I'll tell you!
Back in March I was fortunate enough to see Lady Gaga in concert when the "Monster Ball" came through. (Put your paws up, you little monsters! RAAAAAHH!) I know what most of you are thinking though: "Ugh, something ELSE about Gaga? Spare me!" Hold tight, little cherubs, I'll make this as painless as possible. Just relax.
The concert isn't my main focus, so I'll get to it. You all know her song "Born This Way," right? Well, during the concert she was talking about what inspired her to write "Born This Way" and it turns out it was her own mother and her love for God. (Crazy, huh? Gaga in love with God and Jesus? Who'da thunk...) She was telling us how that when she was in middle school, she was bullied and made fun of for such and such a reason. She told us that she would go home, and more often than not, she would cry to her Mom about how horrible the kids were to her, how she was made fun of for this and that, and how she would never go back to school because of the bullying. He Mom sat her down and told her that no matter what happened, she would always be better than those kids. She would make the world her stage, she would be a fabulous star, and one day the kids who teased her would really respect her. Of course, Moms just tell us all of those things to make us feel better. It seemed to work well enough, because she went back to school, ended up graduating, then getting accepted into Julliard on a hefty scholarship. She was telling us about other talks she had with her Mom, and how her Mom would tell her that God doesn't make mistakes. If you were born a certain way, then that's how He wanted it to be.
That was the point where I had a huge "Ah-ha Moment", and of all places, a Gaga concert... Hah!
So, how does Gaga tie into near-death experiences? About a month ago I was rushed to the ER with severe abdominal pain. I ate lunch, and about 10 minutes after eating I started feeling sick. I didn't think much of it, because I ate a really big lunch. I just thought it was my body telling me that I overdid it. I went along with my day, but the pain kept getting worse. I decided to take a shower, thinking that it would help me relax and dull the pain a bit. The shower actually made it worse... During my shower, the pain was so bad that it made me throw up a few times. I cleaned myself up again, got out, got dressed, then went upstairs to call someone to drive me to the hospital. While waiting, I couldn't handle the pain, so I threw up again. My ride finally showed up, but I could barely walk the 20 feet to the car.
During the ride to the hospital, I was convinced that I was going to die. I couldn't take a full breath, my heartbeat was up in the 200s - I was hyperventilating from the pain. Bad. I had never experienced anything so painful, and I was sure that the hospital couldn't do anything about it, so I was convinced that I was going to die. I did some serious death-bed/death-car seat praying. In the 10 minutes it took to get to the hospital, I felt calm enough that if I were to die, I wouldn't have any regrets, nor would I have anything to answer for to God. I was happy with where I was, who I was, because baby, I was born this way! ;-)
Long story short, they fixed me just fine. They gave me a bunch of heavy pain killers, nausea pills, ran a load of tests, then sent me home. Turns out I was having a severe gallbladder attack. Nothing that could kill anyone, but enough to really hurt them and make them wish they were dead.
This guy claims that he has found all the answers in the Bible about exactly when the world will end. Rather than try to explain it all, just go read it. It would make a lot more sense from this whack job, er, guy. However, if the world IS going to end on the 21st, I'm not taking any chances! I'm ready to go! No regrets.
And on the subject of the world ending, C.S. Lewis makes it sound so wonderful! Has anyone ever read "The Chronicles of Narnia"? In the last book, "The Last Battle", he describes the end of the world. It is just the end of THAT world, but not of life. Life will still continue, but in a different way. We will go on living in a whole other world very similar to ours, but still quite different. And really, it makes perfect sense!
Not that I actually believe the world is going to end on the 21st, because I don't, but why not be ready anyway? The Bible says that the world was cleansed once already by water (Noah), and that it will never be cleansed that way again, instead it will be cleansed by fire (Armageddon) this next and final time. I'm actually excited for that day, to be honest! What do any of us have to fear, really? I'm really not too scared to meet God, I'm more afraid of what will happen to the rest of the world. I've accepted God into my heart, I've been baptized, and I know that Jesus is my Saviour. I'm not afraid of how I will end up - I know where I stand in favor to God.
So, what do Lady Gaga, death-bed experiences, and C.S. Lewis have in common? They all have a tie to God, and they all gave me little "Ah-ha Moments" to let me know that I have nothing to worry about!
