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Near-Death Experiences: How Should Christians Relate to Them? — 31 Comments

    • We have to remember that Lazareth would not have seen heaven , jesus had not yet been sacrificed For the sin of man, to brake down the gates for man to enter the Throne room of GOD.

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      • Bro. Scott,

        I have to disagree with you man. Elijah, Enoch and Moses were all in heaven. Moses having died, Elijah and Enoch not dying at all.

        The bible says that Christ was "slain from the foundation" therefore even though He had not died yet His promise (I'm 'bout to shout!!!) was certain that he would die for our sins including Lazarus.

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        • I was thinking the same thing as your reply to Bro Scott post.
          I am so thankful for this post on NDE's, I tried to explain it to a friend that it's Satan deception to fight against God's word. Thank God for the bible his words is true.

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          • Yes, a lot of these NDES are counterfeit. A friend of mine, who was a Christian told me her New Age relations visited her & she astral projected out her body. She said where she went was wonderful, supposedly met Jesus, was told she was in Heaven. Later the Holy Spirit told her it was not Heaven but a deceptive counterfeit.

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  1. Interesting Marcos. It is another mystery that facinates much of our society. Some become obsessed with any type of supernatual phenomenon. We can be thankful that we have a sure word of God. I would make an opinion about the time of Jesus delay, in the story of the resurrection of Lazarus. Martha said Lazarus had been in the tomb four days. The time it took for the message to reach Jesus had to be at least a day. Jesus waited two days which may have been coincidental. That seems to add up to five maybe seven days. Not a major issue just an observation. God bless your ministry.

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    • John 11: 39 (KJV)

      "Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days." - 'he hath been DEAD FOUR DAYS'

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  2. Thanks for the Info.
    We have to be careful when it comes to near death experiences. We have to measure or judge them using the bible which is the standard. God is clear about His word and he does not change nor contradict himself. If the experiences of the near death experience are in contradiction to the teachings of the bible on the state of the dead and on the components that makes a body a living soul and also with the teachings of God, then there is either an evil spirit behind it or the person was just having a nightmare and is now concluding its true or reality.

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  3. If Lazaro was in heaven why bring him back to earth.
    We do have humans in heaven. Moses, Elisha and hundres of people that resucitated with Jesus. The first fruits of earth.
    Moses represent the dead who will resucitated and be taken to heaven. Elisha represent the live ones that will be alive and taken to heaven without seen death.

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  4. the bible says, Believers and unbelivers, rigthious and sinners, saved and list, all will be raised. As Paul declared, There will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.
    This shows that we will die and rise again to receive judgment and the seel of internal life.

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  5. What I am also wondering about is; to what degree of normality of life do people return to once they experienced NDE? I mean, are they fully functional in the brain since it does appear that their visions were produced by the mind that appears functional even though the hospital instruments indicate that the person is "dead" for those few minutes. All the chemical reactions necessary to have the mind produce those images in the NDE that so closely match the teachings of the cultures in which the person lived, implies that the brain has not really died yet, even though the instruments attached to the person indicated death.

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  6. How do we treat people who have a near dead experience? Listen to them. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will impress you to refrain from commenting. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will impress you to tell them of your belief, especially if they tell you the story over again to prevoke you to testify of your belief. Maybe you know the person well, this is the time the Holy Spirit may ask you to kindly tell your friend of your belief on the 1st encounter with their story. Do though listen to the Holy Spirit. Don't put off what He wants you to say today.

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  7. The writer of the article is correct according to the Bible. This is just one text that speaks of death, what it's like (sleep),(body returns to dust), (breath returns to God) however, there are many more. At creation, God formed man, breathed into him the breath of life & he became a LIVING soal. The reverse happens when we die.
    Ecclesiastees 9:5-6 "For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred & their envy have now parished; nveremore will they have a share in anything done under the sun". Also, see Psalm 146:4.

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  8. I also don't believe the NDEs in any circumstance. What I do see is that each experience seemed to be "tailored " with ones' belief so that each has to have experienced something fortifying what ever he believes in. The diversity of their experiences proves they are not real or just a kind of hallucination. These are just pure deception. We have to understand that deception is not always negative perceived by the victim as in the case of the serpent tempting Eve and how King Saul seek to see Samuel for advice by means of the woman of Endor ( see 1 Samuel 14-19). The conversation and even the advice seemed right. King Saul experience was real not a NDE yet it was deception of a genuine kind.

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  9. I remember reading a newspaper reporting a car accident. A person was very heavily injured and on examination declared dead. They covered the corpse with a black blanket and ordered the dead person to be carried off by a furneral car. Later on they discovered that the blanket was moving. So the injured person was taken out of the funeral car and put into an emergency car driving the now somehow alife person to the hospital.

    Obviously, the person was declared dead by error. The injured person only seemed to be dead, but his brain was certainly funktioning and sending signals being expressed in visible movements of arms and legs. It is quite possible to have any dreams or visions in that condition.

    However the bible tells us that the dead know absolutely nothing. Ecclesiastes 9:5 is using a redublicated language to emphasize that the dead really know absolute nothing, which the KJV is trying to capture translating: The dead know not anything. Hence, really dead persons do not have any dreames or visions whatever. If they do have dreames or visions, they are not really dead. I think, the bible gives us a clear rule of measurement in trying the spirits whether of God (1. John 4:1).

    Winfried Stolpmann

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    • The person you refer to is the reverend Don Piper. There is another preacher, Howard Storm, who was a university art professor, a hardened atheist and a jerk who also had an intense NDE that prompted him to make an about face in his religious life. Watch one of his interviews on YouTube.

      "By their fruits though shalt know them."

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  10. This is really esposing. The devil is older and wiser than any other creature. All he does with NDE's is to keep building falsehood around his lies to Eve-"you will not surely die" So how else could he and would he had defend such blatant lie??? NDEs is his method. Do not be decieved.

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    • I have watched several videos about ndes and how most of them have experienced the same thing, peace and love like they've never experience before.If it were evil won't they're nde's be more horrific? GOD is Love and evil is the exact opposite. I'm confused please explain.

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  11. Thanks for the article and comments have been REALLY insightful. Great stuff to use to enlighten unbelievers.
    Please can anyone help me understand the text in 1 Thessalonians 4:14, that states Jesus will bring back with Him those who are sleep...
    Who is it referring to, and where were they for Him to "bring" them back...???

    Thanks for your help!

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  12. Well Thanks very much Brother for that very logical and comprehensive look at NDE's.
    There was however one I came across that didn't talk about going to heaven so much as being led around by an angle and shown the Unseen world. In it he described what Demons looked like and how they came upon people at certain times. The example he gave was of a man with a woman and this demon beginning to entre him as his thoughts became more carnal.
    I only mention this because I do believe that people are shown certain things about the other side in NDE's sometimes to help them get their path straight and help others.
    I also believe you are spot on with the different points you made. I just believe that the NDE's should be looked upon in case by case way. I believe some people get them from God as a form of guidance. And as long as they don't contradict any Biblical truth, then we should consider them more closely.

    Ohh and as a foot note I should explain that I had a car accident once where I was almost decapitated. I was driving a Taxi at the time and the owner's wife on seeing the cab afterwards told me she wanted to do Bible studies with me as it was obvious to her that It was a miracle I had survived.
    Now apparently soon after the accident at the hospital my Brother told me later I spoke to him and others.
    As for me I remember turning the corner in the cab, then driving down the road right up to the point of impact , the very next memory I have is waking up 2 days later in the hospital with my mum brother pastor and pastors son and a nurse all looking at me and my very first thought was "Not again".. I had a bad car accident earlier in life..
    My Point is although I had almost died , I even had my memories of things I had done while apparently awake blotted out.
    To this day that 2 days is gone...and no trips to Heaven for me
    God Bless
    Andrew

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  13. Jesus,

    The resurrection and the life Himself - Jesus, after resurrecting himself, declared "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father:..." (John 20:17). Which means during His death, he was in the grave, even though He is the righteousness of all men, including Elijah, Enoch and Moses.

    Matt,

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  14. I'm a physical therapist of over 20 years in practice and I can't recall all the times patients have recounted the effects of the medications that they took either for pain management, anesthesia used for surgery or post-surgical recovery. I recall one very nice and normal lady who had just had a lumbar fusion state that she had to be restrained in her bed for several days after surgery because she was hallucinating badly seeing spiders and all kinds of creatures crawling all over herself and the walls. Her husband told me she was using language that he had never dreamed his wife could use, even after 40 plus years of marriage. Apparently she was swearing quite badly and didn't even recognize her own family. My point is that in many of these cases of NDE the effects of the medications being used to try and save their lives may play a significant role in the perceived trip into the afterlife. These episodes are just what they are called: a NEAR death experience. The people are now, obviously, alive and well to be able to discuss their experience so they did not experience death and the imagery they may have experienced, to me, holds no more value than the dreams you and I have nightly. The fact that they were near death seems to somehow elevate the value or importance of what they experienced in their own minds and the media of course sensationalizes it even more and those who are not grounded in the Bible often buy into it.

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  15. •☆•
    When you have really been through it you know and understand what it is all about, then you have a different outlook on life. I know and understand because I have been there and done that myself, my doctor recognized I was really dead and when I returned he was himself frightened. I had been gone for awhile and it took 6 heated blankets to warm me up after I came back from the presence of the light, that wonderful warm loving light in the presence of Yahweh. (God)

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  16. Thanks bro for that great information.....when my son died and there was a funeral service in our local church,an elder made a statement to all from the pulpit that ~he has gone to heaven`...and this has been bothering me as a christian until when i have carefully read the article and verses..thanks

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  17. I think the Bible is silent on this because people would really go off the deep end about life after death and reincarnation. God's Word states that the secret things belong to God, so I say He has told us He will return to get us. Yes, some things might happen when we die but God knows and they are for our good and His glory. I have no answers to those who have had these experiences, I just say Praise God they are still here with us, and trust God He will do what is best and right. And know this...The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel and the Dead In Christ will be raised first and those who are alive and remain will be caught up with Him in the sky and so shall we EVER be with the Lord. That is my hope... I can't wait. But on the lighter side, I also wonder about ghost, (I know they are demons) why is it that when they come back they are wearing clothes, do the clothes have a spirit too? Do they have a ghost shopping center or something. If the body die and comes back, do they pack a suitcase with their clothes or something...What's up with that? smile.

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  18. I read your article. There aren't any contradictions like you assert in an NDE experienced by one person in one faith group vs another. It is rather the interpretation given to it by the individual which is subject to error.

    Mark 12:26,27. Jesus reminds his listeners that God told Moses that he was the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and also that he's the God of the living, not the dead.

    He told this to a group of Saducees, who were existentialists who denied the resurrection and the afterlife. In other words, when you die, the lights go out.

    Also remember what Jesus told the good thief on the cross. "Today you will be with me in paradise." Not in a hundred years or in several thousand years, but rather later that same day.

    One more, King Saul tried to communicate with the prophet Samuel post mortem. It is an indirect indication that the ancient Jewish people believed in an afterlife.

    Also in the book of Machabees, there is a passage where Judas Machabeus offers sacrifices in the newly rededicated temple in Jerusalem for the dead. It wouldn't make sense if they didn't believe in an afterlife.

    Finally. In the gospels Jesus tells the parable of Lazarus the poor man with sores on his body and the rich man and about what happens to them in the afterlife. An afterlife wouldn't be mentioned if they didn't believe in one. Jesus wouldn't teach error.

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  19. I am sympathetic to the point of view in the article. But, I it is a bit simplistic. There are many things it does not consider.
    1) God is not bound by time and so if we were to encounter God outside of our existence in this earthly realm it would not be at any particular earthly time.
    2) There is substantial evidence for "mind" that is beyond the functioning of the brain. Consciousness is a great mystery that challenges the notion of the brain produces mind. It is sufficiently complex that we can not know for sure how it might be or work.
    3) If there is some part of us that exists beyond the physical (that is perhaps part of God's image in us) it does not have to be immortal. God could sustain that "non-physical" part of us just as he does the physical realm and our physical existence.
    4) Presuming NDE experiences to be delusions from devil raises lots of issues. If the devil has that kind of access to our minds (what ever that is) how do we trust anything we think or believe? This explanation may be an easy explanation for the NDE mysteries that in the end creates more problems than it solves.

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  20. I have been recently the past 2years going to a church where the pastor himself claimed to have an Near death experience says its why he's a Christian and I find it hard to believe that anyone can go to heaven especially if their a sinner and then come back and talk about it he claimed he and his friend died of a drug overdose and a demon was pulling him and his friend down to hell and he was sparred by Jesus and he claimed to have been changed by it and became a pastor and I personally don't know what to make of it is he living cause There is simply no reason to believe anyone who claims to have gone to heaven and returned. John 3:13 says, “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven,

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