I met God on a Dancefloor...

I absolutely have to start this blog with this quote I ran across a few months ago:

"You can search for God in the Bible, in church, leadership, healing... even in heaven... but until you find God in the mirror... you haven't found Him at all." taken from Evie Turnquist and modified a bit


Man... that is one of the most profound and awesome statements I've ever heard. You could add so many things to the beginning of it... since we have all looked for God in sooo many places. Sadly, Religion is the place so many go to to find Him... and the truth is that He doesn't exist there. However, He is big enough to reach you in spite of Religion... if you'll let Him. That's what happened to me... albeit... probably not the way you are thinking.

I would now like to offer a brief description of my testimony......

Fifteen or so years ago, my life changed dramatically... I was a good kid... very athletic... freshman in college... good grades... blah, blah, blah... not the point here...

I began to expose myself to a culture in the night club scene in Orlando that was like nothing I had ever known. The electronic music and psychedelic drugs that were prevalent there... in addition to the natural curiosity and naivety of an eighteen year old boy... combined to creat an arena of great revelation for me. I began to journey deep into my psyche and belief system on my many "journeys". The hypnotic sounds of some of the best dj's in the world being played at our legendary clubs was like icing on the cake for me... I began spending hours and hours dancing... becoming very attuned to the very Truth that I was created with a Spirit.

My time on the dance floor can best be described as Spiritual Foreplay... I would be in a club with lots of people... climb on top of a large speaker box... and gradually enter my own universe in the Spirit. It would start out as me wanting to dance... then feeling like I had to dance... to my eventual total submission to the music. It was like I was being taken on a tour of myself by my Spirit, and we danced the whole way... room by room through my thoughts, beliefs, and dreams.... dealing with the pains, emotions, and confusions of a teenage mind. This was a common scenario for several years of my life in the early nineties... and it all came to a head on the eve of my 20th birthday...

You see... I had made a religion out of taking psychedelic drugs. Taking them was how I got closer to God. It's where I thought Peace was.... so much so that I realized something really sad and heavy on this particular night: That there was a very real chance that I would overdose on drugs... due to the inevitable "coctail" mixtures of drugs, this was becoming a regular occurrence in this scene..... and the crazy thing is, I was actually okay with that. I mean... I was having Revelation, right? It was certainly worth the risk, right? Sadly, and due to a very clouded reality... that is what I thought....

...and herein lies the point..... Religion may offer periods of Peace and revelation.... but always at a cost to the believer...

That very night, during an intense episode... I had a moment of clarity that changed my life forever... I was standing in the living room of my apartment, only a short time after having the above mentioned awareness that I was willing to die for the experiences I was having. I was getting my groove on... in my own world as usual... but then, in an instant, I was as sober as I am sitting here typing this... I had total clarity and awareness of what was happening... and was no longer in that living room... in fact... I was not in the physical realm at all. I don't really know where I was, but there was no gravity... no sense of direction... nothing... it wasn't dark, and it wasn't light... I think there was some sort of fractal pattern, but I suspect it was just an image from my memory of a large poster we had hanging in the apt... but here's the important part:

I suddenly had an overwhelming sensation that touched me to the deepest core of my Being... The 26 letter alphabet that I am fluent in has absolutely no hope of ever explaining it... the best I can come up with is this:

Love...

HIS LOVE.

I knew it the moment it happened... it was the most personal, intimate, amazing, and REAL experience I've ever had... and I was instantly in full revelation of several things: That I was perfectly and intentionally created... I was not an accident, or a by-product of some accidental scenario that produced this life... That I was accepted just like I was... that I had a great purpose for being created... and most importantly..................... that this LOVE that I was experiencing was EXACTLY what I came from.... what I was MADE of..... and, very clearly, I knew that I did not even have the capacity to measure it... in fact, what I had experienced, I knew, was such a tiny, tiny fraction of it... and it absolutely rocked me to my very core...

I guess one way of putting it is that I wanted to know God... really really know Him... for myself. Although I was giving the credit to a little pill or dose of psychedelia, and had made a Religion out of it... somehow I had put my heart in a place of true yearning... I had rebuked all other versions of him I had ever heard... and I simply experienced my God personally... exactly how my unique character needed to experience Him to find Peace... HIS PEACE.

In spite of my self-made Religion.... God is a Heart God, and I experienced Him because of the very basic God-inspired yearning in my Heart to know my Maker.

***Please do not take what you just read as any sort of reason to take drugs. As I mentioned, I actually was willing to risk death to continue the relentless pursuit of Peace through drugs. I went to jail twice, damaged many relationships, had many sketchy experiences, and much more through this lifestyle. I could easily be in jail, for many years from the poor decisions I made at that time... or much, much worse. This is my testimony, and I tell it for the sole purpose of reaching people with the Gospel. If you read this, and seriously think I am promoting drugs, you are totally missing the point.***

Though it was a gradual process after this... I eventually removed myself from this scene... I needed to... it was time. I began to follow my passions, settle down, and begin down the path of growing up to be the man I am today. I had stopped looking for God in any Religion I had ever heard of, as I felt none of them could even touch what I had experienced... that is, until my son was born.

My wife and I were both raised in Christian families, and it was tradition to baptise your child. We both agreed that we didn't want to do it just to do it, so we started checking out churches. We found one that we liked, and began attending regularly. I started looking in the Bible to see if I could find my Friend, but for several years stumbled through the Bible like most of us do... Then, a few years ago, I had my second greatest revelation at a leadership conference at our new church (and, if you're still wondering... I was NOT on drugs this time!). The speaker was teaching on our true identity in Christ, and it hit me like a ton of bricks:

Jesus IS my identity. He represents what God created me to be... Jesus is a MAN who had a TRUE revelation of who he is... that He is both MAN and GOD!!!

My Friend that I had been searching for for so long was not "out there" somewhere.... He was IN ME!!!

As I sat there in awe of what I was hearing, I remembered an event that occurred during one of my "sparkly-eyed" adventures:


Very early on, I had learned that it was a common belief that you were not supposed to stare at yourself in the mirror too long when you were tripping... so.... naturally, I felt obligated to try it. It had never resulted in much more than some pretty far-out fractal visuals... and it became a normal thing I did any time I went to the restroom on one of my "journeys". However, on one particularly deep journey, I had a very clear vision in the mirror as I stared deeply into the depths of my enlarged pupils...... I was staring right at Jesus... and He was staring right back at me... I dismissed it that night as no big deal, probably another image from my memory... but as I was listening to the speaker that morning.... well, it was clear to me it was no coincidence...


So.... why do I tell you all of this? Why do I risk you judging me for the testimony I just gave? Why don't I just keep this to myself? Well.... it's really quite simple...


I can't...


I have been so touched by the Love of God... so radically changed by a Revelation of my Friend.... so inspired with Hope that this Life is not as it appears..... that I can't keep it to myself... If there is a chance that my testimony can reach somebody, and help them to see that God has gone to the ends of the Earth through Jesus to give us the Peace we so long for... if I can help somebody step out of their "box", and feel true Hope..... well... that is my motivation.


As I see it, Religion is trying to suck the Life out of every person on this planet... As I stated in an earlier blog, it is like an Operating System, and every thought and experience we have is funneled and processed through it.


...but God has an answer for Religion...


...He is my Friend.... He dances with me daily.... His Spirit is my Inner Groove...


...His name is Jesus....

So... how do we get out of the Box? (pt. 2)

The first step, of course, is to believe in Jesus. If you don't, what he accomplished on your behalf is unavailable to you.

This is where we're at... Because of the choice that Adam made in the Garden, all of mankind from that point forward began to operate out of Religion. They forfeited their God-given identity, and took on the "do-to-be" identity that is the foundation of all Religion. This counterfeit identity has been passed down through each generation ever since... with no hope for salvation outside of performance. That is, until Jesus came.

It is my goal to share my revelations of Jesus with you through this blog. However, I want to offer you the chance now to begin your own walk with him. I encourage you to forget any traditional version of Jesus you have ever been presented with... and open your mind to the possibility that Religion has misrepresented him from the very beginning. But I have Good News for you... He will reveal himself to you EXACTLY the way you need him to. He knows you better than anyone, and knows exactly how you came to believe what you do now. It's this simple... if you want to make the best decision you'll ever make on this earth... just say the following and believe it:

"Thank you, Father God, that two thousand years ago you came into this world through your Son, Jesus Christ. He came to reveal your true nature to the world, and the true identity of Man. He fulfilled all the requirements of the Religious Laws on my behalf, and became MY sin. He took all of the curse, judgement and punishment that MY past, present, and future sins have earned me, so that I will never have to experience it... EVER! He was crucified on the cross, died and went to Hell so I don't have to. He was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit and now sits at your right hand in Heaven... and you included me in the whole thing. Thank you for giving me your Spirit so that I can begin to live the amazing Life you have for me."

Yep... it's that simple... if you said that for the first time, you have secured your eternal destination. You don't even have to understand it... in fact, I don't even understand it either. I can't even grasp how Jesus did what he did, but I am thankful every day that he did it for me (and you!). (Please email me at zoelifeforfree@yahoo.com )


So, now let's begin our journey...

First of all, Religion isn't done with you yet. It will immediately begin to challenge the reality of what just happened to you. Religion will have you believe that, though Jesus gave you a ticket to Heaven... your performance can lose it for you. Please hear me here: YOUR PERFORMANCE DID NOT EARN THIS GIFT FOR YOU, THEREFORE IT CAN'T LOSE IT. So, rest in the Truth that regardless of anything you will ever do, or not do, from this point forward, your eternal destiny cannot change. PERIOD. Even unbelief can't undo what just happened. You can't even un-believe your way out of Heaven... no matter how goofy your beliefs may become. You took a leap of Faith by believing in Jesus. You stepped out of the Box for an instant... and that can't be undone (not that you would ever want to).

If you never do one single thing different in your life than you've been doing, it doesn't matter. You're still going to heaven. You may not experience the quality of Life here that is your inheritance, but you're still going to heaven. This is very important, and it is a source of Peace that is yours for the taking. When life is not the way you want it to be, when you hit the inevitable "lows"... you can find Peace in the fact that God still loves you... no matter what. His love is the same on your best day as it is on your worst day. He loves you because of who He is... not because of what you do. God IS Love, therefore He is able to give it to whomever He wants... and on His terms. He wants everybody to experience it, and He has no conditions. He does not attach His Love to performance, and He's allowed to do that... He is God, you know.

I highly recommend you listen to the following mp3's called "A God you can connect with" -
http://fambible.org/Audio/Series.aspx?name=A+God+You+Can+Connect+With

So, let's get back to Jesus...

You see... Jesus was a Man. And He was God. This is the source of sooooo much confusion... and another way Religion can rob you of Life. By believing that Jesus had some sort of advantage over you, that what he accomplished during his life was done only because he was God, makes your ability to relate with him impossible... and robs you of any hope to have the same success in your obstacles.

I have much to say... but I'm going to close this entry with a bold statement for you to chew on. By saying the prayer you said above... by asking Jesus to become your Reality... you now have His Spirit in you. You just traded in the Spirit of Death for the Spirit of Life... and now......

YOU ARE EXACTLY LIKE JESUS. HE IS YOUR TRUE IDENTITY.

So how do we get out of the Box? (pt. 1)

As I stated in my first entry, Jesus is our way out. He came to show us what life outside the box looks like, and has offered to show us how to live it... step by step. Though it is not my style to present a ton of scripture in this blog, I think it is necessary to see what Jesus says about this:


"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on Religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of Grace. I wont lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Matthew 11:28-30 in the Message Bible


As I said before, Jesus came for many reasons... but my focus is this: He came to show us Reality, and to free us from Religion. Because of the decision that was made in the Garden, Man began a love affair with religion, and its bastard child Sin.

As I have spent time meditating on this, and asking God to help me reveal my heart here... I offer this illustration that may help:


Microsoft has designed and debuted their newest and best computer model ever. It's called MAN... and its potential is nearly limitless. As you know, a computer handles all of its functions via an Operating System such as Windows XP, Vista, etc., and the new MAN was designed to operate with the "Abundant Life" operating system. By using this combination as it was intended by Microsoft, your experience with MAN is optimal. It can do things no other computer is capable of, and it performs nearly effortlessy.

Now...... Microsoft's main competitor, Macintosh, is jealous of the success of MAN, and they want a piece of the action. They debut their own Operating System for this computer called "Religion". They are marketing geniuses, and proceed on an unprecedented campaign to promote their product. Though it is compatible with Microsoft's MAN, it lacks the proprietary advantage that the "Abundant Life" software has. In other words, Microsoft created MAN and knows it better than anyone, and their software is a perfect fit. Unfortunately, consumers are totally taken by the marketing of Macintosh's "Religion" software, and every one of these MAN computers now use it. However, the consumers are not experiencing the potential that MAN really has, and they are very frustrated.

"Religion" seems to make even the simplest of procedures very complex. So Microsoft has a solution. In fact, they knew this was a possibility from the very beginning. So, they debut the "Savior" software that has the potential to reset the computer to the "Default" settings that Microsoft designed MAN to operate out of, and return it to the "Abundant Life" operating system. But this has to be done step by step, so the "Savior" software has a tutorial function called "Spirit" that will walk the consumer through the process step by step to untangle the web that the "Religion" system has created.

Though Microsoft would love for every single consumer to override their "Religion" system with the "Savior" software, it would never force them to. They just don't do business that way, and besides... we do live in a free country, and the consumer is free to choose how they want to experience MAN for themselves. Most of them have been using MAN bound by the "Religion" system for so long now, they don't even know the potential MAN really has. "Religion" is clever in its design, and can imitate some of the successful processes that "Abundant Life" has... but always at a cost to the consumer, as "Religion" seems to require more and more effort from them. Most consumer's friends and family are using MAN this way... They see successful people and athletes using their MAN this way... they work for large companies that all promote this use of MAN to be correct... and, really, there seems to be constant demand to continue to use MAN this way, though it is not the way it was supposed to be.


Well, I am fairly knowledgeable about computers, but am certainly not an IT professional. I'm sure my example may not be perfect, so don't over think it. I just wanted to use it to introduce my main point of our Belief system being compared to an Operating System. I hope it gives us a tangible visual in this high-tech world we live in that most can relate to....





to be continued...

Introduction to Free Will

Hello, friends.

I am here for one purpose: To challenge you to step out of the box.

"What Box", you say? Glad you asked.

It is my belief, after many ridiculous hours of pondering and meditating, that we do one of two things during our time on this earth: We either have a revelation of Reality as God created it..... Or, we operate out of a box of thoughts and beliefs that have come from any number of sources.

Sounds pretty simple, right? Or have I turned you off already?

Hang in there for a second.... you might be surprised.

If you do not believe in God at all, you'll get no judgement here. I get it... and, honestly, after hearing many people's interpretations of God... I often wonder why they would believe in Him at all.

I propose this thought for you to chew on: Maybe the reason there are so many versions of God is based on the simple fact that He operates out of Free Will... and people don't. Maybe God does not force His Reality on you.... but Man does. Maybe in Man's efforts to answer the questions of "Who am I... Why am I hear.... and Where did I come from?".... we have invented countless theories of Reality.

But I want to challenge your common sense here: Is Reality really Reality if there are countless interpretations of it? Shouldn't it come from the very Source of our Creation? (and I'm not referring to your parents!)

So let me offer this scenario for your consideration, and introduce you to some of my own revelations:

God is Love. It is who He is, and how He operates. Love requires Free Will. If not, it's not love... it's slavery and manipulation.

God created Man in His own image. He breathed His very Spirit into Man, enabling him to experience the same quality of Life that He experiences. Wholeness, Peace, Freedom... a Miraculous Life.

God wants Man to operate out of Reality... This comes from an understanding of two identities: Who God is, and Who Man is.

But God had a responsibility to Man because of Free Will. He had to warn Man of the consequences of making bad choices. He warned Man not to buy into Religion.

What is Religion? Well.... I have pondered this often, and I would like to summarize it simply as Man operating out of anything other than Reality..... GOD's REALITY. When we are unsure of who God really is, or who We really are... we will either create our own version of Reality... or buy into a version presented to us from someone else. You can trace every single Theory, Belief, or Moral System to this very thing...... Rather than believing what God says, we have made up our own Reality.

The Bible describes this story in the first few pages (Genesis 2:15-17). God told Adam there were 2 specific trees in the Garden. The Tree of Life.... and The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

I like to refer to them as the 2 choices Man has....

Reality or Religion.

Life or Box.

I think we all know what choice Adam and Eve made. This was the birth of Religion. The Deceiver subtly mentioned it.... and Man has Franchised it ever since.

The challenge for us all is this.... Get out of the Box.

It is my belief that we all, to some degree, live in this Box. Religion is like a disease or virus. It's the worst cancer this world has ever seen, and it is at the core of every problem Man has. It lives in our homes and our hearts... sits in our pews and our bleachers, teaches from our classrooms and pulpits, and it thrives in our beliefs.... even when we think we are believing against it.

Ponder this: What if, by saying "I don't believe in God", you are actually buying into the very thing you think you are standing firm against.... RELIGION?

You see.... God is not Religious. People are. In fact, I would volunteer that God is the very OPPOSITE of Religion. Thankfully, God has dealt with Religion in Jesus, and He is our way out of the Box. Jesus came to do many, many things... but my focus for this discussion is on this: He came to show us Reality, and free us from Religion. He has perfectly revealed who God is, and who Man is. He has shown us what life outside the box looks like, and wants nothing more than to show us how to LIVE IT.

Believing in Jesus is the first step. I like to describe it as getting a small window cut out of the box. We can now see the Tree of Life, and we can rest in the Truth that it IS our eternal destiny. When we die, we get out of the box and go to Heaven (which is certainly better than the alternative).

But there's only one problem: We're still stuck in the Box now.

To be continued......