Welcome to Beyond the Sanctuary.

During my school years I was captured by the poem, "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost.

It became the theme of my life and still is.

My name is Linda Wall, and this is my journey. I grew up in a southern Baptist church in Petersburg, Virginia. My deacon dad, Sunday school teacher mom, older brother and I attended every time the doors were open. When I went away to college, I left it all behind.

May you discover your purpose in life by joining me as I share my encounter "Beyond the Sanctuary with Jesus."

As I walked along, a brief thought about ending my life ran through my brain. I was so tired. It felt like I was wearing a backpack full of weights that had me bent over double. The voice of a demon whispered in one ear a list of why I should end my life: "you've thrown your career away, you left your home and family behind years ago, and now you have nowhere to live."

In the other ear a different voice reminded me that I could not do that to my mom and dad. Even though I was estranged from my family, I did love my mom and dad and could not leave them dealing with my suicide.

I kept on walking. Out loud I said, "I'm tired Lord, I am so tired." Almost instantly I heard a voice reply, "go to church." What took place next was beyond human explanation. A giant screen like a drive-in movie theater screen appeared in the sky and quickly it turned into a flip chart.

Before my eyes I saw pages of different scenes of my life, starting with the present moment and going backward ten years. As I watched the scenes from my life, I could easily recall each incident of sinful behavior. When the day my parents dropped me off at college came into view, the chart stopped flipping. 

I saw myself on a screen ten years earlier saying out loud, "Good, I'm going to do what I want to do now, and I will go to church when I want to go to church."

During all of those years I had tried my best to fill the void deep inside of me. Nothing could fill that space that the Creator had made within me just for Him.

I was at the fork in the road. I could continue my way on the path to eternal damnation, or I could choose the path to life eternal. This very moment I realized I needed the Lord Jesus in my life.

This incident of watching my recorded life occurred on a Friday. I knew come Sunday I would be headed to a church service, and I knew exactly which one. Periodically Mom would write me a brief letter and often she mentioned how I needed to go to church. My normal response was always the same: read it quickly, ball it up in anger, and throw it in the trash. 

But I had remembered the name and address of the church she almost always reminded me of and that was where I would be headed on Sunday morning.

That decision opened up a world and a war I knew nothing about. 

Some church denominations today totally ignore the spiritual war we live in here on earth. Some embrace it and even cast out demons. My church upbringing was Baptist that only mentioned demons when teaching about Jesus delivering people from them.

When I arose Sunday morning, I had no inkling the devil was out to stop me from getting to my destination. Voices in my ears had been chattering about the fact that I did not own a dress so I could not go to church (This was the early eighties when women did not wear pants to church). But I knew that the Jesus I had learned about wouldn't care what I wore. So, I put on my best pants outfit.

The second attempt to stop me came in the form of a phone call. Some lesbian friends were going crabbing on the Chesapeake Bay and wanted me to join them. When I told them I couldn't because I was going to church, laughter erupted on the other end of the phone. I didn't care if they laughed and made fun of me; I had an appointment with Jesus, and my friends were not preventing it. I ended the phone conversation quickly and left for church.

A drum roll would have been an appropriate sound effect for this third attempt of the "powers of darkness" to stop me from walking into the light.  I pulled into a parking space, turned the car off, and removed the key from the ignition. When I tried to exit the car, I couldn't. The car door would not open even though it was not locked. 

I believe at that moment the forces of Hell were on the outside of that door pressing against it to keep me from escaping. I had to hold the door handle up with both hands and kick the door with both feet and legs to get it open. Immediately, I jumped out of the car and slammed the door shut.

This moment was again something my human intellect could not translate. Yet, I knew it had been a demonstration of " battling principalities and the rulers of darkness" as is mentioned in the Bible.

As I walked across the parking lot to the church building, I knew I could not dwell on what had just happened until later. I was focused on my rendezvous with Jesus.