Many years ago when we were all young adults, my brother Dennis converted an old, elongated barn into a home for himself. This barn/house sits about center of our 10 acre farm. Two months after the vision of the Sword I had a dream…
July 2004– As I enter the front section of the barn it is dark; the walls look to be black, as if charred. Continuing through the next section, it’s pitch dark and I can barely see. I bump into a huge boulder. It’s very wide and high, obstructing and blocking the entire area. Edging myself around, squeezing between the boulder and the wall, I get to the other side where I can see Debbie’s desk. There is much destruction all around, and whatever structure and furniture remain is badly scorched. As I continue through to the next area (Debbie’s bedroom), I’m by a wall structure and I can see through it. The framing is exposed and aflame.
Next Scene: I’m outside. As I walk away I turn to look back. I see smoke, a lot of smoke. End of dream.
Interpretation –
The Huge Boulder obstructing passage is symbolic of idolatry. Idolatry impedes and/or prevents passage to spiritual growth. The section where the walls appeared black, as if charred, and the huge boulder were in the section of the barn that now served as Dennis’s living room. One focal point of this room being the TV, where hours of time is spent each day.
Equated with idolatry is greed. Paul describes in Colossians 3:5-6 the outward expressions of sin, and then the inward cravings of the heart which is ruthless greed. The danger of greed is especially emphasized as a ‘gross sin’ for it is equated with idolatry. Such a person, instead of focusing his or her whole life on the things above, where Christ rules as King, is seeking the things below, and therefore worships and serves the creature rather than the Creator.
The special deadliness of this sin is dangerous because it may assume so many respectable forms.
The truth in our heart will manifest itself in our passions and pursuits. What are people giving themselves to? What are people giving their time, their talents, their money, their treasures, their attention to? We can say one thing, but what we give our time and energy too, that tells the truth about what we worship.
In Acts 17, Paul lands in Athens which is the pinnacle of culture for philosophy, art, and literature. Athens is like walking through Las Vegas where there’s idols on every corner. You can go to one temple that leads you to one temple and then to another temple. Before you know it it’s 2 a.m. and you’ve spent your whole night worshiping one god and demi-god after another. The whole town is filled with it. The writer Petronius said, you are more likely to find a god in Athens then you are to find a man. That is how prevalent the worship of false gods and demi-gods were in the city. Paul says, this idolatry is folly. It is dangerous and it is deceptive.
More than any other prophet, Isaiah shows the folly of worshiping idols. His sarcastic caricature, satire and denunciation of false gods reach a peak in chapters 40:18-20, 44:9-20, 46:5-9, and 48:4-11.
All who make idols are nothing and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame. Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit him nothing? He and his kind will be put to shame; craftsmen are nothing but men. Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror an infamy.
The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint. The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in the form of man, of man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine.
He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. It is man’s fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread, but he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and say, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.” From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me; you are my god.” They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
Paul would say to the men of Athens, I see you like to worship. You worship everything and anything. You aren’t short for things to worship. Today, this is equivalent to a modern day blender religion, or something you mix and match; I’ll take a little bit of Buddha and Hindu, throw some Jesus and Mohammad in, press blend, and I’ll drink that today. I’ll drink anything and everything as long as it suits my needs and my desires. As long as I get what I want, I’ll worship it.
You have the brain trust of philosophies going on in Athens; people educated beyond their intelligence, more degrees than Fahrenheit. Like the philosophers of that time, my brother Dennis is of this Epicurean philosophy. It is an individual whose life’s pursuit is all about pleasure, it’s all about making me happy. It’s all about my happiness, my benefit. How can I make life good for me. They are pleasure-seeking, self-indulgent, good-time, lotus-eating, unrestrained, gluttonous individuals. They are people who elevate the pursuit of happiness, over the pursuit of God. Isaiah would say of these,
For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze. Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, ‘My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’
You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ear has not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth. For my own name’s sake I delayed my wrath; for the sake of my praise I held it back from you, so as not to cut you off. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another. Those who trust in idols, who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back in utter shame. (Isaiah 48:4-11, 42:17)
The Vision
March 2009, five years after the vision of the Sword and the dream of the Charred Barn, I begin to have the following open vision. . .
In the back section of my brothers barn-house was his work shop and storage area. I saw a huge arm extending from heaven downward, passing through the structure of the roof and ceiling into the work shop.
In His hand he had a large container. He began to shake out the contents, spewing out large quantities of liquid all around the area. I had the sense that it was gasoline. The fuel was pouring out rapidly and forcibly, large quantities of it. (End of vision.)
Daily, for two weeks, I received that vision. I was sensing in the Spirit the echo resounding over the last five years concerning Ezekiel 20-21 was at an end. The Lord says in 20:46, I am about to set fire to you. The blaze will be unquenchable. Everyone’s face will be scorched. . .
The Fire
On April 10, 2009, a Friday, a local newspaper would report about a barn turned into a house that would go down in flames– Highlights of the article read. . .
. . .the fire started in a rear workshop. Fuel for mowing fed the fire.
An explosive fire with flames that grew swiftly.
A Lot of Smoke
The article would go on to say, ‘Fire and smoke damaged the remainder of the house. . .Steam and smoke still billowed from the ashes that remained. . .It really is just this huge pile of rubble and ashes, and then a portion of the house that’s still standing.’
In the years leading up to the fire Dennis’s choices reflected a lack of care and concern for both my own situation and that of my children, and eventually that of our mother. After the fire, like Joseph’s brothers in Genesis 37, and those of the religious leaders during Jesus time, their contempt for me was without limits. Eventually, it will become to dangerous for me to go to the farm to visit my elderly mother. Heartbroken, I would give up all hope of seeing my mom again or ever being by her side. As for my mother, like Jacob, she would never be comforted being denied her loved ones.
For the Lord will not be mocked; He detests all the proud of heart,
Be sure of this; they will not go unpunished.
The Lord will not yield His glory to another.
Prov 16:5, Is 48:11
In 1987, Reverend Park, a conservative 50 yr. old Presbyterian pastor, would die and return back to life. By the grace of God, his life would be extended for another 20 years. During his death, the Lord showed him Heaven and Hell. The following is just a fraction of the detailed description of what Reverend Park saw.
The two angels escorted me to Hell. You have no idea the enormity of Hell. It felt like Hell was a thousand times larger than the Earth. Half of Hell was colored red and the other half was pitch dark black. I asked the angels, “Why is this part red?”
The angels replied, “Do you not know? It is burning sulfur. The other half is darkness. When people sin and end up here, they will be tormented from both sides…There are multitudes of churches on the Earth, and many of the churches are filled with many people. However, most of them are not true Christians. They are but church attendants. The true churches will firmly believe in Heaven and a Hell. The lives of many Christians are in chaos because they do not firmly believe in Heaven and Hell.
I saw demons piercing and stabbing the stomachs of the people with sickles. Their screams were unbearable to me. I asked my escort, “Angels, what did these people do as they had lived on the Earth?”
“These people had jobs, houses, and families but they did not give to God; they did not help the poor, their churches, or other Godly purposes. They were very stingy and greedy. Even as they met with the poor, including those in their own family, they ignored them and did not care. They only cared for themselves. They were well clothed, fed, and had a comfortable life. This is why their stomachs are pierced for their bellies were full of greed.” Prov 28:27
If you are arrogant and prideful, you will bring curses upon yourself. We must confess to the Lord and to those we’ve wronged, and we must repent of our sins. Just giving lip-service is not repenting. With a contrite and earnest heart, we must repent.
Suffering years of ill treatment from both my brothers, myself being as much a rightful heir to the Fife farm, denied all rights as an heir. Denied the right to live in safety on the land, denied the right to be by my elderly mothers side without fear of being physically abused or threatened. Like the planes crashing into the Twin Towers, was two different belief systems, one righteous the other unrighteous, colliding, spewing fuel that would bring down a building today, tomorrow the destruction of four generations of rich Greek/Filipino heritage.
From the time of the ‘Turkey Dream’ revealing Dennis and Debbie’s condition, to the fulfillment of Dennis’s home taken by fire, was a span of 14 years. Seven years have passed since the fire and still no repentance. Isaiah 57:17 says, I (the Lord) was enraged by his sinful greed; I punished him, and hid my face in anger, yet he kept on in his willful ways.
Dennis is a threat, because he is loyal to no one but himself. What would a man give in exchange for his soul? A man with no heart or sense of duty is already a traitor.
The Sword of Judgement; Destruction…
The angel replied, it’s burning sulfur, and the other half is darkness. When people sin and end up here, they will be tormented from both sides. . .
Dreamers – Things to remember concerning interpreting your dreams: First, establish the focus of your dreams. Secondly, where are you in the dream? Are you participating, observing, or the focus? In the case of my dreams concerning the Charred Barn and the Fuel in Hand, I am simply observing. The focal point of these dreams is in regards to those individuals who occupy the barn-house. It is a warning dream; first to those who live in the barn-house, and secondly, because the home is located in the center of the farm, it is a warning to those family members who live on the farm. The warning is simple; the Lord God of Heaven and earth has the power to judge each individual according to his works. The end result for those who do not repent of their sin, especially, sins perpetrated against innocent family members is vividly portrayed in this photo. . .
A graphic picture of eternity in hell for those who don’t repent
Note: This photo was captured after firemen arrived. I would be shocked when seeing this photo for the first time. It was the exact scene in my dream; “Standing by a wall structure, the framing exposed and aflame.”
