2 posts tagged “eternity”
Life after Life is written by Raymond Moody, and doctor who interviewed 150 people who had near-death experiences. Many of his subjects were clinically dead and then were resuscitated within 20 minutes of dying. Moody found amazing similarities between all of their stories, which is summarized as follows:
Soon other things begin to happen. He feels he’s moving very rapidly through a long dark tunnel towards a brilliant loving light. This ‘Being of Light’ shows him a panoramic playback of his life. At some point he approaches a barrier or border – where he sees the spirits of his dead relatives and friends. He’s overwhelmed by an intense feeling of joy and love, he wants to stay where he is, yet he’s told that he must go back, as his time has not come yet. Reluctantly, he goes back to his body.
Later he tries to tell other people what happened to him, but he can find no words to describe it – the experience is ineffable. He also finds that people don’t believe him – so he stops talking about it. Still, the experience affects his whole life profoundly – he completely loses the fear of death. In fact – he knows that death does not exist."
Moody makes several observations:
Assuming these things are true, people will draw a few conclusions:
Does it provide any comfort for the death of my 17-year old daughter? Not really. It's interesting to think of her floating over her own body, then having a conversation with Jesus about whether she could come back to life or not. I suppose if she was offered to come back, but she would be a quadriplegic vegetable,
"A man is dying, and as he reaches the point of greatest physical distress, he suddenly finds himself outside his own physical body. He watches himself being resuscitated by the hospital staff, he can see and hear what’s happening around him - but other people can’t hear him or see him. He’s in a state of emotional turmoil.
Soon other things begin to happen. He feels he’s moving very rapidly through a long dark tunnel towards a brilliant loving light. This ‘Being of Light’ shows him a panoramic playback of his life. At some point he approaches a barrier or border – where he sees the spirits of his dead relatives and friends. He’s overwhelmed by an intense feeling of joy and love, he wants to stay where he is, yet he’s told that he must go back, as his time has not come yet. Reluctantly, he goes back to his body.
Later he tries to tell other people what happened to him, but he can find no words to describe it – the experience is ineffable. He also finds that people don’t believe him – so he stops talking about it. Still, the experience affects his whole life profoundly – he completely loses the fear of death. In fact – he knows that death does not exist."
Moody makes several observations:
- Because of the similarities in stories, Moody believes that annihilation is simply not possible. Therefore, atheists are wrong when they say that life simply ends.
- Christian believe that the Being of Light is either Jesus or an angel, though none see a physical form.
- No one says they see heaven or hell.
- The light does speak to some of the people. It is non-judgmental, doesn't speak audibly, but communicates directly via thoughts.
- The Light indicates importance in these questions. "What relationships did you make while on earth and what did you learn?" Doing and being.
- No one saw heaven or hell, was judged, or saw pearly gates, etc.
- He admits that he cannot PROVE that life after death exists. All of his subjects did not ultimately die, they all came back.
Assuming these things are true, people will draw a few conclusions:
- Everyone goes to heaven, regardless of how they lived or;
- Everyone has eternal life. You can't get to heaven or hell until you're judged and you won't be judged until you actually, ultimately die. The fact that you came back, either by choice or design means you weren't ready to enter eternity.
Does it provide any comfort for the death of my 17-year old daughter? Not really. It's interesting to think of her floating over her own body, then having a conversation with Jesus about whether she could come back to life or not. I suppose if she was offered to come back, but she would be a quadriplegic vegetable,
This Was Your Life: Preparing to Meet God Face to Face
Rick Howard starts the book off with a recounting of a dream where he was taken to heaven and allowed to see several people at the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment seat is where people receive their eternal rewards for works done while on earth (not salvation). Rick saw a college buddy lose his potential rewards because he chose not to follow his calling to the mission field, but instead married the trophy wife and stayed home.
The book has many chapters about Christian living that touches on many subjects. I thought the chapters were OK, but did not connect back to the original dream, which dramatically emphasized an eternal perspective.
The appendix includes the The Vision of William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army. This vision is vivid and detailed. Booth gets to witness the absolute approval of many of the saints who were obedient to the Lord while on earth. When Booth finally looked at Jesus face to face, he did not receive a look of approval or rejection, but was told, "Go back to earth. I will give thee another opportunity. Prove thyself worthy of My name. Show to the world that you possess My Spirit by doing my works, and becoming, on My behalf, a savior of men. You shall return here when you have finished the battle and I will give you a place in My conquering train, and a share in my Glory." Booth went on to start the Salvation Army, which now does humanitarian work in 110 countries. Clearly, Booth was driven by his vision of eternity and desiring above all else to be a good and faithful servant.
Howard's chapter on Developing a Servant's Heart was my favorite. Howard says we develop a servant's heart by:
4. Stage Fright. Make love your goal. Concentrate on the individuals with needs, on how you can help them, on how you can best love them. And in this way you will be pleasing in God's sight.
If we want to be people God can use, we must walk through the door of humility. If our secret motive is to exalt ourselves, the Holy Spirit wants no part of it. If our motive is to benefit people, on the other hand, then the Holy Spirit will help our preparation and our presentation as well.
At the Judgment seat of Christ everyone's motives will be revealed. It should be an interesting day!
Rick Howard starts the book off with a recounting of a dream where he was taken to heaven and allowed to see several people at the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment seat is where people receive their eternal rewards for works done while on earth (not salvation). Rick saw a college buddy lose his potential rewards because he chose not to follow his calling to the mission field, but instead married the trophy wife and stayed home.
The book has many chapters about Christian living that touches on many subjects. I thought the chapters were OK, but did not connect back to the original dream, which dramatically emphasized an eternal perspective.
The appendix includes the The Vision of William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army. This vision is vivid and detailed. Booth gets to witness the absolute approval of many of the saints who were obedient to the Lord while on earth. When Booth finally looked at Jesus face to face, he did not receive a look of approval or rejection, but was told, "Go back to earth. I will give thee another opportunity. Prove thyself worthy of My name. Show to the world that you possess My Spirit by doing my works, and becoming, on My behalf, a savior of men. You shall return here when you have finished the battle and I will give you a place in My conquering train, and a share in my Glory." Booth went on to start the Salvation Army, which now does humanitarian work in 110 countries. Clearly, Booth was driven by his vision of eternity and desiring above all else to be a good and faithful servant.
Howard's chapter on Developing a Servant's Heart was my favorite. Howard says we develop a servant's heart by:
- Casting our cares on the Lord. In particular, trusting God's will for your life to the point where you don't worry about it. You truly trust God.
- Focusing on the interests of others. You serve the Lord by serving others. You count others more important than yourself. This is the cure for so many of life's problem.
- Boredom. God has called you and me to a higher purpose: to live with the same mindset as the One who "came not to be served, but to serve." (Matt 20:28). When I am bored, the opposite is true of me. I am seeking not to serve, but to be served. I am here to be entertained. To free ourselves from boredom, we must begin to love and serve others. Only then do we discover a life of purpose, adventure and significance. And as God uses us to build His Kingdom, boredom becomes a thing of the past.
- loneliness is also cured by focusing on other and asking ourselves, "Who can I serve today?"
4. Stage Fright. Make love your goal. Concentrate on the individuals with needs, on how you can help them, on how you can best love them. And in this way you will be pleasing in God's sight.
If we want to be people God can use, we must walk through the door of humility. If our secret motive is to exalt ourselves, the Holy Spirit wants no part of it. If our motive is to benefit people, on the other hand, then the Holy Spirit will help our preparation and our presentation as well.
At the Judgment seat of Christ everyone's motives will be revealed. It should be an interesting day!
