BEYOND THE GATES OF GRACE: by John DeRienzo

BEYOND THE GATES OF GRACE

THERE ARE NO PEWS IN HEAVEN,
NO USHERS AT THE DOOR;
THERE ARE NO STAINED GLASS WINDOWS
OR CARPET ON THE FLOOR.

THERE ARE NO FASHION STATEMENTS
TO DISTINGUISH RICH FROM POOR;
NEITHER MALE NOR FEMALE,
THE BRIDE OF CHRIST FOR SURE.

JOY IS EVER FLOWING,
PEACE IS ALWAYS THERE;
TIME IS NEVER MEASURED
FOREVER IS IN THE AIR.

WHAT YOU HEAR IN HEAVEN
IS RARELY HEARD ON EARTH;
EVERY BREATH AROUND YOU
CONVEYS WHAT LOVE IS WORTH.

THE FAITHFUL AREN'T LONGING
FOR SERMONS TO BE THROUGH;
THEY'RE WAITING ON GOD'S PRESENCE
LINGERING LIKE THE DEW.

THE GREATEST NOW ARE LEAST,
THE LEAST OF ALL ARE FIRST;
GOD HAS CHOSEN FOOLISH THINGS
REDEEMED AMONG THE WORST.

AN OPEN INVITATION
AWAITS THE GREAT AND SMALL;
BEYOND THE GATES OF GRACE,
HIS SAINTS MUST HEED THE CALL?

OLD AND YOUNG ARE WELCOME
BLACK AND WHITE ARE TOO;
HEAVEN IS A FAMILY
THOUGH THE CHOSEN ARE THE FEW

MY TESTIMONY: by John DeRienzo

Hello Friend,


Christianity is more than a to-do list it is a thrilling adventure. Anyone can challenge your faith but not your testimony. The spirit-filled life abounds with experiences that testify to the power of the Living God. In fact, it was God's plan to reveal Jesus to us so He could reveal Jesus through us. My testimony is filled with supernatural encounters that have deeply strengthened my relationship with the Lord. Here are a few memorable encounters.

As a young college student I dedicated my life to Jesus Christ, and I have been fortunate to witness many healings & creative miracles. A few years ago, a dead man miraculously came back to life through fervent prayer, and without CPR or life support. Word of this unusual event spread to the Fire Commissioner & the Mayor of our city. I was presented with a commendation letter in front of the Mayor himself, although Jesus deserves all the honor.

I have seen Jesus in a 3D vision. It was @3AM, 1982, and Jesus was pruning a " Burning Bush." He was wearing an ordinary dark green jumpsuit, and I could hear the sound of busy hand sheers as I approached Him. I was a security guard, and with a guitar in my arms, and a melody on my lips, I stepped closer to Him from behind, but He did not acknowledge me. Instead, He was preoccupied as He pruned feverishly, like time was running out. Inside the fiery bush was another “ball of fire,” a fire that ricocheted within the bush. (Wow!) Read John chapter 15, in the New Testament, for insight into this "3-D" vision.


Again, incredible though it may sound, once the Lord seized my vocal chords as I attempted to rebuke an offending brother. Immediately, my lips became numb by the manifest glory of God, with the sensation of an electrical current. The timbre of my voice changed, it was not my own, and I delivered a message of reconciliation against my own will. All I could say was "I love you" until God made His point. (Double Wow!)


"Tongues" is a supernatural prayer language, a spiritual weapon to thwart temptation and demonic influence. It is a form of scriptural worship and thanksgiving. It is also a pathway to "greater" manifestations of the Holy Spirit because it helps to increase inner strength and sensitivity. Singing in tongues is a wonderful devotional tool, and then there is "divers," meaning many, tongues as well. Tongues, and Interpretation of Tongues, serves a dual function for public and private edification. In the public context these gifts harmonize, and interpretation is desirable. In a private setting interpretation is not always necessary, because the devotional quality of praying in tongues has its own merit. I have been enriched by the gift of tongues, and suggest that every believer seek this precious gift.

Throughout my Christian walk I have been privileged to exercise the gift of the Word of Knowledge, Word of Wisdom, and Prophecy. I have also cast out demons from the afflicted in the name of Jesus! Understand, this is the authority of every believer. In Romans 8 it declares "Greater is He, GOD, that is in us, than he, Satan, that is in the world!" Above all, I have been honored to lead many souls to Christ, and I pray that many more will submit to Him through my ministry!

We have been mandated by the Great Commission outlined in Mark 16 to win souls for Christ; I have seen children, teenagers, young adults, middle aged, and the elderly come to Christ. Jews and gentiles; rich and poor; educated and uneducated; prisoners and addicts; homosexuals and the suicidal; adulterers; the bedridden; the homeless; atheists, agnostics, and occultists, all persuaded of their need for a Savior.

I have preached in many unusual places. I began in 1978 at LSU in Baton Rouge, LA, preaching to a handful, and then to hundreds of students by the Quadrangle. In 1982 I attended Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and then I headed for NYC, where I ministered for 12 consecutive years. I remember preaching in 1985 from the middle of an empty fountain at Washington Square Park surrounded by drug dealers; for four years I conducted Sidewalk Sunday School,'90 to '94, from a mobile stage truck throughout the Burroughs of New York. There were hundreds of kids from Battery Park to the Grand Concourse; Harlem, Chinatown, the Lower East Side; Astoria Projects, and Bushwick Brooklyn, and Coney Island who heard the Gospel! The city parks were my church building, equipped with a guitar, a generator, and a portable sound system. I sang and preached at Liberty Park in the shadow of Twin Towers, Wall Street, Madison Square Garden, Union Square, Columbus Circle, Lincoln Center, Penn Station, Grand Central Station and Times Square. I have performed under the Jones Beach Band Shell, Forest Hills Band Shell, and the center of Getty Square in Yonkers.


I preached on subway trains, in subway stations, and on street corners all over NYC. I ministered in affluent neighborhoods and impoverished communities; visited Jewish, Hispanic, African American, and Chinese enclaves; supervised remedial reading at the Prince George Welfare Hotel on 23rd Street; preached to the homeless at The Bowery Mission on 3rd Ave, and from a mobile soup kitchen near Little Italy. I instructed male residence at a halfway house in Bushwick, Brooklyn; led mercy teams with blankets and provisions to underpasses, box tents, and subway tunnels, wherever the homeless could be found. I even rode atop an Easter float several consecutive years, robed as Jesus, the Risen Savior, along a one hundred mile, eight hour route. Travelling from Babylon, on Long Island, my companions & I traversed Manhattan via Broadway with no small stir. Winding our way through the Bronx, we eventually arrived in the city of Yonkers, escorted by a police motorcade like dignitaries arriving at our final destination in Getty Square.

Again, I marched in the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, with a small group and a mega sound system blaring the Christian rock anthem, "To Hell With The Devil," while thousands gawked. I testified in the midst of a throng of revelers on Bourbon Street, New Orleans, on Fat Tuesday, the busiest day of Mardi Gras. I even carried a Cross through Time Square in the midst of a pack of "Black Supremacists." One time the sound of gunshot rang out over our heads while we were carolling with a group of bible school students. Another time bullets were fired just below our bedroom window because of my neighbor's dispute over a basketball game. One of my children was born in that apartment!

Presently, I am performing in a role as Jesus for Narroway Theater, in Fort Mill, SC, an Easter production of Fishes & Loaves. For ticket information visit Narroway.net.

Ideally, my purpose is not to share my own experiences, but through my poetry, videos and photos, I hope to impart the love of Jesus and make His truth plain! My aim is to take you on a cinematic and poetic journey that edifies and entertains you while we share this experience together! Also, I hope we can share a laugh and realize that God is bigger than our problems! Welcome aboard and remember to be true to yourself!

A Quick Trip Through the Universe

THE BIGGER YOUR GOD THE SMALLER YOUR PROBLEMS

GATES OF GRACE

I met Maury, a prophet and a violinist, 1986 at Living Word Fellowship, in NYC.



MAURICE SKLAR MINISTRIES


The Closing of the Gates of Grace
Maurice Sklar
Mar 30, 2009


Tonight I watched as the Holy Spirit gave me a vision.

I saw two massive gate doors – both on the right and the left of the earth. They were made out of gold with precious gems embedded in them. They were positioned over the earth in the spirit realm. On the other side of the gates was heaven. On our side of the gates was the earth suspended in space. Then I saw a mighty angel on each side of the two gates. They were standing as sentries guarding the doorway or portal from the two realms. They each had a large sword in their hands that was on fire and it seemed to spin around perpetually in every direction and it shot these flames out all around them. I was amazed and awed at their glory and size. They seemed as large as the earth below them. The gates were even larger in size than they were! Both the angels and the gates were glowing as bright as the sun, it seemed. On the heavenly side – light was streaming like a river flowing toward the earth. As I looked into the glorious light, I saw the Lord sitting on His throne in great majesty with many crowns on His head. He had an iron/bronze-looking scepter in his right hand and an old-fashioned-looking harvesting sickle in the other.

Suddenly, I heard His voice. It sounded like a roaring ocean of water and wind as He spoke. I have never heard such a sound before. He said,

“The time has come to close the gates of grace upon the earth. The nations have rejected Me and My Father long enough. Lift the coverings of protection off of those nations that have chosen Babylon over my Kingdom. I will no longer protect them from reaping what they have sown.”

Then the two angels on each side of the golden gate leaves began to move slowly to shut the giant doorway/portal. I noticed that this was a slow process, because I saw the seasons change on earth and some years pass before it was fully closed. As it was closing, I was able to look closer at the river of light that was pouring upon the earth. In it was every blessing and healing grace, forgiveness, unconditional agape love, and the constant flow of angels carrying all these wonderful blessings to the earth.
Right before the gates shut, I heard the Voice of the Lord say,

“Come up here, my Bride, and escape the wrath that is about to be poured out upon the earth.”

I heard a nearly deafeningly loud blast of heavenly trumpets from both those angels at the same time, and suddenly, I saw multitudes of souls – millions and millions of them – ascending out of the earth very fast in a flash of light. The river of light coming through the gates met them in the upper atmosphere of the earth and then reversed itself and all the souls and the river of light went back up out of the earth and into the closing gates back into heaven.

Then I saw the gates finish shutting completely – at a much faster rate now after the souls from earth had finished going into heaven. Then, it became so dark that I could no longer see the stars even. There was no more river of light flowing down upon the earth. The earth was covered in what looked like white neon hexagon shapes in a web above the earth (please see my teaching “Visions from the Dallas Revival 1985” on my websight) It rapidly became opaque where I could no longer see the earth underneath. I just saw a brownish looking color –like a stagnant pond - where the oceans and land could be seen only a few moments before. Then, nearly just as fast, the whole earth seemed to be swallowed up in the thickest black darkness I had ever seen. It was like a black hole in the universe. It made the rest of the universe look light in comparison, if I could describe it that way.

I felt so sick and hopeless as I saw this. Then, just like I had heard back in the vision in 1985, I began hearing the screams of millions upon millions of souls that I knew were trapped in that darkness below in the earth. The Holy Spirit then spoke to me and said,

“This is now coming upon the whole earth as a snare and a trap. This is what the nations have chosen. As they have done, so shall it be done to them. As they have cursed, so shall they be cursed. As they have condemned, so shall they be condemned. The time of My wrath shall surely come. The nations shall drink of the wine of the wrath of My cup that I have mixed for them. Woe! Woe! Woe to the earth for the hour of her judgment has surely come! Babylon shall now fall and be consumed by the fire of my wrath.”

Then I realized that these were still events to come in the future. But I also somehow knew that it was imminent. Once again, I saw the doors of the gates of grace still remained partially open. I knew that this was our present time now. I was so relieved to see the river of light flowing into the earth again. But, the doors were closing fast! They weren’t fully opened as they were even a few years ago. I knew that we didn’t have much more time. The Lord spoke again so loudly and powerfully:

“Warn them! Time is very short! You must preach the gospel and work while it is still daylight. The night comes very soon, and no man can then harvest in the time of grace ever again. The doors of grace are beginning to close. REPENT! REPENT! REPENT O Earth before the river of light stops flowing! Then you will face Me, not as Merciful Savior, but as the Judge of all the earth. Who will hear and heed the final call of the silver trumpet’s clarion of Grace, Grace! My Spirit will not strive with sinful man forever. Come to Me now while there is still a little time left. I am coming soon for My overcoming Bride. Keep your lamps burning…Watch and Pray…I AM AT THE DOORS OF GRACE! They are closing quickly….Come into My ark of safety…come into the Bridal chamber and the doors will SHUT…I AM COMING FOR YOU, MY BELOVED!!!”

I pray that we all take heed to God’s prophetic warning and be ready when he appears for His glorious, waiting Bride.

Love in our Messiah,
Maurice Sklar