a dove regarding this whole situation and speak only from the truth, even if it kills me. However, outwardly I can appear as a "wolf!" I am not seeking (and refuse) fame and fortune, mortal status, any cult ship, and am performing "signs" not to tear down and 'lead astray,' but to build; and with great selflessness and honesty. Long time readers know I am always truthful with them. So then how do you recognize these "false prophets?" It's right there: YOU WILL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS. You have not tested the spirits properly. You have made the mistake of the Pharisees by testing the spirits using your own narrow interpretation of Scripture. The correct test is to judge them by their fruit. If no fruit of the Holy Spirit is present, then it is safe to assume that it is not of God. Jesus bore much fruit of the Holy Spirit yet was condemned by the religious leaders because He did not fit into their interpretation of Scripture. Had they properly tested the spirits and judged Jesus on the basis of His fruit, He probably would not have been crucified. The false prophets and cults and sects one should worry about are those who abuse their members through spiritual intimidation, financial manipulation, authoritarianism, legalism and so on. In fact I propose it is the fundamentalists were the false prophets, for they lead people astray...from the Light and truth! "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God..." (1 John 4:1). My fruits are none of these. And no, Daniel is not The Messiah, or Christ...just a precursor. So as is demonstrated, it is actually the adversarial fundamentalists who are acting as "Satan" by being an adversary to Daniel and his good fruits, under the guise of light, when all you perpetuate is darkness. So, why anyone would want to call Daniel a "Satan" is beyond me. Let's see: I've devoted myself totally over to God, even till death, sacrificing all my time and energy. Speak truth from the heart--no matter how some may find the truth hurts--and committed ONLY to the truth. Have a sincere desire to not only do righteousness but to build up whatever church I walk into (regardless of denomination, even in synagogues, mosques, etc.) and angelically transfigure for the benefit of others (and pray mightily for them) without ever approaching anyone with "a different gospel," and with the intent solely of building up the Body (of Christ) within by catching those who are falling away (wavering). This is in addition to helping people in every way possible anyone lost, bringing them back into the light. So my fruits are only and always of the Godly kind. But beware of the yeast of the Fundamentalists, for their fruits are darkness, doubt and fear. Eventually, according to the Bible, there is a harvesting of souls at the end of the age, terminating these continual reincarnations and then judgement is pronounced. Daniel's re-emergence may be a sign that this time has arrived. By expanding the wings and spirit to those present, Angelified Daniel is also performing another task assigned which is described in Matthew 25:31: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats..." I can only conclude this is what the Second Coming is all about, and my angelified, reincarnated return is merely a precursor of something much more universal. Near the end of the Old Testament book of Daniel, it is prophesied: "...Some of the wise shall fall, so that they may be refined, purified and made white until the time of the end, for there is still an interval until the time appointed..." This "interval" was none other than the period of the First Coming, the spreading of the Body of Christ through the church, otherwise known as the dispensation of Grace in the following two millennia called the age of Pisces (and Gentiles). This "refining process" continued through continual reincarnations until many "got it right" sufficiently to become finally holy enough to "enter the Kingdom of Heaven/God." Now that we've reached the end of that age, the new age is beginning, when we shed the old with the new and become our own priests. New Agers have caught on to this rapid acceleration in universal divine energy which is exponentially bringing in a global consciousness and spiritual, evolutionary spurt into one body...the body of Christ. The new age movement is merely a mass awakening; a rediscovering ancient spiritual knowledge once known in more spiritual (less materialistic) epochs than the current era. Yet at the same time, this movement is also flawed and at fault for becoming too flaky in certain aspects (channeling, witchcraft) and promoting a flawed message as viewed from the outside. In essence, and this may sound 'new-agey' but the reality is that we are all one body. You, me, us. The body of Christ. In fact, the entire human race is actually One organism which is part of an organism called Gaia (earth). Native Americans have also correctly discerned that the earth is a living body of which we live in harmony (or disharmony as in the current age) as one giant, interconnective organism. Humans are also singular, individual pieces of a unibody of collective souls, connected in an invisible, spiritual-grid organism encompassing the whole of the planet, and is part of a larger solar, planetary system. The birth pangs of the internet, and how it links the global population into one giant web is a precursor to a future reconciliation of all human souls into a highly advanced, co-operative, harmonious, collective body which could be likened to the Kingdom of Heaven on earth which Christ promised at the end of the age. This is the direction mankind is quickly racing toward, and it is our destiny as a race. At least those who make it through the likely catastrophes which are to take place before hand as an initiator to this golden age through the ultimate process of birth and renewal. An evolutionary jump in consciousness. Just as one may call the human body a living organism, or a body, it is actually a collective of numerous organs working in harmony where each organ lives in unison, but seemingly with its own individuality. The body symbolizes Gaia, the organs as nations and races, species, and the cells as people and animals and plants. You as a human may seem apart as an individual from others, but you are not; in consciousness, yes, but also part of the collective unconsciousness. Just as the countless sectors of industry work in the division of labor for the larger body, or economy, so too the myriad of smaller biological systems working in unison form a larger working body as an animal or human. Just as God, when looking down at the earth does not really see us as individuals, but as a whole being, so too do biologists see a One body when looking at a human. So, being that living cells, how ever minuscule in relevance to the larger body, function as individuals working together. They are all parts, subsets, of the "collective unconscious" intertwined in a web of neurons which function as operates organized by the main processor called the brain. This is the "god" of the body. Just as God knows every single thing and controls, and is under watch of the entire universe, so too does the brain constantly know, control and guide every function of the body. Just as cells die out constantly and are continually replaced, so are humans, animals and plants, planets and stars. Yet their spirit essence does not die, progresses evermore, evolving back to God in an infinite expansion. It is God expanding and exploring God's self continuously through all these forms, yet at the same time perpetually and infinitely creating God. Infinite Creations exploring infinite Creations--forever. Discord in any organism is due to natural imbalances of the fundamental laws of the universe--those of God. While the vast majority of cells in an organism may be functioning properly, a situation such as disease, illness or cancer, because of their imbalance with respect to the homeostasis of the host body can parasitically grow and thereby cause damaging trauma to the overall harmony of the body. While the illness is experienced, the overall body is weakened while the forces of the immune system pull together in overtime co-operation to solve and correct the imbalance, bringing the larger body back into homeostasis and back to normal health. However, because of this now remissed trauma, and the lessons learned by the brain (god) and participant cells, growth and evolution occur, expanding its wisdom and ability to adapt and mobilize resources to such a dire situation in the future, and as a whole, is better because of it. During the crisis, white blood cells are mobilized to fight off parasitical germs which have multiplied without abandon. The white blood cells therefore are the angels of the body who receive their duties transmitted from the god of the body; the brain, and the scattered germs or cancer cells likened to 'demons' causing harm to the innocent and struggling cells. The situation is identically applied to any living system up to and including galactic clusters. A city is a living system in and of itself, but requires the proper function of the surrounding organs (country, ecosystem, economy). World civilizations continually grow, mature and die, and are also subject to imbalances such as wars and recessions which, once corrected to homeostasis, emerge better, stronger than previous, until it once again reaches old age, at which point death and rebirth must then begin anew, and excesses are purged. This is by which the process God expands God's self. The Yin and Yang. As in the example of the white blood cells and germ or cancer cells and their effect on a body, societies will remain in homeostasis until there is a disruption in the balance of the larger body in the form of a boom or recession. What we call evil is an imbalance to the negative side of the universe. There are always a small percentage of the population (cancer cells) who are doing destructive action to the larger society, but stability (homeostasis) prevails when the bulk of the cells (humans) are offset by the minority of super do-gooders on the other spectrum (angelic white cells). As part of the natural order of this cyclical birth and rebirth process, excesses build in either way until a correction must occur, but in the very big picture always results in a better world, universe and Creation. At the turn of the millennium, for instance the US economy is at the tail end of a record boom in which tremendous excesses built up (unbalanced to the positive). While not recognized by its citizens when living during its prosperity, will ultimately be engulf in recession where these excesses must be purged and will include an overcorrectment for some time to the negative. One balances out the other, in a never-ending progressment. Viewed narrowly, World War II would be called a despicable, evil event instigated by a demonic man who thought he was right, and "if there's a God, how can he allow such a thing?" The nuclear missile and cold war would be perceived as a dastardly evil creation, and aids would be viewed as a product of an angry and cold God looking to wipe out homosexuals. The Fall of Jerusalem during the siege of ancient Babylon would be viewed as a furious god who wished to severely lay waste a rebellious country who lost their way. There is a grand, Divine plan behind all of this. God gave us free will, and it is us who creates the misery on this earth. Not God. Is God so vengeful and unfair and cruel so as to send the entire Hindu population of the world to hell, because they are "not Christians?" What about Eskimos, native Indians, Islam, Shamans, Jews? Why is it that most--that is correct, most--who undergo a near death experience find themselves turning away from traditional religion immediately afterwards? How many fundamentalists have actually had an NDE, thereby seeing the other side for themselves, then continue preaching what they have previously? Very few. How many of those who have had an NDE turn to hard-line fundamentalism? Virtually none. What a wonderful spiritual life these folks could be experiencing if they opened their mind to the expansively infinite possibilities the Universal Spirit is capable of. By limiting their religious knowledge to that strictly to the Bible undermines God's true power, as well as there own. God's word is the truth, therefore infallible. The Bible is based on eternal truth, yet is not infallible because it was written by inspired but imperfect humans who invariably included and were influenced by their times and culture. I could go on to mention many instances of Bible errancies, but am not here to disrespect the Bible, simply to make an important point. That is, it holds the basic guidelines of morality, living a sound life, includes God's Plan regarding the Messiah and prophetic past and future of the world and Israel, yet it has been viewed and used with an improper perpective. The Bible is not a science textbook of the universe or spirit world and does not contain all the answers--only a fraction. It was only what God intended to reveal at the time it was written, and employing this book as though it were the only source of truth and heavenly revelation is simply wrong. The Bible is also missing some important scriptures such as the book of Enoch and Apocryphal writings (including portions of Daniel!) that were left out of canonization by the Christian church fathers. By including and thereby following only what these early fathers of the church themselves decided to include wrongly elevates them to god status. Moreover, as the countless different religions that have sprung from the current Bible attest, Scriptural infallibility is further enhanced by imperfectly human interpretation and readership. If God were to give us all or even a small portion of the nature of nature, the universe and the spirit world, the entire earth would be filled with volumes of books, crowding out the surface of the planet. Accordingly, many use this argument of exclusion to explain away anomalies such as scientific reasoning and conclusions, reincarnation, UFO's etc. by implying: "It's not really discussed in the Bible, therefore it holds no validity and is the work of Satan" It is mind-bogling, for instance, that so many otherwise intelligent people, even with all the overwhelming scientific evidence available in the modern age, for example, still consider the earth to be roughly five or six thousand years old, because the book of Genesis says "God created earth in six days," (and the seventh for rest). This is literalism at its worst. This ludicrously futile disagreement between evolution and creationism is based not on facts, rationality, logic or real science, but hardened hearts, passion, blind "faith" and belief between the most extreme fringes of both sides, who are always the most vocal concerning any subject. Actually, both are correct on many points, and both are incorrect on many points. The earth really is around 4 or 5 billion years old--which would correspond to Genesis' 6 days of creation (in a "God day"), and life did in fact evolve (though the Darwinism theory is seriously flawed--but not totally incorrect as the creationism would therefore imply). Evolution is a natural process of life, the earth and the universe. Hence the extreme evolutionists are also incorrect that life is totally chance, that life is a fluke creation of a God-less universe, blindly following a blind set of scientific, natural rules. It is not the strong that survive, but those most adaptable to change, and explains so many of the missing links; rather than slow, gradual evolution, life evolves in great spurts of birth, maturity, then catastrophe whence from this catastrophe those surviving experience and abrupt explosion in growth. Souls also undergo spiritual growth through repeated reincarnations, learns until the soul in question evolves beyond the need for continual rebirths and moves on to different dimensions, and this too can occur in an accelerated fashion, in the space of one lifetime, negating further karmic lessons to be learned. The governance of the universe is far deeper, more complex, elaborately constituted than humans have yet to discover, and these natural rules which man is capable of physically measuring are merely means by which God establishes set patterns were there can exist order and form necessary for the stage of the dance of life. The universal Creator and Spirit resides behind the ongoing Creation, existing everywhere, at all times, throughout all planes to eternity. One fallacious concept espoused by most modern-day Christians, for example, is that there is no such thing as reincarnation. I know that it is true--that reincarnation does in fact exist, and Daniel could not have returned without this mechanism. Fact: reincarnation was an essential part of Christian thought, and widely accepted in earlier centuries, but eventually dropped due largely through church bigotry, as well as materialism. Early Church teachings differed from what the Church now teaches regarding reincarnation. For, in A.D. 553, the Fifth Ecumenical Council commanded all Christians -- on pain of excommunication -- to no longer believe in the soul's preexistence and its several rebirths or to refer any more to Christ as "an Angel among angels." "If anyone asserts the fabulous pre-existence of souls, and shall assert the monstrous restoration which follows from it: let him be anathema [excommunicated]." - Decrees of the Fifth General Council Hence the modern Christian belief of no reincarnation. Admission of the soul's pre-existence implies evolution, which undermines the "saved or be damned" alternatives of the after-life, which also conflicts with the stance of fundamentalists' belief of a 6-day creation, and that the human race and the earth is little more than 6000 years old. Man--and the earth--has been around much longer than that. The Hindu religion, with its belief in reincarnation, has correctly identified this reality, yet is incorrect with regard to its denial of an existence of an all-powerful, omniscient God. This is why the Christ message should be spread to Hindus: to show them there IS a way out from these castes and reincarnations--of salvation. You chose to come to this planet before the birth to experience a lesson learned and an opportunity to grow...and therefore an option to reject growth and backslide. I suspect that Moses, Enoch, Elijah and other Biblical figures were embodied, reincarnated angels as well; it is plainly visible in the New Testament that Jesus himself claimed to his disciples that Elijah, a resurrected embodied angel (of the Old Testament) reincarnated into John the Baptist, who was then killed during Jesus' life, only to reappear transfigured as an angel, along with Moses, with Jesus on a mountain (see Math.17, 1-13). Christ is the highest Angel among angels as Son of God--and one with God, most likely returned several times as well (e.g. Joshua). Angels, by the way, were routinely identified as "sons of man" and "sons of God." Unfortunately, the present Christian church and various sects have watered down and skewed the real meaning of Jesus and the teachings offered. It bears little resemblance to what Jesus REALLY taught. There was an extreme bias toward covering up certain books such as Enoch and the gospel of Thomas as well as other gnostic texts. Although these books were used and highly respected and used by those who wrote the New Testament (as well as Jesus), they were excluded, ultimately by the Church as it grew for reasons such as politics and "heresy." The only way to understand the true message of Jesus is to read the teachings from a spiritual and metaphysical basis. Only then does the true meaning become clear. The Church founders deliberately excluded valuable Scriptures, particularly those that pointed to human spiritual potential, such as gnosis literature. Most Christians today are totally ignorant about Gnostic writings and concepts. Too often, they are too eager to declare anything Gnostic to be "heresy" and "of the devil". In Jesus' day, there were many Gnostic sects and to say all Gnostics were heretics is like saying all Americans are Christian. The word "Gnosis," while difficult to describe, essentially means one who is "in the know" and far more spiritually advanced than their kin. Jesus and Buddha were the ultimate Gnostics, and some of His apostles were as well. They emphasized spiritual knowledge rather than merely faith as the road to salvation. Ancient Gnostic Christian texts, long since suppressed as "heretical" unearthed since 1945 display compelling similarities between Gnostic conceptions of life and death and modern near-death experiences. This is why it sometimes difficult to fathom the REAL message Jesus gave strictly through the four gospels contained in the (canonized) Christian Bible. The early church, as it gained political power in Rome began banning any teachings that empowered any individual into seeking a higher level of spiritual advancement on their own. The goal was to create a system of religion to "keep the people in their place" via a universal (catholic) church which anyone could join. The result, not surprisingly, was the dark ages. The Gospels make much more sense when viewed in light of teachings in the Gospel of Thomas. These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Judas Thomas the Twin recorded. He said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death." Jesus said, "Let one who seeks not stop seeking until one finds. When one finds, one will be disturbed. When one is disturbed, one will be amazed, and will reign over all." Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Behold, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds in the sky will get there before you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will get there before you. Rather, the kingdom is inside you and outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and embody poverty." Jesus said, "Know what is within your sight, and what is hidden from you will become clear to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed." Jesus said, "I have thrown fire on the world and, behold, I am guarding it until it is ablaze." Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me with someone, and tell me whom I am like." Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a just angel." Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher." Thomas said to him, "Teacher, my mouth is utterly unable to say whom you are like." Jesus said, "I am not your teacher. You have become intoxicated because you have drunk from the bubbling spring that I have tended." And he took Thomas and withdrew, and told him three things. When Thomas came back to his friends, they asked him, "What did Jesus tell you?" Thomas said to them, "If I tell you even one of the things he told me, you will pick up rocks and stone me. Then fire will come forth from the rocks and devour you." The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us about the end." Jesus said, "Have you already discovered the beginning, that now you can seek after the end? For where the beginning is, the end will be. Blessed is one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end, and will not taste death." Jesus said, "Blessed is one who came to life before coming to life." "If you become my disciples and hearken to my sayings, these stones will serve you." Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his disciples, "These nursing babies are like those who enter the kingdom." They said to him, "Then shall we enter the kingdom as babies?" Jesus said, "When you make the two into one, you will become sons of man, and when you say, 'Mountain, move!' it will move." Jesus said to them, "When you make the two into one, when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male and the female will not be female, when you make eyes replacing an eye, a hand replacing a hand, a foot replacing a foot, and an image replacing an image, then you will enter the kingdom." Jesus said, "Blessed are those who are alone and chosen: you will find the kingdom. For you have come from it, and you will return there again." His disciples said to him, "When will the final rest for the dead take place, and when will the new world come?" He said to them, "What you look for has already come, but you do not know it." Jesus said, "I disclose my mysteries to those who are worthy of my mysteries. Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Jesus said, "Whoever knows everything but lacks within lacks everything." Jesus said, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you will kill you." Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: all came forth from me, and all attained to me. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Pick up a stone, and you will find me there." Jesus said, "Whoever is close to me is close to the fire, and whoever is far from me is far from the kingdom." Jesus said, "Images are visible to people, but the light within is hidden in the Father's image of light. He will reveal himself, but his image is hidden by his light." Jesus said, "When you see a likeness of yourself, you are happy. But when you see your images that came into being before you, and that neither die nor become visible, how much you will be able to tolerate!" Jesus said, "Whoever drinks from my mouth will be like me, and I shall be that person, and what is hidden will be revealed to that one." Jesus says, "Whoever finds self is worth more than the world." His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?" "It will not come by looking for it. Nor will it do to say, 'Behold, over here!' or 'Behold, over there!' Rather, the kingdom of the Father is spread out on the earth, but people do not see it." Fundamentalists: Why do you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven, worship an angry, vengeful god, conjuring up contorted doctrines of why they are "not saved," and therefore piece together a "only" system as The One And Only pathway to God? Why do you speak down to your congregation as sinning "worthless piles of #@*!" in the sight of God, then calling that "humility"? Power and control? Money? Politics? Such misguided zealotry of fundamentalist often has the opposite effect: of repelling "prospective believers," tired of the closed minded fire-and-brimstone trumpeting of a wrathful, punishing god, and pushing agendas. This is not the God Daniel worships or fears: "The fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of wisdom; ..." (Psalms 111:10). "But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18). The negative impact so many false teachings of the modern era have on promoting the positive message of Love, virtue, peace, and harmony is contrary to the good intentions of many religions, and has the opposite effect by promoting a negative message of fear, ignorance, and disharmony. [Ignorance being defined as the lack of true spiritual knowledge.] It is no wonder people have abandoned the church and religion in favor of "new-age spiritism." The result has been warped doctrines at the expense of others, and warped mortal views of the universe and Creator/God and how they all intersect with the universe and science. The disharmony between these belief systems has resulted in millions of deaths down through time through persecution and wars. This will not end soon; men's passions will perpetuate what his heart has hardened. Unfortunately. The reality is that no one religion is absolutely right or wrong; they are all right AND wrong in various aspects. All places of worship and those that attend them are viewed as equally precious in the mind of God. Such variety should not be viewed as a negative, but something that offers a diverse set of beliefs to match the diverse nature and various levels of spiritual development of different people and cultures. Listen and therefore understand: God does not care about silly, nitpicking rituals, doctrine, technicalities, theology, biases, dogma or any other falsities perpetuated down through time in so many of the different religions. Woe to you, who pass off human precepts as divine doctrine! "You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" (Matthew 15:7-9) "They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that." (Mark 7:7-13) Paul has this to say about rules taught by men: "Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." (Colossians 2:20-23) "Then Peter began to speak: 'I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right." (Acts 10:34-35) "There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism." (Romans 2:9-11) Religions are human constructs, merely pathways to God, and getting close to God does not mean simply following empty rituals of going through the motions of insincere charity, prayer, or simply going to church every Sunday. Bruce Lenny: "Every day people are leaving the church and getting closer to God." Religion and places of worship serve an important, invaluable role in establishing cohesive fellowship and community functions, yet are not substitutes for the real thing. the best "religion is the one that bring YOU closest to God. The degree of your true closeness to God and therefore redemption will reflect the level of love for God and therefore others around you. This is the "religion of Love." God unconditionally Loves (Indescribably Endless and Unconditional Love of a degree far beyond any language is capable of elaborating) everybody, and wants you to accept this with all your heart, and to genuinely Love Him back--with all your heart, mind and soul. What all people seek, what sustains them, is love. What distorts people, thereby causing the many problems this planet experiences, is a lack of love, fear, and fear of love. The only remaining worry is getting rid of your own guilt and shame with respect to how you view your life. Overcoming distorted views of yourself and the material world, religion and others--which are roadblocks to experiencing unconditional love--are the only impediments to personal growth towards spiritual perfection and preparation for the after-life in heaven. Do not dwell on fear, doubt, negativity, as it feeds upon itself. Let go of the past and deal with it now and rejoice that one has this blessed opportunity, and can live refreshed with a clear conscience. "What you ask for has already come (the kingdom of heaven)... "The Kingdom of God is within you." Jesus. Until next time (A few days!), God Bless! Daniel