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Oct. 19, 2015 - Praying Medic
37:54
034 Michael Van Vlymen

My guest today is my friend Michael Van Vlymen, who is the author of several books on the supernatural. In the first part of our interview we discuss seeing in the spirit. In the second part we discuss angelic visitations and in the third, we discuss traveling in the spirit. ResourcesHow to See In the SpiritAngelic Visitations and Supernatural EncountersAngels and Demons

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Now the show about faith, miracles, and the supernatural, Praying Medic Live!
Our host is a paramedic and a former atheist who now sees miracles nearly every day, and he teaches others how to live a supernatural life.
Here he is, Praying Medic.
Good evening, this is Praying Medic Live, and I am your host, Praying Medic.
I'm here every Thursday night at 8 p.m.
on Independent Talk 1100 KFNX.
My goal is to teach average believers how to live a supernatural life, and my guest tonight is my friend Michael Van Vlijmen, who is the author of several books, which we'll talk about shortly.
Michael, I'm glad to have you on the show.
How are you doing tonight, buddy?
I'm doing great, and I'm glad to be here.
Hey, thanks for agreeing to be on the show.
Now, you're calling us from outside of Indianapolis?
Outside of Indianapolis, just north from Carmel, Indiana.
Right on.
Well, I am really glad you could join us tonight.
You're one of my favorite authors.
Well, thank you.
You're one of my favorite authors.
And you're one of my favorite people, too.
Thank you so much.
You know, it's kind of funny how we first met on Facebook a few years ago.
Well, you know, it seemed like we have a similar path, and it's like we were traveling, like, in the same direction, but unbeknownst to each other for a while.
And I think, you know, the Lord's working all that out.
I think He is.
So, you wrote a book called How to See in the Spirit.
Can you tell us a little bit about that book?
Well, there's several ways that the book, I believe, was born, but it was basically a book to give practical instructions that anyone can learn to see in the spirit.
I've heard so many people try to explain about spiritual sight and seeing in the spirit, but it never sounded really like concrete steps or that, you know, people could do something and actually see some kind of progress.
So I wanted to kind of bridge that gap a little bit.
And I think you did a really good job.
I mean, you and I, we've both written books on Singin' the Spirit, and I actually got inspired to write my book after I read your book.
I got inspired to be a better writer after I read your book!
No, really, your book, Singin' the Spirit Made Simple, really, I love the whole Made Simple series because People need to know that God didn't make it difficult, that everyone can enter into this and everyone can be successful in seeing in the Spirit.
That's why I love that Made Simple series, because it really lays down the point that this is for everybody.
Yeah, well that's one area where I really felt that you and I connected is, you know, you and I both believe that anyone can see in the Spirit.
And I've read a lot of the other books that have been written by people on the subject of seeing in the Spirit.
And for those who are not acquainted with what we're talking about, we're basically talking about seeing visions from God, seeing into the spiritual world, seeing the world of angels and demons and things of that nature.
Now, I don't know about you, Michael.
I did not see visions.
I did not see in the Spirit until a few years ago, when the Lord basically said, I want to show you what's wrong with your patients.
And so I thought, well, how is that going to work?
Because I don't really know what that means.
I don't have x-ray vision.
How can you show me what's wrong with people?
But I had to learn that what he meant was he wanted me to learn how to sharpen my ability to see visions, to see in the spiritual world, and that's a process, and that's what we talk about in the books.
But, you know, most of the books I had read prior to reading your book, they all kind of made it sound like it was a special gift, only given to a few people, and that it wasn't something that anyone could do.
And your book was the first one that really came out and said, no, anyone can do this.
Yeah, you know, it's funny, and I'm sure you've had to deal with this too, but I've heard a lot of, I've caught a lot of flack.
I mean, I don't want to be controversial, but I've caught a lot of flack from people that are really offended by the idea that, you know, this isn't just for everybody.
And I said, you know, and I tell them, yes, it is.
It is for everybody, all God's children.
Because, you know, people, like you said, they think it's a special anointing, or they think it's You know, if you've been in ministry a long time, God will reward you.
It's amazing the kind of ideas people have about this.
Well, yeah.
And a lot of that comes, I think, is that, you know, traditions of men, where some people have wanted to believe that they have some special thing that other people don't have, so we can create, like, a two-class system.
Where, you know, we're the Sneetches with the stars on our belly, and you're the Sneetches without the stars on your belly, or something like that.
Exactly.
But I really believe, and I know you do too, that these things are more abilities that we need to develop than they are special anointings or gifts that God only gives to a few certain people.
Yeah, and I think that, you know, where the gifting part comes in is that as you learn to see in the Spirit, as you learn to exercise your senses so that they So that your eyes really open to what's going on, then, you know, the whole thing, discerning of spirits, is, as you know, that once you begin to see, you have to learn what is of God and what is not of God, and, you know, that whole scenario, that whole dynamic comes into play as well.
Yeah, and that's how I see it, too.
And that's what I wrote in my book, was we have to develop the ability, and then God—when you look at the gifts of the Spirit that are mentioned in 1 Corinthians, there's the gift of discerning of spirits, the gift of the word of knowledge.
So if you want to operate in the discerning of spirits, you have to develop your ability to see demons.
If you want to operate in the Word of Knowledge, it helps if you can see visions so the Lord can show you words and show you pictures in your mind.
And that's how I see the gift and the ability working together.
Right.
And then, of course, what I enjoyed about your book was that it really broke it down into using the gift in what your particular calling was.
You know, regardless of what the person's calling was, they could actually bring this gift into that and, you know, operate at a more successful level, so they weren't, like, you know, struggling trying to figure out what to pray, or what should I pray against, or things of that nature.
And I would imagine this really hits home in your field because of constantly having to discern, you know, what is sickness, what is demonic, things of that nature.
Yeah, it does.
It's, It does.
It comes in very handy for me when I pray for people.
And not just on duty, but I sit at home and I get prayer requests.
I know you do, too.
It gives me tools that I can work with when I'm praying for people for healing, so I can discern, you know, is there a demonic issue going on, or is there something else that needs to be addressed?
It does help that a lot.
And you know, you said you've received a lot of criticism.
Oh, we're saying that this is Seeing in the Spirit is for everybody and it's not a gift.
I have not received much criticism, but you probably travel in a different circle of people than I do, because I'm kind of more of an outside-the-church person.
I don't really go to regular church services.
I don't go to a lot of meetings and conferences.
I don't do public speaking.
So, my message really reaches people who are outside the church for the most part.
I've gotten very little criticism over my belief that this is for everybody, and it sounds like you have had the opposite experience.
Well, you know, I think you nailed it as far as, you know, the criticism I have received hasn't been from people that are really, you know, out there seeking God and hungry for it from all different backgrounds.
It has been people that are from a structured background.
of, you know, even, you know, charismatic backgrounds, but from a structured background, like, you know, we are the leadership of the church.
We are the ones that God gives the gifts to, you know, and then I've had people tell me, don't tell that, you know, regular people that they can do this because it's dangerous for normal people, as if somehow, you know,
God's grace only works for those people that have, you know, God's grace only works for those people that have, you know, are members of the, you know, prayer team or, you know, assistant pastors and stuff like that, which is totally ludicrous, but people, I think they want to defend, like you said, they want to defend their It's like, it's kind of like, it reminds me of that parable when, you know, when the landowner was choosing laborers.
It's like, why does this person get the same gift?
That I've been, you know, I've been working faithfully for 30 years, and now I can see in the spirit, but now you're telling this other guy he can see, too?
Something doesn't seem right.
But, you know, that's, you know, that's God's prerogative.
It is God's prerogative.
Hey, Michael, we are going to be going to our first break here, so don't go away.
Listeners, thank you for tuning in.
This is Pragmatic Live on Independent Talk 1100 KFNX.
Hey there!
Welcome back to Praying Medic Live.
I'm your host, Praying Medic.
If you just joined us, we are talking with my friend, Michael Van Vlijmen, and we're talking about seeing in the Spirit.
Now, Michael, I had one question for you.
For people who need help learning how to sharpen their ability to see in the Spirit, is there an exercise or something you would recommend that they do to help develop their ability to see?
Yeah, absolutely.
I think that, you know, probably the most fruitful exercise that I've found is being aware during dusk or dawn, when the light is at a certain level, kind of like it's not bright enough where you can see everything clearly, but it's not dark enough that you're totally in the dark.
If you realize that there's an unseen world Just, you know, right at your fingertips.
I mean, what seemingly empty space around us is actually filled with the spiritual realm.
And if you are aware of that, and you examine what seems to be empty air, and that type of atmosphere, that type of light, because your natural eyes cannot really adjust, but you're still trying to see something, I think your spiritual eyes begin to engage.
And you'll start to see little things at first and as you learn to examine those little things, little shifts in the atmosphere, little flashes of light that almost seem like your eyes are playing tricks on you, if you focus on those things in a relaxed manner, it will begin to expand and help you to begin to see better.
I know for a fact you've taken a lot of heat over that suggestion, because I've read some of the reviews that people have given about that.
And, you know, it does sound crazy.
You're like, wait a minute, you want me to look at invisible things?
You want me to stare at little things that don't exist and see things that aren't really...?
It sounds crazy, but it works.
I know that because...
My wife, when we got your book, we started doing that exercise at night.
And she had never seen visions, never seen anything.
I just said, Honey, just close your eyes.
You know, God will show you stuff.
And she would say, I close my eyes and all I ever see is black.
I don't see anything.
Yeah.
Well, she started doing that exercise that you recommended.
And she started seeing things.
She started seeing little, almost like fan-shaped things spinning.
And then she started seeing smoke trails coming up from the floor.
Right.
And she could wave her hand through the smoke trails and they would move like normal smoke trails.
Yeah.
And she started seeing more and more things.
And now, when she lays down at night and she closes her eyes, she sees visions almost all the time.
That's awesome.
So, these exercises do work.
I know it sounds crazy.
It might even sound New Age-y and weird.
It's not New Age-y and weird, because what happens after that is you start to see more things.
You start to see the realms of glory, and you might even start seeing angels.
Exactly.
Some really cool stuff.
So, speaking of angels, you have another book titled Angelic Visitations and Supernatural Encounters.
Can you tell us a little bit about that book?
Well, that was, you know, I would try and share about seeing in the Spirit, and people would kind of, like, really get excited about the testimonies, because, frankly, that's what excited me when I started to hear about seeing in the Spirit.
I thought, I'd like to see an angel, too.
You know, if angels are all around, I'd love to see one.
So, I thought, you know, it seemed to encourage people, so I thought, I'll put together Just kind of a smattering of all the different types of supernatural manifestations and angelic encounters that I've experienced, and, you know, trying to encourage people again with that book that, hey, you can do this.
And I even wrote that in the book.
This is for everybody.
This is normal life.
This isn't something weird.
This is for everyone, and this should be normal for us.
And, you know, once again, I'm sure you got a little bit of pushback from some people saying, hey, hey, hey, wait a minute.
What do you mean this is for everybody?
Have you had some resistance from people saying it's for leaders or it's for certain people?
Right.
Well, you know, again, with the angels thing, it's like, The same scenario, probably even the same people.
We don't worship angels, we shouldn't focus too much on angels, we're going to be deceived, that sort of thing?
You talk about seeing an angel and right away someone makes the leap to you shouldn't worship angels.
You tell them, of course we shouldn't, just like we don't go to a church and worship the minister, but we still might work with that minister, we still might have a conversation, But, you know, we don't necessarily have to worship them.
Well, you know, the fact is my house and my car both have air conditioning.
And I kind of like the fact that they're there, but I don't worship air conditioning.
I just appreciate what they do.
And angels are kind of the same way.
I mean, I don't know anybody who worships angels, but it is kind of nice to know that they're there.
And it's not a bad idea to understand why they're there.
And the fact that the Bible says they are ministering spirits to those who are heirs of salvation.
That would be us.
Right.
And so they are sent to minister to us.
And I would say a lot of people don't know that.
Right.
And of course, we look at the history of believers and even, you know, in the Old Testament, It was normal life for people to see angels, and it doesn't, you know, when you read the Bible accounts, it doesn't, they're not giving a lot of instruction, do not worship the angels.
They had, you know, you've got a verse in there where, you know, someone, because of the, you know, power of God on the angel, the guy fell down, and the angel said, don't, see that you don't worship me, because I'm just a fellow worker, just like you, a fellow servant of the Lord.
But it should be normal life for us, just like it was for them.
You know, and that's true, because if you look even through the Old Testament, there was all kinds of people who had these angelic encounters.
Their angels were showing up and giving people revelations, scrolls.
They'd show up and give them dreams and speak to them in dreams.
And you and I have both had those experiences.
I can't tell you how many times I've been awakened by a voice in the middle of the night.
Well, you know, I see them quite a bit.
anything, but I hear a voice giving me a message from heaven.
I don't see angels as much as I usually hear them speaking, but I have seen them on occasion.
I would imagine you've seen them quite a bit more.
Well, you know, I see them quite a bit.
It's not like I see a bunch of different angels all the time.
I have one angel that I see a lot.
As a matter of fact, he's manifested his presence today probably 20 times.
It's like he's always standing on my left side, and usually when I'm praying or if I talk to him, I remember one time I was, I walked outside, it was night, and I was just kind of thinking about all the years that I wasted, and I said, you know, look, I know you probably wish for a long time that you'd been assigned to somebody else that was, you know, serving the Lord, I said, "But, you know, the Lord will redeem the days and we'll make up for it."
And when I said that, it's like he manifested like fire, like a fireball right next to me.
And it was really just, I felt like he was saying, you know, "Okay," you know.
He was in agreement with that.
That's cool too, because, you know, I've been studying angels a little bit more, and there's a verse in the Bible that says, "Does not he make his ministers flames of fire?" And a lot of people who have had angelic encounters describe them as literally like a ball or a large flame, just kind of a glowing ball of fire, which is really interesting.
Yeah, that's an amazing thing.
It's an amazing thing to see.
The first time that I remember seeing angels, it was kind of a strange experience.
I was in Australia doing a little thing over there, and I had checked in.
I got a prayer request from someone on Facebook.
I was kind of tired at the end of the day, so I laid on the couch and I was just praying for this person who sent me a prayer request.
And I was laying on the couch, had my eyes closed, and I look up.
In my mind's eye, I see these four glowing beings of light standing around me in a circle, looking at me.
And they had the most precious, ridiculously funny look on their faces, like they were looking at me like, so what are you doing there?
Is there anything we can help you do?
It's just so strange to see these guys just looking at me.
But angels are really cool.
I don't, you know, have an obsession with them.
But I think we're missing out on a lot of the kingdom and a lot of the things we could be doing because we don't really pay attention to the angelic realm and the messages we could be receiving and the things that they could help us with.
I absolutely agree.
The angels around our life, it's like, I started to think of it in a different way.
You know, I've spoke to a few angels about, I had one angel once tell me about his ministry.
And so, I realized that, you know, these angels, they have a ministry, they have a purpose too, even if it's to help you with your ministry.
And so, I pray for the angels.
You know, there's a scripture that says, bless the Lord.
Well, I think we can bless the angels too then.
I think so, too.
I pray for them to be empowered to do their work.
Yeah.
We're going to take a quick break, but we'll be right back with more Praying Medic Live here on Independent Talk 1100 KFNX.
Welcome back to Praying Medic Live.
I'm your host, Praying Medic.
With my friend, Michael Van Vlemmen, joining us from Indiana.
If you just joined us, we are talking about angels.
And if angels are freaking you out, you better put your seatbelt on, because we're going to crank it up a notch in this next segment.
Michael, I got one more question for you about angels before we move on to traveling in the Spirit.
Do you know of any practical steps that people might take if they want to learn how to see angels and engage the angelic realm?
You know, I think it starts with Some really basic things.
Desire, first of all.
Well, people have the desire, but what do they do with it?
I think they have to ask.
We have not, because we ask not.
I think there are steps, you know.
But I think we've been taught not to ask because of that whole, you know, you shouldn't worship angels thing.
So I would say, ask the Lord.
Lord, I want to see the angels.
As a matter of fact, in my own house, every day, my prayer is, Let the angels of the Lord manifest their presence and their power openly for the Lord's purpose in our life.
And, you know, I'll tell you what, when that first starts to happen, it can be a little freaky, but it's an adjustment.
But the Lord honors prayers like that, because I don't think we're supposed to be ignorant of these spiritual things.
I think we're supposed to work in tandem with Heaven, and I think asking is a huge step.
Yeah, I would agree.
We have that because we ask not.
I started asking for the Lord to show me greater things, and I woke up one morning, and the glory in my bedroom one morning was so thick and so heavy, I could not physically get out of bed.
I was pinned to the bed.
The angelic presence was so strong there from a dream that an angel brought me.
So yeah, it might get a little freaky when angels start showing up and manifesting their realities, but it is kind of cool.
So, let's shift gears now to traveling into the heavens by faith.
We are both working on books on traveling in the Spirit.
My book is probably going to be called Traveling in the Spirit Made Simple.
Your book will be something like Traveling into the Heavens by Faith?
Well, you know, it was suggested to me to title it How to Go in the Spirit.
So I'm really thinking about that.
Now, the book that I just did with Bruce Allen is called Translation by Faith, which is a similar topic, but that was something that we did for his Walking in the Supernatural school.
Okay, and your efforts on your book, on the back burner, on the front burner, where are you at with that right now?
Well, it's in process.
I did put it on the back burner because I really wanted to set my own work aside and honor my obligations that I'd made to other people that were working on projects and asked to work on projects with me.
So my own stuff got put aside, but it's pretty close.
So you've been working on it for a while.
I am going to be very interested to read your book, and I'm going to guess your book will probably be available long before mine, because mine was on the front burner, and I now put it on the back burner.
I am not ready to write that book.
I'm ready to read that book.
You better get busy.
Well, here's the thing.
I mean, I've been working on it for a couple of years, and I have a lot of some blog posts.
I have some testimonies.
I have some notes and things of that nature.
I usually build a book like this a little bit at a time.
Here and there, I get some revelation, I have some dreams, and then I throw them into... I write it all down, put it in a folder, and just save it.
And the book evolves over a period of time.
I was asked to put this book on the front burner and get it going, and I tried.
And it was like pushing a mule up a ladder.
It just was not happening.
The revelation wasn't flowing.
I was having a hard time writing it.
And I just felt like I didn't have the experiences that I wanted to have yet to write that book.
So I put it on the back burner and I'm going full speed ahead on the book on hearing God's voice.
So that'll be my next book.
And I'm actually anticipating my book on traveling in the spirit probably may not be written until 2017.
I just, I have a lot of other books that I'd like to write before that one.
But you're a lot closer than I am, so can you tell us a little bit about how you envision your book shaping up and what it'll teach and some of the main things?
Well, you know, I think this is kind of a, you know, what you and I have taught people about spiritual sight is kind of a, you know yourself, that's not a static thing.
It's something that's dynamic once your eyes are open and you have things that you interact with so it's like you're not only seeing but you're actually starting to go just from that.
And I envision the book, well the way that I'm laying it out right now, I'm not using a lot of, my books are not, I have to make an effort to make my books more scripture heavy because I always felt like I'm preaching to the people that already believe this so I don't have to give them You know, 20 verses to prove that there are angels, you know, another 17 verses to prove that, you know, we can believe for healing, we can believe for, you know, all the supernatural stuff.
So my book will be more practical steps supported by Scripture, but kind of like it was for how to see in the Spirit, actual things that we can do to engage that and to see it come to pass.
It's basically steps of faith that we can take and then have God meet us and then pull us the rest of the way.
I like that.
You know, there's that issue about how many Bible verses do you put in your book before there's enough scriptural support for what you're doing.
On the book on seeing in the Spirit, I think chapter 5, I just went through the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation.
I would look at all the New Testament words for seeing visions, and I still had people write reviews saying my book was unbiblical.
I was like, what do you guys want?
There's just no pleasing some people.
So my encouragement to you is don't stress about it.
You know what you're doing.
Put in enough scripture to support what you're doing, but don't get overly concerned about it because there are just some people you're not going to make happy.
And the people who believe in it don't really need 25,000 verses to support what you're doing.
They get it.
Yeah, it's like Thomas Aquinas made a nice quote about that.
To the people that believe, you don't need to give them the explanation, and to the people that don't believe, your explanation would never be good enough anyway.
Exactly.
That's my paraphrase.
Exactly.
So once again, you know, you believe that anyone can travel into the heavens, whether they know it or not.
Yes, absolutely.
It's something we can all do.
I think maybe we do that.
Can I tell a quick story?
If you can do it in a minute and 45 seconds.
Minute and 45 seconds.
Okay.
I went into the spirit realm once.
I was taken somewhere by an angel and I met another angel and he seemed very surprised that I did not know him.
He kept telling me his name and he said, you know me, you know me.
And I said, I'm sorry, but you know, and the name that he told me, I didn't recognize it and I didn't recognize him.
And then he told me, You know, I'm Doran.
I'm Doran.
Well, as soon as he said Doran, a light went on inside me, and I knew exactly who he was, and I felt so embarrassed that I didn't remember him.
So I think that we already may engage in the spirit realm, because our spirits are already in the spirit realm, and we may be having more experiences than we think we do, and we just need to come to an awareness of that.
And after I came out of that, I went to the computer, of course, and looked up the name Doran, and it means a gift from God.
That's cool.
I've had those experiences myself.
They are really, really interesting, and I would imagine a lot of other people have had them, too.
Do not go away.
We'll be right back with our last segment.
We'll be right back.
I'm your host, Pragmatic.
With my friend, Michael Van Vlijmen, and if you just joined us, we are talking about traveling into the heavens.
So, Michael, like you, I've had a number of experiences here, and this is something that I'm experimenting with and I'm trying it.
The Lord started talking to me a few years ago about traveling into the heavens and traveling around the earth, physically translocating.
I do have some really interesting experiences.
I often travel into the heavens in dreams, you know, and a lot of people think, well, dreams are just dreams, you know, eat some pizza and you're going to have crazy dreams, but I have had some really awesome experiences, like one that really sticks in my memory.
was a few months ago, my wife and I started listening to Mike Parsons, his Supernatural Mentoring.
And Mike was talking about traveling to the heavens and going into the courts and getting mandates and getting scrolls and things of that nature.
And that particular message, we were listening to it at bedtime.
And I started at that point telling my spirit, I give you permission to go into the heavens and do stuff while I'm sleeping.
So, I more or less just said to my spirit, just engage the spiritual world and go do stuff.
So, before I went to sleep, I was in that in-between phase where I wasn't quite asleep, wasn't quite awake.
And I remember going, taking off, shoom, into the heavens.
And I went and got us some scrolls, and I was checking out mandates, and I think I went to the Court of Heavens.
I went to sleep, and I had a dream where I was doing the very same things.
I was going and checking out my mountains in the heavens.
I was going to courts.
I was getting scrolls.
I was getting mandates from God, and it was so cool, and I woke up and I wrote everything down.
But if you start to engage and start to be, I think, deliberate about You take this serious and say, look, I'm going to do this.
This is something I have a right to do.
God wants us to do it.
I think that's one of the keys to learn how to start doing this.
What's your take on it?
Yeah, I absolutely agree.
You know, it's kind of like the choice is ours.
Do we want to have a religious tradition or do we want to really embrace the things of the kingdom of heaven?
And if you make the choice to pursue that, just like with you making the conscious choice to say, I give my spirit permission to engage, and your spirit wants to, you know, because that's what we were made for.
And I think you're absolutely right.
If we make that conscious choice, that God honors it, and He will facilitate that, you know, bringing Heaven, all of Heaven, to help us to make that come to pass.
So I have a question for you.
Yes.
You have a magic wand that can magically erase any teaching about God.
What one teaching do you wave your magic wand over and get rid of?
Wow.
Sorry, man.
That's an amazing question.
A teaching about God.
The one you hate the most?
I would say the teaching that we have to try and earn something from God.
That, you know, God's love is... The teaching, it goes against the unconditional love of God.
It's like, so many people feel beat down because, you know, I've sinned, and now I'm, you know, I can't get those blessings, and, you know, it's almost like people feel like they have to earn something.
And I think that's fostered in a lot of churches, and that's the teaching that I would erase.
Cool.
I hope one day that magic wand shows up and you can get rid of that teaching, because I would like to see that sucker disappear.
Because, yeah, I mean, God is... His love for us is unconditional.
No strings attached.
We're not on a hamster wheel trying to please Him.
Exactly.
He already is pleased with us.
So what is your magic wand going to take care of?
When you have me on your show, you can ask me that question.
I have a lot of doctrines I would like to get rid of.
I would need some Tomahawk cruise missiles to get rid of those things, though, because they've been around for a long time.
Well, one of which is the idea that God is in control.
That idea that God is in control of everything?
A lot of people say it routinely, you know, whenever your world is falling apart, you say, oh, God's in control.
Well, okay, that's fine.
You can think that for a while, but when you realize what you're saying, that God is in control of everything, that we are essentially puppets on a string, and He endorses everything, and He is supporting of everything.
And everything that happens in your world is God's will, and there's nothing that happens that's not His will?
When you go down that road of, you know, where God has determined all the outcomes of everything, you get into some really dark theology that I don't really care for.
And I can imagine that could turn a lot of people away from God because they look at their life and think, really?
God's in control?
God did this to me?
Well, yeah.
I mean, I was an atheist for 38 years, and the reason why most people who are atheists have that view Is because they have been told, by us Christians, God's in control of everything.
And they look around, you know, ISIS is chopping people's heads off, and there's war everywhere, and crime.
And people think, really?
So God isn't okay with all the stuff that's going on?
I don't need that kind of God.
So that's kind of something that I think we need to correct.
So, Michael, got a question for you.
Other than the book on traveling by faith, do you have any other book projects that are running around your brain right now?
Oh, wow.
Well, I think like you, I've probably got a lot of them, because I've been working on four fiction books for probably four years now, but the fiction books took a backseat to the ministry books, I have to be honest.
I've also got kind of like Angelic Visitations 2, but it's going to be called Angels and Demons, and that one should be out fairly soon.
Oh, that'll be interesting.
I'm looking forward to reading that.
And I'm working on some fiction books, too, so that's cool.
I'm glad to hear you're working on fiction, because fiction is a powerful way to reach people.
It's fun, too.
Oh, it is fun.
I love writing fiction.
It is awesome.
So, Michael, where can people find your books?
Well, you know, the only place that I really... They can be ordered through any bookstore, but the main place that I have them featured is at Amazon.com.
It's very easy just to go with that, and everyone knows where to go get the books.
Amazon.
Right, and I will put links in the podcast notes for this on the website so people can find your books.
Do you have a personal website where people can find your stuff?
Well, you know, I do, but it's a work in progress, but I'll go ahead and give that anyway.
It's riverofblessingsinternationalministries.org.
Okay.
Or dot org, I'm sorry.
Riverofblessingsinternationalministries.org.
Yes.
So people can Google that and they'll probably find it?
They will find it, yes, absolutely.
And where can people find you on social media if they want to connect with you?
Facebook, Michael R. van Vlijmen.
I am friends with that guy and he is cool.
So if you want to connect with Michael and learn about angels and seeing in the spirit, I would highly recommend connecting with Michael R. van Vlemmen on Facebook.
Are you anywhere else?
Twitter?
Instagram?
Anything else?
You know, I've got a blog that I'm trying to do on WordPress.
I haven't been real faithful with keeping up with it, but I try and post something now every couple of weeks.
Okay.
What's the web address for the blog?
You know, I guess I should have went over the notes before.
You should have studied for this test, man!
You're going to have to teach me a few things.
I am going to teach you a few things, my friend.
You have taught me a few things and I'm going to teach you.
I need help.
That authors group on Facebook is so awesome.
I love being in there and love what people are sharing.
It's really cool.
I've learned a lot from you.
You've saved me a bunch of money.
All right, cool.
Well, hey, that music means we are going to be out of time.
Thank you, Michael, for joining us.
Hey, Brayden, thanks for your awesome work on the board.
I am Praying Medic.
If you want to check out my books, you can go to my website, prayingmedic.com.
Lots of free articles, videos, all kinds of cool stuff there.
You can also go find my books on Amazon.com if you're looking for something to read.
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