Many years have passed since my book entitled “An American Prophet and His Message” was published and only recently has it occurred to me that of the more than two thousand articles I have written since then, not one describes the first prophetic vision of worldwide events that I ever received. This is an excerpt from my book un-edited in its entirety from a chapter entitled “How This Book Was Written.” My writing style has changed greatly but the vision has not.
Keep in mind that when I received this vision I had not so much as heard that there was a “second coming” of the Lord Jesus Christ. I had never read anything about it in or out of the Bible including the biblical pictures of a blood-red moon and the blocking of the sun. Let’s begin.
“Today in a show of their craft, movie makers might start their stories at the end and then proceed to the beginning. In some movies, they even show parallel themes based on what would happen to an individual if they had made different choices. But this book is not written to entertain or mesmerize the reader with its mixed timeline or plot. My clearest intention is to get the heart of the message out first and foremost. Many people read only the first part of a book or chapter and make summaries from that alone. Thus, I wouldn’t make the reader wait until later to get to the meat.
What God has directly said or done in my life is far more important than the ordinary business of my life or my rearing. I have chosen to start with what I believe is the single most important vision that God has given me to date. This vision came in the fall of nineteen sixty-nine. It was a time when I was new to the faith and knew little or nothing about the scriptures. My lack of bible knowledge only furthered the veracity of the vision as I began to check what I saw in the vision against what is written in the scriptures.
I was new to the bible and to faith in Jesus Christ in 1969. As a fledgling, I hung on every word of the best preaching I could find. One evening before I retired, I listened intently to a sermon about the second coming of Christ. As a boy in the Catholic Church, I had never even heard of the second coming. If our priest did know of it, he never uttered a word to us about it. The radio preacher spoke of what conditions would be like at the time of Christ’s return. He spoke of how knowledge would be increased at that time, and that people would be traveling all over the world in hordes. I went and read a few of the verses he was referring to in the gospels but to date, I hadn’t read any part of the Old Testament. He carefully explained how Israel must become a nation and possess Jerusalem before these events could transpire. All in all, it sounded like he was speaking about this generation, my generation…whew!
I said a little prayer just before going to sleep that night. I asked God if this was the generation the scripture was speaking about. The dream vision I received that night I must put in a class by itself. I had seen the future in clear, Technicolor-like visions, dozens of times by then but nothing like this. Even at this moment though my dream visions have been in the hundreds I have not had one with the same power or surety as the vision I saw that night. I have heard of out-of-body experiences of every kind and weighed them with curiosity if nothing else. I hadn’t had any myself and by no means was I hoping to have one.
But even at that, I knew that this was not a mere floating out of the body type thing. This rather was being taken out of the body by a divinely appointed celestial being…an angel. It was, I suppose, not at all unlike John’s experience of being taken up in the spirit on the Sabbath day while on the Isle of Patmos and shown the Revelation of Jesus Christ. (Rev. 1: 9-11)
I remember being lifted out of my body by an angelic-like creature and I was told to follow him, it seemed like I had no choice. He didn’t speak in an audible voice as we know it but you couldn’t miss even one word he said. He carried me along by the force of his will and never actually touched me. He carried me to a place just above the earth perhaps at the height where the astronauts might be hovering. He then said look at what I will show you and he proceeded to point to where I should fix my gaze. He pointed to the earth, and I saw it revolving around and it looked quite normal.
Next, he pointed to the sun, and I saw it was covered with a somewhat opaque-like covering. I could clearly see it was the sun but a major part of its light was blocked from view both to me and everyone on the earth. He turned and pointed to the moon, so I looked at it also. It was normal in every way but one; it was a deep red in color. It wasn’t like the harvest moon or the orange moon we have all seen at times it was clearly a deep, blood-like, red.
Then he turned completely around from the earth, sun, and moon and pointed far out into space. There I saw a brilliant white light come flowing downward to the earth. It landed on a very strategic and specified place on the earth. I can’t remember that I asked the angel where that spot was but it seemed that he sensed my rising curiosity and answered it. He indicated that it was the geographical center of the earth where the occidental and oriental races meet; it was none other than the city of Jerusalem.
I watched the light for a few seconds and noticed it wasn’t just simply glowing, it was pulsating, it was clearly alive and was not just a phenomenon or an extraterrestrial craft it was the Lord Jesus Christ. I thought the vision was over but only the visual part had concluded there was yet one more part to unfold
In a gesture something like the cupping of his ear the angel told me to listen.
I obeyed his request and turned my best ear toward the earth. I heard cries, moaning, and laments but all the voices made two clear and distinct statements that I will never forget.
First, I heard people saying Oh no, He has returned, and we weren’t ready and secondly, oh no, he has returned and we didn’t believe.
I spent a good deal of time that night pondering what I had seen. From that night to this day, I began studying and gathering all the information I could on the second coming of the Lord. I was surprised to find not only that there is a great deal of information about it but that about twenty-five percent of the bible speaks to this subject. Prayerfully, carefully, and responsibly I approached and assimilated every bit of information I could find pertaining to this second coming event. I prayed and endeavored to stay on the conservative and balanced side of all the information. I am sure that God is not glorified or even dignified when we teach speculation and conjecture as truth. If I feel some speculation will elucidate a point, I’ll use it but I’m careful to explain that it is after all just that, speculation.
I have related this vision to hundreds of people over the years, some who believe and some who don’t, and of course, those who are simply indifferent. Three things have always been perfectly clear to me about this vision. First, I could not make up such a story. Secondly, I wouldn’t have ever asked or believed that I could have such a vision. Lastly, since I can’t prove it, I don’t try.
People seem to believe it or not and that is not my responsibility either. I believe it and I wouldn’t insult God by hiding it or altering it in any way. I have seen profound changes in the lives of all those who believe me and check everything I say against their bibles. In fact, they are the ones who after all know that I’m not so special I’m only among the many people male and female in these last days that are going to have God use them in a special way as he promised in Joel 2:28-32.
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.”
Michael Bresciani – First Published September 16, 2011
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