It's Supernatural

Sid: My guest, Rich Vera, is red hot for the Messiah. If you had had the experience he had, I mean going to heaven being given a supernatural gift where he just looks at people and knows what’s going on inside of them; he knows about their future. As a matter of Rich you were telling me off the air that many times you can’t watch Christian television because you know too much.

Rich: That’s correct. In fact, I make a choice not to because the same Spirit that reveals to me when I’m in front of a person. I get to see, you know, so many things and sometimes they don’t match with their actions, so I just stay away.

Sid: I understand in a way it’s such a fabulous gift you have, but in another way… You know what it reminds me of a guy once that had the same type of gift you have. He said “You know Sid sometimes I wish there was shield between myself and the person I’m talking to. I don’t want to know what they’re thinking.”

Rich:  Exactly, you know really it is a gift that you can you personally in trouble because it is very easy to go from there to criticism and judgment. So what really keeps you it’s walking in the love of God knowing that God loves people, and no matter what they’re going through there’s always a way out.  So it’s like you said “It can get you into trouble sometimes.”

Sid: Okay, I want to take you back to the beginning, in my opinion based on studying the notes of your life. You’ve got a free ticket to Orlando, but that was not what you thought it was. You thought it was an opportunity to go to Disney, to go to bars, to have fun. So you rent a room and the owner of the rooming house just happened to be a member of Benny Hinn’s church. Why did you even go with her to a meeting?

Rich:  Actually that’s correct. I just turn 18 so I had the legal to go and do things that I could not as a young, young person. I took the pass, the ticket, because it was a free ticket to go away from home and do something without my parents finding out.  When I went to Orlando I was fully intending on going out to the clubs, going out as a young man meets some girls, just live it up. It happens to be a very rainy day in Orlando, and Orlando when it rains it really rains in Florida. I didn’t have a car so I had to walk, catch the bus anywhere I went. The lady asked me if I would like to go and get something to eat. She said “I’ll buy you something.” So as an 18 year old kid if you’re going to buy me some food I’m going to say “Yes.” So I went and we went to Burger King, and she said “Order whatever you want.” I order an extra-large of this and extra milkshake, and extra this. In the middle of my eating she looks at me and says “How about going to church tonight with me?” I saw myself eating all the food she just bought me and if I was going to say no I thought she was going to charge me for it. So I said “You know what…” I thought to myself “Let’s go to the mass, 45 minutes, you know, get out and she’s happy and you have free food.”

Sid: What did you think when you saw people being healed when miracles started happening at that Benny Hinn service?

Rich:  You know never in my life went to a Christian church, never anyone ever witnessed to me the Gospel. My only experience was the mass. When I walk in the place I was really overcome by the presence of the Holy Spirit, now I know it to be. Back then I had no idea what it was, so I felt the desire to cry, and cry, and cry, and like an electrical current will go in and out of my body. So I was first of all overcome by that, and that caught my attention. That’s what caused me to stay and not walk out in the parking lot waiting for the lady to get out. Then suddenly Pastor Benny comes out and begins to sing some worship, and I don’t know what he preached, what he said cause the whole time I was overcome by the presence of God, until he started calling people out. There was a young man with a brain tumor, or brain cancer, and the mom comes up and the young man was healed, and the head was large and being reduced. Another young man who dove into a pool with little water broke his neck and was paralyzed; got out of the wheelchair was walking, they were crying. He prayed for them, you know, the power of the Spirit touched them. Anna was completely hooked to it because the presence the Lord plus what I was seeing it grip my heart. I just knew there was something to it that was beyond a church show.

Sid: But then that evening at 2:30 in the morning, something happened to you that, I assume this has never happened to you before.

Rich:  Yes it is true I have never had a supernatural experience before in my life, never sought it. I was the most disqualified person to have a spiritual experience; I mean I was a church goer by name, yet living the life of any worldly teenager out there. I went to the house and there was a Bible place on the table next to our bed, I was used to seeing Bibles all my life so it wasn’t a big deal having a Bible. I felt something inside of me put a desire to read the red writings of Jesus in the book of John. Well as a Catholic I was familiar with the scriptures to a point, and I was always fascinated by the writings the red words of the Bible. I always loved them. So I opened up and started reading them and I fell asleep reading the red words of the Jesus in the Bible. Around 2:30 in the morning, and I know it was that time because the alarm clock had the big red numbers. About 2:30 in the morning I felt somebody had come into my room and turned the lights on. So my reaction was to sit up and see who came into the room, and the moment I sat up an invisible hand hit me on the chest and nailed me back on the bed, my entire body got paralyzed. It felt like electricity on my body; I couldn’t move my fingers all I do was move my eyes, and my heart was beating with fear, and suddenly through the door, without opening the door, the whole room became, I said the lights were on, and I see 2 individuals walk through the door. The moment they walked in I experienced a vision, the first time I experienced a vision. I saw this mass of people as far as the eye could see. Everybody was wearing black clothes and black hoods, and way at the end there was a small little door with a bright light and instantly I knew that was the place I wanted to be. Because of the press of people I wasn’t able to get to the light, and I saw the hands of the Lord stretch towards me, not saying a word just a smile on His face with hands stretched towards me. I ignore Him and I try to climb on top of people to get to the light, and I keep falling on the ground. In my frustration I thought to myself “Maybe He can help me.” On the moment my hand stretched out and my finger touched His finger, my middle finger touch His middle finger, in that second I was taken from the back of the line and found myself inside this room that was bright, and the light was going around me, going through me; the light was an incredible light but all I did was weep and weep and weep. Suddenly after crying I opened my eyes and I see the Lord and He tells me something, He said “Nothing will separate you from the love of God. When you are 21 years of age I am going to have a plan for your life and you will preach My word, and you will do what I have for your life. I had no idea what He meant all I know is that I was crying so hard that I felt inside of me just to embrace Him. So my body hug the lower part of His body and He lay His hands on the back of my head and I felt currents of that same electricity I felt at the church. Now it was flowing up and down my body, and then suddenly He left, went out through the door, the room went back to darkness, the hand let me go from the bed, and I jump up on my feet and I open the door looked to the right to the left, the house was dark. Went into the bathroom couldn’t believe that I was crying like a little baby, could not believe. I raise my hands in the bathroom and I said “From now on I know that You are the Christ and I put my faith in you.” Instantly in that bathroom this weird foreign language begins to come out of my mouth; I felt my mouth by itself beginning to jibber and talk, and I had no idea what it was, and I was filled with the Holy Spirit and began praying in tongues right in that bathroom.

Sid: Then a week later you heard the audible voice of God; what did He say to you?

Rich:  I went every single day to the church, never made it to the clubs, never made it to Disney, it’s like the Lord took me and took every desire out; all I wanted more of this experience. I went to church, it was a Sunday night, leaving out of a healing service. Benny Hinn used to have healing services every Sunday night. I was leaving the healing service maybe 10pm there was young guy on a motorcycle who said “I’ll give you a ride if you don’t mind riding on a bike,” and I said “Not at all, and I’m staying so many miles away.” He told me go ahead and wear my helmet, it’s for safety.” So I put the helmet on, we are leaving the parking lot, not even 2 blocks from the church, I hear from inside of the helmet a voice like a radio talk to me and says “You’re not going back.” I took the helmet out and look inside the helmet and I told my friend “Jesus just talked to me right now!” He goes “What?” I said “Jesus is inside of my helmet, and He just told me that I’m not going back.”

Sid: [Laughing]

Rich: He pulls to the side and tells me “What do you mean He’s inside, He’s not inside of your helmet.” So I’m looking inside of the helmet and I say “The voice came” and I’m patting the helmet, and I just knew instantly, of course my friend was laughing thinking I’m just being fanatical or crazy.

Sid: But you know that was such an important word because had you left and gone home, you wouldn’t of been discipled and mentored, became a youth leader; but you had such an insatiable hunger for the presence of God you would pray hours every day and you began to hear God’s voice clearly, even without that motorcycle helmet. Seriously I can’t wait for everyone to hear what happened when you went to heaven because when you went to heaven you were given skills to allow people to enter the glory of God. How to live in the glory; how to have everything they need in the glory of God; healings occur, creative miracles occur, you begin to hear God’s voice for yourself; you’re restored in every area of your life.