Lee Strobel

All my efforts to be good, all my efforts to be obedient, you're telling me they don't matter? And he said, someday you'll understand. And that was the end of the dream. 16 years later, that prophecy came true. When my wife dragged me to a church as an atheist, January 20, 1980, And the pastor got up and he talked about heaven.

All my efforts to be good, all my efforts to be obedient, you're telling me they don't matter? And he said, someday you'll understand. And that was the end of the dream. 16 years later, that prophecy came true. When my wife dragged me to a church as an atheist, January 20, 1980, And the pastor got up and he talked about heaven.

All my efforts to be good, all my efforts to be obedient, you're telling me they don't matter? And he said, someday you'll understand. And that was the end of the dream. 16 years later, that prophecy came true. When my wife dragged me to a church as an atheist, January 20, 1980, And the pastor got up and he talked about heaven.

And he talked about heaven is not a place that we earn our way there and try to achieve something, somehow be good enough to enter into heaven. None of us is good enough to enter into the presence of God in heaven. Forgiveness and eternal life in heaven is a free gift of God's grace, because he loves you. You're made in his image. He wants to spend eternity with you.

And he talked about heaven is not a place that we earn our way there and try to achieve something, somehow be good enough to enter into heaven. None of us is good enough to enter into the presence of God in heaven. Forgiveness and eternal life in heaven is a free gift of God's grace, because he loves you. You're made in his image. He wants to spend eternity with you.

And he talked about heaven is not a place that we earn our way there and try to achieve something, somehow be good enough to enter into heaven. None of us is good enough to enter into the presence of God in heaven. Forgiveness and eternal life in heaven is a free gift of God's grace, because he loves you. You're made in his image. He wants to spend eternity with you.

He offers forgiveness and eternal life as a free gift of his grace. And my first thought was, that's what that angel was talking about 16 years ago, when he said, someday I'll understand. And I got it that day, I didn't believe it, took a while, but the first day I got, oh, I get it now. That's what Christianity is about.

He offers forgiveness and eternal life as a free gift of his grace. And my first thought was, that's what that angel was talking about 16 years ago, when he said, someday I'll understand. And I got it that day, I didn't believe it, took a while, but the first day I got, oh, I get it now. That's what Christianity is about.

He offers forgiveness and eternal life as a free gift of his grace. And my first thought was, that's what that angel was talking about 16 years ago, when he said, someday I'll understand. And I got it that day, I didn't believe it, took a while, but the first day I got, oh, I get it now. That's what Christianity is about.

It's not earning your way to heaven, it's receiving a free gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Wow. How old were you when that happened? You know, I'd say maybe 10, 11, sometimes 10, 11, 12, somewhere in there. It was funny, my ordination, when I was being ordained as a pastor years ago, I thought, do I even tell this story? They're going to think I'm nuts.

It's not earning your way to heaven, it's receiving a free gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Wow. How old were you when that happened? You know, I'd say maybe 10, 11, sometimes 10, 11, 12, somewhere in there. It was funny, my ordination, when I was being ordained as a pastor years ago, I thought, do I even tell this story? They're going to think I'm nuts.

It's not earning your way to heaven, it's receiving a free gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Wow. How old were you when that happened? You know, I'd say maybe 10, 11, sometimes 10, 11, 12, somewhere in there. It was funny, my ordination, when I was being ordained as a pastor years ago, I thought, do I even tell this story? They're going to think I'm nuts.

And I told it and they all, yeah, okay. I mean, that's... Par for the course, we all have stories like that. And not exactly, but we all have experiences of God. But yeah, that was my experience with an angel. What did the angel look like? It was male. And by the way, I did read some scholarly articles from Jewish writers saying that angels can be female, but in scripture, they're all male.

And I told it and they all, yeah, okay. I mean, that's... Par for the course, we all have stories like that. And not exactly, but we all have experiences of God. But yeah, that was my experience with an angel. What did the angel look like? It was male. And by the way, I did read some scholarly articles from Jewish writers saying that angels can be female, but in scripture, they're all male.

And I told it and they all, yeah, okay. I mean, that's... Par for the course, we all have stories like that. And not exactly, but we all have experiences of God. But yeah, that was my experience with an angel. What did the angel look like? It was male. And by the way, I did read some scholarly articles from Jewish writers saying that angels can be female, but in scripture, they're all male.

It doesn't mean they couldn't manifest themselves because they're spirits. so they could manifest himself as a male, I assume as a female, but all of them in Scripture are male. He had a soft glow to him. Didn't have wings. Didn't look like a cartoon character, but there was a gentle glow to him that just intuitively I knew, oh, this is an angel. I'm talking to an angel. So looked human.

It doesn't mean they couldn't manifest themselves because they're spirits. so they could manifest himself as a male, I assume as a female, but all of them in Scripture are male. He had a soft glow to him. Didn't have wings. Didn't look like a cartoon character, but there was a gentle glow to him that just intuitively I knew, oh, this is an angel. I'm talking to an angel. So looked human.

It doesn't mean they couldn't manifest themselves because they're spirits. so they could manifest himself as a male, I assume as a female, but all of them in Scripture are male. He had a soft glow to him. Didn't have wings. Didn't look like a cartoon character, but there was a gentle glow to him that just intuitively I knew, oh, this is an angel. I'm talking to an angel. So looked human.

He looked human, exactly. And even the Bible talks about the fact that sometimes when we provide hospitality to someone, we're really providing hospitality to an angel, unbeknownst to us. And so angels can manifest themselves as people. I know you're an angel, I don't know. But they can manifest themselves as human-like.

He looked human, exactly. And even the Bible talks about the fact that sometimes when we provide hospitality to someone, we're really providing hospitality to an angel, unbeknownst to us. And so angels can manifest themselves as people. I know you're an angel, I don't know. But they can manifest themselves as human-like.