Real Life Stories - Car In A Ditch

I’d had an ear infection for a week, which made it difficult to drive because of the dizziness and nausea I was experiencing. My boss wanted to interview a prospective new pharmacist member for the pharmacy chain we managed, who lived in the Hunter Valley region, north west of Sydney. So he talked me into being the driver for the 5 hour round trip, so he could make business calls on his mobile phone.

 Now my boss really loved BMW’s. This was his third BMW and he kept them in immaculate condition. The one we were driving this particular day was due to be traded in on the latest model in two weeks time.

 We had been driving for about two and a quarter hours when the bitumen road abruptly ended and we started up a dirt road.

 “Keep your eyes open, it’s on the left hand side, a two story brick house” My boss suggested.

 I was looking but could not tell which two story brick house was the correct one. If only we had a lot number. Soon I came to a big dip in the road with a T-intersection down the bottom.

 “No, no, you’ve gone past it. Turn around and do a u-turn” The boss commanded.

 I slowed down, did a right hand turn and put it in reverse. As I swung my head around to reverse, the ear infection made my head spin. I decided to use the mirrors. As a motorbike was flying down the dip toward us I made a decision to go back quickly to get out of the way.

 Everything looked good in the mirror as I moved quickly backwards. Suddenly there was a jolt, the car slipped backwards and in a split second we were pointing upwards at a 45 degree angle toward the horizon, but also were on a 45 degree angle along the length of the car, with his door facing the sky and my door facing the ground. I hit the brake immediately and dragged the handbrake on with a sickening crunch.

 My boss looked at me and I was speechless. “What have you done?” was all he could get out.

 We crawled out my side and surveyed the damage.

 When I had reversed, all I had been able to see in the mirror was a grassy slope that was easily negotiable. But behind us was a concrete drain, which ran all the way through the road. It was approximately a metre high. As we went backwards, we were going fast enough to clear the drain and land on our back wheels in the ditch. Now the back wheels were one metre lower than the front ones, one of which was touching the top of the drain, the other one sticking up in the air at a 45 degree angle. This was not good, especially if my boss was serious about trading this one in.

 “Oh, no, what have I done” I said to my boss who was torn between irritation and laughter.

 We tried to lift the car to no avail. We called the Pharmacist to tell her we would be late. We also tried to ring some local tow truck drivers.

 About four large men suddenly appeared out of their houses. Now this was 11am in the morning, so why these guys were home and not working is a question that went through my head. But not for long as my thoughts were shattered by their laughter.

 “Ha, ha, you city folks, always getting into to trouble, Have a go at this would you boys. How’d you manage that mate?” the biggest bloke prodded me with his words.

 “Ahhh, yeah, ha ha…. I dunno” was all I manage. “Can you boys give us a hand?”

 Together we tried to lift the car out. And together we failed.

 As the guys walked back to their houses, we were finally able to raise a tow truck which arrived about five minutes later. When it got to us I could barely hide my disappointment.

 In my mind, a tow truck should have these big metal ‘arms’ with hooks on them. These ‘arms’ would have been lowered into the ditch and neatly hoisted the BMW out. But that would have been too easy. This truck just had a long, flat metal tray and underneath, a long chain with a hook on it.

 As the driver surveyed the car I asked him a fair and reasonable question.

 “Mate, when you put the hook on are you just going to drag it out of the ditch”

 “Yep” he grunted.

 “Umm..ok, when you drag it across the concrete lip of the drain before the back wheels make contact, what do you think will happen to the underside of the car?”

 “Dunno” He looked up at me “Probably lose some of the muffler. There will be a fair bit of damage but there is nothing that you can do”.

 Great, I thought. This is going to cost thousands. What am I going to do.

 I had a thought. It was a prompting. “Is it ok if I try and lift the car when you pull on the chain?”

 The guy looked at me and laughed “Do whatever you want mate if you think it will help”.

 I got down in the ditch. The tow truck driver instructed my boss to get in his car. When the car was pulled out of the ditch, my boss was to put the brake on to stop it going into the ditch on the other side. ‘Great’ I thought ‘another 100kg to lift’.

 I got on my knees and put my hands under the back bumper bar. I looked up at the sky – a perfect blue sky – and thought of God. God who had saved my daughter. Then I prayed this prayer.

 “Lord, I really need your help. I have caused this problem. But can You help me fix it. Jesus Christ, son of the most high God, please lift this car for me?”

 At that instant I stood up – with the car in my hands – but it wasn’t me that was lifting it. The car came up to waist height immediately. I felt the tension of the chain and took two steps forward and neatly popped the back wheels onto the road. I let go and staggered back, slowly realizing what had just happened.

 My boss hit the brakes. He got out of his car. I walked around out of the ditch. The tow truck driver moved toward us.

 “How did you do that?” my boss enquired of me.

 “Fifty dollars thanks” The tow truck requested.

 I watched as the money changed hands, bursting on the inside. I jumped in the passenger side of the car. When my boss got in he turned to me and asked again “How did you do that?”

 “I just prayed”. A simple but true answer.

 My boss, knowing that I had undergone some major changes in the spiritual department replied “That would be about right” and we drove on. I was just glowing on the inside because I had seen the miraculous hand of God at work with my own eyes. It would not be the last time the Lord would answer prayers with amazing signs and wonders. He was questioned about the validity of this story by a colleague three years later in front of our whole team.. John confirmed the story and when asked how, the then sixty nine year old man said “The Holy Spirit”.
By Pastor Baz

Paranormal In The News - Russian boy dies during exorcism

ninemsn

A four-year-old boy has died during an exorcism ritual carried out by a traditional healer in the Far East of Russia, investigators say.

The boy's mother went to police on Saturday after the boy died while visiting a "healer" in a village, investigators said in a statement on Tuesday.

"According to the boy's relatives, his death was caused by alternative medicine methods used on him," it said.

The boy along with family members visited an ethnic Korean healer in the village of Sergeyevka in the Far Eastern Primorye region, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported, citing relatives.

The healer said that the family had a curse on it because the boy was a "demon" and told them to leave while she carried out an exorcism, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported. When they returned, they found the boy had died.

Read more here

Paranormal In The News - Russian 'lake monster snatches fishermen'

Ninemsn

Russian fishermen are demanding an investigation into a mysterious "lake monster" they claim has snatched missing anglers.

People who claim to have seen the creature in Lake Chany in eastern Russia have described it as "snake-like" and said it has a long neck, similar to Scotland's famous Loch Ness monster, the UK's Daily Mailreports.

According to others, the creature, dubbed Nesski, has fins and a huge tail.

To read more click here


Dailymail

The latest mysterious death of a 59-year-old man last week has fuelled demands for a proper probe into what lurks beneath the surface of Chany, one of Russia's largest freshwater lakes.

'I was with my friend... some 300 yards from the shore,' said 60-year-old Vladimir Golishev. ''He hooked something huge on his bait, and he stood up in the boat to reel it in.

'But it pulled with such force that he overturned the boat. I was in shock - I had never seen anything like it in my life.

'I pulled off my clothes and swam for the shore, not daring hope I would make it.'

He said his friend was pulled under the surface, a description in common with earlier incidents.

'He didn't make it - and they have found no remains.'

Three years ago 32-year-old Mikhail Doronin - a special services soldier - was lost.

Read more: here

Paranormal In The News - Chinese UFO still a mystery

ninemsn

A bizarre shape that was photographed soaring through the sky in China remains a mystery, with government officials failing to provide any official comment on the issue.

The UFO, which was described by some as looking like a "fireball", spooked locals and forced a major Chinese airport to ground several flights to avoid a collision.

The government has not yet given an official explanation for the incident, apart from one unnamed source telling the China Daily that it had a "military connection".

Staff at Xiaoshan International Airport in south-east China reportedly saw the bright light twinkling in the sky last Friday, leading them to declare a security risk and shut down operations.

Eighteen flights were affected during the incident and the airport re-opened one hour later when the object was no longer visible.

One unverified image that was purportedly taken by locals during the incident and has been circulating in the Chinese press shows a train-like object with two long strips of lights along its side in the sky. But UFO enthusiasts have hit out at the authenticity of this photo, saying it bears a striking similarity to long-exposure photographs taken of helicopters.

"I don't think a helicopter is what was witnessed," wrote one commentator on the forum Above Top Secret.

"I do, however think that it is definitely a helicopter in this picture and is more than likely unrelated to the incident."

Real Life Stories - The Angels Of The South

Although I thought this was a one off experience it was not long before the Lords messengers revealed themselves again. This time at Kingsway Community Church at Caringbah. I have to admit, I’m not one for chasing these types of experiences as I believe that you can actually end up seeking or worshipping things God never intended us to. Seeing angels could lead to an unhealthy fascination and possibly deception by satan, who can appear as an angel of light. We are warned in the scriptures that no human is to offer worship to an angel or anything other than God Himself. But God had a purpose for what He allowed me to see this particular week.

We were worshipping, with about four hundred people in the Church service. Behind me a snarling, scuffling noise broke out. It sounded horrific and I knew that it wasn’t my physical ears that were hearing it but that God had opened my spiritual ears. As I turned, a number of angels, dressed the same way as the ones at Penrith were leading out another angel. This angel had a filthy matted appearance, it’s glory had faded, it’s garments black, with unruly hair and open sores on it’s wretched face and hands. It snarled at the glorious, shining angels, but to no avail. A line of angels stood on each side along the front of the main stage as the band played on, oblivious to what was happening only metres away. This angel had no power to fight back and was led outside the Church to an uncertain fate.

I was in shock. Was anyone else seeing this? I knew I wasn’t mad and I knew what I had seen was real. But why me and why now? Why was God revealing this stuff? As I walked up the back of the Church to speak to a friend that small still voice told me to approach one of the congregation and tell him God had forgiven his sins.

Now I had only met this man twice. He was a great guy, solid, an ex-boxer and footballer. A real Aussie who had been called to seek God by the power of the Holy Spirit. I really didn’t want to say what I had just been told..

On the way back, that voice once again said “Tell him all His sins are forgiven”.

“Aawww great” I said under my breath. “Ok, Lord, your will be done not mine”.

 I approached the man who was still watching the band closing the last song on stage. I leaned over and spoke to him.

 “G’day mate, this might sound a bit weird, but..umm..God said that you were praying to Him this week and He said that all your sins are forgiven”.

 My friend just looked at me. His eyes filled with tears and his lip quivered. I put my hand on his shoulder not knowing what to do. Being a typical Australian male, another man crying made me uncomfortable, but the honesty of the moment was palpable. This was a man who had just been touched by God.

 I found out that he had felt unworthy to be forgiven by God and had asked God to take away his sins. That week he had asked Christ to be Lord of his life.

 I’ll never ceased to be amazed how God uses us to communicate with each other for His purposes. That moment God set the man free, because only God knew what he had prayed and this was an answer to that prayer.

 And the demon that was dragged out of Church. It’s just a theory, but I think someone asked God to remove it from their life and God showed me how he honours our prayers. How much He loves and cares for us.

Paranormal In the News - Airport Closed After UFO appears on radar screens

news.com.au

A CHINESE airport was dramatically shut down after baffled air traffic controllers spotted an incoming UFO on their radar systems.

Planes were grounded and flights were diverted away from Xiaoshan airport in Hangzhou City, in the country's east, after the mysterious glowing object appeared on monitoring instruments late Wednesday night, the Shanghai Daily reported.

In a further twist, the closure followed several supposed sightings of a strange airborne object across the city, with locals reportedly seeing a comet-like fireball in the sky.

Airport authorities immediately notified passengers to stop boarding and grounded all planes about to take off as flights were rerouted to neighboring airports in the cities of Ningbo and Wuxi, Xinhua news agency said.

The unexplained object soon vanished from radar screens but flights were delayed from taking off for a further four hours.

Read more: here

Paranormal In The News - New South Wales: An ancient haunting ground

NZH It's after dark on a steamy night in the Blue Mountains when we gather under the Great Arch, the magnificent entrance to the famous Jenolan Caves, and we tell our guide that no, we don't believe in ghosts.

Well, not yet anyway.

The ghost talk crops up because a small number of us are about to begin the caves' Mysteries, Legends and Ghosts tour. It's said to be free of Hollywood-style gimmicks like sound effects, instead relying on true tales of ghostly sightings and unexplained goings-on to scare the hell out of cave-goers.

It seems the Jenolan Caves are so spectacular that some spirits never want to leave.

But first a bit about the caves themselves. Scientists recently discovered the network of limestone caves make up the world's oldest open cave system, dating back 340 million years.

The Aboriginal people named the caves, set in a secluded valley on the edge of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Reserve, Binoomea, or "Dark Places".

To read more click here

Real Life Story - The Angels of The West

Penrith, in the western suburbs of Sydney, was not a place I normally associated with the words “Anointing of God”. Yet here we were, outside a basketball sporting centre, to see David and Kathy Walters. The Walters had a very anointed ministry, particularly with children. We had brought our kids with us to see what was going on.

As soon as I got to the front door I could barely stand, the presence of God was so strong. What is going on here? I looked into the auditorium. Nothing flash, just some musical instruments, microphones and a sound desk. But the feeling grew. We walked in and took our seats. The band began to play. This music was not your average worship music – not because it was technically better but it directed solely at God.

I lifted my hands up toward heaven and began to pray. As I prayed people I knew appeared in my mind and as they did I prayed for them. People from work, people from the protestant Church, people from the Catholic Church, people from work and relatives. I lifted them all up in prayer before the Lord.. And as I looked around the basketball stadium, I witnessed people all around me doing the same thing. The guy on the soundboard had an asthma puffer beside him and during the course of the day I watched him inhale deeply on it. There were other people who were obviously physically ill in some ways there as well, judging by the way they walked or stood – people from every background.

 As the music really started to go there, I had an intense and strange feeling that we were being watched – from above the metal barriers around the stadium. There were steel poles, suspended from wires on the roof and were the framework for wire mesh which separated each basketball court.

 I couldn’t help but keep looking along the railing. I felt a small still voice say “Would you like to see what it is?”

 “Yes Lord” I replied.

 Suddenly a between a dozen and sixteen angels appeared along the railing. Some were holding onto the wire supports. Others were talking to each other.. The rest were watching us intently.

 My jaw dropped. I stood in awe watching. They were dressed in a type of armour, white gold, shining, with hair like the sun and faces that were beautiful. On their backs was a scabbard with a sword in it. Some had what looked like pouches tied to their waists.

 I couldn’t believe it. This can’t be happening I thought. Suddenly a rumbling sound came from outside the court – a sound like a stampede with the gnashing of teeth and grumblings. It was a sound in the spiritual realm.. The angels turned to face it and drew their swords. The sound stopped. When they felt it was safe enough, they turned back to us. As we worshipped they lifted their arms to heaven. As they did this, in the twinkling of an eye, their armour turned into robes. They all did this in unison, praising God. When they dropped their arms they were instantly back in their armour.

Some of them reached into the pouches and threw what looked like glitter onto the crowd. I saw it hit the drum kit, the drummer and the musicians. Some of it drifted onto the crowd.

“How strange!!” I said to myself. I had never read of anything like that. What was this strange substance.

 I noticed one of the angels was looking directly at me, on my right hand side. I looked at him, then giggled and looked away. Then I looked back. I nodded and spoke to him, not with my voice but with my mind, which was very odd. I said the first thing that came into my mind.

 “Hi. What is your name?”

 “Araniel” The angel replied.

 Whoa. The angel spoke back.

 “What are you doing here?” I spoke, grinning from ear to ear, barely able to contain what was going on.

 “We are here to protect you”.

 “Thank you” I said, not really knowing what else to say. The amazing thing was that the angels were just going about their duty, not seeking anything but to do the will of God. The worship leader asked us all to sit after the last song. As we sat, the angels flopped onto their backsides rather elegantly along the railing, some continuing to throw the glitter.

 As the service started the angels just simply faded out, although their presence could still be felt. As soon as David Walters started talking, I forgot about the amazing thing I had just seen because all the glory in the sermon was being given to God and to Christ. In the break I mumbled what I had seen to the people who were with me – and they were amazed. Then I heard someone in the background mention something extraordinary.

 “Did you see the gold dust on Kathy Walters, it’s all over her?”

 No way. This was incredible. I had thought the angels were throwing glitter but now other people can see it on the guest speaker!!!

 That day I saw the most incredible things. I saw children (including my own) come under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, lay hands on the sick, pray for them and the sick were healed. The experience of seeing the hand of the Lord at work far outweighed anything I had seen earlier. The man with the asthma puffer disappeared after the kids layed hands on him. He came back pouring with sweat and took the microphone.

 “I have had chronic asthma for 15 years. I have not been able to run 100 metres during that time it has been so bad. Tonight the Lord has healed me.. I just ran 50 laps around the basketball court outside”

 The crowd broke into thunderous applause. “Praise the Lord, praise the Lord” they shouted. That healing was one of around twenty that night equally as tangible.

 And the angels? They had been sent to protect us and to worship their Lord just as we had.

Real Life Stories - I'll Never Forget My Dad

I had signed up to a mailing list for a Christian Jewellery store. I'd bought a silver fish necklace for my mum once from there and so I get their newsletters in my inbox every now and then. I was reading this one and I felt it was appropriate to share on here. I asked permission and Norma said she wouldn't mind me sharing it so here it is:

Dear Friends

I'll never forget my Dad!

My Dad passed away in August 2005. I’ll never forget my Dad. He was a real free spirit, he lived life his way. Him and my mum split up when I was 16, yet his knock on the front door was so familiar as he visited us every day until I left home at age 21.

He was 83 when he died and I had the privilege of leading him to Christ, just a few months before. The heavens opened that day in his hospital room as He accepted Jesus as Lord in his life. His shouts of “Praise You Lord Jesus” were some of the last words he spoke before he died of a series of mini strokes.

In West Indian culture the tradition is that all the family get together for nine nights after the death to mourn together and to celebrate the life of the deceased. I admit it was a tense time for me and my four elder sisters, as we were not quite seeing eye to eye at the time. I remember one conversation where we all claimed to be Dad’s favourite daughter - you see my Dad had this amazing ability to make each of us feel really special.

My eldest sister said, “I know I was His favourite because he always gave me money when I needed it.", another sister said the same, my other sister said, she knew she was his favourite because he bought her, her first car and Patsy (who is a year older than me and has a chronic illness so she’s in a wheelchair) said, she knew she was his favourite because he turned up every Sunday to push her wheelchair to church, even though he never stayed for the service. I thought I was his favourite because when he was sick he came to live with me and I had the priviledge of looking after him for a few months before he died. He moved in after his first stroke in January 2005 and he died in August 2005.

On the morning that my Dad passed away I got a phone call at around 5.00am the voice on the end of the phone said, "your Dad's fine, he’s sitting up and eating."

"Thank you", I replied, "that’s good news" and I went back to sleep. At 7.00am the phone rang again, the voice said "I'm sorry, but your Dad passed away at 5.00am this morning, I’ve been trying to call you since then". "But that’s not possible", I insisted, "I spoke to you at 5.00am and you said he was fine, I recognise you're voice!" Through my immediate tears of loss, there was a strange sense of comfort and peace… I knew he was forgiven and resting in God's peace, I knew my Dad was fine. At his funeral I told the story of the phone call from an angel, letting me know my Dad was OK, and I read this verse, which is so, about him: 

"Blessed is the man who's transgressions are forgiven, who's sins are covered." Psalm 32:1

He loved to dance and sing, the life and soul of every party, I look forward to dancing with my Dad in heaven!

Nothing makes a daughter feel stronger or safer than knowing that she is loved and validated by her father. That reminds me of the way God treats us, the perfect father who meets us where we are, each of us given special and unique gifts for His glory. Every man, woman or child, the apple of our Fathers eye!.

For that special gift for your special Dad this Fathers Day, give Silverfish Jewellery and spread the Word!

Love and blessings in Jesus,

Norma & Co

Norma J Murrain, Jewellery Designer

Please check out Normas wonderful designs here: www.silverfishjewellery.co.uk