HomeARC ML 3060
PRE-RELEASE OF "WHO SAID THEY'RE DEAD?" DO/TS 3060 7/96
--Part 2--By WS Staff
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Audrey Hepburn: We See Things Differently Up Here 1
Jerry Garcia: Heading for the Upside 5
Nostradamus: Mysteries of the Future Revealed! 9
Vince Foster: "I Threw It All Away" 11
We See Things Differently Up Here
By Audrey Hepburn
(This message from beyond was received through Shelley Landon.)
(Audrey Hepburn speaking:) I'm just so excited! I'm so excited that I'm here to speak to you! You might have thought that I had a glamorous life as a movie star, but it was nothing compared to what it's like up here. It's just marvelous here! -- Better than your best dreams!
The thrills and the ecstasies of the spirit world are so much more real than those in the physical. You may think it a little odd or strange that I come from "beyond the veil" to speak to you, but it's perfectly normal for us up here. We see things differently up here, and the realities of the spirit world are truly beyond understanding with the human mind.
I want to talk about success, failure and accomplishments. I don't have to tell you that life has its ups and downs, the times when you succeed and the times you fail. You already know that. I know what it's like, too. I faced some hard times as a child. And though I was a successful actress, I was nominated four times for an Academy Award and lost. Sometimes you think, "How can I keep going on? How can I keep trying, and yet fail consistently?" But now that I'm in Heaven, I understand that things are different. I now know God doesn't measure things the way I measured them when I was on earth, in terms of accomplishment. What matters to Him is how much we love one another, not how much we accomplish.
I didn't realize this on earth, and it was hard when I tried and then failed. I can be pretty stubborn and I'm pretty strong-willed and I don't give up too easily, but after a while it really got to me. I didn't understand. Then I turned my energies in a different direction -- to helping others, to helping the children. I wanted to get away from that awful feeling of failure.
Now I see that God used this to lead me down the path that was going to make a lasting difference and result in eternal rewards -- not just an award that people look at and praise you for, but eternal rewards. Now I'm so thankful for that part of my life, because that was what really counted in the end, not the scads of movies that I did, nor the Academy Award that I did win, nor the glamour, nor the glory. All of this did not amount to anything when I came to Heaven and met Jesus face to face.
What counted is what I had done for my fellow man and for the children, the little ones. They are our future. They are a wellspring of hope for us adults! They are a channel that we can pour into and train to really make a difference in the world.
When people don't train their children right, the world ends up in a big mess. Unfortunately, it seems like that is what's all around you -- a world that is in a mess. But I have a message of hope for you: If you will just start today, you can change this world. You can make a difference! The first step is in changing your own heart. If you will just receive love and let it change your heart, you will be surprised at what you are capable of accomplishing that will really last.
Looking back through the veil at my life on earth, I see a precious lesson: Only in giving love to others can you really accomplish something. It is only in receiving the greatest love of all that you can have lasting, true love to give others. I'm so glad that I met Jesus, and that I'm with Him now.
Actually, what I did in helping the children on earth is not much compared to what I could have done. I could have done a lot more! But God is a God of love and understanding. He is just thankful for all that we do accomplish for Him. Hopefully my message to you will encourage you to do more than you have so far. And if you do try and you fail in some endeavor, just remember this: It is better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all. So don't let it get you down!
Let me ask you something: Have you ever wondered what happens when you die? Have you ever wondered where you go? Is there really a Heaven? Is Hell real? Does God really exist? And what about life after death or near-death experiences? What about angels? What about miracles? Do you ever wonder about all these things?
Are you afraid of death? Are you afraid of dying? Are you afraid of going to Hell? Are you afraid of the Devil? You don't need to be afraid, because there's a beautiful kingdom called Heaven awaiting all those who love God.
The world of the spirit is all around you, it's so real! You can't see it and you can't touch it, but it's just as real as the world that you live in. You have a guardian angel, and some people have many guardian angels. Your guardian angel is with you all the time, keeping you, watching over you, and trying to help you make the right decisions and lead you in the right way.
The spirit world that surrounds you is so real! If you could just look and see with the eyes of faith, then you would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is life after death. There is life in the kingdom of love, called Heaven. It's a paradise! It's where God and Jesus live and reign. It's a world of love! It's a world of brotherhood and unity and happiness, where there's no pain or sorrow or hunger or injustice.
It's all so real! I knew it was real when I was alive. I had glimpses of it. I had seen it and felt it, because I knew Jesus, and He had let me see the spirit world in dreams and visions. I knew He was real, and I knew that there were angels and devils, and a spiritual battle between these two forces.
I knew that our lives in the world to come depended upon the choices that we made while on earth. That those who chose to love God and receive Him and tried to do good and love their fellow man would be blessed with love in the world to come. On the other hand, those who hated and destroyed and killed would be judged in the world to come, and they would suffer for their choices and for their lack of love.
I realized I was coming to the end of my life, so I really wanted to get this message out to those who would receive it, of the reality of the spirit world, the reality of angels and devils and the conflict that goes on in the world around you that you cannot see. That is why I was so pleased and so grateful to be able to play a part in that movie Always, because the message was so important for today.
It's so important for you to know that you're not alone, that all around you in the spirit world are people who love you, and they would like to speak to you, guide you, lift you up, comfort you and support you, if you could only believe it. If you could only believe in God's kingdom of love. If you could only believe that God is a good and loving God, and that He wants to love you, He wants to bless you, He wants to take care of you, and He wants to protect you. He can solve all of your problems, wash away all of your tears, give you joy and gladness for your sorrow, replace hatred with love, and give you hope again. But you must reach out and receive it, and want it and desire it, because as I said, there's a great conflict of good versus evil in the spirit world.
Just as there are many beautiful and powerful angels of light and love and protection, so are there many dark, evil, wicked demons who try to destroy and devour! These are demons of fear and of hate and of guilt and of jealousy and of pride and of deception. There is a fierce battle around you: Good fighting evil, God's angels of love and mercy trying to protect you and speak to you and lead you in the right way, and the Devil's demons of hate and greed trying to speak to you and lead you in the wrong way!
So much that happens in your life and in the life to come depends on the choices that you make: Whether you choose to love and to do good, or whether you choose to hate and to do evil. The spirit world is real, including angels, devils, God, and Satan. The choices that you make will bring their power into your life. If you choose to love God and receive Jesus, you will have His power. If you reject and refuse to love God and receive Jesus, then the Devil will have power over you.
It's so easy to make a choice for good! It's so easy to open up your heart to Jesus. It just takes a moment! It just takes a prayer. It just takes a simple desire for that which is good and right and beautiful. If you need love, if you need peace of mind, if you need freedom from the dark forces that are pulling you down and trying to kill you and drive you insane, just look up and reach up and call out to Jesus! It's so simple, and it's so worth it!
That moment of humility, that moment of letting go of your pride is so worthwhile, because this heavenly kingdom is so beautiful! It's so marvelous! Every desire of your heart will be fulfilled in Heaven. Everything that you love and enjoy and want to do can be done in Heaven. Every pleasure, every experience that your heart hungers after can be found in Heaven!
Heaven is beyond your wildest expectations! It's very much like the world you live in now, only so much better! There's love and sex, and children and laughter and entertainment. There's work to do. There are people to meet and so many things to learn. You're just constantly learning! There are so many challenges! Every day there is something new, something thrilling, something that totally absorbs your interest! Everything that you've learned while on earth can be put to use in Heaven.
It's not a life of complete leisure and total relaxation, but there's so much to do -- places to go, people to talk to, business to be taken care of! The difference is that in everything you do, you have joy and satisfaction and fulfillment. You know you're doing the right thing and you're making life better for those that you're trying to help.
Heaven is such a wonderful world! It's such a marvelous place to live! I don't want you to miss out! I don't want you to be left out. So reach out and receive love today! Receive Jesus and His forgiveness and His light and His power, and He will pull you out of the darkness. He will release you and free you from anything that is holding you back and holding you down. Once you have Jesus, the powers of darkness -- the Devil and his evil minions -- will have no more power over you. You'll be completely free, because the power of God and the power of Jesus is the greatest! They are the rulers of the kingdom of love. Nothing can overpower or overtake or overrule them, for they are the rulers!
All power is given to Jesus. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Yet He stoops to meet our needs. He humbles Himself to love us and to know us and to take care of us. Even though He is the greatest, most powerful being that ever existed, the very picture of God Himself, yet He is willing to love us! He is even willing to live within us, and to become one with us. What great love! What great mercy!
(From Shelley: On another occasion, I heard from Audrey again. This is what she said:) While on earth, I worried so much about the children -- so many starving children, so many children in need. What an atrocity! What a travesty against the truth. So many starving children, God's children suffering so much pain and agony, the forgotten ones!
Who is caring for all the little children, all the starving children? I will tell you who is caring for them -- God is caring for them! When the evil rulers of the world turn their eyes away and their hearts are hard through lack of love, God does not forget! All the little children of the world are His creations, and He loves each one. Each one is a jewel in His eyes!
Here in Heaven there are so many children! But here, they have all that they need! None are hungry or sick or alone or orphaned, for they are a part of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of love. There are so many children here in Heaven! What a joy to my heart! What peace I found here in the heavenly kingdom when I realized that even if man fails to care for the children of the world, God will not fail to care for them. They are His creations, His blessing to mankind, and even if man rejects them, God will save them and care for them as His own when they come here, to Heaven.
God loves children so much! Children are even born in Heaven, heavenly creations born in love in Heaven! So many children! The heavenly kingdom is full of children, and these children are part of what makes our lives so happy in Heaven. If you could understand how precious and important children are to the great Creator, you would value them so much more. You would care for them and treasure them and protect them, knowing that they are God's most precious creations.
Well, I think I have pretty well expressed what I would like to share with you. Don't wait as long as I did to find out this beautiful truth of how to really accomplish something that will last, that will be worthwhile, that will give you eternal joy. Seek after those heavenly things that are eternal, that moth and rust will not decay and destroy, but that will last forever.
Do you like what I'm telling you? Do you relate to what I am trying to say? If you do, l would like to ask you to do something for me: Just take Jesus! Just say, "I want You, Jesus. Please change me. Please come into my heart." He will! He will come into your heart and He will never depart. He will be with you always.
He is such a man of love! It is hard for me to describe it to you in earthly terms that you can relate to. If I was going to say anything, I would say that He is the embodiment of love, the lover of all lovers! He loves you and wants you to end up here, where He is, to partake of all this happiness that He has to offer you.
You don't need to worry about the future! You don't need to be afraid that you're going to go to Hell. You don't need to fear the Devil and his power if you'll just open your heart and your life to the power of God. Open your life to God's love! Open your heart to Jesus! This will free you from your fear, and you won't need to be afraid of death any more, because you'll know that you'll be with Jesus and you'll be in Heaven and you'll live a life of love for eternity.
Don't be afraid. Don't turn away! Don't reject this message. Reach out and accept it and believe. If you just believe, you'll know that what I've been telling you is the truth, that God is love, and He loves you! He wants you to live in Heaven in joy and love with all the happy children of His creation. Reach out today, won't you?
Well, thanks. It's been fun talking with you. I love you. I love you all, my dear friends! I pray you'll take Jesus. He's a real hot number! I love you! Bye-bye. It was always so hard for me to say goodbye. I really must sign off now, we can't just drag on and on. I love you! I love you all! Bye-bye.
Hepburn, Audrey (1929 - 1993), (born Edda Van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston), popular actress of the '50s and '60s, noted for her genteel appearance and onscreen charm, and later for her humanitarian work with needy children.
Born in Belgium to a well-to-do family, Hepburn grew up in London. She was on vacation with her parents in Holland when World War II broke out, and was forced to wait out the end of the war there. Holland was on the brink of starvation, and the Hepburns' struggle to survive included subsisting on tulip bulbs.
After the war Hepburn studied acting and ballet, and became a model. In 1951 she broke into the entertainment scene with her performance in Gigi on Broadway. That same year she made her debut in the movies, and two years later landed her first major role in Roman Holiday, which won her the 1953 Academy Award for Best Actress. She was nominated four more times for the award, but never won again. Over the following 15 years she enchanted audiences with her wide-eyed beauty and fairy-like charm, and set a number of fashion trends with her roles. Hepburn retired in 1968, although she later starred in one film and made several cameo appearances, including her last as an angel in the film Always (1989).
In 1988 Hepburn became a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), to which she devoted her full time until her death of cancer at age 63. She earned international admiration and commendation for her tireless efforts to improve the lives and living conditions of children in underdeveloped countries, particularly in Latin America and Africa.
Heading for the Upside
By Jerry Garcia
(This message from beyond was received through Keith Lefevre.)
(Jerry Garcia speaking:) "The Grateful Dead" -- that's a strange name, isn't it? Well, if there's one thing that I've found, it's that it certainly is true! The dead can be very grateful sometimes: Grateful that they're out of the world and all its pain and suffering and sorrow and misery, and grateful that they've gone on to a better place. -- That is, if they've gone on to a better place! You see, that's one thing I've learned in coming to the other side, that the dead who are grateful are those who have come to this side, the up-side, the heavenly side, those who received God's love in their hearts, who got a ticket and got on board. Those are the ones who are truly grateful. They're gratefully dead, grateful that they found a better life.
That's one thing I'd like to talk to you about: There is a better life ahead! You may wonder how I know. You may even wonder what I'm doing with a better life now, considering the way I lived on earth. To be quite honest with you, I'm pretty surprised about it myself! I certainly didn't expect that I was going to make it up here. I certainly did a lot of things in my life that I regret. I said a lot of things that I shouldn't have, and I guess you could say I led a lot of people astray.
But there's one thing that happened as I was dying: I was given a chance to receive this wonderful gift from God, a chance to repent, a chance to change. I certainly didn't deserve it, and it really did come as a surprise. I was presented with a choice: To receive God's love and go on to a new life with Him; or to reject it and go on to something else -- what, I didn't know.
So as I considered the options, I figured God's love was probably the best choice, and it certainly turned out to be! It turns out that the other choice would have been an extension of my own ideas, an extension of the way that I lived on earth. Whew! Let me tell you, that would have been rough! That would have been a sad story indeed. In fact, I found out that Hell is just an extension of your life on earth, only without the joys and without the love. That's pretty bad, isn't it? I'll tell you, it doesn't get much worse.
Anyway, I was going to tell you about hope and a new life. I think it's something that's really important to look forward to. In today's world we get bogged down with the present, we get discouraged with our surroundings, we get disillusioned by the people that we love, the people that we idolize, people like me. Hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of people looked up to me. I was their idol, their "god," but I had clay feet! On earth, so many of our idols have clay feet -- and not just clay feet, but clay everything -- and when they fall and crumble into dust, we become disillusioned. Our hopes fade and we start wondering what we're living for. I know a lot of you felt that way, and I did too.
So as I was saying, there's a lot on earth to bring us down, a lot of disappointment, a lot of despair. We look around and see a lot of pain and suffering. We see our hopes dashed, we see loved ones dying, and we start wondering, "Is life really worth living? Isn't there something more? Isn't there something better?"
We're told to search inside for the answers, that if you just look inside yourself, you're going to find the truth, the reality. I'll tell you what, man, that's a bunch of bull, because I never found anything inside! I never found the truth. I never found real peace. Maybe it helped a little to take a good look at myself and see where I was at, but it was downright discouraging! So that's one thing I found -- the answers were not in myself. And I don't think you're going to find the answers in yourself either. So much for that one!
Then we're told to look around at society, that society will provide the answers that we need. Well, if society has the answers that we need, then why is the system in such a mess? Why is it falling apart? Obviously, no answers there!
So where are the answers? Is there any hope? Is there any solution? There really doesn't seem to be much worth living for sometimes. There doesn't seem to be much worth dying for either, and existence becomes a drag, a daily survival, meaningless. Well, if this is how you feel, I've got good news for you: There's a better life beyond! There's a better life if you can just hold on. There's a reason for existence!
See, what I've discovered is that after this life there's eternity, and when you think of eternity, it makes this life on earth seem mighty small! So if you can just hold on to the hope of the next life, you'll be a lot better off. You've got to keep that in perspective. You've got to keep that in your vision, on your horizon. If you don't, you won't make it, and you'll be buried by the things around you. You've got to keep that vision of where you're headed to, where you're going to. -- That is, of course, provided you're headed to the upside over here, and not the downside! You can be sure you're headed to the upside by receiving God's love into your heart. Once you do that, you can have peace that you're headed to the upside. Then you can keep that on your horizon, in your vision.
Once you do that, life has meaning again! And you know what that meaning is? It's to share the same love with others so that they can have that same vision on their horizon, so that they can find meaning in their lives, so that they can have peace, so that they can have hope.
I'll tell you, man, I didn't know much about hope. Life didn't hold very much for me, but I'm so happy now that I've found hope and I've found love and I've found the truth. I had that chance and I took it, and now I want to help give you a chance. It doesn't have to come on your deathbed. It might be too late then! Anyway, why would you want to wait until the end of your days and continue to live a meaningless life without hope, without knowing that there's a better life beyond? Instead of being the grateful dead, you'll be the living dead! Living, but dead in spirit!
I guess that's a pretty good description of how I felt. My body was living, but my soul was dead. And all those drugs I was taking certainly didn't help either; in fact, they made things a lot worse! In some ways they opened my eyes to the reality of the spirit world around us, but they didn't help me to accept the good side of that reality; they brought me down to the bad side. So I know that the answer doesn't lie there.
You're not going to find the truth in a needle. You're not going to find the truth in a pill. You're not going to find the truth in a drink. The only place you're going to find the truth is by looking up! That's where you'll find the truth that lasts; the truth that lasts longer than a trip, the truth that lasts longer than a laugh, the truth that lasts longer than a party, the truth that lasts longer than a good night, the truth that lasts longer than a few minutes of relaxed meditation. I'm talking about the real truth, the truth that lasts forever! You're not going to find that by looking inside. You're not going to find that by looking around you. You're not going to find that by talking to some friend or reading some book. You're not going to find that by taking a pill or shooting up. You're only going to find it by calling out to the One above.
This is my chance to do things right. This is my chance to make up for some of the things I did on earth. I asked to bring you this message -- and it's good news, real good news! You can get rid of the sorrow and the pain by keeping your eyes on that vision of a better life to come, if you have God's love in your heart. Don't lose sight of it. Don't start looking down. Don't start looking around you at how bad things are or how bad you feel or how many bad people are around you. You've got to keep your eyes on that vision, you've got to keep your eyes on the horizon, you've got to keep looking up!
On another subject, I've got some real good news for all you music fans: Up here we've got good music too, let me tell you! We've got some heavy stuff that we're really groovin' out to, man, it's really neat! So I think all of you guys are going to like it up here. Of course, the message is quite different than some of the songs we sang, that's for sure! We're singing about peace and about love, but in a real way. I know we tried to sing about those things on earth too, but we just didn't know what we were talking about. We knew what we wanted, we knew what we were searching for, we knew what we were trying to attain, but we really didn't know what we were talking about.
But up here it's the real thing! This ain't no imitation! This ain't no pie-in-the-sky, this is the pie! Well, I guess you could say it's pie in the sky because it is in the sky! What I mean is, we've got it! It's not something we're dreaming up. It's not something we're looking forward to or we're searching for, but it's something that we have. So when we sing about love and peace up here, we can sing from our hearts, because we know it, because we're living it, because we're doing it! It's not some far-out utopia that maybe some day is gonna come around; it's something we're living every day, and that's what's so cool about it!
So I think all those of you who like to groove out on music are going to like it up here too! And don't you worry about falling asleep in any of our concerts up here, because we're not talkin' about any church lullabies! We've got some pretty rhythmic stuff -- pretty good beats, pretty good instrumentation with even some new instruments you haven't heard about! There are some pretty good guitarists up here, too, man, and they can really rock out on this stuff! So I think you're really going to enjoy it.
Most of all, it's just being together, being with people that you really love, with people that you know love you, and with God, most of all, and His love, which makes it all possible. It's like you don't just hear the music with your ears, but you feel it inside of you! You feel the message, you feel the words, your whole body feels it! It's like having an orgasm or something. It's really far-out! It makes our music on earth seem like child's play!
We had some nice music on earth. I guess sometimes we'd get little glimpses of what was beyond and we'd try to put that into music. But we didn't have very many glimpses of Heaven, we mostly had glimpses of the downside. That came out in a lot of what we had to say. But up here you're not just having glimpses of Heaven, you are in it! It's all around you.
So don't miss out, okay? Get your ticket today! Get on board! Keep that in your vision, keep that on your horizon! Don't look down, don't look around, just look up -- and I'll see you here, okay? Bye for now!
(Later:) This is just a little P.S. to all of you great folks out there, all of you Deadheads! I kind of laugh now when I call you Deadheads, because I see things differently now. I don't want you to stay "dead-heads," I want you to be "live-heads" and live hearts and live everything.
You know, this wonderful change that you've just heard all about can happen to you -- all of you folks out there. I do love you, and I do appreciate all your love, and you do mean a lot to me, more now than ever before. I tried to inspire you while on earth, and I'm glad you could dig the music and at least find some relief from your heartaches and your problems, but I really didn't have much to give, sorry to say. Had I known what I know now, I would have had so much more to give!
Sometimes I'm tempted to think that it would have been nice to know then what I know now, so that I could give you the real stuff, the trip that never ends, the trip of all trips, the high of all highs! You never come down from this trip, you know? I want you to have that, all of you, each and every one. I want you to have the trip that never ends, the best of all trips!
I know you did love me, and I really did love you then, and I love you even more now. There's lots of you great folks out there. You are trying to do your best, and my heart really goes out to you. You have a lot to overcome, and the world really does not make things easy for us. So please just accept this message. I know it'll take a few digs at your pride. Pride is such a hindering disease, really. I mean, we're brought up to have pride, but it's really a bummer! It really gets in the way, because this message I'm telling you is childlike. It's very simple: Just open your heart to love, to Jesus. It's very simple, but it's the truth if you can just dig it! So why don't you try? Why don't you give Him a chance?
Jesus is cool, you know? He understands what you go through. He came down to earth. He left this wonderful, beautiful place up here and He came down to the pit just to save you! He didn't really have to, but He did, because He loves you. And He had to suffer. The world didn't receive Him, He was called all kinds of names and He was persecuted, but He did it for love, and He did it for each one of you. He healed all the sick folks and He encouraged the brokenhearted, the drunks and the prostitutes, the whores. That's who He came for! He came for everybody -- everybody who's willing to receive Him.
So this is my wish for you, that you can all feel this wonderful love and know that you have eternity to look forward to. You can have freedom from pain and hurt and heartache right now. I know it's pretty heavy and perhaps some of you guys have bad memories from your upbringing of some of this being stuffed down your throats. Maybe it wasn't presented the right way, and maybe you got some distorted idea of who Jesus really is. But He can be your best friend.
(From Keith: After hearing from Jerry the first time, I was curious as to what he experienced when he died. He'd briefly mentioned that he was "given a choice," but gave no details. A couple of months later, I asked him if he could elaborate on what happened, and explain how he got to Heaven. The following is what he said:)
(Jerry Garcia speaking:) Like I said, it was right as I was dying. I guess you could say that I was already dead, and my spirit had come out of my body. I could see my body lying there dead, and as my spirit rose, much like many of the near-death experiences that you've heard about, I was met by this being of light.
This being of light then took me through my whole life in what seemed like an instant. I saw everything I'd ever done. After that I was given the choice to receive and believe on Jesus as my Savior, to believe that He was the Son of God and that Heaven exists and that God is the One that created Heaven and earth.
Now at this point, I hadn't really seen anything yet. I hadn't arrived in Heaven, I hadn't seen Jesus, I hadn't seen God. I was just with this angelic being. So it still took a certain amount of faith and belief in something that I couldn't see. Because you see, even though by this time I obviously realized that there was some kind of afterlife, it wasn't as if I could be certain there was a Heaven or a Hell or God or the Devil or Jesus.
But I felt so much love coming from this being of light that I was with -- I felt so much peace in my heart -- that I was persuaded that God must exist, that Heaven must exist, and that what I had read in the Bible about Jesus must be true.
Of course I'd heard about Jesus before. I'd been to church. I'd heard preachers, but I wasn't very interested in the kind of Jesus that I'd been taught about on earth -- the faraway, impersonal Jesus, the Jesus of tradition, of trying to be good and go to church on Sunday. That didn't appeal to me at all!
The love that I felt from this being of light showed me that Jesus must be something different, that He must be that same love, that same warm feeling of peace and understanding, someone who completely understands you, who knows what you're going through, someone who is like a best friend. So I knew in my heart, I realized at that moment that He was very different than the Jesus I'd heard about or been taught about on earth.
So I made the decision. I said, "Yes, I'll believe." And then -- presto! -- the next thing I knew we were going up through this tunnel and I could see this very bright light at the end. As we got closer and closer to the light, it seemed to take over my whole body! It seemed to become part of me -- or I should say, I was becoming part of it! And as I came into the light, all of a sudden I realized that I was in Heaven. -- And here I am! That's how I got here.
So as you can see, there's even hope for some folks who may have heard about Jesus on earth, but maybe it was just never presented to them the right way. The Jesus that they heard about was not the real Jesus -- the Jesus of love and compassion and mercy and understanding, tenderness, joy and happiness -- but it was the Jesus of rules and restrictions and traditions and taboos and holier-than-thou sanctimoniousness. So those who didn't get a chance to know the real Jesus, they can get a chance up here, on the other side.
Now from what I understand, it doesn't happen to everyone the same way. Not everyone is presented with that chance exactly the way it happened to me when I died. I don't understand all the different ways it happens to different people. I haven't been here that long and there's a lot that I still need to learn, so I don't know very much yet. I just know what happened to me and my experience. From talking to a few others, I can see that sometimes there are differences in experiences. But the bottom line is, no matter who you are or what your circumstances are, sooner or later you'll get your chance to make that decision. And when you do, be sure you make the right one! Be sure you choose the way up!
Okay, I think that answers your question pretty well, doesn't it? If not, well, you can always ask again for more information. That's it from me, I'm signing off.
Garcia, "Jerry" Jerome John (1942 - 1995), American rock star, singer, guitarist and songwriter, founder of the rock group the Grateful Dead.
Born in San Francisco, Garcia had a difficult childhood, witnessing his father's death by drowning while on a camping trip at five years of age. Independent and uninterested in school, as a teenager he turned to reading and music for companionship.
In 1965, inspired by the rock-and-roll of his adolescence, Garcia formed a six-man rock band called the Grateful Dead. As the San Francisco flower-power subculture gained momentum, so did the Grateful Dead's popularity. In the summer of 1967 they became well known for, among other things, their free concerts in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Their laid-back blend of psychedelic folk, rock, and blues influenced a generation of fellow hippies, and has remained popular ever since. Shunning the usual show business glitter and hype, the Grateful Dead built up a huge following of dedicated fans spanning two generations, affectionately known as "Deadheads." Many have attended hundreds of the band's concerts, making the Grateful Dead one of the highest-grossing concert acts in America.
Garcia, the band's main vocalist, guitarist and leader, came to be regarded as somewhat of a guru to his fans. His music and message preserved the free-love, tie-dyed and "tripped-out" hippie culture of the '60s, representing an alternative lifestyle to the band's faithful. Unfortunately, what started out as a happy-go-lucky search for the "ultimate high" may have been the eventual cause of Garcia's death. Beset with health problems, for years he battled addictions to cocaine and heroin. On August 9, 1995, he died of a heart attack at a San Francisco drug treatment center. His death left a void in the lives of thousands of Deadheads across America, who held vigils to mourn his passing.
Mysteries of the Future Revealed!
By Nostradamus
(This message from beyond was received through Stephen Rosen.)
(Nostradamus speaking:) The prophecies which I wrote down in quatrains, using words from different languages and seeking things out of darkness and shedding light on them, these prophecies are meant to be confirmations of the words of the prophets throughout the ages, especially the prophets of the Bible. My prophecies are meant to be confirmations, and also to fill in some details that are not covered in the Bible. The purpose of my prophecies is to point to the Spirit of truth and the Spirit that shall overcome all things, which is God's Spirit, through His Son, Jesus.
I did not know then many of the details that I know now. For before I did see, as the prophet and Apostle Paul spoke of, "through a glass darkly," but now I see face to face [EDITED: "1"]. I am thrilled that I was moved by the Spirit of God in many of the things that I wrote.
I did not have an upbringing that grounded me in the Word of God from my youth. The time that I lived in, the years of the Renaissance, was a time when society struggled to break free from the darkness of the Middle Ages imposed by the Roman Catholic Church. This great cover of darkness was brought about by an institution that was supposed to bring great light. Yes, there were many monks and monasteries that were pockets of truth, and these were "cities set on a hill that could not be hid." [EDITED: "2"] But yet how great was the overspreading darkness at times in the history of this church!
So God in His wisdom raised me outside of this church and its direct influence. I was therefore free to write as I was led, in sessions quiet and alone with only my lamp, my pen and the blank page before me. I would close my eyes and see pictures. I would close my eyes to the things 'round about me in the physical realm, and I would look beyond. My heart hungered for the answers to the questions: "Where do we come from and where are we going?" I knew of God, and I eventually came to know Him personally through His Son, Jesus. But many of my quatrains [EDITED: "were written"] and even my fame was gained during my search for the truth, enlightenment and direction.
When my eyes were closed, they were truly opened. When my ears were closed to the noise of the world 'round about me, they were opened to the spiritual realm. I listened and I looked, and I wrote down the pictures that I saw and the message that I was told to write. I did not understand much of what I wrote, for they were for times in the future. I did not know at the time that these writings would bring me fame, and that they would be looked at by leaders and important men in the world 'round about me. My writings were not totally understood, as they are still not today in your time.
The key to the answers, to the mysteries of which I wrote, the key to deciphering my allegorical and encrypted messages is found in the Bible and in the writings of Father David [EDITED: "Berg"]. For it was spoken of him that he was to be given the message of [EDITED: "the prophet"] Jeremiah, as well as the spirit of understanding, like [EDITED: "the prophet"] Daniel.
I did not know the purpose or effect of my writings and of the prophecies that were given through me, but I know that in your present time many people look to my writings. To them I say that the key to understanding them is to see that they are a sign post, pointing to the Word of God and to the foundation of prophecy, which is the Bible. For those things written in [EDITED: "the biblical books of"] Daniel and Revelation outline perfectly the timeline, the events and the descriptions of what will come to pass, as well as the events taking place at the present time.
There are those who look to me and to my writings as a primary source of wisdom and knowledge. These people do err, even as I erred in my earlier life, before I knew the living God personally. I was a physician and used my skills to heal them of the plagues, but the times that you live in today are far worse, with even more far-reaching plagues than those which ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages. -- Not only the plagues of darkness and the physical plagues of affliction, but also the plagues of poverty and oppression -- these are plagues that must be healed through the light of Scripture. God's people are physicians to heal the world of the plagues that are taking their toll in this present time.
I call upon all of God's children to shed light on the world in these dark times! These are the times of which many of my prophecies spoke, for they covered the rise of the one that is called the Antichrist. They covered the events with some detail, but my prophecies are not clear unless shown against the timeline of the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation.
I am a testimony of one who was secretly a Jew who became a child of God and a citizen of the kingdom of God. What a great fulfillment I have found in claiming Jesus as the Messiah! For although I was famous, although I was renowned, although my writings were read and revered even though they were veiled, the prophet is not without honor except in his own country and among his own kinfolk. As is shown in history, later, once the meanings of my writings were revealed, they were rejected by the Roman Catholic Church.
This is happening even now with the Bible itself. The powers that be are afraid of the words that tell of the power that is to come. They want to squelch any mention of the Endtime [EDITED: "3"] or Apocalypse. They say that all who believe or preach the Endtime are potential terrorists or heretics, enemies of the state who must be crushed; that by foretelling the fall of the present regime they are subversives, rebels and revolutionaries who must be destroyed, lest their words inflame the hearts of the poor and the oppressed, and these rise up against the established order.
How deceived are those men of the cloth and those men who rule this present world! God's prophets must warn the people! If the listeners take heed and repent, then their kingdom will be saved, as was Nineveh in the days of Jonah [EDITED: "4"]. But if they rebel and kill the prophets and ridicule their words, then those kingdoms have no future and will fall, as did ancient Israel and Judah. [EDITED: "5"]
Those who preach the warning message of things to come are prophets and bearers of the light! They warn that the present course, the road ahead, is dangerous and a dead end. They tell of another way, the way of salvation -- not only of the soul, but also for society and civilization.
My prophecies and those of the Bible explain the outcome. They tell that man will choose the wrong way and have to be saved by the physical coming of Christ the King. Only then will man submit to God's ways and find the peace, hope and fulfillment he mistakenly seeks through the worship of wealth and self.
Nostradamus (1503 - 1566) (born Michel de Notredame), French astrologer and physician. Author of many prophecies, he remains to this day one of the most well-known and widely read seers in history, outside of the Bible.
Nostradamus was born in Southern France into a Jewish family that had converted to Catholicism to escape persecution. He studied medicine and began his practice in 1529. In the 1540s his success in treating many of those struck by an outbreak of the plague earned him a reputation as a skilled healer.
Nostradamus began writing his prophecies around 1547, in Salon, France. These consisted of rhyming lines called quatrains, organized into groups of one hundred, each called a century. He first published his writings in 1555, in a book entitled Centuries.
After some of Nostradamus' prophecies were reportedly fulfilled, his fame greatly increased, attracting visitors to Salon for the rest of his life. He was invited to the French court by Queen Catherine de Médicis, and was later appointed physician to King Charles IX.
Nostradamus' prophecies were cryptic, and his mixture of French, Spanish, Latin and Hebrew words made them difficult to interpret. In 1781 Nostradamus' writings were condemned by the Congregation of the Index, the body set up by the Roman Catholic Church for the examination of books and manuscripts. His predictions remain the subject of much commentary, controversy and debate to this day.
In his prophecies, Nostradamus is said to have predicted a succession of actual historical events, including certain details of the French Revolution in 1789, and World War II. Other predictions remain as yet unfulfilled, and appear to represent future events.
"I Threw It All Away"
By Vince Foster
(This message from beyond was received through Vitorio Ginelli.)
(Vince Foster speaking:) My poor darling wife, my children, my family, my friends and my loved ones: I'm so sorry that I disappointed you and deserted you so abruptly, but the guilt and remorse were more than I could bear. All that I'd worked for, all that I'd dreamed of -- my ideas, my goals, my desires to help the poor and the oppressed -- was thrown to the wind because I wanted power, prestige and glory. I became "the great Vince Foster, the great mind of the administration, the tactician, the strategist"; but I gave up the things that mattered.
The depression that I went into is indescribable; it was more than I could bear. I saw in my own loving wife that I was losing all that I had worked for. She was losing respect, and she was sad for me, for herself, and for the children. I saw my own children looking at me and wondering, "What's happened to dad?"
But I couldn't bring myself to accept the simplicity of the forgiveness that Jesus was offering me. I even read the Bible in my depression, and the answers were there, but it was too simple for me. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't receive it. I even read in the Bible that there is no condemnation to them that love God. But I just couldn't believe that it could be that simple to be freed from all the horrible things that I had yielded to, and from how I deceived and hurt -- hurt so many by covering up and falsifying.
It's a horrible business, politics! It destroyed the good that I still had in my heart for others. I got so caught up in it, because I wanted the power. I wanted to be well thought of, that I was so smart, that I was so on top of things. But the guilt and the remorse and the condemnation killed me long before the bullet that went into my head. The bullet was the relief that set me free from the unbearable condemnation.
I know now that Jesus is the only One who can deliver us from guilt and remorse and from our sins, our hideous, horrible crimes that the Devil uses to condemn us. Now I know it really was that simple. All I had to do was turn to Jesus and accept His forgiveness, and I could have been freed from the shackles and the bonds that were holding me so tightly, suffocating and smothering me, and from the horrible pit of condemnation. The condemnation was from the Devil: First he tricked me into doing those things, and then he condemned me to death!
Jesus was faithful, and He was there to offer me the way out. But in my pride, I refused to humble myself, to face those that I had shamed, and to face myself for being such a small man. People thought, "This great hulk of a man, this great mind, this brave man, this fighter for justice!" I knew that it had all become a lie. I had started out that way, and that's really what I wanted to be -- an advocate for the poor and the oppressed -- but I took the wrong road. Power is the wrong road, glory is the wrong road, and success in the eyes of the world is the wrong road. But it was too hard to turn back. I now know how easy it would have been, and how God would have blessed my life and used me to help others in an even greater way than I had imagined. I could have helped others greatly.
I know now that Jesus still loves me. But if you come here before your time, things are not exactly the way they would have been had you come in the Lord's time and when He calls you to come. Nevertheless, I know now that the love of God is for real, the kingdom of God is for real, and Jesus' forgiveness is for real. Even if we take the precious life that He gave us, He still loves us, accepts us and receives us.
It's unbelievable! After the condemnation I fought and the depths of despair that I had fallen into, I could hardly believe that I could be so loved in the kingdom of God. You see, love really is the answer. Humility is the answer, being willing to confess your sins, your mistakes, your evil deeds, and make things right -- not just with God, but with others, with the people you've hurt, and most of all with the people you love. The answer is to not be afraid to be a sinner, to be poor and needy, to need forgiveness, to need love, to need God, to need Jesus' wonderful Spirit in your life.
Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't let power and greed and climbing the ladder of success murder you, as it did me. It leads to deception, lies, slander, libel, greed and every evil thing, which is more than any man can live with, or any woman can bear.
Follow truth, follow love, follow goodness and righteousness. Care for people. Don't cheat people. Don't deceive them. Treat them as you would have them treat you -- in fairness, justly, and in love -- and they will treat you the same. Then you will find real happiness.
I had everything! I had everything a man could want on earth, except peace of mind and satisfaction in my heart. I had everything, except the knowledge that I was doing what God wanted me to do, what He had shown me as a young man was His mission in life for me, which was to use the gifts and the talents He had given me to help the weak, to lift the fatherless, to care for the ignorant and the needy.
My heart was so full of that as a young man! I wanted so much to be a champion of the poor, but I yielded to the wrong thing. I paid a terrible price for those things that I thought would make me happy, the price of my manhood. Oh, what I lost! My beautiful wife, my children, everything I worked for -- my life! I threw it all away for nothing, for vainglory, for power. Oh, if I had only stayed closer to God. If I had only loved more, I could have so easily been what the Lord wanted me to be.
I wanted to come to tell you not to live for those things I lived for, not to strive for those things I worked for, but to strive for love and caring for others. These are the things that will make you happy and give you peace and joy in your life.
Vincent W. Foster, Jr. (1945 - 1993), American lawyer, served as deputy White House counsel under President Clinton.
Born in Arkansas, Foster studied law, graduating in 1971 at the top of his class. A longtime friend of the Clintons, Foster was a partner and prominent lawyer in the Rose Law Firm of Little Rock, Arkansas, where Hillary Clinton also worked. He worked closely with the Clintons during their various political campaigns, handling campaign and family funds. He was also responsible for transactions involving the Clintons' ill-fated and now infamous Whitewater investments.
After Clinton became president in January 1993, Foster moved to Washington. He was appointed deputy White House counsel, and was considered a "rising star" in the administration. Six months later, on July 20th, he was found shot dead in a Washington park. The cause of death is said to be suicide, although much controversy has surrounded Foster's death, including speculations of murder and of questionable conduct by White House officials in relation to the death.
Foster had been married to Lisa Braden since 1968. Together they had three children, Vincent, Laura and John.
Footnotes:
[EDITED: "1"] See 1 Corinthians 13:12.
[EDITED: "2"] Matthew 5:14.
[EDITED: "3"] Theological term referring to the time period immediately preceding and including the Second Coming of Christ and the establishment of His direct rule on earth, as predicted in the Bible.
[EDITED: "4"] See Jonah chapter 3.
[EDITED: "5"] See 2 Kings 25:1-11.
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
