Jesus promises eternal life, but what about ‘near death experiences’ about seeing Jesus or Heaven?

Jesus said:

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

And that is true.

But what about near death experiences related to seeing Jesus? Well, Michael Snyder believes some of them are true as he posted:

Life After Death Is Real! Here Are 5 Examples Of People That Met Jesus During Near Death Experiences

August 1, 2024

We aren’t supposed to talk about what happens after we die. In fact, our society trains us not to even think about it. But the clock is ticking. Your body is wearing out and your time is limited. Of course the truth is that your number could be up at any time. If you died tonight, where would you go? The good news is that “the other side” is not a mystery. Countless numbers of people have been to “the other side” and have come back to tell us about it. According to a study that was conducted in 2019, approximately 10 percent of the entire population has had a near death experience. In this article, I am going to share 5 examples of people that actually met Jesus during their near death experiences. …

#1 A 6-year-old girl named Zola Tomic was in the hospital to have her tonsils removed, but after the surgery she “began to bleed and hemorrhage for nearly ten days” due to a very rare genetic disorder. She lost a tremendous amount of blood and it was during this time that she met Jesus. After she recovered, she asked a question that absolutely floored her mother…

Zola asked her mom, “When can I go see God again?”

“It’s something even to this day that I still can’t even comprehend,” Brittani said. “I was getting her ready and, it wasn’t even like we were talking about anything God-related beforehand, we were just getting ready to go to gymnastics. And she just asked, ‘When can I see God again?’”

Her mom was confused and taken back by her question, so she asked Zola, “When did you see God?” Zola replied with the most stunning statement, “The night I died.”

During the time she was out of her body, Zola experienced many things. At one point, Jesus actually “thanked her for loving him and being his friend”…

#2 A Georgia man named Mike McKinsey says that his appendix ruptured just before his son’s wedding. He went to the hospital for surgery, and during that surgery he died and found himself standing directly in front of Jesus…

With dark skin and blueish-green eyes, Jesus did not look like the man often depicted in the U.S., McKinsey said. Still, McKinsey said he knew exactly who he was looking at.

#3 When author Randy Kay died, he also had an encounter with Jesus, and he says that he was absolutely overwhelmed by the love that he felt…

#4 Meeting Jesus is most certainly not just a western phenomenon. For example, the son of a Muslim sheik in Rwanda had a truly remarkable encounter with Jesus when he died…

Swidiq, the son of a Muslim sheik, grew up in Rwanda during the genocide. When he died and had an NDE, he found himself in a hellish place. Into this darkness came a man of light, bright like the sun.

“He lifted his hands slightly, with palms up, revealing holes in each hand…He spoke, clear and firm, ‘I died for mankind. And you are among those I died for. Do not deny it again. You must tell others,’” Swidiq said.

#5 All over the world, people are coming face to face with the Son of God. All her life, a 16-year-old Jewish girl named Heidi was told that there is no God and that Jesus is a hoax, but then she personally met Jesus during her near death experience… https://endoftheamericandream.com/life-after-death-is-real-here-are-5-examples-of-people-that-met-jesus-during-near-death-experiences/

When I read the additional details in the article, I saw no proof that Jesus actually appeared to them.

There are others who have also stated that when they had ‘near death experiences’ they went to Heaven, but then came back.

A couple of movies have been made related to that. Here is some information from the past:

Curiosity about the afterlife seems stronger than ever in books, television, and the movies. Hollywood has taken notice after films like “Heaven is for Real” brought in more than $100 million at the box office.

Now a similar film, “90 Minutes in Heaven,” … tells the story of how Don Piper was miraculously brought back to life after a car accident in 1989.

Piper’s experience first came to the public’s attention in 2004 via his New York Times best-selling book of the same name. To date, it’s sold over 7 million copies and has been translated in 46 different languages. …

The film shows how the head-on collision changed Piper’s life forever. His body mangled, emergency workers declared him dead shortly after getting to the accident scene.

As Dick Onerecker, a pastor, passed the wreckage, he felt led by God to stop and pray for Piper. As Onerecker called out to God inside the car, Piper suddenly started singing and came back to life.

A total of 90 minutes had elapsed. During that time, Piper says he visited Heaven.

“I saw colors I have never seen before,” Piper told CBN News’ Angela Zatopek. “The gate stands very large, much like the inside of a pearl, but the entrance is clearly for one.”

“I heard music with many different songs playing at once and it was beautiful,” he recalled. “The song that stood out the most was holy, holy, holy… because he is.”

The film will be released nationwide Sept 11. http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2015/September/90-Minutes-in-Heaven-Has-Power-to-Change-Lives/

Don Piper may believe he went to heaven, but biblically that makes no sense. While there is more to reality than just the physical world, the Bible does not teach that heaven is the reward of the saved, nor did early Christians teach ‘heaven’ the way that the Greco-Roman-Protestant churches currently teach it.

There was a book that came out many years ago about another one who claimed to have gone to heaven. Fortunately:

‘Boy Who Came Back From Heaven’ going back to publisher

Washington Post –

Tyndale House, a major Christian publisher, has announced that it will stop selling “The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven,” by Alex Malarkey and his father, Kevin Malarkey.

The best-selling book, first published in 2010, describes what Alex experienced while he lay in a coma after a car accident when he was 6 years old. The coma lasted two months, and his injuries left him paralyzed, but the subsequent spiritual memoir — with its assuring description of “Miracles, Angels, and Life beyond This World” — became part of a popular genre of “heavenly tourism,” which has been controversial among orthodox Christians.

Earlier this week, Alex recanted his testimony about the afterlife. In an open letter to Christian bookstores posted on the Pulpit and Pen Web site, Alex states flatly: “I did not die. I did not go to Heaven.”

Referring to the injuries that continue to make it difficult for him to express himself, Alex writes, “Please forgive the brevity, but because of my limitations I have to keep this short…. I said I went to heaven because I thought it would get me attention. When I made the claims that I did, I had never read the Bible. People have profited from lies, and continue to. They should read the Bible, which is enough. The Bible is the only source of truth. Anything written by man cannot be infallible.”

This evening, Todd Starowitz, public relations director of Tyndale House, told The Washington Post: “Tyndale has decided to take the book and related ancillary products out of print.”…

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2015/01/15/boy-who-came-back-from-heaven-going-back-to-publisher/

So Alex Malarkey’s ‘best selling’ ‘true story’ was admitted to be false. I would also add that a similar story to Malarkey’s, Heaven is for Real, which is about Colton Burpo allegedly going to heaven, is also false (see Heaven is for real, but the movie’ s premise is not), but Colton Burpo has not publicly admitted it (maybe Colton Burpo did have a dream or something, but he did not go to heaven).

Though Protestants and others have been misled by Malarkey, Piper, Burpo, and others, they should not have as they should have paid closer attention to what the Bible shows.

Notice what Jesus taught:

12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. (John 3:12-13)

Notice what the Apostle Peter taught:

29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
‘Sit at My right hand,
35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” (Acts 2:29-35)

Humans do not go to heaven upon death. They await the resurrection.

Notice also what the Old Testament teaches:

5 For the living know that they will die;
But the dead know nothing, (Ecclesiastes 9:5)

14 If a man dies, shall he live again?
All the days of my hard service I will wait,
Till my change comes. (Job 14:14)

Early Christians absolutely did not believe that when they died they immediately went to heaven (see Did Early Christians Teach Going to Heaven?). Early Christians taught that they were in the grave awaiting the resurrection.

As far as ‘near death experiences’ go (and Don Piper may have had one of those), they were covered in a sermon titled Questions and Continuing Church of God Answers that is available to watch online.

As far as heaven goes, the Continuing Church of God put out the following sermon on its ContinuingCOG channel:

1:15:19

The Plain Truth About Heaven

Is heaven the reward of the saved? What does the Bible teach that saints will inherit? What was Abram (Abraham) promised? What did Jesus teach the meek would inherit on the ‘Sermon on the Mount’? What did early Christians teach and believe about this? What did the Greco-Roman Catholic saint Justin teach about those who said that when you die you go to heaven? Do ‘near death experiences’ prove heaven? Were people like Clement of Alexandria affected by Greek and Egyptian pagan philosophy? Should Christians rely on the testimony of Irenaues or Perpetua over scripture? Did Mithraism teach heaven? What did Herbert W. Armstrong, Dr. N.T. Wright, and Dr. Herman Hoeh point out that the Bible teaches on the rewards of the saved? What did the old ‘Plain Truth’ magazine teach? What about the Apostles Peter and Paul? Did the Apostle John record that the Holy City was to come down to the earth from heaven? If there are three heavens, which one is which? Is the ‘beatific vision’ God’s plan? What is the plain truth about heaven? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.