Heidi Hollis, Author of Jesus Is No Joke & Picture Prayers,
Talks About Her Journey from Paranormal to Spiritual
LAS VEGAS (March 31, 2010) - Author Heidi Hollis is celebrating the second
anniversary of the release of her inspiring personal journey Jesus is No Joke and soon the one year anniversary
of Picture Prayers.
Best known for years
for her work in the paranormal, in 2008 Heidi felt compelled to share her personal encounters with Jesus, documented in Jesus
is No Joke: A True Story of an Unlikely Witness Who Saw Jesus. She continued her spiritual journey with Picture Prayers:
The Journey to Picture Perfect Prayers in 2009 after an angelic encounter that taught her prayers come in the form of
simple pictures that come from the heart, mind and soul.
Heidi
recently talked about her journey.
Q:
How did someone who spent years researching and writing on UFOs and the paranormal suddenly emerge as a spiritual author?
HH:
Believe it or not, I started off as a skeptic when it came to claims of people having sightings of Jesus and such. Yet, following
my own personal encounters (four in total) with Him, it was an easy decision to go this route, more like a need that grew
into an absolute passion. I knew that it would be somewhat of a shock to the fans who knew me best as a paranormal researcher
and author, but I actually didn't get any backlash from anyone asking how I could go this route. It all went rather smoothly,
which was a pleasant surprise, but I didn't plan on hiding what occurred to me in encountering Jesus, either.
Q:
Do you see a connection between your work in the paranormal and the need to share your experiences with Jesus and angels?
HH:
The most important link I see is when it comes to the topic of light and dark, positive vs. negative, good vs. evil.
When discussions arise on such topics as aliens, I believe there are the good and the bad ones out there, some of which act
much like the demons and angels written of in the past. The same tactics work when faced with either of them, as well, such
as when being met with a negative alien abduction. When I've instructed victims of reported alien abductions, to demand to
their abductors-in Jesus' Name that these being leave-they leave! If these so-called aliens from another planet can
recognize His Name enough to respect it, then it's easy to see that there is a definite connection with all the topics that
I cover.
Q:
When did you first have an encounter with Jesus?
HH:
It was July 19th, 1999 on a hot summer day,
in the early afternoon.
Q:
Your four encounters with Jesus seem to come at a time when such visions are happening all around the world at an increased
rate. Was anything out-of-the-ordinary going on in your life during that first and subsequent encounters?
HH: There were a few different things going on in my life at the time that could all be seen as requiring some
attention from Jesus. One was my health; I had ulcerative colitis for 12 years-notice I say that in past tense now thanks
to Him. Another pressing issue was due to my first book I was about to publish called The Secret War. As I've
already mentioned, I was a skeptic of Jesus encounters, and I'd actually written about that skepticism in that book where
I outright said, "If Jesus were around and after all the strange things I've researched and experienced-I would have
seen Him already!" So apparently, before I published that book and put my ethereal and eternal foot in my mouth,
Jesus let me in on His reality.
Q:
Did Jesus talk to you? What did he say?
HH:
Yes, He did. He actually directly told me that I needed to finish writing my book at the time, which was already written
but obviously needed to have some "Jesus encounter bashing" removed. He of course told me quite a bit more,
telling me about His life, what He aimed to do and how so much more needed to be done. For me it wasn't so much His
words as much as the feelings He emitted that told more than words could, which revealed His heart of intentions. So this
book wasn't written with loads of quotes and orders for readers to follow. It was written about Him, the reality of
Him, and how He took the time to open the eyes of someone who wasn't even looking directly His way.
Q: Reviews
of Jesus is No Joke have said that your writing is natural, refreshingly "real," and enthusiastic and that your
encounters with Jesus were riveting and inspiring and they conveyed, above all, the feeling of Jesus' reality. Where do you
think this ability to make Jesus a "reality" comes from?
HH: It's nice to hear from readers who have
often told me that they feel that I am sitting across from them telling them my story directly-now that is truly touching
for me to hear! I think because I do have the background in the paranormal-which involves topics that can scrape up a ton
of disbelievers in one room of discussion-has helped me be able to relate mysteries more completely than the next person.
I also believe that because I was a skeptic of people's claims of seeing Him today and then having the opportunities that
I did to see Him for myself, helped me pour out the raw experience of it all. I've always been one to never speak over
anyone's head and to relate what I write as I would tell a friend of mine. It feels more comfortable to me that way, too.
Q:
What has changed in your life since your encounters with Jesus?
HH: The question is, what hasn't changed in my
life? When you meet such a powerful, loving and complete soul as Jesus-you know that all things are possible.
Those wandering questions we all have; like if God really hears me, what does this life mean, why am I here; all these questions
and more are answered all at once. For me personally when I met Him, I got my soul back, my pep, my laughter, my health, and
my nerve to participate further in life. Before Him, public speaking was a huge fear that didn't allow me to come forward
with much of what was on my mind-but here I was about to put out a book (The Secret War) that I would have to speak
on? He was the only reason I could ever do such thing when He told me in one of my encounters that He would help give
me the words to speak out to others. Little did people know at the time, that here I was a paranormal author who had Jesus
at her side the whole time helping her hold her voice and her hands steady at the podium.
Q: In your book Picture Prayers,
you discuss an angelic encounter that showed you the simplicity of prayer and communicating with God through pictures that,
as you say, come from the heart, mind and soul? What are picture prayers?
HH:
I was shown how to do Picture Prayers through an angelic encounter I had where I was essentially taught how the angels pray
to God. It would be almost silly to think that the angels might formulate words as we do to express ourselves to God, and
I learned via Picture Prayers what their method is like. To share in brief what Picture Prayers entails, it is a method of
sending your thoughts out to God while in the midst of living and seeing your life. It's essentially taking steps toward communicating
with God with what you see as you see it, feel it, experience it, or as you envision it. Just as when it's said a picture
gives a thousand words, the method of Picture Prayers gives the intentions of the words with your picture of your life in
mind.
Q:
Can anyone learn to communicate with God through Picture Prayers?
HH: Yes, it's actually so easily done that
I've also introduced a method that teaches parents how to share Picture Prayers with their children so they can do it easily,
too, where it can be an enjoyable family activity.
Q:
How long after your encounters with Jesus did you have your first angelic encounter?
HH: My very first angelic
encounter ever, took place even prior to any of my encounters with Jesus. But the angelic encounter that taught me the method
of Picture Prayers actually happened about nine months after my initial encounter with Jesus in April of 2000. Still, I would
never have thought I would have an angelic encounter on top of my Jesus encounters. To be honest, I never expected to see
anything, but I'm overwhelmingly happy that I've seen all that I have!
Q: Why do you suppose you had these encounters
with Jesus and angels? And how can you be so sure of what you have experienced?
HH: I get asked that a
lot, actually I get asked both questions equally as much. I'm no one special and I think what people should be thinking
actively is that these sorts of encounters may soon or may have already occurred in their own life-but were they paying attention
or will they when and if something comes their way? God speaks in various ways; some ways are more noticeable than others
and others we may shrug off as a dream with Godly overtones or our overactive imagination. But when we have so-called "dreams"
that last us a lifetime-can we really just call it a dream if the message taught stayed with us for so long? Why Jesus came
to me the way that He did-all I can say is I'm certain He knew me best and what I would do with what He taught me. Meaning,
He knew that I would be who I am and true to Him in sharing about all of my experiences. When it comes to knowing for
certain what I have experienced, I tell people that I could have been blind and seen that it was Jesus. That ‘knowing"
that comes from one's soul is hard to put in doubt when in the presence of something that comes directly from God.
Q:
What has changed in your life since you were shown how to pray through Picture Prayers?
HH: Prior to my learning about
Picture Prayers, I nearly dreaded my prayer time. It all felt so rehearsed, stale and repetitive. To be honest, I was
simply bored with my prayers and hoped there was a better way for me to communicate with God. Now I feel completely open to
God where I don't feel there isn't any place He cannot look, because I engage with Him throughout my day-more like having
conversations with God. How I feel about prayer now is nothing I could have ever even hoped to feel about my time spent
with God. I don't feel that I have to take time out for prayer, because it takes no time at all-though for me prayer
is happening all of the time now.
Q:
What do you want your readers to take away from your books?
HH:
Being able to fully grasp the outright and utmost reality
of God and Jesus, I think that is the gift I am hoping to share with my writings. I feel so fortunate to have had what appear
to be shortcuts in understanding and gaining my faith in the manner that I have through my encounters. But as with anything,
maintaining and holding onto our faith and building our understandings is a lifelong process. So
I'm hoping that by peeling back my layers and sharing my process and inspiring experiences-that others can truly feel and
know that our souls are very much alive and that our Maker and His Son are quite near and always listening with Their arms
and heart open wide waiting for us to take notice.
Q.
Are you currently working on another book?
HH:
Yes, I'm writing another book right now that's based on faith and the challenges, goofs and triumphs we make along the way
in our pursuit of never having doubt in the one ultimate being--God. I am also putting together two other books that highlights
my darker topics concerning spiritual matters in direct connection with Shadow People and the Hat Man--I'm still aiming to
keep the balance in the topics I cover!
To mark the anniversaries
of Jesus Is No Joke and Picture Prayers, readers can purchase copies of both books for $22.77 from http://www.jesusisnojoke.com and www.pictureprayers.com.
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