For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
Any violation of the natural function is an abomination to our Lord God. An affront to His wisdom of His created order. The churches can argue that times have changed and the unnatural relationships can have committed faithfulness to each other is immaterial.
Likewise God has mandated that man is the head of the family. We can argue that women today are well educated and can just be as capable. (God has created men and women to be equal and all will be like angels in the coming glory. Gal 3:26-29. But for the time being, that is what God had decreed for the family relationship in this life.). It is also a clear scriptural command that women are not allow to teach and have spiritual authority over men. 1 Tim 2:12-13. The reason given was that Adam was formed first, then Eve – telling us that God’s sovereign will in His created order settled the issue.
Likewise the medical drugs invented so far either enhance or inhibit the NATURAL FUNCTION of the human organs or cells. Should one day the drugs interfere with the natural function of our cells (especially to alter to bad function), that is also a violation of God’s created order in my opinion.
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealthin wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ 31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
We are created to have dominion of God’s creation and yet our first ancestors sinned by wanting to go their own way with their lives and their inheritance. God simply gave them up to their sinful desires. All unrighteousness will end in misery, and so the younger son discovered after all the years of wild living.
I have heard numerous sermons on this parable but none stressed another crux of the parable is the spiritual bankruptcy of the younger son when he came to his senses. He said to himself, “How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.” The younger son acknowledged he had sinned against heaven and against the Father. And he was no longer worthy to be a son and he was willing to submit himself as a hired servant. That is a very clear penitent confession of his spiritual bankruptcy. Did he come back and demand that he be treated as a son again ? No. Did he come back unrepentant with past brutish behaviour and start asserting his authority as a son again ? No.
The false hyper grace pastor had twisted this wonderful message of repentance and grace by suggesting firstly that when the younger son said those words to himself, he was schizophrenic. By coming to his senses as stated in Scripture, it was obvious that the younger son was remorseful and decided to make that journey back to seek the father’s forgiveness. The second twisted suggestion was that the father did not even bother to hear the son’s confession of sins before he welcomed him and so, there is no need to feel godly sorrow for sin or contrition, or to confess one’s sins and repent. We know God the Father is omniscient. Surely He know our hearts when we are repentant and ready to return to Him. Any sensible person will not conclude that the younger son returned without any hint of repentance and be an ingrate all over again. Won’t he be so thankful forever to be received again as a son of the Father ? Won’t he be a filial and responsible son from then on ?
16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.
Heb 6:1-6
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, [fsince they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
Heb 10:26-29
For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has ignored the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 2How much more severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
Heb 12:16-17
16 that there be no sexually immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that even afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.
There are many explanation of this verse 1 John 5:16 regarding the sin leading to death. Some interpreted that it is referring to specific sin that causes physical death such as death of some after partaking of the Lord’s supper without judging themselves or the death of Ananias and Sapphira in lying to the Holy Spirit. Or the unpardonable sin of attributing the works of the Holy Spirit as the works of the devil mentioned by our Lord. Others believed it is referring to sin of murder and we should not feel the necessity of praying that he or she should escape the physical death penalty.
Looking at the whole counsel of 1 John which was addressing the gnostics, John could be referring to the sin of apostasy. The apostate had professed faith and even tasted the good things of the faith and yet could sin wilfully, or repudiate our Lord by denying His deity, incarnation and the sufficiency of His atonement. Heb 6:1-8; Heb 10:26-29; and Heb 12:16-17 tells us that for such a person, there is no more place for repentance. It is not a momentary weakness leading to sin but a continual hardening of heart in sinning. So there is a difference in the degree of sin. The example given of Esau in Heb 12:16-17 describes him as a godless and immoral person. Esau could exchange his birth-right for a meal which clearly revealed his apostate state of belittling and trampling hard on God’s promises and blessings. That was not a momentary weakness. That was complete hardness. For though Esau wanted the blessings back with tears, he was rejected for he found no place for repentance.
In the present woke society in the western capitalism states, many so-called believers are sinning wilfully and may harden their hearts to a point of no return. In the coming persecution, these believers may willingly renounce Christ in order to escape reproach, suffering or martyrdom. There may be remorse but they cannot be renewed to repentance.
In Matt 24/25, our Lord’s disciples asked Him what would be the sign of His coming and of the end of age. He gave 4 consecutive parables in the parable of the faithful servant, the parable of the talents, the parable of the wise and foolish virgins and the parable of the sheep and goats. The parables gave instruction and responsibility to His disciples as stewards to care for His Kingdom. The main instruction of the first and the last parable was to care for His people, especially the least of the brothers. All four parables expect faithfulness from the stewards.
In the parable of the talents, our Lord expected the disciples to understand both the spirit and the letter of His instruction to invest in His Kingdom while He would be away for a considerable period of time. The first and second servant understood perfectly and invested with the resources given as faithful stewards. These two servants fully knew their Master well that He expected them to be faithful in fulfilling His instruction. The third servant failed to know the character of His Master well and avoided any risk AT ALL COSTS. Thus he was not faithful in fulfilling the instruction of His Master.
If our Lord expects us to bear fruit in every good work (Col 1:10), how often will we avoid sharing with the least of the brothers by hoarding our wealth – choosing to believe that giving is loss and not gain ? If our Lord expects us to bear fruit as in sharing the gospel with all, how often will we avoid all risks to our jobs and career as not to share the gospel so that we do not step on toes in a woke and all inclusive society today ? Besides, how often are we rich towards ourselves first without being rich to God when we are given material blessings ? The landowner in the parable of the rich fool was not greedy. He had an unexpected abundant harvest that his present barns could not hold. His first thought was to build bigger barns instead of caring for God’s people with the excess abundance. How often do we think of upgrading our standard of living FIRST when we receive a promotion, salary raise, big bonuses or unexpected abundant business profits ? If we are not obeying His 3 demands of discipleship in the first place (Luke 14:26,27,33), how can we be faithful servants till the end ?
As our Lord’s disciples, we have no excuse if we do not invest in His Kingdom of the highest priority and we should be content with just food and lodging. 1 Tim 6:6-10. But sadly the majority of Christendom in the western capitalism states tend to live with indifference to our Lord’s warning and instruction in these end times as goats rather than sheep. And not being faithful to investing in His Kingdom at all.
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Since I believed and was baptized in 1976, I have heard numerous sermons on this parable. The sermons would emphasize that having wealth is not a sin but only the love of it. It is such a relief to many believers who live in such an affluent society as mine thinking that as long as we are not greedy to gain more, we are fine. Is the parable that warns against all kinds of greed really says so ?
Our Lord already stated that life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. In another word, having an abundance or being rich is already a red flag. Is the rich man in the parable greedy ? It was his own land that yielded an unexpected abundant harvest. It was unexpected because his present barns could not hold all. This situation is no different from what we will face when we have an unexpected salary increase, promotion or a good business year. There is no greed to gain more in such a situation. Yet God was displeased with his mind being rich towards himself and not towards God. The rich man’s first thought was how to place the abundance and to store up enough for him to take life easy from then. He could very well used this extra abundance to bless others – to satisfy both spiritual and physical hunger – and thus laying up treasure for himself in heaven. Ambrose once said,”The bosoms of the poor, the houses of widows, the mouths of children are the barns which last forever.” Actually our Lord Jesus said a lot about the danger of riches, sometimes calling riches unrighteous or deceitful. God even called this rich man a FOOL. Yet how many affluent believers really feel the serious danger in the warning ?
If Christ comes today, how are we going to answer what we do with our possessions ?
And God said,”Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years…”
The Hebrew word for signs is “avah” which means to mark. Scripture has frequent mention of the star constellations and from the above verse, they can be used to mark the seasons and years. Thus when Scripture mentions certain events by marking the position of the constellations, stars and planets, we can know the date of the events by studying astronomy. We must not confuse astronomy with astrology which is forbidden by God. Astrology is the occultic belief that interprets the influence of the stars and planets on the lives of people. Scripture mentions that Magi from the east came to look for Jesus our Lord, the King of the Jews, when they saw His star. Matt 2:1-2. This substantiated that certain unique astronomical signs in the heavens could reveal certain significant events.
In Gen 59:9-10, Jacob on his deathbed prophesized “Judah is a lion’s cub, from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares arouse him ? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples…” The Hebrew word for foot is “regal” and this is significant for it may refer to the star Regulus, the brightest star in the Leo constellation, known as the King Star since ancient times. The sign for Leo is the lion. We know from other scripture references that Jesus our Lord is often referred to as the Lion of Judah and the King of Jews. Jupiter (the largest planet in our solar system) in Hebrew means “righteousness” and Venus, the second planet from the sun, is known for its brightness in the dawn sky. Our Lord Jesus is called “the bright and morning star”. Rev 22:16. Jupiter was often referred as the King planet by ancient astronomers. Jupiter came into conjunction with Venus in Leo at 5 am, 12 August, 3 BC. On 14 September, 3 BC, Jupiter came into conjunction with the Star Regulus. Could the Magi see these particular events or other similar conjunction of Jupiter with other celestial bodies around the time of the birth of our Lord Jesus and started planning to set off to visit and worship our Lord ?
Then between the dates of the above two astronomical events, a “great wonder” event happened that fitted the description in Rev 12:1-5.
Rev 12:1-5
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.
The description of the great sign started by saying a woman was clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet. The woman referred to the Virgo constellation. And there was only one day – 11 September – that the moon was at her feet and the sun was at the upper torso. This configuration could be seen in Palestine between sunset at 6.18 pm and moonset at 7.39 pm on Wednesday 11 September, 3 BC. The Hebrew calendar month begins on the evening that the new moon appears, so the evening of 11 September was the first day of a new lunar month – the seventh month of Tishri. Tishri 1, Rosh Hashanah, is the New Year’s Day of modern Judaism.
There are other conclusive evidences in the gospels that point to the birth of our Lord in the month of September. Listen to David Pawson’s explanation on how he arrived at the conclusion that Jesus our Lord was born in September. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx50Pbf842E)
Postscript:
(I took the liberty to write a short summary of the information from the following articles and the book by Anthony Ray.
I was given the vision of 911 a few days before the actual attack and I was actually staying next to the World Trade Center then. And I was born on 11 September thus increasing the incredible odds of this string of events exponentially. I have been praying to know why the given Rev 18:17-19 central message has not happened yet and this recent knowledge that our Lord Jesus might be born on this same day may well be the Lord’s way of encouraging me to persist in preparing and waiting for it. Hab 2:3)
“If you speak to people in
words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might
as well be talking into empty space. There are many different languages
in the world, and every language has meaning. But if I don’t understand a language, I will be
a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a
foreigner to me.And the same is true for you.
Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek
those that will strengthen the whole church. So anyone who speaks in
tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said…If unbelievers or people who don’t understand these
things come into your church meeting and hear everyone speaking in an unknown
language, they will think you are crazy.
Well, my brothers and
sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will
teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak
in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is
done must strengthen all of you…No more than two or three should speak in
tongues. They must speak one at a time, and someone must interpret what they
say. 28 But if no one
is present who can interpret, they must be silent in your church meeting and
speak in tongues to God privately…Or do you think God’s word originated with
you Corinthians? Are you the only ones to whom it was given?If
you claim to be a prophet or think you are spiritual, you should recognize that
what I am saying is a command from the Lord himself. But if you do not recognize this, you yourself will not be
recognized.[So,
my dear brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and don’t forbid speaking
in tongues. But be
sure that everything is done properly and in order.”
The context of the
whole passage of 1 Cor 14 is about orderly worship. It clearly stated that at most 3 can speak in
tongues and with interpretation, otherwise none should speak. It does not edify anyone who may not understand,
much less the unbelievers who turn up and may think everyone has gone
crazy.
It is clear from 1
Cor 14:37 that orderly worship is a command from the Lord. Yet we see the blatant disobedience in some
charismatic worship services when many just blabbered away in unintelligible
tongues and laugh uncontrollably.
Cain offered an unacceptable sacrifice as compared to Abel. Heb 11:4. That is the way of Cain who worship God to his own whim and fancy.
On one extreme, some believe both Israel and the church have different redemptive programs. That is, the NT church does not include OT believers. On the other, some believe the church has replaced Israel. Going by the whole counsel of the Word of God, both beliefs are found wanting.
I believe the confusion is due to lack of distinction between national Israel and true Israel. In Rom 11:1-5, Paul explained the distinction and called the true Israel as the remnant. Paul emphatically stated that God did not reject His people and he was definitely referring to national Israel for he said of himself having descended from Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.
(Rom 11:1-5. I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”[a]? 4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.)
The vine tree was not replaced but only the non believing branches were removed and new branches grafted. Neither were there 2 trees growing together. On the day of Pentecost, the true Israel became the NT church and organic continuity continues till today.
Rom 11:11 clearly stated that national Israel has not fallen beyond recovery. (11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their FULL inclusion bring!)
Anticipating that the grafted branches (the church) will be arrogant and consider themselves superior to the broken branches (national Israel), Rom 11:17-21 warns against such arrogance.
The present hardening of national Israel is not permanent. It will be over when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. There will be a future restoration and they will become part of the true Israel.
(Rom 11:25-27. 25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”)
In Rom 11:25-27, Paul was clearly talking about the future salvation of national Israel after the hardening is over. And our Lord Jesus will turn godlessness away from Jacob (Israel). For He will reign over the house of Jacob forever as stated in Luke 1:32-33.https://www.monergism.com/noted-theologians-history-who-believed-future-conversion-nationalethnic-israel
Postscript :
The following link gives the comments of notable theologians in history who believed in a future conversion of national / ethnic Israel.
The book, Angels, by David Pawson gave a quick gist of the knowledge of angels and demons existing today. Following is my summary of the main points from that book.
Scripture teaches that angels are a distinct different order of beings and are created by God too. They are not mediators between God and men, but they were frequently featured in Scripture carrying out the orders of God. They are spirits and do not have bodies of flesh but they have the power to appear as bodies. They are far superior than people in strength, intelligence and knowledge. They belong to heaven and not earth. They are probably numerous in the universe because in Scripture, they were mentioned as myriads upon myriads, ten thousand times ten thousand, and hosts. They do have titles, ranks, grades and names. There are archangels, cherubim, seraphim, principalities and powers.
When Jesus our Lord warned, “Beware of what you do with these little children. Their angels behold the face of my Father in heaven.”, he was saying that what we do is known to angels and will therefore be reported to God. They are around us when we worship. When one person believes in Christ, they know and all rejoice in heaven.
The Ministry Of The Angels
Protection. They protect against danger and terror. Eg. When the Syrians surrounded Elisha, there was another circle of God’s chariots. The angels touched the eyes of the Syrians and they could not see.
Provision. They can provide for us. Eg. Hagar and Elijah were fed when there was nothing to eat in the wilderness. After our Lord was tempted and was hungry, the angels ministered to Him.
Punishment. They can carry out the Lord’s judgments such as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Deliverance. Eg. Peter was delivered out of jail.
Guidance. Eg. Cornelius was told by an angel to send for Peter.
Comfort. When Paul was on his way to face Caesar on the long and dangerous sea voyage, an angel comforted him that he would get to see Caesar.
Bad Angels Or Demons
We learn from Scripture that both the angels and the fallen angels or demons are in the heavenly places and they all have free will too. We learn that one third of these angels set themselves up against God led by one anointed cherub nearest to the throne of God. Evil started with this rebellion. He has five titles namely Satan, Abaddon (Apollyon in Greek meaning destroyer), Beelzebub, Belial and Lucifer. He is described in terms of animals and likened to a serpent, dragon and a roaring lion. He is a slanderer, tempter, deceiver, accuser, tormentor, murderer and destroyer. Presently, he is ruling the world and that is the reason why the world is in such a fallen mess today. He is described also as the prince of the power of the air and god of this world. His kingdom in the world is a kingdom of disobedience, darkness and disease. He is constantly trying his best to destroy the kingdom of God. He will sow tares among the wheat in the Kingdom of God. He will masquerade as an angel of light and his minions can also masquerade as apostles of Christ and servants of righteousness in the kingdom of God to preach heresy. He will tempt us always with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life as he had done before with our first parents. We read of much demonic activity, especially of demon possession. Today, we tend to dismiss demon possession mentioned in the gospels as mental disease, epilepsy or insanity. But according to David Lawson, the symptoms are quite different :
Supernatural strength. A demon possessed person may take many men to hold him or her down.
Clairvoyance. Knowledge of other people that is quite impossible to know except by supernatural revelation.
An ability use voices that are quite different from the person’s own voice.
A profound antagonism to the name of Jesus.
A wild reaction to prayer such that the possessed person will go berserk when prayer is offered.
St Paul had ever been to the third heaven. (The third heaven refers to the place where God dwells.) He wrote in the third person in 2 Cor 12:2-4,“I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that NO ONE IS PERMITTED TO TELL.” While he was there in heaven, he saw and heard things which he could not describe and was forbidden to relate. Scripture made it clear in 2 Cor 12:4 that NO ONE IS PERMITTED TO TELL of such experience.
Only 6 persons in Scripture had visions of heaven but not near death experiences – Isaiah, Ezekiel, Micaiah, Paul, John and Stephen. And possibly three wrote about the glory of God and their own fear in the presence of God. And all those who were brought back to life by our Lord Jesus or Paul did not have their post mortem experience mentioned in Scripture. Moments after our Lord died, many dead saints came out of their tombs and went into the city and appeared to many. Neither were their post mortem experience mentioned in Scripture.
Alex Malarkey was six years old when a car crash put him in a coma for two months, during which time he said he went to heaven and visited angels. The resulting memoir, co-authored with his father, was a best-seller. But five years after its publication in 2015, Alex says he made the whole thing up, NPR reports. “I did not die. I did not go to Heaven,” he wrote in an open letter to Christian books retailers. “I said I went to heaven because I thought it would get me attention.” The story was believable because it was related by a 6 year old boy whom hardly anyone would suspect he could have the guile to invent such a story to get attention. If a young boy could do that, surely there would be many charlatans today doing so for money and fame whose heaven visitation stories could not be verified by anyone, except himself or herself.
