CHAPTER 5: THE BLACK FOREST 2026
What is the Black Forest? Hell’s invitation to join up. Bend the rules, change the rules, make up your own rules, why rules at all. Is it a place? Well, it could be Beverly Hills, it could be Anaheim, California, it could be anywhere it is allowed to exist and anywhere I decide I’d rather be. Anywhere I’d rather be, than where God would like me to be. It is the mind, the mind of “my way” in the name of God, or in the name of anything I want. It is a place where my way is king, number one, it is where God only exists if it is my version, or not, doesn’t matter. It is virtually a place where I have the hope for the opportunity to be what I want to be, whatever that is. If it be in this church or that, so be it, if not, so be it. You can see it in the entertainment business, wall street, politics, anywhere there is “yearning for greatness.” “What do I have to do to get what I want?” God generally protects us from what we want, that doesn’t stop people, if God won’t give me what I want, the devil will lend an ear and a promise of hope to get me what I want, the devil will keep me entertained and chained to that very idea, concept, dream for the rest of my life, if I choose to follow the path of the forest.
You may say, “that’s not me.” Isn’t it? Did you not chase your version of a company to be more and more and more and more until it cracks, breaks, crashes, and all of that effort was in the name of what is good, holy, correct, honorable, when in fact there’s a good chance it is motivated in greed, selfish, look at me, make me rich schemes. Take a look at the rich and famous as time goes by. Compare that to the righteous who stayed the course of the Lord. One has God, one does not.
Proverbs 4:14-15 Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.
God offers every opportunity to know Him, love Him, fear Him, use Him, be directed by Him, all the time, anytime. The devil offers the same opportunity. God never lies, the devil never tells the truth.
“However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’— the things God has prepared for those who love him…” — 1 Corinthians 2:9 [1, 2, 3]
Social media, the world, news, politics, bad and good luck, people, greed, selfish, jealous, envy, agencies working diligently 24/7 against God’s promise for you. The world laughs at all of it until it doesn’t..
“He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 24:51 (HCSB)
So now, we dive deeper into the allure of the Black Forest. Here in the forest god is a concept, a puzzle of many beliefs, free thinking, sin is perception, debauchery an art form, mis-interpretations advertised as new information and wrong listed as enlightened thought. The promise of fame, fortune, power, respect. The deeper one descends into it, the more dependent on the hope of what it promises, the more confusion, the more lost, the path of God sadly fading in the rear view mirror.
Romans 1:29 & 32: They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil;
The fountain of youth, charm, extreme advantage, dangerous knowledge, dark information, revenge, wealth beyond measure.
Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
How many of you would’ve taken that deal? Even believers in the God?
When I wrote this chapter I was watching churches, preachers, men of God, politicians, leaders, great chairs of power all of them talking the talk of power, hardly mentioning God at all, if ever. In my new job I witnessed capitalization of money, property and prestige. I watched companies, CEO’s, owner, operators borrow tens of millions of dollars in the name of what is right, growth, gotta spend money to make money. You play the “no-God game” long enough, and the “no-god game” will play you. This is the nature of the Black Forest. Some enjoy temporary stardom, others party out, crash and burn. It starts, insidiously with the children, snatching the gospel little by little. Social media, more and more, little by little, replacing God’s truth with lies and glamorous dreams. How to look, how to impress, how to do anything except read, write and work. What could they read instead of scrolling? What is more curious than instagram?
Romans 8:20-23 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
What does that mean? It means break the spell of anything that is not truly God. You see cool for God is not cool for the world and cool for the world is not cool for God.
John 15:19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
Matthew 6:20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
I prayed, desperately…,
“Lord,” I said, “Show me what to do and I will do it. I have wasted what you have given me because I didn’t know. Please, give my life back to me, and I will do everything you put before me…, please, God, save me..”
And He did.
Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
I got out. I assure you, everybody doesn’t get out. The forest does not give up prisoners easily. The line between right and wrong is not gray. It is a hard line. My grandfather, said it..
“right is right and wrong is wrong, wrong ain’t never right.”
Fred Wahlig, grandpa on my mother’s side, a long time ago.
Look, the black forest has offices everywhere. Beverly Hills, Monaco, Hawaii, the very best neighborhoods, or the darkest part of witchcraft in New Orleans, Europe, Africa, it’s an equal opportunity offer. And there’s nothing in between God and the forest. You may not be a full blown witch, or attend the church of satan, however cheating on your taxes, lying about your whereabouts, fudging your bank statements and putting your family at risk for yet another loan to bail out bad business practices, well, now, that sounds like forest material. You can do that and go to church, right? I’m still going to fail, sin and challenges will befall me, but my heart must be in His way, not mine. I need His help wholly and completely to succeed.
Psalm 25:8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.
Republicans, democrats, socialists, nazis, communists, I got it clearly that “this” isn’t a club, this is much more than that. Romans, Jews, Nazi’s, left, right, communists, Hittites, Perizzites, Ammonites, Hivites, Canaanites, Jebustites, China, Russia, what I was looking at sent terror through me, it’s none of that, history reveals that all of it fails. Why? There is only two choices, no clubs. Good or evil.
Isaiah 5:20 in KJV states: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
Somebody gave me a bible on March 23, 1985, and that somebody wrote in that book “presented to Pat the Warrior from Sans Leister, occasion Revelation.” That book is sitting on my desk right now. I tried to find Sans Leister. Never did. If he be an angel, thank God.
The Bible emphasizes that God commands his angels to guard and protect people. Psalm 91:11-12 states that God will “command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”
The Black Forest has guides that will help you, too. But they’re not anything good and what they want, is your disappointment, disillusion, hopelessness, sadness, loneliness, and in the end — the black forest will waste your life and twist you up in front of those you love. Then why do we choose the Black Forest, why? Because, we are fooled by forest representatives..
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
Oh, I remember the goals as I entered the forest. Dazzled, bedazzled, money, property, prestige, I wanted it all, so it was easy to fool me.
Jeremiah 23:16 warns against listening to prophets who promise false hopes and speak visions from their own minds, not from God.
Now and then I think about how I could do things different, I could’ve said…
“Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed by thy name, they Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven…
Yea, I didn’t say that. I’ll tell you what I said instead.
“Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be “my” name, “my” kingdom come, “my” will be done, on earth…, amen.”
I didn’t realize that’s what I was saying, but isn’t that something that all of us have done? The lie of Chapter 5, and that lie is the tragedy of The Black Forest in a life. That lie states: “maybe this will do it!” Stay aware, “this” will not do it, be sure. Stay with God, He won’t do it, He’s already done it!
James 1:12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
“If I, Patrick, decide there is a God of my choosing, then I, Patrick can decide that there is a devil of my choosing. Both of these notions will destroy me entirely, in time…”
Psalm 119 The Message You’re blessed when you stay on course,
walking steadily on the road revealed by God.
You’re blessed when you follow his directions,
doing your best to find him.
Chapter 5, The Black Forest, When the forest whispers, when there is a haunting about you… Don’t take the bait, say your prayers before it’s too late.…
Amen.
