Greetings! I used to be a pro tourney player and now I could care less about the rat race that is poker and have given my life to God. I deal with all kinds of slander and defamation and as a result was suicidal and ready to die. Around Easter I overdosed on some legal medicine and went to a rainy place. I believe this was purgatory. I also saw heaven, it was so bright and beautiful. I’ve learned life is a beautiful gift, not to be squandered.

I deal with pain due to a medical issue. I prayed to God to help reduce my pain and at the end of the prayer I felt a tap on my shoulder. I promise there was no one else in the room. So I googled “God shoulder taps” and there were thousands of results of people saying that when your prayer aligns with Gods will you get a shoulder tap. I was blown away.

All my life I’ve been searching for meaning and it’s very clear what my life’s purpose is. To save souls for Jesus Christ.

Don’t get me wrong, I played poker for a decade and loved it. It was cool being on tv and winning the Sunday Million. However finding God is WAY cooler than any poker accomplishment.

What’s the most religious experience you’ve ever had, leaving no doubt in your mind that God is real?

Pretty awesome that you were a pro tourney for 10 years who never posted on 2+2 but chose to create an account to discuss God.

What drug did you overdose on and what are your opinions on it being legal?

I used to post lots on 2p2 mttc. I’ve been called all kinds of positive things, had fans, have signed autographs and had lots of sweat threads. Perhaps I’ll reveal my true identity someday.

I overdosed on a nootropic called Phenibut. I would say it’s similar to an over the counter version of Xanax. They should sell it in capsule form only IMO. I bought raw powder and it easily mixes with liquid.

Also, Jesus was 33 when he died and was resurrected. I happen to be 33.

Uh..... so you had a hallucination while OD-ing on a drug and *THAT* convinced you that god is real?

That seem incredibly weak to me.

No, I stopped breathing and died and saw heaven then purgatory.

I’ve been shoulder tapped, researched the case for Christ and possessed by an Angel. I don’t have faith, I know God is real.

So after god filled you with the holy spirit you tried to kill yourself?? Is this the sequence?

And: You say you don't have faith you know, but the Bible says to have faith. Hmm.

Is the shoulder tap thing in the Bible or is it more like a cultural meme?

Wrong. I tried killing myself then came back filled with Holy Spirit and harming myself was the furthest thing from my mind. I know God is real that is faith, was trying to emphasize how certain I am.

At one level, opening yourself to / accepting death is a faith move, so it is not uncommon for people to have spiritual experiences during near death experiences. There is a hypothesis that this is what John the Baptist was attempting to recreate when he was dunking people underwater.

Ideally, this idea would be internalized completely (psychologized) and decoupled from unnecessary risk.

Or it could be that almost dying but living is an intensely emotional experience. Intense emotional experiences have long been attributed to religious causes ... the vast majority of course to the god held predominant in one's culture. So such experiences are evidence for all the gods and for none of them. It is an interesting point that once you drop the exclusivity claim from any or all of the religions, the idea of gratitude and connection to a creator, whoever or whatever it is, seems a very valid and widespread interpretation. Of course it is only an interpretation, could be true could be false. They are doing this in all the religions, all claiming it makes theirs true. Obviously that is false. But deeper it could go to the "perennial philosophy" of Huxley, of which all the various religions would be wild guesses as to its true nature, with indeed a divine being or force underlying all things. None of this discounts the OP's experience, only it houses it in a wider fashion in which the religions don't cancel each other out, which is a pedestrian type of attitude to be expected of the ancient cultures. Because we have an intense emotional experience, does not mean the god of our culture is literal. That is merely an extremely biased interpretation.

Any idea which god you encountered? Christian? Muslim? Hindu? Greek? Roman? Scandinavian?

I like how he plays coy with the shoulder tap. The all-knowing, all-powerful creator of everything that is seen and unseen can really be subtle when he wants to to be.

I also learned that you hear music as you die.

Google “you hear music when you die” and there are others with NDEs who talk about hearing music.

You hear music?
Well.... that's definitive proof of god for sure! ;-)
No human has ever heard music before!!!

Billions of people have had religious experiences. Then OP comes along and has one, and it settles the issue as to which "god" is "real."

When did you read The Case For Christ? Was it before or after your experience?

If you Google almost any phrase you'll find matches - that's how searches are supposed to work.

Frankly, I don't believe anything in your op, but let me ask you this: what's more likely when someone reports a NDE (e.g. after a drug overdose) - i) that they actually experience some supernatural realm, or ii) after their oxygen-deprived brain begins to 'reboot' they have unusual but entirely natural memories / experiences?

Would it bother you if OP is living a better life now that he believes in god? If your happy for him, would it make sense to try to sway him in another direction?

How is that related to what I said? My point is that the 50 billionth or so religious experience does not trump all the others and resolve the issue of which god if any is real. Since that is obviously true, you come with this completely irrelevant trite crap? I am not against religion per se but if a religion requires that reality testing and remotely sound epistemology be adjourned, there is a reason.

I researched the Case for Christ (which is free on YouTube) before my seeing heaven then purgatory experience. Got the book afterwards.

I watched a video on YouTube that said targeted individuals are Gods remnant army. The man in the video said to goto a rooftop and scream “Jesus Christ is king of kings.” I did not. I went to sleep. Then in the middle of the night, while possessed by an angel or spirit or something I opened the window to my 15th floor apartment and screamed Jesus Christ is king of kings.

I’ll be praying for all the skeptics. Praying for your souls and that you find God. These religious experiences are way cooler than poker.

The Case for Christ is a book and movie about an atheist who set out to disprove God and became a pastor. I recommend it.

OP as long as you believe it to be true, it doesn’t really matter what others think. Kudos to you for turning your life around.


How were you certain that it was Christ and not some other Diety? Did it speak to you?

What do you recommend about "The Case For Christ", specifically?

When you first read (or watched) it, did you already believe in God / were you a Christian?

More importantly, what makes you think you were possessed "by an angel or spirit or something" when you screamed out of your window?




That's a given.

There were 500+ eyewitnesses of Jesus’s resurrection.

When I was possessed I didn’t have control over my body. I woke up in the middle of the night and it was like somebody else had keys to the car of my body, compelling me to scream Jesus Christ is king of kings.

I get everyone’s skepticism, I suggest you all pray.


Matthew 7:8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened

You don't know if there were 500 witnesses to Jesus's resurrection.
You only know that someone wrote a book that had a story.

If someone else was "in control", then was it really you that screamed out of your window? Sounds like you lost your free will.

Btw, do you think that people with Tourette's (or similar compulsions) are possessed like you were?

Q. What's more likely, an unusual but natural experience that feels like you are not in control, or an actual supernatural event in which you are possessed by "an angel or a spirit or something"? (I asked another "what's more likely" question earlier but you didn't respond).

If you really did, I'd expect you'd explain better why anyone should believe any of this (and especially why you do, which is completely lacking so far).


There are probably people reading this very thread that have not "receiveth, findeth, or openethed" despite sincere attempts.