Supernatural Experiences—It’s Here

As you read the pages of Shifting Shadows of Spiritual Experiences, Julia Loren and I want you to be stretched and challenged, grounded and guided. Yes, for some of you, the contents of this book will be outside of your current comfort zone. For others--it will but whet your appetite and leave you hungering for even more. We have attempted to bring you truths from various schools of thought and wed them together. But ultimately our goal is to point you to Christ Jesus Himself and He, in turn, to our Father God.
- James Goll


You are His child. And He delights to show you the kingdom of your inheritance. His supernatural kingdom of angels and spiritual entities, like cherubim and seraphim, are just a little slice of Heaven that He gives you a glimpse of--to show you that there is more beyond the realm of your senses, that Heaven is real, and He is Lord of all. His power transcends our understanding.

Many of the spiritual experiences we encounter in this life are given to us so that we may know Jesus Christ, the depths of His compassion and love that longs to save the lost, heal the sick, knows how fragile we are, and treats us gently. It comes in the form of a God encounter that corrects our misguided and warped images of Jesus and unveils Him in all His glory. It heals our wounds and awakens our destinies. The God encounter releases the gift of knowing Jesus and deepening our relationship with Him.

I am convinced that all authentic spiritual experiences are given for two reasons only--to increase revelation of who Jesus Christ really is to us individually and to impart faith. The combination releases a demonstration of His Presence and power to us and through us. Those who see visions of Christ, talk with angels, become entranced by the bizarre appearance of heavenly creatures, catch glimpses of Heaven, hear music from nowhere, or find themselves transported by the Holy Spirit from place to place, discover how easy it is to become captivated by the experience rather than the Person and purpose that underlies the experience.

Examined under the light of God’s love and scriptural examples, many spiritual experiences are given to impart faith and the understanding that He wants you to release a demonstration of His power. A vision or a dream, a visitation or teleportation, is just the packaging that surrounds the gifts of the Holy Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12--the word of wisdom; the word of knowledge; faith; gifts of healing; the working of miracles; prophecy; the discerning of spirits; tongues; interpretation of tongues. They are gifts that He wants to give you, not for yourself, but to give away to a specific person or groups of people so that they, too, may catch a glimpse of Jesus and enter into salvation. The meaning within spiritual experiences all too often fall by the wayside as people focus on the glitter of the package they come wrapped in. It takes spiritual maturity to know what to do with the things God shows to you. It also takes maturity to discern when an experience may not be from God.

In this book we are going to focus on answering the three questions commonly asked by Christians who encounter God through spiritual experiences. The questions are:

- What are the types of spiritual experiences that are common to humankind?

- How can you tell if an experience comes from the Holy Spirit or from somewhere else? In other words, what is a figment of our imagination? What arises from our minds and psychological or emotional states? Or what, perhaps, may originate in the demonic realm?

- What do I do with that experience?

So, come along with us on our journeys and know this: it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. You just may find that some of our experiences have also been your own.
As you read, open your heart to God as He delights in revealing Himself to you through such spiritual experiences such as:

Encountering Angels
Dreams, Visions & Miracles
Near-death Experiences
Transcending the natural realm
& entering the revelatory realms
Discerning the origin of the experience
Testing the Spirits
Insights into Things to Come
How to Keep Jesus Central