Hi everyone,

Today I received a comment and question from a minister named Andrew Strom, who many of you probably know of. His comment was posted on my article about Todd Bentley and Guided Visualization:

Brother - it is Andrew Strom here. I certainly appreciate your warnings on the Guided Visualization of Todd Bentley.

However, I am concerned that you seem to support a kind of "self-guided" visualization to enter heaven. This seems utterly unscriptural to me. Can you please tell me the difference from Astral Travel or other New Age techniques?

God bless you,
Andrew Strom.

I thought it would be good to move this into the main blog because I feel it is a very important issue for us to dig into. Here's my reply:

Hi Andrew,

I really appreciate you giving me the opportunity to explain my position on heavenly encounters. I really aim for nothing more than what is clearly revealed in the Bible, and I welcome scrutiny because it helps keep me in check.

First of all, I'd like to point out something I said in the article in question: "Guided visualization is when a human being or an evil spirit tries to induce an experience that God is not authorizing." This includes trying to induce the experience yourself (as I mentioned in the last paragraph).

I DEFINITELY do not condone self-guided visualization, so I'm glad you pointed out that I was coming across that way. It wasn't my intention.

But I should also say this: just because guided visualization and self-guided visualization are wrong does not discredit the reality of Godly visions, dreams, and other such experiences. (I know you're more than aware of this--I only say it for the sake of others reading this reply.) In a truly pure encounter of this nature, it is initiated by God alone. We can make ourselves available to God by spending time in His presence; but we should not try to conjure up an experience or try to help it along with our imagination.

Quick teaching here for those who may not realize this: Your visual imagination does have a spiritual purpose. This is the part of you that God designed to operate in pictures. And He has the capacity to speak to us with pictures in this part of our mind. So if you're praying for someone, sometimes a picture will pop into your mind--it might be from God, so ask Him if He's communicating with you and what you should do with the picture going through your mind. These mental pictures are what many people call "visions."

For some reason, the Lord has been gracious enough to let me have visions of heaven (always with a clear purpose). In most cases, it has been simply a vision of the mind during a time of prayer--seeing a mental picture of something in heaven while here on earth (like I just described). No "astral-projection" there or anything like that...and I wasn't seeking an experience; I was simply seeking God.

But there were also two occasions where I felt like what was described by the apostle Paul:

2 Corinthians 12:2-4--I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows--was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. (NIV)

The two encounters I had were much like this--more real than dreams, and full of many things that I'm not permitted to tell. It was as though I was actually there even though there were other people in the room who saw me still laying on the floor as it was happening.

To be honest, I really don't care whether I was "in the body or out of the body" (to use Paul's words). Most importantly to me was that these two encounters resulted in enhanced ministry regarding the salvation of souls. In one case, twenty people came to Christ within the week (not because I told them about the vision, but because I acted on what the Lord revealed and preached a clear message of repentance). In the other case, I had two divine appointments in a Denny's restaurant within two hours of the experience, and later was used by God to raise two cats from the dead (directly related to what happened in the heavenly encounter). That's how I know they were real, genuine, God-ordained experiences--there was genuine spiritual fruit by which God confirmed His hand in what I saw.

I should also point out that I've only ever been allowed by the Lord to share parts of one of these experiences and also two of the visions I've had--the rest have been holy experiences that I feel to share would be to cheapen them and be a poor steward of intimacy with my Father.

I try to avoid boasting in visions because I believe they do not define me, and I don't want to gather a following of people based on something like that.

Unlike Todd Bentley, I do not say that "everyone has a right to these things and you're missing out if you're not seeing heaven." Rather, I feel the Lord gives me visions like these because He knows my faith is often limited by what I can see. Maybe this is a misapplication of Scripture, but I'm reminded of Jesus' words to Thomas: "Blessed are those who have NOT seen, and yet they believe." I counsel people that they do not have to see visions in order to be a strong Christian. On the contrary, a lack of such visual experiences may just be an indication that God sees you have a faith that doesn't need such things! I could be wrong on that stance, but I hold onto it becuase it sincerely keeps me humble among my brothers and sisters.

Moving right along, I'm not a student of the New Age, but I have read in the past about astral travel and things like that. With astral travel, a person is trying to separate spirit from body, which I've seen to be a form of "sinning against yourself." It leaves a person spiritually vulnerable and open to intense deception. It also is typically done for the sake of personal gain or access to restricted information. This is wrong and demonstrates an intense spiritual pride.

However, the Bible is full of God-induced experiences, like when John said, "On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet..." What followed was a rather intense vision in which Jesus spoke clear messages, and then a door was opened in the heavens and a voice said, "Come up here!"

Was John physically in heaven as he saw the things going on there? Was he experiencing some sort of God-ordained "astral travel" (for lack of a better term)? Was he just seeing things in visions of the mind? Frankly, I don't worry about it--all I know is that he saw the throneroom of God just like Isaiah and many other prophets (even ones who didn't write books of the Bible, like Micaiah in 1 Kings 22). And I know this is a clear indication that such a thing has Biblical precedence.

I don't believe John was sitting on the Isle of Patmos thinking, "Hmm...my time is short--maybe I should work myself into a trance and pursue a vision about the end of time." The very fact that John heard the trumpet-like voice behind him implies to me that he wasn't pointing himself in some spiritual direction or trying to "astral travel" towards heaven. Rather, God saw a dearly-loved child of His upon whom He saw fit to bestow these revelations. It was a God-induced encounter, and such things are clearly supported by Scripture.

I've probably raised more questions than answers with my readers by posting this reply, but I believe it does us good to discuss the things of God and separate the true from the false with clarity. I welcome those questions and will be posting this correspondence in my main blog so the conversation can be kept more on-task.

Thanks, brother Andrew, for your comments and questions that granted me the opportunity to clarify my stance. If you or anyone else can show me where I've not been faithful to God's Word in this reply, please do so because I'll gladly repent. Otherwise, I hope this answers your question.

God bless!
--Art--

Several years ago, before many people knew who Todd Bentley was, I ordered his teaching set "Open Heavens" (this was so long ago, it was a set of cassette tapes!). I listened to these teachings intently. I actually remember having an awkward feeling in my gut as I began to listen, but I ignored it because I was so hungry for what Todd had to say. To be honest, much of what he said was perfectly accurate to the Word of God. And I will also say that the possibility of entering into Heaven is certainly real, biblically supported, and able to happen today. In fact, it was because of the truth in these teachings that I was able to understand the visions the Lord was giving me and why He was giving them.

Then some music started on the tape. I began to feel as though the Lord was raising me up, and in my spirit I could see all sorts of brilliant, bright light. But suddenly, Todd Bentley chimed in and tried to verbally guide the experience. I felt like I had dropped out of bed and landed harshly on the floor. Nevertheless, in trust I kept listening, believing that Todd was a man of God and wouldn't lead me astray. I began to feel a darkness coming over me, and I knew this was an evil spirit, but I wrote it off as if it was the devil trying to distract me from what God was doing. Little did I know at the time that God was not in it at all!

The year that followed was one of the darkest times for me emotionally. I constantly felt distant from the Lord. I suffered from depression. I would weep at the slightest onset of emotional discomfort. I had no self-control. This condition didn't go away until finally my girlfriend, Robin (young though she was), discerned that I had an evil spirit and cast it out of me in the name of Jesus. I've actually come across several testimonies online of people who had encounters almost identical to mine, and they also suffered from spiritual defilement after engaging in Todd's guided visualization.

Guided visualization is when a human being or an evil spirit tries to induce an experience that God is not authorizing. Satan tried things like this with Jesus. As our Lord fasted and prayed in the wilderness for 40 days, the devil approached Him three times. Each time, the devil used scripture to entice Jesus into performing a miracle, gaining authority, or having a spiritual experience with angels that Father God had not authorized. Jesus didn't resist the devil in those matters because the Scriptures being quoted weren't true--He resisted the devil because He only wanted to do what He saw His Father in Heaven doing; and He only wanted to do it according to His Father's plan.

By practicing guided visualization in his conferences, seminars, teachings, and ministry, Todd Bentley has been usurping God's sovereignty. Many of the people involved are actually having encounters in heaven, but many others are being deceived by lying spirits!

A few months ago, I was invited out to a prayer meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan, by a man who knows Todd Bentley. This man taught for an hour on Heavenly encounters, and I really didn't have much of a check in my spirit as he did so. Then he said, "Who wants to go?" He invited me up to play piano while he went to each of the seventy people in the room and "guided them" into a vision. He would take them by the hand and start sharing things that he was seeing, and then they would take over.

At the end, he asked, "How many of you saw something?" Most of the room raised their hands. "Okay," he continued, "that's a little hard to count. How many of you would be willing to say that all you saw was the back of your eyelids?" About five of the seventy people raised their hands. Then he began to ask people what they saw. Many of them shared visions of things that resonated with me in my spirit--in fact, some of them had visions of places in heaven that I had personally encountered in previous years. Like I said, this sort of thing is real! But there were also those who were making things up, and there were also those who were being outright deceived by demons.

In my heart, though, I struggled to rejoice about even the true experiences people had as I drove 3 hours back to my house. Actually, I felt a little grieved. It took me a while to figure out why, but it finally occured to me that these were not all authorized experiences. God did not initiate them. He allowed them, yes; but He did not approve. Rather than God getting all the glory for the encounter, people raved about how this man had led them into it. This is one of the pitfalls of guided visualization.

Feel free to seek the Lord and allow Him to carry you into visions, dreams, and trances. Allow Him to give you genuine encounters in the spiritual realm! But don't try to induce it yourself, and don't rely on someone else to guide you there. Let's be like Christ and ONLY do what our Father is doing. If He initiates the encounter, you can be certain that you are in the right place at the right time! If not, you are opening yourself up to demons and spiritual defilement.

Be discerning, friends!
--Art--

What can I say? Our Encounter Retreat was awesome! God showed up in powerful ways and ministered His love and power to everyone present in one form or another. Some had a deep inner revelation of our heavenly Father and experienced His love in a whole new way. Some had a God-given realization of their guilt and came to encounter the work of Jesus Christ deeper than ever before. Many of us had dreams, visions, and supernatural experiences. Many people were released from long-time bitterness that they didn't even know they had. Strongholds were demolished. Chains were broken. The all-consuming Fire of God set people dramatically free this weekend!

On top of all this, on our drive home, we called one of the ladies from our small group and found out she had been horribly sick all weekend. We invited ourselves over to pray for her (which she welcomed). Before we had even arrived at her house, her fever lifted for the first time in days!

From there we went to the little city park in downtown Plymouth to have our Wildfire School of Supernatural Ministry and play worship music by the big fountain in the middle. We had fifteen people from our group show up, and we worshipped God for about an hour together in the park.

Before long, it started getting too cold to stay out there, so we went to a local coffee shop called "The Bean" to continue. Within a matter of minutes after we started playing music, a man walked in and looked at us. My girlfriend Robin flagged him over, and he listened as my friends Sara and Katie sang a song they wrote that said, "I want to wake up and find that I've already died and it's not I but Christ who lives in me."

"Hi, how are you?" I asked.

"Have you got a half-hour?" he asked.

"Absolutely!" came the collective reply of all the people in our group.

Long story short, we spent the next several hours listening to him pour out all his struggles and life experiences. During the first hour, our statements were careful to gently point him toward Christ and set the stage for a presentation of the Gospel. During our second hour, though, we spoke of Jesus Christ and His power to save and set us free from guilt and shame. Everyone listened couteously to his stories, and those who spoke always seemed to say just the right thing as the Holy Spirit led us. People shared prophetic words and supernatural "words of knowledge" in practical, loving ways and pointed this man to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Eventually it was closing time and we had to return home. We invited him to our Monday night group, so hopefully he'll be there tonight as the seven of us who attended the Encounter Retreat share testimonies about our experiences!

God is so awesome! If you are willing to welcome His presence in the streets, I can guarantee that He'll show up with power!

Pam Walker has been used by God to raise the dead more than once. In this new video she shares one story about a little boy named Isaiah and the events surrounding his miraculous resurrection. Also, I'll share a couple stories about raising animals to life and a spiritual encounter I had in which Jesus taught about the Christian's ability to be a "life-bringer who is full of life."

The video entitled "Raise the Dead" can be found through the video page at SupernaturalTruth.com.

The Holy Spirit is certainly supernatural, but He is also very practical. The supernatural things He does are always for a purpose (although, admittedly, we don't always know what that purpose is at the time).

Furthermore, I think sometimes the Holy Spirit is so active in our lives that we don't give Him credit for the things He's doing. For instance, my small group recently doubled in size. I could call that a coincidence, or I could observe that people have been drawn to our group because of the Holy Spirit's presence!

And this week we planted two more small groups (a men's group on Wednesdays and a ladies' group on Saturdays). And the most exciting part to me is that I'm not the one leading these groups! Other people are catching vision from God and running with it!

Tonight we held our first men's group meeting, and four people were able to attend. I'm reminded of Zechariah 4:10 that says "Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin..." (NLT). Certainly, we could sense the Lord rejoicing!

And here's where the practicality of it all comes back into play. People were moving in the power of the Holy Spirit and not even realizing it! That's how practical He is! My one friend started moving in the gift of a "word of wisdom" as the Holy Spirit supernaturally gave him the right words to speak to another man in the group. When I pointed it out, he said, "Wow, thanks--I was wondering if my words had any purpose." We all started to laugh because the rest of us knew how profound his advice actually was!

Then, as I mentioned something about the trials in our lives being used by God to perfect us, another man in our group had a vision and didn't even realize it! He said, "You know, as you were saying that, I started picturing a swordsmith hammering a sword into the perfect shape so that it's balanced just right and won't break in a battle."

I said, "You weren't just picturing that on your own--the Holy Spirit was giving you a vision! I'm glad you shared that!" A surprised smile started to spread across his face as if to say, "God gave me a vision?? Wow!"

Sometimes we don't realize just how active the Holy Spirit is in our lives, and frankly, it robs glory from our Father in heaven! We need to start encouraging one another to see the Holy Spirit's activity in their lives so that we can all notice Him in our own lives! We should recognize Him in the practical things of life and not just in our events and Christian meetings. The Holy Spirit wants to be your everyday companion in all things. He's the Guide and the Comforter. He is our Advocate. He's the Living Water that should be overflowing from each of our lives! He empowers us, He leads us, He helps us, and He ministers through us!

So I want to challenge you in the coming days to look for the activity of the Holy Spirit in your everyday life. He's probably moving at this moment right under your nose!

You were created to have a relationship with God. Everyone was. And that means that every single person on this planet has the capacity to hear His voice (even little ol' me and you).

God speaks in many ways. It could come in the form of a vision, a dream, an impression, a sensation, a thought, a sudden realization, or even an audible voice. Everyone "hears" Him in different ways.

For some reason, the most common way God speaks to me is in visions--mental images that either stand alone or seem somehow superimposed on whatever I'm looking at. But occasionally He speaks to me gently and quietly in my thoughts. Admittedly, I'm still learning to pay attention to these gentle nudges from the Holy Spirit, and today I learned a big lesson.

While driving to church this morning, the Holy Spirit told me to put some air in my right rear tire. That was a strange impression because I hadn't seen this tire, and I didn't think it was low. Anyhow, by the time I got to church, I had forgotten all about that passing thought and moved on.

Then on the way home, I turned on the local news station on the radio. Within five minutes of driving, they had a couple public service announcements. The first had something to do with heart attacks or something like that; but the second one was a reminder to make sure all your tires were fully inflated!

My mind went immediately to the thought the Holy Spirit gave me that morning, and I began to consider pulling over and pumping up that tire. But for whatever reason, I still was not convinced that it was the Holy Spirit! I shrugged it off as though it was nothing. Sure enough, five miles down the road, my right rear tire blew out.

I felt rather stupid as I knelt in the snow and changed that tire. But I learned a valuable lesson: even though we can't base every decision on our feelings or impressions, we should still be looking for the voice of God leading us and guiding us in love. The Holy Spirit speaks in whatever way He sees fit, and I should not limit Him to one method. Just because I didn't have a vision of that tire didn't mean I wasn't hearing from God. We need to test these impressions and allow the Lord to teach us to hear Him and know Him better.

I want to encourage you to practice hearing God's voice in whatever way He might choose to speak to you. When you hear, do a little mental check: (1) Is it in line with Scripture? (2) Is it in line with the nature of Christ? Sometimes you can't answer question 1--after all, there's nothing in the Bible about putting air in your tire! But that's where question 2 comes in. I would not have been compromising anything but my own comfort if I had pulled off the road and checked that tire when the Holy Spirit first told me to. Jesus won't ask you to sin, and it is logical for Him to be looking out for your protection. That's His nature.

Get to know Him. The better you know Christ, the easier it will be to discern His voice and obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

For further reading on this topic, I highly recommend Steve Thompson's book You May All Prophesy, which is perhaps the most practical book I've ever read about hearing God's voice and putting it into action.

Friends,

I came accross this vision on another e-mail list and have permission to post it here. Now, I want to preface this by saying that I'm not a fan of "doom and gloom" messages, but it is true that God's judgment is very much real. And just because I don't enjoy these messages doesn't mean they aren't true. I want to encourage you to take the same perspective and see how God might be speaking through this person's vision.

So when you read this, you'll have a choice to make: Either discredit it as heresy and take your chances that you're right, or choose to repent on behalf of our nation and pray for God's mercy on His people.

Also, some of you may not be familiar with the word "Interceding," which appears a few times in this vision. The word literally means to "go-between" or "mediate." In Christian-lingo, we use this term to refer to praying for someone else. In line with this, an "intercessor" is one who prays for another...or even for a whole nation or people-group. And the posture of an intercessor is one of humility because the true intercessor has a healthy fear of God and does not take their audience with the King lightly. Yes, God has called us to be His friends, but that does not mean that He isn't also fearsome and righteous. Listen to the podcast titled "The Truth about God" if you have questions about this.

Without further ado, here's the vision as it was relayed to me:

VISION: "PROSTRATE UNDER SACKCLOTH - The Only Safe Place"
-by Rosie Lovejoy.

"This is the vision I had during Praise and Worship on January 4th, 2003, the evening we were praying for a Pastor and his wife's departure to Israel...

It began with a vision of a huge lion, about ten to fifteen feet high. He was suspended about two to three feet off the ground. He was not a "cute" lion, rather His mane was large and shaggy, and He looked very virile and powerful. During the entire vision He was walking levitated two to three feet above the earth. The lion turned to me and thundered: "DO NOT MY PEOPLE KNOW THAT the TIME and the SEASON HAS CHANGED?" (I remember thinking that His grammar was odd, and that is not how we usually say things.)

After thundering the question to me, He breathed, and flames of fire came out of His mouth. I heard the words "LION OF ZION" reverberate through my Spirit. The lion began to walk, suspended above the ground, breathing fire. The fire that was coming out of His mouth was not the refining fire we have been taught about, rather a fire that destroyed and burnt up all in its path. I knew in my spirit that it was a fire of judgment.

I next saw a view of a downtown business district of a large city. I think it was New York City, but I cannot be sure. I saw a building that resembled the Empire State Building, and a few buildings that surrounded it, collapse. The image was similar to the collapse of the Twin Towers. I screamed in my spirit, "No LORD!! NO!!!!!"

As I was screaming, I saw the rubble and smoke from the collapsing buildings arise into a cloud that resembled a mushroom cloud. I do not know for sure if it was a nuclear mushroom cloud or a cloud of debris from the building. I was horrified and weeping in my spirit.

The lion reappeared and again turned His head and spoke to me. In a mournful voice He asked: "HOW ELSE am I GOING TO BRING IN the HARVEST?" (I instinctively knew that as a nation and people we are totally pre-occupied with our little lives and situations, and nothing short of calamity was going to bring us to question our existence and purpose for being. I knew it would take something of this magnitude to bring us to repentance.) The lion then spoke again: "I HAVE USED BABYLON IN the PAST to JUDGE MY PEOPLE, and I WILL USE BABYLON AGAIN to JUDGE MY PEOPLE."

The lion began to walk, and I saw groups of people standing and talking, some were joking with each other. Others were buying new cars and houses. Others were plotting financial gains and what to do with their assets during these uncertain times. I knew that this was the Church in America. Most were erect and oblivious to the approaching lion. A few were face down on the ground weeping and interceding. They were each covered with a coarse, brown cloak. There were very few on their faces.

THE LION THEN ROARED, and flames came out of His mouth, and burnt up the Christians who were standing. They became ashes and were no more. Horrified, I realized that I was standing to watch the unfolding scene, and I dove towards the dirt, skinning my chin as I landed. I was immediately covered from head to foot with the same coarse, brown cloak the intercessors on the ground were covered with. I raised my head to look out, and witnessed more and more erect Christians being burnt to a crisp.

It was clear to me that the only safe pace to be was on my face, in the dirt, interceding.
The Lion of Zion then turned to me again, and spoke. "DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT I will KEEP MY HAND of PROTECTION OVER YOUR NATION, WHEN it is WILLING TO DIVIDE MY HOLY CITY, JERUSALEM?" I knew in that moment that YAHWEH was lifting His hand of protection from our nation, and that judgment had begun. I clung to the ground, as the lion walked over me, and those of us who were prostrate on the ground, still breathing fire. By this time, the worship music had concluded and the Pastor's wife was speaking about the offering, and how giving our tithes and offerings was a joyful act of worship. Again the Lion thundered: "ARE my WAREHOUSES FULL? NO!!!! ARE MY PRIESTS TAKING CARE of MY WIDOWS and ORPHANS? NO!!!"

I then saw men I knew were pastors and priests, standing tall and erect. Some were standing in front of Mercedes, others in front of large, expensive churches. The Lion spoke again: "MOST OF My PRIESTS DON'T CARE ABOUT My WIDOWS AND ORPHANS. THEY CARE About THEMSELVES, THEIR CARS AND HOUSES, and the CHURCHES THEY ARE BUILDING.
THEY CARE About THEIR MINISTRY, NOT MINE."

"Oh no!" I thought. "These ministers are goners…" The Lion then opened His mouth and roared. Fire came out and consumed the "priests" who were standing beside their new cars and large, expensive churches. They became a pile of ashes on the ground next to their possessions. Many, many were consumed.

The Lion continued to walk, breathing fire. Anywhere Christians were standing, rather than prostrate on the ground in sackcloth, they were consumed and turned to ashes....."
{-PROSTRATE, INTERCEEDING - the only safe place to be amid the coming judgments....}

A Vision of Christian Authority

Every Monday night I gather with a group of friends my age for Christian fellowship. We discuss what God has been showing us, we share our struggles, we pray for each other, and we minister to and with one another. It's awesome! These are things that just can't happen in a big meeting on Sunday, so we really charish these times together.

This week during our prayer time, the Holy Spirit showed me a vision. God speaks to everyone differently, and I guess that's just the way I hear Him most often. I'm not sure why He chooses to give me visions, but I'm just content to receive.

In the vision, I saw a little child (maybe three years old) walking down a path next to their dad. The two were holding hands, and the scene was really peaceful. And yet, in the midst of the peace, these large, shadowy billows of darkness kept flying out of the woods at them only to be batted away by the calm father. Already, my mind started making connections to our role as God's children, but then I saw something that caught me off guard. Another dark force flew at them, and the small child reached up their own hand and batted it away.

At that moment, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart: "You are not called to be My children in name only. It's time to start learning My trade."

In Bible times, people didn't choose their profession in the way they do today. It was much more common for a father to pass along their trade from one generation to the next. In the same way, we're invited to share in the work of Christ--carrying out our Father's business. 1 John 3:8 says that the reason Jesus came into the world was to destroy the devil's work; and John 20:21 shows us that Jesus has given His disciples (you and me) the same mission. I've added a PDF entitled "Destroying the Works of the Devil" to the "Documents" page for further information.

It's time to share in the authority of Jesus Christ and carry out our Father's work!