Howard Storm's Near-Death
Experience

Before his near-death
experience, Howard Storm at
www.howardstorm.com was a Professor of Art
at Northern Kentucky University, was not a very
pleasant man by his own admission. He was an
avowed atheist and was hostile to every form
of religion and those who practiced it. He often
would use rage to control everyone around him
and he didn’t find joy in anything. Anything
that wasn’t seen, touched or felt, he had no
faith in. He knew with certainty that the material
world was the full extent of everything that
was. He considered all belief systems associated
with religion to be fantasies for people to
deceive themselves with. Beyond what science
said, there was nothing else. But then on June
1, 1985, at the age of 38, Howard Storm’s had
a near-death experience due to a perforation
of the stomach and his life was since forever
changed. His near-death experience is one of
the most profound, if not the most profound,
afterlife experience I have ever documented.
His life was so immensely changed after his
near-death experience, he resigned as a professor
and devoted his time attending the United Theological
Seminary to become a United Church of Christ
minister.
Today, Howard
Storm is presently happily married to his
wife Marcia and was Pastor of the Covington United
Church of Christ
in Covington, Ohio. During his past time he
has maintained his passion for painting but
now, unlike in his past, he paints with a God
state of mind which raises his paintings to
a whole other level. On this website Pastor
Storm shares a unique look at his paintings
and the effect Jesus Christ has on his daily
life and on his paintings.
The following is
the account of Pastor Howard Storm's near-death
experience reprinted by permission.
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Table
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1.
An Invitation to Hell from Strange Beings
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[Howard
Storm was in intense agony and dying.]
Struggling
to say goodbye to my wife, I wrestled with my
emotions. Telling her that I loved her very
much was as much of a goodbye as I could utter
because of my emotional distress. Sort of relaxing
and closing my eyes, I waited for the end. This
was it, I felt. This was the big nothing, the
big blackout, the one you never wake up from,
the end of existence. I had absolute certainty
that there was nothing beyond this life
because that was how really smart people understood
it.
While
I was undergoing this stress, prayer or anything
like that never occurred to me. I never once
thought about it. If I mentioned God's name
at all it was only as a profanity. For a time
there was a sense of being unconscious or asleep.
I'm not sure how long it lasted, but I felt
really strange, and I opened my eyes. To my
surprise I was standing up next to the bed,
and I was looking at my body laying in the bed.
My first reaction was, "This is crazy! I
can't be standing here looking down at myself.
That's not possible."
This
wasn't what I expected, this wasn't right. Why
was I still alive? I wanted oblivion. Yet I
was looking at a thing that was my body, and
it just didn't have that much meaning to me.
Now knowing what was happening, I became upset.
I started yelling and screaming at my wife,
and she just sat there like a stone. She didn't
look at me, she didn't move and I kept
screaming profanities to get her to pay attention.
Being confused, upset, and angry, I tried to
get the attention of my room-mate, with the
same result. He didn't react. I wanted this
to be a dream, and I kept saying to myself,
"This has got to be a dream."
But
I knew that it wasn't a dream. I became aware
that strangely I felt more alert, more aware,
more alive than I had ever felt in my entire
life. All my senses were extremely acute. Everything
felt tingly and alive. The floor was cool and
my bare feet felt moist and clammy. This had
to be real. I squeezed my fists and was amazed
at how much I was feeling in my hands just by
making a fist. Then I heard my name. I heard, "Howard,
Howard - come here."
Wondering,
at first, where it was coming from, I discovered
that it was originating in the doorway. There
were different voices calling me. I asked who
they were, and they said, "We are here
to take care of you. We will fix you up. Come
with us."
Asking,
again, who they were, I asked them if they were
doctors and nurses. They responded, "Quick,
come see. You'll find out."
As I
asked them questions they gave evasive answers.
They kept giving me a sense of urgency, insisting
that I should step through the doorway. With
some reluctance I stepped into the hallway,
and in the hallway I was in a fog, or a haze.
It was a light-colored haze. It wasn't a heavy
haze. I could see my hand, for example, but
the people who were calling me were 15 or 20
feet ahead, and I couldn't see them clearly.
They were more like silhouettes, or shapes,
and as I moved toward them they backed off into
the haze. As I tried to get close to them to
identify them, they quickly withdrew deeper
into the fog. So I had to follow into the
fog deeper and deeper. These strange beings
kept urging me to come with them.
I repeatedly
asked them where we were going, and they responded,
"Hurry up, you'll find out."
They
wouldn't answer anything. The only response
was insisting that I hurry up and follow them.
They told me repeatedly that my pain was meaningless
and unnecessary. "Pain is bullshit," they said.
I knew
that we had been traveling for miles, but I
occasionally had the strange ability to look
back and see the hospital room. My body was
still there lying motionless on the bed. My
perspective at these times was as if I were
floating above the room looking down. It seemed
millions and millions of miles away. Looking
back into the room, I saw my wife and my room-mate,
and I decided they had not been able to help
me so I would go with these people. Walking
for what seemed to be a considerable distance,
these beings were all around me. They were leading
me through the haze. I don't know how long.
There was a real sense of timelessness about
the experience. In a real sense I am unaware
of how long it was, but it felt like a long
time - maybe even days or weeks. As we traveled,
the fog got thicker and darker, and the people
began to change. At first they seemed rather
playful and happy, but when we had covered some
distance, a few of them began to get aggressive.
The more questioning and suspicious I was, the
more antagonistic and rude and authoritarian
they became. They began to make jokes about
my bare rear end which wasn't covered by my
hospital dicky and about how pathetic I was.
I knew they were talking about me, but when
I tried to find out exactly what they were saying
they would say, "Shhhhh, he can hear you, he
can hear you."
Then,
others would seem to caution the aggressive
ones. It seemed that I could hear them warn
the aggressive ones to be careful or I would
be frightened away. Wondering what was happening,
I continued to ask questions, and they repeatedly
urged me to hurry and to stop asking questions. Feeling
uneasy, especially since they continued to get
aggressive, I considered returning, but I didn't
know how to get back. I was lost. There were
no features that I could relate to. There was
just the fog and a wet, clammy ground, and I
had no sense of direction. All my communication
with them took place verbally just as ordinary
human communication occurs. They didn't appear
to know what I was thinking, and I didn't know
what they were thinking. What was increasingly
obvious was that they were liars and help was
farther away the more I stayed with them. Hours
ago, I had hoped to die and end the torment
of life. Now things were worse as I was forced
by a mob of unfriendly and cruel people toward
some unknown destination in the darkness. They
began shouting and hurling insults at me, demanding
that I hurry along. And they refused to answer
any question. Finally, I told them that I wouldn't
go any farther. At that time they changed completely.
They became much more aggressive and insisted
that I was going with them. A number of them
began to push and shove me, and I responded
by hitting back at them.
A wild
orgy of frenzied taunting, screaming and hitting
ensued. I fought like a wild man. All the while
it was obvious that they were having great fun.
It seemed to be, almost, a game for them, with
me as the center-piece of their amusement. My
pain became their pleasure. They seemed to want
to make me hurt by clawing at me and biting
me. Whenever I would get one off me, there were
five more to replace the one.
By this
time it was almost complete darkness, and I
had the sense that instead of there being twenty
or thirty, there were an innumerable host of
them. Each one seemed set on coming in for the
sport they got from hurting me. My attempts
to fight back only provoked greater merriment. They
began to physically humiliate me in the most
degrading ways. As I continued to fight on and
on, I was aware that they weren't in any hurry
to win. They were playing with me just as a
cat plays with a mouse. Every new assault brought
howls of cacophony. Then at some point, they
began to tear off pieces of my flesh. To my
horror I realized I was being taken apart and
eaten alive, slowly, so that their entertainment
would last as long a possible. At no time did
I ever have any sense that the beings who seduced
and attacked me were anything other than human
beings. The best way I can describe them is
to think of the worst imaginable person stripped
of every impulse to do good. Some of them seemed
to be able to tell others what to do, but I
had no sense of any structure or hierarchy in
an organizational sense. They didn't appear
to be controlled or directed by anyone. Basically
they were a mob of beings totally driven by
unbridled cruelty and passions.
During
our struggle I noticed that they seemed to feel
no pain. Other than that they appeared to possess
no special non-human or super-human abilities.
Although during my initial experience with them
I assumed that they were clothed, in our intimate
physical contact I never felt any clothing whatsoever.
Fighting
well and hard for a long time, ultimately I
was spent. Lying there exhausted amongst them,
they began to calm down since I was no longer
the amusement that I had been. Most of the beings
gave up in disappointment because I was no longer
amusing, but a few still picked and gnawed at
me and ridiculed me for no longer being any
fun. By this time I had been pretty much taken
apart. People were still picking at me, occasionally,
and I just lay there all torn up, unable to
resist.
Exactly
what happened was ... and I'm not going to try
and explain this. From inside of me I felt a
voice, my voice, say, "Pray to God." My mind
responded to that, "I don't pray. I don't know
how to pray." This is a guy lying on the ground
in the darkness surrounded by what appeared
to be dozens if not hundreds and hundreds of
vicious creatures who had just torn him up.
The situation seemed utterly hopeless, and I
seemed beyond any possible help whether I believed
in God or not. The voice again told me to pray
to God. It was a dilemma since I didn't know
how. The voice told me a third time to pray
to God. I started saying things like, "The Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want ... God bless
America" and anything else that seemed to have
a religious connotation. And these people went
into a frenzy, as if I had thrown boiling oil
all over them. They began yelling and screaming
at me, telling me to quit, that there was no
God, and no one could hear me. While they screamed
and yelled obscenities, they also began backing
away from me as if I were poison. As they were
retreating, they became more rabid, cursing
and screaming that what I was saying was worthless
and that I was a coward. I screamed back at
them, "Our Father who art in heaven,"
and similar ideas. This continued for some time
until, suddenly, I was aware that they had left.
It was dark, and I was alone yelling things
that sounded churchy. It was pleasing to me
that these churchy sayings had such an effect
on those awful beings.
Lying
there for a long time, I was in such a state
of hopelessness, and blackness, and despair,
that I had no way of measuring how long it was.
I was just lying there in an unknown place all
torn and ripped. And I had no strength; it was
all gone. It seemed as if I were sort of fading
out, that any effort on my part would expend
the last energy I had. My conscious sense was
that I was perishing, or just sinking into the
darkness.
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2.
A Rescue from Hell by Jesus Christ |
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Now
I didn't know if I was even in the world. But
I did know that I was here. I was real, all
my senses worked too painfully well. I didn't
know how I had arrived here. There was no direction
to follow even if I had been physically able
to move. The agony that I had suffered during
the day was nothing compared to what I was feeling
now. I knew then that this was the absolute
end of my existence, and it was more horrible
than anything I could possibly have imagined.
Then a most unusual
thing happened. I heard very clearly, once again
in my own voice, something that I had learned
in nursery Sunday School. It was the little
song, "Jesus loves me, yes I know ..." and it
kept repeating. I don't know why, but all of
a sudden I wanted to believe that. Not having
anything left, I wanted to cling to that thought.
And I, inside, screamed, "Jesus, please save
me." That thought was screamed with every ounce
of strength and feeling left in me. When I did
that, I saw, off in the darkness somewhere,
the tiniest little star. Not knowing what it
was, I presumed it must be a comet or a meteor,
because it was moving rapidly. Then I realized
it was coming toward me. It was getting very
bright, rapidly. When the light came near, its
radiance spilled over me, and I just rose up
- not with my effort - I just lifted up. Then
I saw - and I saw this very plainly - I saw
all my wounds, all my tears, all my brokenness,
melt away. And I became whole in this radiance.
What I did was to cry uncontrollably. I was
crying, not out of sadness, but because I was
feeling things that I had never felt before
in my life. Another thing happened. Suddenly
I knew a whole bunch of things. I knew things
... I knew that this light, this radiance, knew
me. I don't know how to explain to you that
I knew it knew me, I just did. As a matter of
fact, I understood that it knew me better than
my mother or father did. The luminous entity
that embraced me knew me intimately and began
to communicate a tremendous sense of knowledge.
I knew that he knew everything about me and
I was being unconditionally loved and accepted.
The light conveyed
to me that it loved me in a way that I can't
begin to express. It loved me in a way that
I had never known that love could possibly be.
He was a concentrated field of energy, radiant
in splendor indescribable, except to say goodness
and love. This was more loving than one can
imagine. I knew that this radiant being was
powerful. It was making me feel so good all
over. I could feel its light on me - like very
gentle hands around me. And I could feel it
holding me. But it was loving me with overwhelming
power. After what I had been through, to be
completely known, accepted, and intensely loved
by this Being of Light surpassed anything I
had known or could have imagined. I began to
cry and the tears kept coming and coming. And
we, I and this light, went up and out of there.
We started going
faster and faster, out of the darkness. Embraced
by the light, feeling wonderful and crying,
I saw off in the distance something that looked
like the picture of a galaxy, except that it
was larger and there were more stars than I
had seen on Earth. There was a great center
of brilliance. In the center there was an enormously
bright concentration. Outside the center countless
millions of spheres of light were flying about
entering and leaving what was a great being-ness
at the center. It was off in the distance. Then
I ... I didn't say it, I thought it. I said,
"Put me back."
What I meant by telling
the light to put me back, was to put me back
into the pit. I was so ashamed of who I was,
and what I had been all of my life, that all
I wanted to do was hide in the darkness. I didn't
want to go toward the light anymore - I did;
yet I didn't. How many times in my life had
I denied and scoffed at the reality before me,
and how many thousands of times had I used it
as a curse. What incredible intellectual arrogance
to use the name as an insult. I was afraid
to go closer. I was also aware that the incredible
intensity of the emanations might disintegrate
what I still experienced as my intact physical
body. The being who was supporting me, my friend,
was aware of my fear and reluctance and shame.
For the first time he spoke to my mind in a
male voice and told me that if I was uncomfortable
we didn't have to go closer. So we stopped
where we were, still countless miles away from
the Great being. For the first time, my friend,
and I will refer to him in that context hereafter,
said to me, "You belong here."
[Webmaster
Note: Howard believes his friend was
Jesus Christ.]
Facing all the splendor
made me acutely aware of my lowly condition.
My response was: "No, you've made a mistake,
put me back." And he said, "We don't make mistakes.
You belong."
Then he called out
in a musical tone to the luminous entities who
surrounded the great center. Several came and
circled around us. During what follows some
came and went but normally there were five or
six and sometimes as many as eight with us.
I was still crying. One of the first things
these marvelous beings did was to ask, all with
thought, "Are you afraid of us?" I told them
I wasn't. They said that they could turn their
brilliance down and appear as people, and I
told them to stay as they were. They were the
most beautiful, the most ...
As an aside, I'm
an artist. There are three primary, three secondary,
and six tertiary colors in the visible light
spectrum. Here, I was seeing a visible light
spectrum with at least 80 new primary colors.
I was also seeing this brilliance. It's disappointing
for me to try and describe, because I can't
- I was seeing colors that I had never seen
before. What these beings were showing me was
their glory. I wasn't really seeing them. And
I was perfectly content. Having come from a
world of shapes and forms, I was delighted with
this new, formless, world. These beings were
giving me what I needed at that time. To my
surprise, and also distress, they seemed to
be capable of knowing everything I was thinking.
I didn't know whether I would be capable of
controlling my thoughts and keeping anything
secret. We began to engage in thought exchange,
conversation that was very natural, very easy
and casual. I heard their voices clearly and
individually. They each had a distinct personality
with a voice, but they spoke directly to my
mind, not my ears. And they used normal, colloquial
English. Everything I thought, they knew. They
all seemed to know and understand me very well
and to be completely familiar with my thoughts
and my past. I didn't feel any desire to ask
for someone I had known because they all knew
me. Nobody could know me any better. It also
didn't occur to me to try to identify them as
uncle or grandfather. It was like going to a
large gathering of relatives at Christmas and
not being quite able to remember their names
or who they are married to or how they are connected
to you. But you do know that you are with your
family. I don't know if they were related to
me or not. It felt like they were closer to
me than anyone I had ever known.
Throughout my conversation
with the luminous beings, which lasted for what
seemed like a very long time, I was being physically
supported by the being in whom I had been engulfed.
We were in a sense completely stationary yet
hanging in space. Everywhere around us were
countless radiant beings, like stars in the
sky, coming and going. It was like a super magnified
view of a galaxy super packed with stars. And
in the giant radiance of the center they were
packed so densely together that individuals
could not be identified. Their selves were
in such harmony with the Creator that they were
really just one. One of the reasons, I was told,
that all the countless beings had to go back
to their source was to become invigorated with
this sense of harmony and oneness. Being apart
for too long a time diminished them and made
them feel separate. Their greatest pleasure
was to go back to the sources of all life.
Our initial conversation
involved them simply trying to comfort me. Something
that disturbed me was that I was naked. Somewhere
in the darkness I'd lost my hospital gown. I
was a human being. I had a body. They told me
this was okay. They were quite familiar with
my anatomy. Gradually I relaxed and stopped
trying to cover my privates with my hands.
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3.
The Life Review of Howard Storm |
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Next,
they wanted to talk about my life. To my surprise
my life played out before me, maybe six or eight
feet in front of me, from beginning to end.
The life review was
very much in their control, and they showed
me my life, but not from my point of view. I
saw me in my life and this whole thing was a
lesson, even though I didn't know it at the
time. They were trying to teach me something,
but I didn't know it was a teaching experience,
because I didn't know that I would be coming
back. We just watched my life from beginning
to the end. Some things they slowed down on,
and zoomed in on and other things they went
right through.
My life was shown
in a way that I had never thought of before.
All of the things that I had worked to achieve,
the recognition that I had worked for, in elementary
school, in high school, in college, and in my
career, they meant nothing in this setting.
I could feel their
feelings of sorrow and suffering, or joy, as
my life's review unfolded. They didn't say that
something was bad or good, but I could feel
it. And I could sense all those things they
were indifferent to. They didn't, for example,
look down on my high school shot-put record.
They just didn't feel anything towards it, nor
towards other things which I had taken so much
pride in.
What they responded
to was how I had interacted with other people.
That was the long and short of it. Unfortunately,
most of my interactions with other people didn't
measure up with how I should have interacted,
which was in a loving way. Whenever I did react
during my life in a loving way they rejoiced.
Most of the time
I found that my interactions with other people
had been manipulative. During my professional
career, for example, I saw myself sitting in
my office, playing the college professor, while
a student came to me with a personal problem.
I sat there looking compassionate, and patient,
and loving, while inside I was bored to death.
I would check my watch under my desk as I anxiously
waited for the student to finish.
I got to go through
all those kinds of experiences in the company
of these magnificent beings.
When I was a teenager
my father's career put him into a high-stress,
twelve-hour-a-day job. Out of my resentment
because of his neglect of me, when he came home
from work, I would be cold and indifferent toward
him. This made him angry, and it gave me further
excuse to feel hatred toward him. He and I fought,
and my mother would get upset. Most of my life
I had felt that my father was the villain and
I was the victim. When we reviewed my life I
got to see how I had precipitated so much of
that, myself. Instead of greeting him happily
at the end of a day, I was continually putting
thorns in him in order to justify my hurt.
I got to see when
my sister had a bad night one night, how I went
into her bedroom and put my arms around her.
Not saying anything, I just lay there with my
arms around her. As it turned out that experience
was one of the biggest triumphs of my life.
The entire life's
review would have been emotionally destructive,
and would have left me a psychotic person, if
it hadn't been for the fact that my friend,
and my friend's friends, were loving me during
the unfolding of my life. I could feel that
love.
Every time I got
a little upset they turned the life's review
off for awhile, and they just loved me. Their
love was tangible. You could feel it on your
body, you could feel it inside you; their love
went right through you. I wish I could explain
it to you, but I can't.
The therapy was their
love, because my life's review kept tearing
me down. It was pitiful to watch, just pitiful.
I couldn't believe it. And the thing is, it
got worse as it went on.
My stupidity and
selfishness as a teenager only magnified as
I became an adult - all under the veneer of
being a good husband, a good father, and a good
citizen. The hypocrisy of it all was nauseating.
But through it all was their love.
When the review was
finished they asked, "Do you want to ask any
questions?" and I had a million questions.
I asked, for example,
"What about the Bible?"
They responded, "What
about it?"
I asked if it was
true, and they said it was. Asking them why
it was that when I tried to read it, all I saw
were contradictions, they took me back to my
life's review again - something that I had overlooked.
They showed me, for the few times I had opened
the Bible, that I had read it with the idea
of finding contradictions and problems. I was
trying to prove to myself that it wasn't worth
reading. I observed to them that the Bible wasn't
clear to me. It didn't make sense. They told
me that it contained spiritual truth, and that
I had to read it spiritually in order to understand
it. It should be read prayerfully. My friends
informed me that it was not like other books.
They also told me, and I later found out this
was true, that when you read it prayerfully,
it talks to you. It reveals itself to you. And
you don't have to work at it anymore.
My friends answered
lots of questions in funny ways. They really
knew the whole tone of what I asked them, even
before I got the questions out. When I thought
of questions in my head, they really understood
them.
I asked them, for
example, which was the best religion. I was
looking for an answer which was like, "Presbyterians."
I figured these guys were all Christians. The
answer I got was, "The best religion is the
religion that brings you closest to God."
Asking them if there
was life on other planets, their surprising
answer was that the universe was full of life.
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4.
The Future of the U.S. and the World |
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Because
of my fear of a nuclear holocaust I asked if
there was going to be a nuclear war in the world,
and they said no. That astonished me, and I
gave them this extensive explanation of how
I had lived under the threat of nuclear war.
That was one of the reasons I was who I was.
I figured, when I was in this life, that it
was all sort of hopeless; the world was going
to blow up anyway, and nothing made much sense.
In that context I felt I could do what I wanted,
since nothing mattered.
They said, "No, there
isn't going to be any nuclear war."
I asked if they were
absolutely sure there wasn't going to be nuclear
war. They reassured me again, and I asked them
how they could be so sure.
Their response was:
"God loves the world." They told me that at
the most, one or two nuclear weapons might go
off accidentally, if they weren't destroyed,
but there wouldn't be a nuclear war.
I then asked them
how come there had been so many wars. They said
that they allowed those few to happen, out of
all the wars that humanity tried to start. Out
of all the wars that humans tried to create,
they allowed a few, to bring people to their
senses and to stop them.
Science, technology,
and other benefits, they told me, had been gifts
bestowed on humanity by them - through inspiration.
People had literally been led to those discoveries,
many of which had later been perverted by humanity
to use for its own destruction.
We could do too much
damage to the planet. And by the planet, they
meant all of God's creation. Not just the people,
but the animals, the trees, the birds, the insects,
everything.
They explained to
me that their concern was for all the people
of the world. They weren't interested in one
group getting ahead of other groups. They want
every person to consider every other person
greater than their own flesh. They want everyone
to love everyone else, completely; more, even,
than they love themselves. If someone, someplace
else in the world hurts, than we should hurt
we should feel their pain. And we should help
them. Our planet has evolved to the point, for
the first time in our history, that we have
the power to do that. We are globally linked.
And we could become one people.
The people that they
gave the privilege of leading the world into
a better age, blew it. That was us, in the United
States.
When I spoke with
them about the future, and this might sound
like a cop-out on my part, they made clear to
me that we have free will.
If we change the
way we are, then we can change the future which
they showed me. They showed me a view of the
future, at the time of my experience, based
upon how we in the United States were behaving
at that time. It was a future in which a massive
worldwide depression would occur. If we were
to change our behavior, however, then the future
would be different.
Asking them how it
would be possible to change the course of many
people, I observed that it was difficult, if
not impossible, to change anything on Earth.
I expressed the opinion that it was a hopeless
task to try.
My friends explained,
quite clearly, that all it takes to make a change
was one person. One person, trying, and then
because of that, another person changing for
the better. They said that the only way to change
the world was to begin with one person. One
will become two, which will become three, and
so on. That's the only way to affect a major
change.
I inquired as to
where the world would be going in an optimistic
future one where some of the changes they desired
were to take place.
The image of the
future that they gave me then, and it was their
image, not one that I created, surprised me.
My image had previously been sort of like Star
Wars, where everything was space age, plastics,
and technology.
The future that they
showed me was almost no technology at all. What
everybody, absolutely everybody, in this euphoric
future spent most of their time doing was raising
children. The chief concern of people was children,
and everybody considered children to be the
most precious commodity in the world.
And when a person
became an adult, there was no sense of anxiety,
nor hatred, nor competition.
There was this enormous
sense of trust and mutual respect. If a person,
in this view of the future, became disturbed,
then the community of people all cared about
the disturbed person falling away from the harmony
of the group. Spiritually, through prayer and
love, the others would elevate the afflicted
person.
What people did with
the rest of their time was that they gardened,
with almost no physical effort. They showed
me that plants, with prayer, would produce huge
fruits and vegetables.
People, in unison,
could control the climate of the planet through
prayer. Everybody would work with mutual trust
and the people would call the rain, when needed,
and the sun to shine.
Animals lived with
people, in harmony.
People, in this best
of all worlds, weren't interested in knowledge;
they were interested in wisdom. This was because
they were in a position where anything they
needed to know, in the knowledge category, they
could receive simply through prayer. Everything,
to them, was solvable. They could do anything
they wanted to do.
In this future, people
had no wanderlust, because they could, spiritually,
communicate with everyone else in the world.
There was no need to go elsewhere. They were
so engrossed with where they were and the people
around them that they didn't have to go on vacation.
Vacation from what? They were completely fulfilled
and happy.
Death, in this world,
was a time when the individual had experienced
everything that he or she needed to experience.
To die meant to lie down and let go; then the
spirit would rise up, and the community would
gather around. There would be a great rejoicing,
because they all had insight into the heavenly
realm, and the spirit would join with the angels
that came down to meet it. They could see the
spirit leave and knew that it was time for the
spirit to move on; it had outgrown the need
for growth in this world. Individuals who died
had achieved all they were capable of in this
world in terms of love, appreciation, understanding,
and working in harmony with others.
The sense I got of
this beautiful view of the world's future was
as a garden, God's garden. And in this garden
of the world, full of all beauty, were people.
The people were born into this world to grow
in their understanding of the Creator. Then
to shed this skin, this shell, in the physical
world, and to graduate and move up into heaven
there, to have a more intimate and growing relationship
with God.
Webmaster Note:
In Howard Storm's book, "My
Descent Into Death" (2000), Storm describes
the future of the United States as given to
him by light beings he encountered during his
NDE in 1985:
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The Future
of the United States |
Howard Storm
recorded how his light being friends
told him, in 1985, that the Cold War
would soon end, because, "God is changing
the hearts of people to love around
the world."
Storm states, "Since
the time in 1985 when I was told these
things about the future the Cold War
ended with little bloodshed due to the
hearts of people being unwilling to
tolerate oppressive regimes."
Storm described what the light beings
told him concerning the way things will
be on Earth in about 2185.
He
asked the light beings the question,
"Will the United States be the leader
of the world in this change?"
The light beings replied, "The United
States has been given the opportunity
to be the teacher for the world, but
much is expected of those to whom much
has been given. The United States has
been given more of everything than any
country in the history of the world
and it has failed to be generous with
the gifts.
"If the United States
continues to exploit the rest of the
world by greedily consuming the world's
resources, the United States will have
God's blessing withdrawn.
"Your
country will collapse economically which
will result in civil chaos. Because
of the greedy nature of the people,
you will have people killing people
for a cup of gasoline.
"The world
will watch in horror as your country
is obliterated by strife. The rest of
the world will not intervene because
they have been victims of your exploitation.
They will welcome the annihilation of
such selfish people.
"The United
States must change immediately and become
the teachers of goodness and generosity
to the rest of the world.
"Today
the United States is the primary merchant
of war and the culture of violence that
you export to the world. This will come
to an end because you have the seeds
of your own destruction within you.
Either you will destroy yourselves or
God will bring it to an end if there
isn't a change."
Storm states,
"I don't know if the richest country
in the history of the world is doomed
to lose God's blessing or if the people
of the United States will become the
moral light of the world. How long will
God allow the injustice to continue?
The future lies in the choices we make
right now. God is intervening in direct
ways in human events. May God's will
be done on Earth as it is in Heaven!"
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Howard Storm's light
being friends told him more about the new world
to come. According to them, God wished to usher
in the kingdom within the next two hundred years.
In order to do so, God had rescinded some of
the free will given to creatures, in favor of
more divine control over human events. This
new world order, according to Howard, will resemble
some near-death descriptions of heaven. People
will live in such peace and harmony and love
that communication will be telepathic, travel
instantaneous and the need for clothing and
shelter eliminated. The lion will indeed lie
down with the lamb.
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5.
Howard Storm Learns What Happens After Death |
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I
asked my friend, and his friends, about death
- what happens when we die?
They said that when
a loving person dies, angels come down to meet
him, and they take him up - gradually, at first,
because it would be unbearable for that person
to be instantly exposed to God.
Knowing what's inside
of every person, the angels don't have to prove
anything by showing off. They know what each
of us needs, so they provide that. In some cases
it may be a heavenly meadow, and in another,
something else. If a person needs to see a relative,
the angels will bring that relative. If the
person really likes jewels, they will show the
person jewels. We see what is necessary for
our introduction into the spirit world, and
those things are real, in the heavenly, the
divine sense.
They gradually educate
us as spirit beings, and bring us into heaven.
We grow and increase, and grow and increase,
and shed the concerns, desires, and base animal
stuff that we have been fighting much of our
life. Earthly appetites melt away. It is no
longer a struggle to fight them. We become who
we truly are, which is part of the divine.
This happens to loving
people, people who are good and love God. They
made it clear to me that we don't have any knowledge
or right to judge anybody else - in terms of
that person's heart relationship to God. Only
God knows what's in a person's heart. Someone
whom we think is despicable, God might know
as a wonderful person. Similarly, someone we
think is good, God may see as a hypocrite, with
a black heart. Only God knows the truth about
every individual.
God will ultimately
judge every individual. And God will allow people
to be dragged into darkness with like-minded
creatures. I have told you, from my personal
experience, what goes on in there. I don't know
from what I saw anymore than that, but it's
my suspicion that I only saw the tip of the
iceberg.
I deserved to be
where I was – I was in the right place at the
right time. That was the place for me, and the
people I was around were perfect company for
me. God allowed me to experience that, and then
removed me, because he saw something redeeming
in putting me through the experience. It was
a way to purge me. People who are not allowed
to be pulled into darkness, because of their
loving nature, are attracted upwards, toward
the light.
I never saw God,
and I was not in heaven. It was way out in the
suburbs, and these are the things that they
showed me. We talked for a long time, about
many things, and then I looked at myself. When
I saw me, I was glowing, I was radiant. I was
becoming beautiful not nearly as beautiful as
them but I had a certain sparkle that I never
had before.
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6.
Howard Storm Learns He Must Return to Earth |
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Not
being ready to face the Earth again, I told
them that I wished to be with them forever.
I said, "I'm ready, I'm ready to be like you
and be here forever. This is great. I love it.
I love you. You're wonderful."
I knew that they
loved me and knew everything about me. I knew
that everything was going to be okay from now
on. I asked if I could get rid of my body, which
was definitely a hindrance, and become a being
like them with the powers they had shown me.
They said, "No, you have to go back."
They explained to
me that I was very underdeveloped and that it
would be of great benefit to return to my physical
existence to learn. In my human life I would
have an opportunity to grow so that the next
time I was with them I would be more compatible.
I would need to develop important characteristics
to become like them and to be involved with
the work that they do. Responding that I couldn't
go back, I tried to argue with them, and I observed
that if I bear that thought the thought that
I might wind up in the pit again I pled with
them to stay.
My friends then said,
"Do you think that we expect you to be perfect,
after all the love we feel for you, even after
you were on Earth blaspheming God, and treating
everyone around you like dirt? And this, despite
the fact that we were sending people to try
and help you, to teach you the truth? Do you
really think we would be apart from you now?"
I asked them, "But
what about my own sense of failure? You've shown
me how I can be better, and I'm sure I can't
live up to that. I'm not that good." Some of
my self-centeredness welled up and I said, "No
way. I'm not going back."
They said, "There
are people who care about you; your wife, your
children, your mother and father. You should
go back for them. Your children need your help."
I said, "You can
help them. If you make me go back there are
things that just won't work. If I go back there
and make mistakes I won't be able to stand it
because you've shown me I could be more loving
and more compassionate and I'll forget. I'll
be mean to someone or I'll do something awful
to someone. I just know it's going to happen
because I'm a human being. I'm going to blow
it and I won't be able to stand it. I'll feel
so bad I'll want to kill myself and I can't
do that because life is precious. I might just
go catatonic. So you can't send me back."
They assured me that
mistakes are an acceptable part of being human.
"Go," they said, "and make all the mistakes
you want. Mistakes are how you learn." As long
as I tried to do what I knew was right, they
said, I would be on the right path. If I made
a mistake, I should fully recognize it as a
mistake, then put it behind me and simply try
not to make the same mistake again. The important
things is to try one's best, keep one's standards
of goodness and truth, and not compromise those
to win people's approval.
"But," I said, "mistakes
make me feel bad."
They said, "We love
you the way you are, mistakes and all. And you
can feel our forgiveness. You can feel our love
any time you want to."
I said, "I don't
understand. How do I do that?"
"Just turn inward,"
they said. "Just ask for our love and we'll
give it to you if you ask from the heart."
They advised me to
recognize it when I made a mistake and to ask
for forgiveness. Before I even got the words
out of my mouth, I would be forgiven but, I
would have to accept the forgiveness. My belief
in the principal of forgiveness must be real,
and I would have to know that the forgiveness
was given. Confessing, either in public or in
private, that I had made a mistake, I should
then ask for forgiveness. After that, it would
be an insult to them if I didn't accept the
forgiveness. I shouldn't continue to go around
with a sense of guilt, and I should not repeat
errors I should learn from my mistakes.
"But," I said, "how
will I know what is the right choice? How will
I know what you want me to do?"
They replied, "We
want you to do what you want to do. That means
making choices and there isn't necessarily any
right choice. There are a spectrum of possibilities,
and you should make the best choice you can
from those possibilities. If you do that, we
will be there helping you."
I didn't give in
easily. I argued that back there was full of
problems and that here was everything I could
possibly want. I questioned my ability to accomplish
anything they would consider important in my
world. They said the world is a beautiful expression
of the Supreme being. One can find beauty or
ugliness depending on what one directs one's
mind toward. They explained that the subtle
and complex development of our world was beyond
my comprehension, but I would be a suitable
instrument for the Creator. Every part of the
creation, they explained, is infinitely interesting
because it is a manifestation of the Creator.
A very important opportunity for me would be
to explore this world with wonder and enjoyment.
They never gave me
a direct mission or purpose. Could I build a
shrine or cathedral for God? They said those
monuments were for humanity. They wanted me
to live my life to love people not things. I
told them I wasn't good enough to represent
what I had just experienced with them on a worldly
level. They assured me I would be given appropriate
help whenever I might need it. All I had to
do is ask.
The luminous beings,
my teachers, were very convincing. I was also
acutely aware that not far away was the Great
being, what I knew to be the Creator. They never
said, "He wants it this way," but that was implied
behind everything they said. I didn't want to
argue too much because the Great Entity was
so wonderful and so awesome. The love that was
emanated was overwhelming.
Presenting my biggest
argument against coming back into the world,
I told them that it would break my heart, and
I would die, if I had to leave them and their
love. Coming back would be so cruel, I said,
that I couldn't stand it. I mentioned that the
world was filled with hate and competition,
and I didn't want to return to that maelstrom.
I couldn't bear to leave them. My friends observed
that they had never been apart from me. I explained
that I hadn't been aware of their presence,
and if I went back I, again, wouldn't know they
were there. Explaining how to communicate with
them, they told me to get myself quiet, inside,
and to ask for their love; then that love would
come, and I would know they were there. They
said, "You won't be away from us. We're with
you. We've always been with you. We always will
be right with you all the time."
I said, "But how
do I know that? You tell me that, but when I
go back there it's just going to be a nice theory."
They said, "Any time
you need us we'll be there for you."
I said, "You mean
like you'll just appear?"
They said, "No, no.
We're not going to intervene in your life in
any big way unless you need us. We're just going
to be there and you'll feel our presence, you'll
feel our love."
After that explanation
I ran out of arguments, and I said I thought
I could go back. And, just like that, I was
back. Returning to my body, the pain was there,
only worse than before."
[Howard Storm's near-death
experience ends here.]
Returning to life
wasn't easy for Storm. In addition to his physical
problems, he had to face the usual array of
uncomprehending and insensitive responses to
his new spiritual condition. It began in the
hospital, he said. Howard states, "I felt this
overwhelming sense of love for everyone. I wanted
to hug and kiss everyone, but I couldn't even
sit up. I would say, 'Oh you're so beautiful'
to anyone and everyone. I was the joke of the
floor. People found it very amusing."
Like other near-death
experiencers, Storm sense of empathy expanded,
as well as his compassion. He could, he said,
feel the emotions of others more powerfully
than his own. Howard decided to enter the Christian
ministry after his near-death experience.
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7.
Howard Storm Internet Links |
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"Make no
mistake: this man [Howard Storm] is
a mystic. This is a book [My Descent
Into Death] that fulfills a calling.
This is a book you can devour from cover
to cover, and pass on to others. This
is a book you will quote in your daily
conversation. Storm was meant to write
it and we were meant to read it."
-
Anne Rice, famous author
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Notable NDE Main Page
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Copyright
2016
Near-Death
Experiences and the Afterlife
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Books
About Howard Storm
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My Descent
Into Death: A Second
Chance at Life [Hardcover]
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by Rev. Howard Storm
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During his NDE, Howard
Storm experienced the
terrible consequences
of a life of selfish
materialism. But he
also traveled to regions
of light, where he conversed
with the Lord of Light
who sent him back with
a profound message of
love and life after
death. Included are
eight pages of illustrations.
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My Descent Into Death:
A Second Chance at Life [Kindle
Edition]
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by Howard Storm
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Howard Storm was an avowed atheist
awaiting emergency surgery when
he realized that he was at death’s
door. He found himself out of his
body; but instead of going toward
the light he found himself being
torturously dragged to excruciating
realms of darkness and death, where
he was physically assaulted by monstrous
beings of evil. His description
of his pure terror and torture is
unnerving in its utter originality
and convincing detail.
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Lessons from the Light: What We
Can Learn from the Near-Death Experience
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by Kenneth Ring and Evelyn Elsaesser
Valarino
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While providing many accounts of
NDEs from men, women, and children
of all ages and backgrounds, "Lessons
from the Light" is much more than
just an inspiring collection of
NDEs. In "Lessons" NDE expert Kenneth
Ring extracts the pure gold of the
NDE and with a beautiful balance
of sound research and human insight
reveals the practical wisdom held
within these experiences./
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The Big Book of Near Death Experiences:
The Ultimate Guide to What Happens
When We Die
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by P. M. H. Atwater
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Atwater's book is an intellectual
tour de force; the most comprehensive
reference book for the near-death
phenomenon. This book encompasses
every aspect of the near-death phenomenon:
the experience, aftereffects, and
implications. Atwater's simple,
appealing format includes drawings
and cartoons by Spirit Painter and
Chuck Vadun and sidebars from experts.
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The Eternal Journey: How Near-Death
Experiences Illuminate Our Earthly
Lives
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by Craig Lundahl and Harold Widdison
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According to authors Lundahl and
Widdison, "Probably the most complete
description of evil spirits in another
world is given in the well-known
NDE of Professor Howard Storm from
Northern Kentucky University." This
book is a unique volume based on
research that includes every NDE
ever documented suggesting our souls
exist in a parallel universe and
actually map out our human lives
prior to birth.
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Books on Hellish
NDEs |

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Dancing Past the Dark: Distressing
Near-Death Experiences
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by Nancy Evans Bush
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Almost 1 in 5 NDEs are not peaceful
suggestions of heaven. In a wide-ranging
and far from gloomy look at "the
other NDE," the author gives the
first comprehensive look at a fascinating
but neglected topic: NDEs and deathbed
visions of fear, emptiness, and
even hell. The author herself had
a very distressing NDE and she has
become one of the few NDE experts
on the subject. Her wonderfully
readable book is grounded in 30
years of experience and research,
packed with first-person accounts,
and engrossing discussions and factual
answers to a myriad of questions,
both religious and secular, with
practical suggestions for integrating
such an experience or encountering
one as a caregiver.
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A Near Death Experience: I Died
and Came Back from Hell
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by Grady Mosby
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This book is a true story highlighting
one man's human life experience
showing the results of how we might
handle the voids and losses in our
lives. This is a story about living,
loving, failing and ultimate recovery.
A graphic description of hellish
NDEs are included. The conclusion
is that heaven and hell both exist.
I know because the author has been
there and I made it back to tell
you about it. It is the author's
desire is to provide a fresh outlook
on recovery to help families with
addiction problems. Never give up!
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Visions of Heaven and Hell Before
Dante
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by Eileen Gardiner
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This essential and widely used collection
of visions of heaven and hell, the
first in English, presents new translations
of two visions and newly edited
versions of previously translated
ones. Describes the place of these
works in medieval literature and
provides a helpful resource for
studying elements of medieval religion.
Includes: St. Peter's Apocalypse,
St. Paul's Apocalypse, St. Brendan's
Voyage, St. Patrick's Purgatory,
and the Visions of Furseus, Drythelm,
Wetti, Charles the Fat, Tundale,
the Monk of Evesham, and Thurkill.
Bibliography, index, glossary, notes,
illustrated.
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Walk of Faith: Three Near-Death
Experiences and a Journey from the
Brink of Hell to Heaven
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by Chiemi Lynn Haman
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This book gives the reading audience
the author's journey to find God
through a series of three NDEs and
miracles. In her first NDE, she
went to the brink of hell. In her
second NDE, she went into the tunnel
of Light. In her third NDE, she
went into the Light and met Jesus
Christ and her guardian angel and
had a glimpse of heaven. The author
goes into detail about her NDEs,
stating that she was not raised
in a religious family. Her NDEs
are followed by a supernatural quest
to find out what the words meant
which Jesus and her guardian angel
spoke of: words such as the first
and second seal, the final seal,
and the seventh seal, leading to
appearances of Jesus who gave her
many lessons in life and clarifying
them with visions, scripture, and
prayer.
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Beyond the Light: What Isn't Being
Said About Near Death Experience:
from Visions of Heaven to Glimpses
of Hell
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by P. M. H. Atwater
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P. M. H. Atwater knows what it's
like to die. And the experience
so changed her life that she has
devoted years to researching the
phenomenon of the NDE. From her
own encounter with life-after-death
and from interviews with hundreds
of others, she presents this remarkable
and reassuring vision into a world
beyond the one we know: What it
feels like to die, What awaits us
after we see the light, Why many
who are rescued from death don't
want to come back, Why some people
encounter hellish experiences, How
life changes after an NDE and much
more!
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Majestic Restoration: Taste of Hell,
Glimpse of Heaven
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by Bryan Roscoe
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The author presents readers with
stunning details of his encounters
with hell, then with heaven. As
you read this terror filled encounter
with hell, you will feel and experience
it as if it is all happening - vividly
to you. Bryan's unexpected and unforgettable
trip into hell will bring you to
the ultimate mental and spiritual
brink. He takes you into that abyss
right along side of him! You will
know and feel there is no escape.
Not long after that terror filled
encounter, he caught a glimpse of
heaven. Bryan knew that he had an
obligation to get the word out regarding
his two NDEs.
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Placebo
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by Howard O. Pittman
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On August 3, 1979, Howard Pittman's
artery ruptured and died. His spirit
was lifted from his body and taken
into the Second Heaven where he
saw many startling things including
the earthbound hell of spirits.
He appeared before the Lord in the
Third Heaven where he pleaded for
an extension of his physical life.
It was here that God showed him
what kind of life of worship and
service to Jesus Christ he had really
led. He was given a message to bring
back to people in this generation.
That message is what this book is
all about - The greatest news since
Pentecost!
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Round Trip to Eternity: A True Story
of Survival Against the Odds
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by Norbert Paas
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During the author's NDE, he learned
there is more to us than just our
mortal body. It could be what we
refer to as "spirit," sometimes
"soul," or even "ghost." What this
really means is beyond our limited
comprehension. The author knows
this: surviving sudden death is
a triumph of hope over death and
eternal banishment, and his NDE
experience is testimony that there
is a spiritual part of us that survives
death of the mortal body.
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Heaven and Hell: New Century Edition
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by Emanuel Swedenborg and George
F. Dole (Translator)
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What happens to us when we die?
Are heaven and hell real? If so,
what are they like? Heaven and Hell
contains the answers to these questions
as seen by Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772).
This new translation of Swedenborg’s
most popular work paints a detailed
picture of life in the spiritual
realms. A Swedish Enlightenment
scientist of extraordinary accomplishment,
Swedenborg underwent a spiritual
crisis that led to an unparalleled
series of paranormal experiences.
He spent his last twenty-seven years
in almost daily experience of heaven
and hell, recording his observations
and conversations, many of which
are reported in Heaven and Hell.
This sustained and detailed description
of the nonphysical realms has left
its impression on the minds of many
great thinkers, including Goethe,
Blake, Coleridge, Emerson, Borges,
and Milosz. This deluxe edition
contains an introduction by religious
historian Bernhard Lang setting
the volume in the context of its
time. The New Century Edition of
the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg
is a modern-language, scholarly
translation of Swedenborg’s theological
works.
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Near-Death Experiences as Evidence
for the Existence of God and Heaven
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by J. Steve Miller and Jeffrey Long
MD (Introduction)
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According to NDE expert Dr. Jeffrey
Long, "For some time we’ve needed
a well-researched, compelling introduction
to this exciting field that focuses
on the evidence. Miller delivers!"
Reports of NDEs are flooding the
media with books, articles and interviews.
While these accounts are no doubt
interesting, do they provide any
solid evidence for the afterlife
and the existence of God? Miller
argues, in nontechnical and engaging
prose, that it does indeed. He began
his study doubting that NDEs provided
such evidence, but found himself
convinced by the weight of the evidence.
In this multiple award-winning book,
the reader will explore: (1) The
common naturalistic explanations
for NDEs; (2) Evidence that NDEs
point to God and heaven; (3) The
results of 35 years of research
into NDEs by doctors and other professionals,
fully documented for those who want
to study further; (4) A comparison
of NDEs with Christian teachings;
and (5) Recommendations of key books,
researchers, and publications for
further study. "Can we survive death?
Is there a God or a heaven? Miller
provides the discerning reader with
ample reason to think that the answer
to these all-important questions
is 'yes.'" - Dr. Peter Schaefer,
Senior Research Psychologist, Department
of Defense
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Revealing Heaven: The Eyewitness
Accounts That Changed How a Pastor
Thinks About the Afterlife
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by John W. Price
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Reverend John W. Price makes the
case for how NDEs can be gifts from
God and are fully compatible with
Christian spirituality and the Bible.
As a pastor open to NDE testimony,
he has heard more than 200 personal
accounts of this phenomena. Todd
Burpo's bestselling book "Heaven
Is for Real," the story of a young
child’s NDE, has validated the existence
of heaven and of God for Christians.
Yet there are Christians who remain
uncomfortable with the idea of NDEs;
they wonder if these events are
in line with the Bible and Christian
teaching. In this book the author
shares compelling testimonies proving
that Christians can - not only trust
NDEs as valid and consistent with
Biblical teaching - but they help
us understand death, grief, and
what happens after this life is
over, providing ample reasons for
us to be open to these amazing stories
and to hope for what we’ve always
dreamed about.
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The Light Behind God: What Religion
Can Learn From Near Death Experiences
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by Rene Jorgensen
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What would you like to ask someone
who has died and gone to the other
side? This book is your chance to
investigate the afterlife and the
nature of religion through real
experiences of God beyond death.
In this book, philosopher of religion
Rene Jorgensen reveals his research
of 16 people who have had an NDE.
Since life after death is the foundation
of religion, Jorgensen explores
the parallels between religion and
people who die and come back, and
in his study he asks what we can
learn about religion from these
real experiences of the realm of
God. Based on Jorgensen's findings
and supported by over 30 years of
research, this book is not based
on belief or dogma but on a sincere
attempt to interpret these direct
experiences of God in an objective
manner. Through this book you will
gain insights about life after death
and through its use of testimonies
from the other side you will get
a glimpse of a true and living God.
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