Don't despair. God is in Love with His People...

One week before Christmas in 1993, I had an extraordinary meeting with my Lord in the City of the Great King. That morning I was reading the 91st Psalm in my daily Bible study, and read that the Angels will carry you upon their hands, and that no evil will befall you. This scripture came to life for me in the afternoon. Around 2:30 as I was going on my daily walk, my heart started to give me problems, and I became short of breath. Much of this is due to a heart problem that I encountered when I was 9 years old and was interned by the Japanese on the island of Sumatra in the years 1942-1945. I had survived black water fever, but barely, and I am one of the few survivors of that camp in Bankinang, Indonesia. I was immediately taken to the hospital by ambulance, and was given a blood thinner called Streptokinase, even after I had warned the doctors of my severe allergic reactions to a lot of medications and food additives. I asked them to consult with my allergist who was treating me at that time. They convinced my wife and I that there was no danger in taking this medication. They administered it, and left the room. Within minutes, I had an anaphylactic shock, which closed my throat so that I could no longer breath. I flat lined, indicating that my heart stopped beating. They called out a code Blue, and immediately started to work feverously on me to try to bring me back to life. In the meantime, I remember taking my last breath, and asked the Lord to take my spirit into His care, and immediately all anxiety and pain left me, and felt myself leaving the bed in perfect health. I saw one of the nurses who was in charge of me crying, sitting in a corner of the room. Everyone allready assumed that I had passed on. I jumped in front of her and tried to touch her and show her that there was nothing wrong with me, and that I was quite all right, and very much alive. The next thing I noticed that I found myself in the presence of three heavenly beings, in long flowing white robes, who where carrying me carefully upon their hands. I could however not make out their faces, as they gently carried me away. Then I realized that I must have died, so I asked them where they were taking me. Now the language was an unspoken one, language proceeded by thought. They informed me that they were instructed to take me to the City of the great King. They treated me with great respect as if I was the Son of the King, or a Prince of Israel. I did not go through any tunnel, nor saw any family members, but was instantly transported to a City of Light, and was brought before the Great King, whom, I might add, treated me like a son coming home from battle. He showed intense emotions, and let me know that He was in love with me and all those who profess His Name. It was his desire to keep me there, but the decision to go back was mine, and I realized that I had much work to do for His Namesake. I did go back with a heavy heart after He showed me off, and honored me, which I did not understand at the time, for I figured that I should be honoring Him! When I finally came back to my body after 20 minutes, I saw a woman heart specialist who I had seen earlier, coming to my room, and I explained to her that had seen her in the extensive care room, as she was working on me, trying to revive me. She thought it was unusual since I was supposed to be gone, and showed no signs of life. I had some brain damage, due to the lack of oxygen to my brain, and could not taste or smell for almost 3 years later. All this occurred around Christmas time, and I was released to go home, but where was home? I had no memory of the places where I had lived, and could not recognize one of my children. The Christmas lights where still on New Years Eve 1993, and when we finally arrived home, my wife explained that this is where I lived, and that I also owned another home, and two cars! I started to cry because of God's grace towards me. My wife was informed by the doctor, that if I were to survive, I would most likely be in wheel chair and a vegetable. But due to a word of knowledge by one of the pastors in my church, I was told that I would smell and taste again, and have my brain function back. Since that time I have witnessed to many people about God's great city awaiting all those who place their faith in Jesus, and the great place that He has been building for them. He is soon to come back for his own, at a time that we could not possibly realistically anticipate from a human standpoint. He is so eager to show all He has waiting for them and to show you off to His Heavenly Father. Many things I could not relate due to the fact that the reality of life up there is far grander than human words can express. To anyone who will find comfort in this message I say: God is IN LOVE with His people, and we are considered courageous by Angels, who are all around us at the command of the King. So don't despair, and lift up your head, for your deliverance is nearer than you think! /s/ GERARD SYBERS gesybers@msn.com

Revelations of St. Teresa of Avila, Mystic, Confessor, and one of the Doctors of the Church

"While I was at prayer one day, I found myself in a moment, without knowing how, plunged apparently into Hell. I understood that it was Our Lord's will that I should see the place which the devils kept in readiness for me, and which I had deserved by my sins. It lasted but for a moment, but it seems to me impossible that I should ever forget it even if I were to live many years. "The entrance seemed to be by a long narrow pass, like a furnace, very low, dark, and close. The ground seemed to be saturated with water, mere mud, exceedingly foul, sending forth pestilential odors, and covered with loathsome vermin. At the end was a hollow place in the wall like a closet, and in that I saw myself confined. All this was ever pleasant to behold in comparison with what I felt there. There is no exaggeration in what I am saying. "But as to what I then felt, I do not know where to begin if I were to describe it; it is utterly inexplicable. I felt a fire in my soul but such that I am still unable to describe it. My bodily sufferings were unendurable. I have undergone most painful sufferings in this life, and, as the physicians say, the greatest that can be borne, such as the contraction of my sinews when I was paralyzed, without speaking of other ills of different types - yet, even those of which I have spoken, inflicted on me by Satan; yet all these were as nothing in comparison with what I then felt, especially when I saw that there would be no intermission nor any end to them. "These sufferings were nothing in comparison with the anguish of my soul, a sense of oppression, of stifling, and of pain so acute, accompanied by so hopeless and cruel an infliction, that I know not how to speak of it. If I say that the soul is continually being torn from the body it would be nothing - for that implies the destruction of life by the hands of another - but here it is the soul itself that is tearing itself in pieces. I cannot describe that inward fire or that despair, surpassing all torments and all pain. I did not see who it was that tormented me, but I felt myself on fire, and torn to pieces, as it seemed to me; and I repeat it, this inward fire and despair are the greatest torments of all. "Left in that pestilential place, and utterly without the power to hope for comfort, I could neither sit nor lie down; there was no room. I was placed as it were in a hole in the wall; and those walls, terrible to look on of themselves, hemmed me in on every side. I could not breathe. There was no light, but all was thick darkness. I do not understand how it is; though there was no light, yet everything that can give pain by being seen was visible. "Our Lord at that time would not let me see more of Hell. Afterwards I had another most fearful vision, in which I saw the punishment of certain sins. They were the most horrible to look at, but because I felt none of the pain, my terror was not so great. In the former vision Our Lord made me really feel those torments and that anguish of spirit, just as if I had been suffering them in the body there. I know not how it was, but I understood distinctly that it was a great mercy that Our Lord would have me see with my own eyes the very place from which His compassion saved me. I have listened to people speaking of these things and I have at other times dwelt on the various torments of Hell, though not often, because my soul made no progress by the way of fear; and I have read of the diverse tortures, and how the devils tear the flesh with red-hot pincers. But all is as nothing before this: It is a wholly different matter. In short, the one is a reality, the other a description; and all burning here in this life is as nothing compared with the fire that is there. "I was so terrified by that vision - and that terror is on me even now as I write - that though it took place nearly six years ago, the natural warmth of my body is chilled by fear even now when I think of it. And so, amid all the pain and suffering which I may have had to bear, I remember no time in which I do not think that all we have to suffer in this world is as nothing. It seems to me that we complain without reason. I repeat it, this vision was one of the grandest mercies of God. It has been to me of the greatest service, because it has destroyed my fear of trouble and of the contradictions of the world, and because it has made me strong enough to bear up against them, and to give thanks to Our Lord who has been my Deliverer, as it now seems to me, from such fearful and everlasting pains. "Ever since that time, as I was saying, everything seems endurable in comparison with one instant of suffering such as those I had then to bear in Hell. I am filled with fear when I see that, after frequently reading books which describe in some manner the pains of Hell, I was not afraid of them, nor made any account of them. Where was I? How could I possibly take any pleasure in those things which led me directly to so dreadful a place? Blessed forever be Thou, O my God! And oh, how manifest is it that Thou didst love me much more than I did love Thee! How often, O Lord, didst Thou save me from that fearful prison! And how I used to get back to it contrary to Thy will. "It was that vision which filled me with very great distress which I felt at the sight of so many lost souls, especially of the Lutherans - for they were once members of the Church by Baptism - and also gave me the most vehement desires for the salvation of souls; for certainly I believe that to save even one from those overwhelming torments, I would willingly endure many deaths. If here on earth we see one whom we specially love in great trouble or pain, our very nature seems to bid us compassionate him; and if those pains be great, we are troubled ourselves. What, then, must it be to see a soul in danger of pain, the most grievous of all pains, forever? It is a thought no heart can bear without great anguish. Here we know that pain at last ends with life, and that there are limits to it, yet the sight of it moves us so greatly to compassion; that other pain has no ending, and I know not how we can be calm when we see Satan carry so many souls daily away. "This also makes me wish that, in a matter which concerns us so much, we did not rest satisfied with doing less than we can do on our part - that we left nothing undone. May Our Lord vouchsafe to give us His grace for that end." Dear fellow Christians, Father Lombardi, in his public debate with Italian Communist leader Velio Spano in Cagliara on December 4, 1948 stated, "I am horror-struck at the thought that if you continue in this manner, you will be condemned to hell." Spano replied, "I do not believe in hell." Father Lombardi replied, "Precisely, and if you continue, you will be condemned; for to avoid being condemned, one must believe in hell." Hell is a grave reality that is easily forgotten in today's God-less and apathetic society. This is all the more reason why we should fear for our salvation and do all that we can to make sure that we are one of the elect. St. Leonard of Port Maurice said, "To be saved for all eternity, to be damned for all eternity, and to not make your every effort to avoid the one and make sure of the other, is something inconceivable." Do not let your life pass before it is too late; focus on saving your soul to the exclusion of all other things, lest you find yourself forever in the eternal fires after your judgment. O, my Jesus, forgive us our sins! Save us from the fires of Hell! “There is blindness much worse than loss of physical sight, the blindness of heart. So many are heading for the flames blindly. Man seeks to destroy the evidence of Hell, but he will learn the truth soon enough. Hell exists and Heaven exists. The sins of the flesh send more souls to hell." - Jesus, October 2, 1970

The Young Harlots

Rome, 1873. A prostitute dies late one night at the local hospital. At that instant, one of her "co-workers" back at the brothel starts screaming, waking up the entire neighborhood and bringing the police. Why? Because her friend at the hospital had suddenly appeared to her in flames, stating: "I am damned!" At daybreak, the poor girl left. Word followed of the death the night before of her friend at the hospital. Word then spread all over Rome of these events. As always, the wise listened, the foolish laughed.

The Young Lord and His Mistress

In London during the winter of 1847-1848, a wealthy young widow in here late 20's suddenly found herself in an illicit relationship with a young Lord. Late one night as she was falling asleep, a glimmer of light started to grow and expand at her door. To her astonishment the door started to slowly open, and there was the young lord. He approached, grabbed her left wrist, and hissed: "There is a Hell." The pain in her wrist was so great she lost consciousness. When she came to, she had a terrible burn into her wrist down to her bone. The carpet also was scorched where his footsteps had come and gone. The next day she learned that the night before, her lord had been found drunk and had died in his servants' arms. She apparently lived the rest of her life with her charred scar as a reminder.

The Old General and The Count

In Russia shortly before the horrible military campaign between Napoleon and Russia in 1812, two high-ranking military men, one a Count and the Military Governor of Moscow and the other a General, were scoffing over drinks about the existence of God, life after death and Hell. They made a mocking "pledge of honor": if there were a Hell, the first there would come to inform the other of it. A few weeks later, the General departed for the front. One morning, while the Count was lying in bed, the General suddenly appeared before him, pale, with his right hand on his breast, declaring: "What do we do now? There is a Hell and I am there! What do we do now?" He then disappeared. The Count ran to friends, eyes wild, hair on end, and exclaimed what had just happened. Two weeks later, word was received in Moscow that the General had died in battle - on the same day and at the very hour he appeared to the Count. He had kept his word of honor: Hell exists.

Boy Raised from the Dead by St. John Bosco

A fifteen year old boy in Turin was about to die. He called for Don Bosco, but the saint was not able to make it in time. Another priest heard the boy's confession and the boy died. When Don Bosco returned to Turin, he set out at once to see the boy. When told that the boy was dead, he insisted that it was "just a misunderstanding." After a moment of prayer in the room of the dead child, Don Bosco suddenly cried out: "Charles! Rise!" To the utter amazement of all present, the boy stirred, opened his eyes, and sat up. Seeing Don Bosco, his eyes lit up. "Father, I should now be in Hell!" gasped the boy. "Two weeks ago I was with a bad companion who led me into sin and at my last confession, I was afraid to tell everything . . . Oh, I've just come out of a horrible dream! I dreamt I was standing on the edge of a huge furnace surrounded by a horde of devils. They were about to throw me into the flames when a beautiful Lady appeared and stopped them. 'There's still hope for you, Charles,' she told me. 'You have not yet been judged!' At that moment I heard you calling me. Oh, Don Bosco! What a joy to see you again! Will you please hear my confession?" After hearing the boy's confession, Don Bosco said to the boy, "Charles, now that the gates of Heaven lie wide open for you, would you rather go there or stay here with us?" The boy looked away for a moment and his eyes grew moist with tears. An expectant hush fell over the room. "Don Bosco", he said at last, "I'd rather go to Heaven." The mourners watched in amazement as Charles leaned back on the pillows, closed his eyes, and settled once more into the stillness of death.

The Fatima Children Are Shown Hell

In 1917, during World War I and that "hell on earth," the Virgin Mary appeared to three children at Fatima, Portugal on the 13th of the month from May through October. During here appearance on July 13th, 1917, she showed these three young children, ages 7 to 10, a vision of Hell. Lucia, who is still alive today [R.I.P. Feb. 13, 2005], the Blessed Virgin Mary opened her hands, and "rays of light seemed to penetrate the earth, and we saw as it were a sea of fire. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in huge fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. (It must have been this sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they heard me.) The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning coals. Terrified and as if to plead for help, we looked up at Our Lady, who said to us so sadly: "You have seen Hell where the souls of poor sinners go. Thus, when you say the rosary, say after each mystery: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of Thy Mercy." After this vision, the children lived dramatic lives of sacrifice and penance for sinners so that sinners might be converted and saved from the fires of Hell that God had shown them through His Heavenly prophetess.