Tag: John Klassek

That’s not what Jesus said.

What did Jesus exactly mean? He said:

“But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.” (Matthew 11:24 NKJV)

According to Jesus, all the dead, will be raised back to life.

Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth— those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of [lit. judgment]. (John 5:28-29)

Awaiting those who never knew God – the wicked and all unrepentant sinners – is the second resurrection when God will judge them.

Today, when we think of Sodom, we think of wickedness and depravity. Sodom is synonymous with heinous acts of treachery, homosexuality, and mob rule. God passed judgment on those wicked people, and they perished in a fiery blaze.

But, one day, those same people will rise from their graves to face their ultimate judgment. So why will it be “more tolerable” for the Sodomites that it will be for the peoples of Jesus’ day?

Jesus said:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (John 5:24 NKJV)

Those in Sodom, going on what Jesus is saying, perhaps have never heard of the true God. They never had the opportunity to believe in the One who became Jesus, and so how can they be accused of refusing the Son of God? But to the Jews of Jesus’ day who opposed Him, according to Jesus – well, it seems they’ll be judged with a less than a favourable outcome.

The Sodomites faced their punishment a long time ago. And yet, it would appear from Jesus’ own words, that it will be “more tolerable” for them on the day of judgment. That is, will it be slightly less hot in hell for them than it is for others? Of course not. Does it mean that they may ultimately be given the opportunity for salvation in Jesus Christ? Think about it.

God is a righteous Judge. He is a God of mercy, and according to Jesus’ own brother, “Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:13)

We must be very careful at how we interpret the scriptures. If you think that the second resurrection is an automatic condemnation to an eternal and fiery obliteration, think again. That’s not what Jesus said.

johnklassek2014b

Out of body experiences

We know at death, the body returns to the ground, and the spirit returns to God. As Stephen was being murdered, he cried out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts 7:59)

This spirit, probably entering with our first breath, enlivens body and soul, imparts higher intelligence, reasoning ability, an aesthetic sense and a God-consciousness, and somehow returns to God at death. The process of disengagement from the natural body may account for reports of near-death experiences. If the patient is resuscitated, the spirit may indeed have “recorded” environmental events that can be recalled.1

One of the questions we have to ask: has the Bible anything to say about “out of body experiences?” Are there any tangible examples we can learn from? And if so, what insight might we gain?

In an overall reading of the Bible you will soon encounter numerous testimonies that find their origins from beyond this physical world. You will read of men who experienced various visions and directly attributed them as having come from God: Jacob saw a stairway leading to heaven. Ezekiel saw a stunning vision of a future resurrection. Daniel saw a vision detailing successive world empires. And John also saw Jesus in vision amidst apocalyptic end-time prophecies.

Then there is a curious passage in Paul’s second letter to the faithful at Corinth. He wrote:

It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. (2 Corinthians 12:1-4)

It seems here Paul is writing, in the third-person, about himself. It’s an experience that has stayed with him for some 14 years, and he doesn’t really know how to fully describe it. We are not privy to how and why this happened to Paul, but we do know that there were times in his life where he was almost killed. An example of one such event happened at Lystra.

Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. (Acts 14:19)

Stoning was a brutal form of execution. We read then where the disciples gathered around Paul, presumably praying and anointing his lifeless body, and then we’re told that Paul somehow survived.

Perhaps Paul’s life, on one of those cruel encounters, teetered on the edge, where his spirit experienced some level of “disengagement” from his body! We don’t know. We do know, however, that his experience hearing “inexpressible words… not lawful for a man to utter” was also mirrored in John’s Revelation vision when he was told not to write what he had heard from the “seven thunders”. (Revelation 10:4) John’s experience, in his own words, was:

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day,… (Revelation 1:10)

From our physical and limited perspective, there are questions that we’ll never adequately answer in this lifetime. Nor do we need to. Our only resource are the Holy Scriptures, what “is written”, the very words of Jesus,  and from the lives of those faithful to him.

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(Excerpt from 3rd newly revised edition of “Hope of the Resurrection”, by John T Klassek)

1. Alive in the Spirit, James McBride, Bible Advocate, page 12, Nov-Dec 2013 baonline.org

Highs and lows of film making

Are you a budding film maker, script writer, or enjoy animation? We’re looking for helpers for a film we plan to shoot next year, titled (we think) The Ezekiel Vision. Much of the film will be filmed from the air. We’ll be filming at airports, cemeteries and over sweeping valleys. We will need actors, young and old. There’s a great story to tell that involves you, yes you, your family, your loved ones, your grand and great grand parents. So, what is going to happen?

We can only tell the future from what is already determined! To know the future we must understand the past. And we must also understand how the past was written and by whom.

The Ezekiel Vision will be a film like no other, and already in gearing up for production, we believe we have a story to tell.

The accident featured below happened quite unexpectedly. For me it was a great disappointment. Thinking about it now, the setback perhaps might be nothing less than the price paid (we pray) for what will be one of our best films yet.

Over the past year, apart from work on the film script, we have bought various props and equipment for the Ezekiel film. Six months ago I bought an AR Drone 2 quadrocopter and have enjoyed learning to fly it. The film quality from the inbuilt camera, however, wasn’t good enough. Besides, the AR Drone really couldn’t successfully lift the GoPro Hero3 action camera. So more recently I bought a hexacopter with a camera gimbal – and the quality of aerial footage is absolutely brilliant.

So here’s the story:

28 December 2013

There’s more to the story. After weeks of waiting for components to arrive by courier, rebuilding, testing and fine-tuning, tonight we finally took the Storm 6 for its maiden test flight.

I had waited for days for it to become perfectly calm. (I am learning what it means to spend a whole lot more time preparing and doing pre-flight checks and tests than actual flight time). This difference with this rebuild was that we upgraded to the NAZA-M V2 GPS system, giving greater stability in both take-offs and landings.

I think we’ll be able to film the Ezekiel scenes with the GoPro Hero 3 camera and without having to upgrade further. Of course, I would have liked to have filmed it with a BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera, but that together with the ZenMuse Gimbal on a pro-grade UAV is still dependent on prices stabilising, and thus will have to wait.

We’ll keep you posted as we work on each individual film shoot. There’s some really exciting as well as challenging work ahead.

1 January 2014

Welcome to the new civil year. Here’s hoping that it is a good one. We’re edging closer to the filming of the Ezekiel Vision film, with more practise flights testing stability, manoeuvrability and the capacity to control in adverse conditions, such as unexpected wind gusts/shifts.

Battery time still remains an issue, and this it appears depends on the health of each individual battery. Note also, if you have a heart for this kind of ministry, as well as skills you would like to contribute to this film project, then we would love to hear from you.

January 7, 2014

We’ve finally started filming the Ezekiel Vision film. Today’s shot comes from the little old cemetery on the York-Quairading Road in Western Australia. Whether this particular shot makes it into the final film we don’t know yet as we’ll be shooting the same shot again over the next few days.

John Klassek

Love from Grandpa

NY Tropfest 2013 short film entry.

Perhaps one of our most ambitious short films yet, and perhaps also one of the most loved. Many thanks to Peter Cox and Samantha Zinner for their wonderful character portrayals. Thanks to Hannah Klassek for her cinematography, and all those who have helped, encouraged, and blessed us in the making of this film. Enjoy.

 

The Resurrection of Lazarus

Click here to listen

Things are about to heat up. Jesus knew what he had to do, and what was coming.

We see him among his closest friends; we’re privy to two sisters’ heart and soul; we see Jesus’ moistened eyes when weeping openly and, we’re astonished to see a certified dead man walking again.

John’s testimony is about to escalate. Like a novel that up until now has now set the stage, Chapter 11 of John’s gospel account is the fulcrum, the part of the book that you just can’t put down – because everything John has to tell us now hinges on what happened that week, some 2000 years ago.

Presented by John Klassek on behalf of Christian Educational Ministries