This is the true story about an event that forever changed David Goines' life and that has been the basis for the way he has since lived. When he was thirteen years old, he was riding his bike to school when he was hit by a concrete mixing truck. His resulting near-death experience revealed to him many of the secrets of the afterlife. Many questions concerning "Why are we here?" and "What is the meaning of life?" are answered here. At the end of his experience, he was given a choice - a choice that is offered to all of us. It is a choice we all must make when we die.
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I remember the fear of impact (getting hit), however, I have no recollection of the impact or having my body become totally integrated with the bicycle, nor hurtling over sixty feet through the air and landing in the canal. My next memory was quite a scene in the hospital emergency room. It was the most unique experience of my earthly life. Unique, because I was observing my own body in the emergency room and all the activity going on, except that I was not in my body. I was above it all - looking down. I was feeling no pain.
Everyone was very busy. I knew by their activity that I was in serious trouble. There was much discussion about how to extract me from the tangled wreckage of my bike and/or whether they would need to leave me in it until I was stabilized enough to try. I could see and hear everything. It was gruesome. It was frightening. They finally decided they had me stable enough to get rid of the bike and they called for a welding specialist to bring a torch to help cut me out of the bike. Thank God my body seemed to be unconscious. All of this would have been quite enough for my young mind to endure - until one nurse, whom I knew, said to another, "Well - it certainly makes you wonder if it is worth saving this mess."
She nearly scared me to death! At that moment, it was more than I could stand above and watch. I wanted to run away from this scene. I needed to escape. Quickly, I turned, took one step through the wall so to speak and found myself in total darkness. I looked back - nothing but darkness! Before I could barely think, "Now I've done it!," I apparently took another step; and I was instantly in the most beautiful garden I have ever seen. This garden was like a formal terrace which had been carved out of a rough mountain, just a few feet below the peak. Everything was white marble and evergreen. The air was so incredibly light and clear and fresh and cool. It seemed like I was breathing pure chilled oxygen. The garden was trimmed in evergreen shrubs, each a perfect specimen; and the fragrance of evergreen lightly scented the air. This place seemed so perfect in every detail. Directly in front of me, just a few steps away, was a marble bench which seemed to invite me to come, sit, and rest.
As I sat down and breathed in the fresh wonderful air, I looked around. What a wonderful place to rest. The floor was flat and smooth, polished to perfection such that it looked seamless. This garden terrace was surrounded by low marble pillars and a marble railing and looked like it had been formed right out of the side of the mountain in one seamless effort. I noticed the stark contrast between the formal perfection of white marble and the surrounding mountain that was rough and ragged by comparison.
It seemed like only moments while I looked around this beautiful setting, when I noticed a very warm, kindly, old gentleman sitting beside me on the bench. I had not seen or heard him come - he was just there. A light smile crossed his face, and I knew he was a friend. His face was warmly wrinkled, but soft. His eyes were a soft blue and yet with a depth and sparkle of wisdom. I looked away so as not to fall into his eyes; and as I did, he spoke to me. His voice was firm, but soft and loving.
He said, "Well. you've had a rough day," as if he knew all about it.
With a tired sigh I said, "I sure have!"
No further explanation seemed necessary as we both sat there. Then, I remembered just how much trouble I really was in; and I looked back at him hoping he would have an answer I could stand to hear.
I asked "Am I dead?"
He smiled to assure me and said, "No, you are not dead. Your body is in a lot of trouble, but it is being well taken care of and you do not need to worry."
I remember I felt so relieved to be told that I was not dead. Life was not over. This was not the end. All these things ran through my mind like a whirlwind that stopped abruptly, and I was filled with a million questions as to explain my current condition. I could not explain why I felt like I was sitting here in this place feeling very much like I had a body and yet knowing very much that I had left it behind.
Again I looked at him, and his face looked so understanding I knew he had the answers even before I asked the question. It was like we could read each others thoughts - even before words were spoken - and I'm not sure but what a lot of our communication did take place this way, mind to mind. Then a kind of panic set in.
I demanded of him: "How am I here, in this place, when I know that my body is back there in the hospital?" And "Where is this place? How do I see this place and you, if I'm not with my body? How can I be two places at once?" I began to feel very upset. "What are you?" I demanded!
His voice calmed me immediately. He said, "You are in a very special place. You are safe."
He went on to explain that, though my body was in the hospital, it was my physical body and that each of us has also our spiritual body and our mental body.
He said, "It is your mental and spiritual body that is here. It is with your mental and spiritual eyes that you see this place. Likewise, it is through your mental and spiritual body senses that you perceive everything in and about this place. This place is in your mind's eye, your imagination; it is as it is because this is exactly what you need it to be. Your physical crisis and mental need caused it to be just as you perceive it. I am here too without a physical body. You see me as I see myself in my own mind's eye. A mental picture (a thought) from my mind to your mind's eye. I am as you see me because this is the way that I perceived that you needed me to be. Who I am or my name is not important. I am here for you on behalf of your heavenly Father's love for you and to remind you from where you came."
My first thought was - The hospital?
He smiled a smile of wisdom and patience beyond wisdom itself and said lovingly, "No, I mean your Father's house."
It was then at that moment that I realized that I knew everything that he was saying was true and that I had known this consciously before I was born to this earth to have a physical body. I remembered that I was also a spiritual and mental body (being), and it all made perfect sense. I even remembered coming through the veil to find and choose my physical body. I was mildly puzzled that I could have even forgotten such things - when he reminded me that to have/experience a physical life - it was necessary to at least for a while, forget a little of our prior knowledge so that we might more fully experience the physical things, be physically challenged, make choices of free agency, and yes, even make mistakes so that we could learn from them in ways that only a physical life could impart. If we retained all of our prior knowledge, we might not bother to experience the physical life for its fulfillment - we might decide to skip the pain and thus miss the pleasure. I also remembered the promise I had made to my heavenly Father upon accepting the opportunity, challenges and responsibility of a physical life. To make the most of this opportunity for myself and for him. To return to my Father's house with the knowledge and experience gained such that likewise, my Father (Creator) could be enhanced by the experience. It was upon this basis that I realized why we need to experience a separation of our total reality when we take a physical body. That is because in order for us to appreciate, benefit, and learn all we can from our physical life, we must seemingly have to re-discover what we knew before - now in physical ways. Likewise, through this physical life we must discover how to return to our heavenly Father. By the good that we do to each other here, by the ways we improve our minds, and by the ways that we learn to cope with a physical body and physical life, do we earn our right of safe passage back to our Father's house; and in so doing, do we likewise magnify and glorify (honor) our Father. It is our Father's love that sends us on the journey and it is our love for him that will allow us to go back home to his loving arms again.
As soon as I had remembered all that I needed to know, my loving, special friend disappeared.
This was a wonderful place; it was everything I needed it to be. I not only remembered and could see from where I came, I could also see and remember where I was going, the many things that I was supposed to do. I knew when I chose this life that it would be challenging. I knew that I would be responsible for finding a physical life mate and that, together, we would accept the responsibility of providing new physical life so that others of God's children (creation) could likewise share in a physical experience for themselves. I knew that I would be responsible for choosing between good and evil so that my life would serve to glorify my heavenly Father upon my return to him.
As I continued to ponder and re-affirm these things, I felt very refreshed and again more conscious of my garden place. I turned and noticed a small winding path leading up to the crest of this rugged mountain. I had not noticed this path before, but it was there now and it beckoned me. I got up from my marble bench and began making my way up the steep access of the path. It was difficult and my footing was very unsure. As I reached the top, I looked down upon a beautiful meadow on the other side. It was so tempting. There were flowers of every description and color. A beautiful brook flowed playfully through the meadow, and I made my way through the lush grass to be by its side. The brook was only a few inches deep. The water flowed quickly. I picked up some pebbles and tossed them one by one into the water. I was about to turn away and leave when I looked on the other side of the stream and saw a beautiful white light much like sunbeams. From this beautiful light a figure appeared. It was clothed in white robes and white light such that I could scarcely tell the difference. I could not make out a face - but I clearly saw hands. These hands stretched out to me and a voice said: "Will you come unto me?"
Without hesitation I stepped into the water, then I paused. I was shaking all over. Then I remembered that I had a life to learn and experience. I turned; and as I stepped out of the water, I said "No, I still have many things which I must do."
I made my way quickly, running as fast as I could back up to the top of the hill and back down that winding path, nearly falling several times. As soon as my feet touched the floor of my beautiful marble garden, I was consciously back in my physical body, awake, and suddenly in more physical pain than I ever thought possible. My body was in five-way traction, and I was barely touching the bed. Everything hurt.
My first conscious thought was, "Big mistake - boy, I've done it now! I've screwed up big time! That white figure was Jesus and I told him, "No!"
I don't know whether I cried more from the physical pain I was in or the spiritual and mental torment I was having over this decision. Later through prayer and meditation, I have been comforted. I now understand and have so often reflected that through this experience I was being offered a choice. A choice which I, and each of us, have the right to make. My heavenly Father has such a profound love for me and all of his children, for that matter, that I was offered through his son Jesus the opportunity to come back to him right then.
His love is so great for his children that he was and is willing to sacrifice his potential for glory. Fortunately for me, I have the opportunity on his behalf to experience a physical life; and hopefully in doing so, I will ultimately magnify and glorify my heavenly Father and more so than if I had accepted grace and forgone this opportunity.
I did not realize that my garden experience had lasted for twenty-one days, until I was told by my doctors and nurses that I had been in a coma all that time. It was from this experience that I was able to draw enough strength and energy to rehabilitate my body, learn to walk again, and do all the things that I have been able to do so far in my life.
I am telling you this story, one, because I needed to tell it; two, because, perhaps you needed to hear it; and, three, because it allows me a credible basis for sharing with you much of the magic that can enhance a physical life.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Stanley Wilson's NDE
Stanley Wilson's NDE
I will state that when this N.D.E. occurred I was already a Christian and this event happened around the year 2000. I was 52 at that time; I had been saved since my early 20's.
Since my teens I was always up to something, but my parents said they prayed for protection over me and boy do I believe it!
So I will tell some of the times Jesus watched over me, in about the 6th grade I was playing in the park with my cousin when a gang of kids started picking on me, I was the type of kid that was willing to fight, the leader threw gravel in my face I threw gravel at him, the fight was on and I was winning, then the whole gang jumped me. My cousin got scared and ran off down the ally, between all of the kicks and fist I could see him running and I forgave him .Anyway one boy tried to stab me with a knife but there were so many people on me he was only able to nick my side, and then they ran off. Thank God.
Another time, when a friend and I were teenagers we were sniffing lighter fluid in my friend's barn; it was a very dangerous thing to do. Chickens walked in and then out, one walked back in and said, " Dusty you'd better quit that". I said Dusty did you hear that? He said, Yes that chicken said "Dusty you'd better quit that". We both dropped our lighter fluid cans and ran out. Man was God watching us that day!
Once, I was speeding in my pickup on a residential street when I was about 17, I was driving on pure ice and my truck started spinning, I was turning so fast that I could not get off of the passengers door. There were cars parked on both sides of the road, I hit nothing. Again, thank Jesus. There are many other times he protected me.
I will reveal one other special event, and then tell the N.D.E. story. I was in my 30’s when an international church sent a letter to my house stating, Send in your most important prayers we will seal them in cement and bury them and pray over them daily until the lord comes. I decided to do it and about a month later I was riding in my pickup truck thinking to myself, God has to answer these prayers because so many people are praying!
Out of no where in a verbal voice God said, IT IS NOT BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE PRAY, IT IS BECAUSE I ANSWER THE PRAYERS! In the Bible, it states that God corrects his children. This was one of those times.
Now it is time for my N.D.E., I was one of those guys that refused to go to the doctor, even though my health was not in good condition. I was so tired at times I would lay on the floor, right then and there, to rest. I was also having a special kind of seizers and did not know it at the time. When I would go to bed, I had a tendency to slow down on breathing and totally relax. One night I stopped breathing all of the sudden, I went into a really bright tunnel that was full of white light, but it did not hurt my eyes; I was moving at an extreme speed upwards. I would say that the tunnel was about 12 feet wide, the white light permeated everywhere up and down the sides, it seemed to be penetrating through the walls it was actually very beautiful. I realized I was out of my body, but all of my senses were still there. Gravitational pull was not there nor G forces. I am pretty sure that I was traveling at least the speed of light, but all of the sudden I was slowing down, at the top of the tunnel there were things hanging down; they were about 20 feet long and completely filled the tunnel. They looked like white silk punching bags, they were extremely clean. When I ran into them they wadded up and stopped me, I automatically started pushing them apart and moving upward through them, when I got through them the next thing I got a hold of was the edge of a hole in a floor. I felt as though I was being birthed again into a new world. I looked around in the great big room while still hanging onto the edge of the floor, off to the right and front of me about 10 feet away was a wide and long table. At the end of the table closest to me was a man sitting in a throne type chair; he was clothed in a white robe. I was to his back left side, I could see his dark wavy brown hair shine, it was a mahogany color and it came down to his shoulders. Also, I saw his pronounced nose from my backside angle realizing the Middle Eastern influence, of course I already knew who he was and is, the only begotten son of God JESUS CHRIST. He never looked around at me, but I knew he was aware of me. There were four men sitting to the left of Jesus, they had on white Jewish caps and I nearly know they were some of his disciples.
I floated out of the hole in the floor and went past Jesus to his left side, never looking at him again. Floating right above the man closest to Jesus, I noticed he had curly hair; I was so close I could smell his scalp. All of the sudden at a long distance I could hear my wife hollering what is the matter with you? And immediately I was back in my body. She said I was not breathing and had no pulse. I do not know how long I was gone. When I became aware that I was back, I was excited and wanted to tell my wife what happened, but I had been without oxygen so long I could not form my words. After some time I came to believe that the reason I did not see Jesus' face was because of Exodus 33:20 that states, You cannot see My face; for no man can see Me and live.
If you are a Christian I hope my story encourages you and if not I hope you see that you need to get saved. Everything I said is true, realize that life could be taken from you at anytime. ASK JESUS TO SAVE YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE.
I will state that when this N.D.E. occurred I was already a Christian and this event happened around the year 2000. I was 52 at that time; I had been saved since my early 20's.
Since my teens I was always up to something, but my parents said they prayed for protection over me and boy do I believe it!
So I will tell some of the times Jesus watched over me, in about the 6th grade I was playing in the park with my cousin when a gang of kids started picking on me, I was the type of kid that was willing to fight, the leader threw gravel in my face I threw gravel at him, the fight was on and I was winning, then the whole gang jumped me. My cousin got scared and ran off down the ally, between all of the kicks and fist I could see him running and I forgave him .Anyway one boy tried to stab me with a knife but there were so many people on me he was only able to nick my side, and then they ran off. Thank God.
Another time, when a friend and I were teenagers we were sniffing lighter fluid in my friend's barn; it was a very dangerous thing to do. Chickens walked in and then out, one walked back in and said, " Dusty you'd better quit that". I said Dusty did you hear that? He said, Yes that chicken said "Dusty you'd better quit that". We both dropped our lighter fluid cans and ran out. Man was God watching us that day!
Once, I was speeding in my pickup on a residential street when I was about 17, I was driving on pure ice and my truck started spinning, I was turning so fast that I could not get off of the passengers door. There were cars parked on both sides of the road, I hit nothing. Again, thank Jesus. There are many other times he protected me.
I will reveal one other special event, and then tell the N.D.E. story. I was in my 30’s when an international church sent a letter to my house stating, Send in your most important prayers we will seal them in cement and bury them and pray over them daily until the lord comes. I decided to do it and about a month later I was riding in my pickup truck thinking to myself, God has to answer these prayers because so many people are praying!
Out of no where in a verbal voice God said, IT IS NOT BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE PRAY, IT IS BECAUSE I ANSWER THE PRAYERS! In the Bible, it states that God corrects his children. This was one of those times.
Now it is time for my N.D.E., I was one of those guys that refused to go to the doctor, even though my health was not in good condition. I was so tired at times I would lay on the floor, right then and there, to rest. I was also having a special kind of seizers and did not know it at the time. When I would go to bed, I had a tendency to slow down on breathing and totally relax. One night I stopped breathing all of the sudden, I went into a really bright tunnel that was full of white light, but it did not hurt my eyes; I was moving at an extreme speed upwards. I would say that the tunnel was about 12 feet wide, the white light permeated everywhere up and down the sides, it seemed to be penetrating through the walls it was actually very beautiful. I realized I was out of my body, but all of my senses were still there. Gravitational pull was not there nor G forces. I am pretty sure that I was traveling at least the speed of light, but all of the sudden I was slowing down, at the top of the tunnel there were things hanging down; they were about 20 feet long and completely filled the tunnel. They looked like white silk punching bags, they were extremely clean. When I ran into them they wadded up and stopped me, I automatically started pushing them apart and moving upward through them, when I got through them the next thing I got a hold of was the edge of a hole in a floor. I felt as though I was being birthed again into a new world. I looked around in the great big room while still hanging onto the edge of the floor, off to the right and front of me about 10 feet away was a wide and long table. At the end of the table closest to me was a man sitting in a throne type chair; he was clothed in a white robe. I was to his back left side, I could see his dark wavy brown hair shine, it was a mahogany color and it came down to his shoulders. Also, I saw his pronounced nose from my backside angle realizing the Middle Eastern influence, of course I already knew who he was and is, the only begotten son of God JESUS CHRIST. He never looked around at me, but I knew he was aware of me. There were four men sitting to the left of Jesus, they had on white Jewish caps and I nearly know they were some of his disciples.
I floated out of the hole in the floor and went past Jesus to his left side, never looking at him again. Floating right above the man closest to Jesus, I noticed he had curly hair; I was so close I could smell his scalp. All of the sudden at a long distance I could hear my wife hollering what is the matter with you? And immediately I was back in my body. She said I was not breathing and had no pulse. I do not know how long I was gone. When I became aware that I was back, I was excited and wanted to tell my wife what happened, but I had been without oxygen so long I could not form my words. After some time I came to believe that the reason I did not see Jesus' face was because of Exodus 33:20 that states, You cannot see My face; for no man can see Me and live.
If you are a Christian I hope my story encourages you and if not I hope you see that you need to get saved. Everything I said is true, realize that life could be taken from you at anytime. ASK JESUS TO SAVE YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE.
John F's NDE
While on duty in the United States Navy, I was munching on a hard boiled egg and got choked. I could only breathe in. My lungs filled until they could fill no more. I felt as though I could get the egg out of my mouth I might live. I walked to a water fountain which was nearby and turned on the water. I tried to drink and as the water touched my lips, I was shocked with 120 volts. My immediate realization was that I had received an electrical shock, of which I certainly expected to survive. I still experienced total breathing difficulties because of the egg lodged at my esophagus. I cleared some of the egg with a finger, but I could not breathe. I was experiencing some panic by this time and could think of no way to help myself survive this accident. I thought of my Lord and said to myself. "At least I am a Christian."
I looked into the adjoining room and saw my supervisor sitting in a swivel chair working on a radio message. Realizing I could still walk, I did so until I reached his chair. I could not speak so I used the last of my energy to kick his chair in order to get his attention. He was knocked to the floor and there he lay along with the typewriter. I am on the floor near my supervisor as I fell also.
Another sailor by the name of Joe was watching my actions. I was now quite and not breathing. I was bleeding from the bridge of my nose, having struck the desk as I fell. In moments Joe began back pressure life saving methods on me. This is now called CPR. Another sailor call an ambulance.
I was near the ceiling of this room watching the sailors doing things to save my life. I was feeling just fine. I realized that the unconscious body on the floor was mine but I had the least concern for it. I was seeing myself as others had seen me. There was no opposite reflection from looking into a mirror this time. I felt good and energetic and soon lost any interest in watching the sailors working with my body.
I was in spirit form and yet I still felt alive as I had been earlier. I suppose I had expected to be dead but all this was so new to me. I was learning this new life fast and without much concern for anything. However this new way of living had left me feeling puzzled. For instance, when I would think of something, I did it automatically. I looked at the wall near me and at the next moment I was going through it. I was back into the room where I had been sitting when I got choked. I floated around this room at will. I traveled through the many radios and teletype machines with no problem.
I saw a darkened area near my desk and I traveled to it. The next thing I knew, I was entering this darkened mist. Once inside I wanted out badly. I was being engulfed by this thing. The feeling was that of being inside a person. I felt alarmed and missed the free floating spirit I was earlier. Eventually I was released from this squeezing and hot area. It was as if I was inside a womb but how can this be imagined?
My next realization was that I was in a tunnel. I estimate the size of this tunnel to be a diameter of six to seven feet. I could stand without touching the top. My height was five foot ten inches. Immediately I was hurling along the tunnel much faster than I wished. The speed was tremendous. I was scared. Somewhere along my journey in this tunnel I slowed to a stop and a man calmed me and told me the trip was nearing an end. Away I went again at the same speed as before. I do not know how I survived the trip. The speed had to be at the speed of light or even faster. I felt no g-forces, only fear and the exhilaration of a terrible speed. Finally I stopped moving through the tunnel and had a good chance to look at it. The tunnel looked like a large vent pipe used on clothes dryers. The light was not primarily inside the tunnel but from the outside shinning in. During the trip inside the tunnel I heard a loud buzzing sound which hurt my ears. I wondered what supported the tunnel. Now I began walking looking for the ending of this tunnel. I was now into a much larger area and surrounded by a white mist and daylight. All my fears of the tunnel were diminished by the light I was seeing. I heard voices of people just outside this area. The voices were encouraging me to come through the white mist. I walked through the white mist and saw about a dozen people. Instinct told me they were all man and wife. I had seen these people before but I could remember none of their names. One man told me not to worry about not remembering any names. Soon someone came for me. The man was about twenty-seven years of age and he was wearing levis and a white t-shirt. The other twelve people were wearing white robes. The man wearing the levis explained to me that he was my guide. He explained to me that later I would meet other people but he wanted me to walk with him to see this new place.
We walked through the most beautiful flower gardens I had ever seen. I observed in detail the petals of the flowers. When viewing grass lawns I focused upon single blades of grass and marveled at the beauty of each blade. This man and I communicated via thought transference as I had done with the group of twelve people.
I saw a city of large buildings in the distance. The buildings were the color of gold and my guide told me they were gold. My guide told me if I wished I could think of being closer to the city and I would be. Sure enough, I thought of being closer and suddenly I was at the very edge of the golden city. I saw little water falls in the flower gardens that were absolutely breath taking. I felt so good.
Later my guide turned me over to another man and this man explained to me that I would now go through my life's review. During this review which lasted about one second or less, I saw all that I had previously seen while living on earth. I relived every conversation I had had. I saw each pet I had owned. I saw again each piece of clothing I had worn. I relived every class I had attended in school. I saw everything again.
It was here in this building, looking much like a library that my life's review ended. It was here also that I learned that I would not be staying in this heavenly place. I was so disappointed to learn I had to go back to earth. I cried and cursed those around me. My guide came for me and took me to see two schoolmates that had died four years earlier.
I was shocked to see them living. On earth they had been football placers in high school. One day they were late for football practice and their coach had made them run laps around the field after practice. This placed them into the dressing room long after the other players had left. There was no hot water for showers. The two sat waiting for the water heater to furnish hot water for their showers and were gassed to death by fumes which escaped from the natural gas water heater. Ironically, one of the boy's dad was the plumber who installed the heater just days before and was coming back on another day to install the vent pipe to the outside of this new shower room.
I asked the two boys why they were here because each was supposed to be dead. They explained to me that no one ever dies. The two boys were about the same age as I had last seen them on earth. Both appeared to be happy and content to be here.
My guide took me back to where I had my life's review. I asked once more if I could stay. A man told me I had to return to earth to live out my life. I remembered from my Sunday school classes that if a person ask to see the Lord, he shall see him. I asked to see Jesus. With my guide beside me, I walked or floated to a small stage. My guide left me here. I did not have to wait long before I heard a voice on this stage near where I stood. A mist was forming on the stage and I heard a voice asking me if I could see him. I could only see the mist and hear the voice. The voice asked me to concentrate more and I would be able to see him. Soon I saw Jesus standing in front of me. He asked me what I wanted of him. I told him I had learned I would have to return to earth and I did not want to leave this Heavenly place. He explained to me that I had not yet performed his wishes that he had set forth for me in my lifetime. I asked him what these wishes of his were and he did not answer me. He said I would know at the right time, sometime in my future. He asked of other possible things he could do for me. Since I was in the U S Navy at the time, I asked that he get me transferred to the state of Tennessee. I explained to him that I had spent a month in this state as a boy of twelve and I wanted to return there because the state was beautiful. He did not answer me. I asked if he had considered it. He told me that I only had to ask once and it would be done. Jesus told me of many things I would experience in my lifetime. I only remember what he told me after I have experienced the event. He did tell me, and I remember this; to tell all people of my visit with him. He implied into me to tell people that he is real. Another thing I will never forget is feeling the radiation of his love as he stood near me. That was the most perfect love I have ever felt. Jesus told me I would be escorted back to my home on earth soon.
Two men came for me and they explained they were my guardian angels. One of the men had been my guide earlier. I do not remember coming back to earth through the tunnel. We traveled through the darkness of space. On our way back to earth we stopped for a talk. One guardian angel told me that some day I would meet a lady and she would become my very close friend. I was told that I would not meet her now as she was still a very young girl. This was 1957. I have looked for her since then and think I have found her. But she lives in Australia.
I woke up sitting on an examination table in the hospital. I asked the three doctors if I had been given any medication that would make me believe I had died and gone to Heaven. They said no. I said, "Well, I have just returned from Heaven." Two doctors immediately walked out and the remaining third doctor told me he just did not know what to think.
I looked into the adjoining room and saw my supervisor sitting in a swivel chair working on a radio message. Realizing I could still walk, I did so until I reached his chair. I could not speak so I used the last of my energy to kick his chair in order to get his attention. He was knocked to the floor and there he lay along with the typewriter. I am on the floor near my supervisor as I fell also.
Another sailor by the name of Joe was watching my actions. I was now quite and not breathing. I was bleeding from the bridge of my nose, having struck the desk as I fell. In moments Joe began back pressure life saving methods on me. This is now called CPR. Another sailor call an ambulance.
I was near the ceiling of this room watching the sailors doing things to save my life. I was feeling just fine. I realized that the unconscious body on the floor was mine but I had the least concern for it. I was seeing myself as others had seen me. There was no opposite reflection from looking into a mirror this time. I felt good and energetic and soon lost any interest in watching the sailors working with my body.
I was in spirit form and yet I still felt alive as I had been earlier. I suppose I had expected to be dead but all this was so new to me. I was learning this new life fast and without much concern for anything. However this new way of living had left me feeling puzzled. For instance, when I would think of something, I did it automatically. I looked at the wall near me and at the next moment I was going through it. I was back into the room where I had been sitting when I got choked. I floated around this room at will. I traveled through the many radios and teletype machines with no problem.
I saw a darkened area near my desk and I traveled to it. The next thing I knew, I was entering this darkened mist. Once inside I wanted out badly. I was being engulfed by this thing. The feeling was that of being inside a person. I felt alarmed and missed the free floating spirit I was earlier. Eventually I was released from this squeezing and hot area. It was as if I was inside a womb but how can this be imagined?
My next realization was that I was in a tunnel. I estimate the size of this tunnel to be a diameter of six to seven feet. I could stand without touching the top. My height was five foot ten inches. Immediately I was hurling along the tunnel much faster than I wished. The speed was tremendous. I was scared. Somewhere along my journey in this tunnel I slowed to a stop and a man calmed me and told me the trip was nearing an end. Away I went again at the same speed as before. I do not know how I survived the trip. The speed had to be at the speed of light or even faster. I felt no g-forces, only fear and the exhilaration of a terrible speed. Finally I stopped moving through the tunnel and had a good chance to look at it. The tunnel looked like a large vent pipe used on clothes dryers. The light was not primarily inside the tunnel but from the outside shinning in. During the trip inside the tunnel I heard a loud buzzing sound which hurt my ears. I wondered what supported the tunnel. Now I began walking looking for the ending of this tunnel. I was now into a much larger area and surrounded by a white mist and daylight. All my fears of the tunnel were diminished by the light I was seeing. I heard voices of people just outside this area. The voices were encouraging me to come through the white mist. I walked through the white mist and saw about a dozen people. Instinct told me they were all man and wife. I had seen these people before but I could remember none of their names. One man told me not to worry about not remembering any names. Soon someone came for me. The man was about twenty-seven years of age and he was wearing levis and a white t-shirt. The other twelve people were wearing white robes. The man wearing the levis explained to me that he was my guide. He explained to me that later I would meet other people but he wanted me to walk with him to see this new place.
We walked through the most beautiful flower gardens I had ever seen. I observed in detail the petals of the flowers. When viewing grass lawns I focused upon single blades of grass and marveled at the beauty of each blade. This man and I communicated via thought transference as I had done with the group of twelve people.
I saw a city of large buildings in the distance. The buildings were the color of gold and my guide told me they were gold. My guide told me if I wished I could think of being closer to the city and I would be. Sure enough, I thought of being closer and suddenly I was at the very edge of the golden city. I saw little water falls in the flower gardens that were absolutely breath taking. I felt so good.
Later my guide turned me over to another man and this man explained to me that I would now go through my life's review. During this review which lasted about one second or less, I saw all that I had previously seen while living on earth. I relived every conversation I had had. I saw each pet I had owned. I saw again each piece of clothing I had worn. I relived every class I had attended in school. I saw everything again.
It was here in this building, looking much like a library that my life's review ended. It was here also that I learned that I would not be staying in this heavenly place. I was so disappointed to learn I had to go back to earth. I cried and cursed those around me. My guide came for me and took me to see two schoolmates that had died four years earlier.
I was shocked to see them living. On earth they had been football placers in high school. One day they were late for football practice and their coach had made them run laps around the field after practice. This placed them into the dressing room long after the other players had left. There was no hot water for showers. The two sat waiting for the water heater to furnish hot water for their showers and were gassed to death by fumes which escaped from the natural gas water heater. Ironically, one of the boy's dad was the plumber who installed the heater just days before and was coming back on another day to install the vent pipe to the outside of this new shower room.
I asked the two boys why they were here because each was supposed to be dead. They explained to me that no one ever dies. The two boys were about the same age as I had last seen them on earth. Both appeared to be happy and content to be here.
My guide took me back to where I had my life's review. I asked once more if I could stay. A man told me I had to return to earth to live out my life. I remembered from my Sunday school classes that if a person ask to see the Lord, he shall see him. I asked to see Jesus. With my guide beside me, I walked or floated to a small stage. My guide left me here. I did not have to wait long before I heard a voice on this stage near where I stood. A mist was forming on the stage and I heard a voice asking me if I could see him. I could only see the mist and hear the voice. The voice asked me to concentrate more and I would be able to see him. Soon I saw Jesus standing in front of me. He asked me what I wanted of him. I told him I had learned I would have to return to earth and I did not want to leave this Heavenly place. He explained to me that I had not yet performed his wishes that he had set forth for me in my lifetime. I asked him what these wishes of his were and he did not answer me. He said I would know at the right time, sometime in my future. He asked of other possible things he could do for me. Since I was in the U S Navy at the time, I asked that he get me transferred to the state of Tennessee. I explained to him that I had spent a month in this state as a boy of twelve and I wanted to return there because the state was beautiful. He did not answer me. I asked if he had considered it. He told me that I only had to ask once and it would be done. Jesus told me of many things I would experience in my lifetime. I only remember what he told me after I have experienced the event. He did tell me, and I remember this; to tell all people of my visit with him. He implied into me to tell people that he is real. Another thing I will never forget is feeling the radiation of his love as he stood near me. That was the most perfect love I have ever felt. Jesus told me I would be escorted back to my home on earth soon.
Two men came for me and they explained they were my guardian angels. One of the men had been my guide earlier. I do not remember coming back to earth through the tunnel. We traveled through the darkness of space. On our way back to earth we stopped for a talk. One guardian angel told me that some day I would meet a lady and she would become my very close friend. I was told that I would not meet her now as she was still a very young girl. This was 1957. I have looked for her since then and think I have found her. But she lives in Australia.
I woke up sitting on an examination table in the hospital. I asked the three doctors if I had been given any medication that would make me believe I had died and gone to Heaven. They said no. I said, "Well, I have just returned from Heaven." Two doctors immediately walked out and the remaining third doctor told me he just did not know what to think.
A Child's NDE - Kirkland, Wa
This happened when I was 7 years old. It was in 1972. When I told what I had experienced to my mother and grandma, they had just said "forget it, it was just a dream." but I knew better, and the feelings of rejection stayed with me until a few years ago when I finally figured out that it was done for me out of unconditional love.
Here goes.
I had been in a private Christian school for 2 years. I was convinced that my life path was that of a nun. I didn't know that you had to be catholic to be a nun. So one night, when I was saying my prayers, I decided that I would go and visit Jesus. I went to sleep and the next thing I knew I was whooshed out of my body and was floating toward a gray tunnel. The tunnel was beautiful. It was a tunnel of clouds. I knew that I was going to be with Jesus.
The closer that I got to the brilliant light, I knew it was the end, the more love I felt. It was all encompassing, there was so much emotion I thought that I would burst, but I still wanted more.
When the tunnel opened out there were 3 people waiting for me. At first I didn't know who they were, then I knew. It was my grandma, great grandma, and great grandpa. They were all smiles and had their arms out to hug me. I was so elated. I was home. I never wanted to leave, I finally felt like I belonged somewhere.
Then a beautiful being of light came towards us. I was so happy, I thought that I would finally be with Jesus, but it wasn't Jesus. He was like Jesus, but I knew that it wasn't. He radiated so much love, I didn't care that it wasn't. I went over to hug him and he stopped me. He didn't physically stop me but some force stopped me. I asked what was wrong. He just looked at me and said "It's not your time yet. You have to go back" I started to cry because I didn't want to go back. I belonged here. I said "I'm not going back. I want to stay". He looked at me and said again "It's not your time."
Then a force started pulling me backwards, back through the tunnel, then I had a sensation of falling. I fell into my body with a thud. I sat straight up. I was crying. I couldn't stop. I didn't want to be here.
The feelings of rejection I felt stayed with me for years. I am finally grown up enough now to know why it was done, but I can't wait until it is my time.
Here goes.
I had been in a private Christian school for 2 years. I was convinced that my life path was that of a nun. I didn't know that you had to be catholic to be a nun. So one night, when I was saying my prayers, I decided that I would go and visit Jesus. I went to sleep and the next thing I knew I was whooshed out of my body and was floating toward a gray tunnel. The tunnel was beautiful. It was a tunnel of clouds. I knew that I was going to be with Jesus.
The closer that I got to the brilliant light, I knew it was the end, the more love I felt. It was all encompassing, there was so much emotion I thought that I would burst, but I still wanted more.
When the tunnel opened out there were 3 people waiting for me. At first I didn't know who they were, then I knew. It was my grandma, great grandma, and great grandpa. They were all smiles and had their arms out to hug me. I was so elated. I was home. I never wanted to leave, I finally felt like I belonged somewhere.
Then a beautiful being of light came towards us. I was so happy, I thought that I would finally be with Jesus, but it wasn't Jesus. He was like Jesus, but I knew that it wasn't. He radiated so much love, I didn't care that it wasn't. I went over to hug him and he stopped me. He didn't physically stop me but some force stopped me. I asked what was wrong. He just looked at me and said "It's not your time yet. You have to go back" I started to cry because I didn't want to go back. I belonged here. I said "I'm not going back. I want to stay". He looked at me and said again "It's not your time."
Then a force started pulling me backwards, back through the tunnel, then I had a sensation of falling. I fell into my body with a thud. I sat straight up. I was crying. I couldn't stop. I didn't want to be here.
The feelings of rejection I felt stayed with me for years. I am finally grown up enough now to know why it was done, but I can't wait until it is my time.
Thomas Welch's Story an Oregon Lumberjack killed on the job
CHAPTER 1
The testimony you are about to read is true in every detail. God alone knows why it happened to me, and why I was chosen to be this kind of witness to the grace and love of Jesus Christ in this 20th century. I am indebted to Jesus beyond measure for what He did for me, and my only desire now is to be faithful and true to Him.
I find great satisfaction in living for Christ and in being a witness to His saving and healing power. As Hebrews 13:5-8 declares: “For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may bodly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”
I was born and raised in Northern Alberta Canada, and was the oldest of four children. My father passed away and was buried on my eleventh birthday. Four months later my mother died and left us orphans, to be taken care of by others. Death is very final. It takes away from us the ones we need and separates us from the ones we love the most, and all we have left are memories. Our home was a happy home. No matter how kind others may be, they can never fully take the place of mother and dad, especially when you were old enough to remember all the things about them that were different from everyone else. I don’t remember ever hearing my parents quarrel. If they did, it never occurred in our presence. I am sure they loved each other and I know they loved us children.
Mother’s father, my grandfather was a school teacher and a Lutheran minister of the old circuit rider school. All were pioneers in a very real sense. As children, we understood what the word obedience meant. Confirmation in the Lutheran church we accepted as an essential part of our education.
After mother’s death I went to live with her brother, Uncle Sam, and Aunt Julia. She was a real fine person and treated me like her very own. I shall always be grateful to both of them for their kindness and love to me.
As life went on many things changed. God moves in mysterious ways. In the year of my eighteenth birthday, a very close friend and neighbor, Fin Brocke, and his wife left Canada and moved to Portland, Oregon. Mrs, Brocke was sick a lot of the time and no doubt they thought a change would help her physically.
As time passed by, we heard they had suddenly become very religious and were going to church every night, that Mrs. Brocke had been healed by prayer, and many other things that were hard to believe, knowing them like I did.
So when harvest had been gathered and the threshing season was over, a friend of mine and I decided to come to Portland and see for ourselves what this was all about. Surely at this point in my life God was directing my steps. For various reasons I had become very hard and critical of all religions, though I will not take the time or space here to go into this part of the story.
The Bible says, “God is Love.” This I know is surely true, and it is very possible that no human intelligence will ever comprehend the magnitude of the love of God until we are living with Him in eternity. At this point in my life my steps were being turned toward the very thing I had been trying so hard to avoid. My friend and I left Canada for Oregon to see for ourselves and on November 24, 1923 we arrived at the Brocke home in Portland.
We found that everything we had heard was true. They told us they had accepted Christ as their Savior and that Mrs. Brocke ahd been by prayer and faith. They certainly were a changed man and woman!
I listened to their story and was very impressed. I went to church with them many times. I liked the minister, the Rev. John G. Lake. He was a marvelous preacher, an ex-missionary to South Africa and a world traveler, that preached a message of love and power to heal and deliver from sin, bondage and sickness all who would believe. I enjoyed what I heard and I was glad for what had taken place in the lives of the Brockes, but nothing in me ever responded to what I had seen or heard. I was dead inside to the Spirit. Certain influences in my early teens had hardened my heart and mind. I had come to some conclusions about god and the Bible, the Lutheran doctrine on infant baptism, and so on, until I felt that if there was a God at all I was as good as He.
The Gospel that Dr. Lake preached was wonderful if it were true, but I never could believe it was for me. The influences of the past were too strong to dismiss, even though I would have liked to believe this.
I stayed on through the winter with the Brockes. He was the chief engineer at the Bridl Veil Lumber Company on Larch Mountain, thirty miles east of Portland. That was a large steam-operated sawmill and logging company, which employed over 150 men in the combined operations. The Brockes had a home in Portland and also a place at the mill.
The 1st of July, 1924 I got a job as engineer’s helper with Mrs. Brocke. Now, what I am about to tell happened on Monday, the day I started working at the mill, at one-thirty in the afternoon. We were sawing “Jap squares,” which in turn were flumed down the mountain in a trough filled with running water to the planer on the Columbia River, in the town of Bridal Veil. The stream that supplied the mill with water had a dam across it to provide water for the boilers, the log pond, and the flume to carry the lumber to Bridal Veil, a distance of four miles down the mountain.
The trestle over this dam was 55 feet above the water. I went out on the trestle to straighten out some timbers which were crossed and not moving on a conveyor. Suddenly I fell off the trestle and tumbled down between the timbers and into the pond, which was 10 feet deep. An engineer sitting in the cab of his locomotive unloading logs into the pond saw me fall. I landed on my head on the first beam 30 feet down, and then tumbled from one beam to another until I fell into the water and disappeared from his view.
There were 70 men working in and around the mill at that time. The mill was shut down then and every available man was called to search for my body, according to the testimonies of these men. The search went on for forty-five minutes to one hour before I was finally found by M.J.H. Gunderson, who has written his own account of this to verify the facts of this testimony.
Here is related my experience with death, the things I saw and heard and did during this hour the men were searching the waters of the pond for my body:
I was dead as far as this world is concerned. But I was alive in another world. There was no lost time. I learned more in that hour out of my body than I could ever learn while in this body. All I remember is falling over the edge of the trestle. The locomotive engineer watched me go all the way down into the water.
The next thing I knew I was standing near a shoreline of a great ocean of fire. It appeared to be what the Bible says it is in Revelation 21:8: “the lake which bureth with fire and brimestone.” This is the most awesome sight one could ever see this side of the final judgment.
I remember more clearly than any other thing that has ever happened to me in my lifetime every detail of every moment, what I saw and what happened during that hour I was gone from this world. I was standing some distance from this burning, turbulent, rolling mass of blue fire. As far as my eyes could see it was just the same. A lake of fire and brimstone. There was nobody in it. I was not in it. I saw other people whom I had known that had died when I was thirteen years old. One was an uncle of mine who died of consumption when I was thirteen. Another was a boy I had gone to school with who had died from cancer of the jaw that had started with an infected tooth while he was just a young lad. He was two years older than I. We recognized each other, even though we did not speak. They too, were looking and seemed to be perplexed and in deep thought, as though they could not believe what they saw. Their expressions were those of bewilderment and confusion.
The scene was so awesome that words simply fail. There is no way to describe it except to say we were eyewitnesses now to the final judgment. There is no way to escape, no way out. You don’t even try to look for one. This is the prison out of which no one can escape except by Divine intervention. I said to myself in an audible voice, “If I had known about this I would have done anything that was required of me to escape coming to a place like this.” But I had not known.
As these thoughts were racing through my mind, I saw another man coming by in front of us. I knew immediately who He was. He had a strong, kind, compassionate face, composed and unafraid, Master of all He saw. It was Jesus Himself.
A great hope took hold of me and I knew the answer to my problem was this great and wonderful Person who was moving by me there in this prison of lost confused judgment-bound souls. I did not do anything to attract His attention. I said again to myself, “If He would only look my way and see me, He could rescue me from this place because He would know I never understood it was like this. He would know what to do.” He passed on by and it seemed as though He would not look my way, but just before He passed out of sight He turned His head and looked directly at me. That is all it took. His look was enough.
In seconds I was back and entering into my body again. It was like coming in through the door of a house. I could hear the Brockes praying minutes before I could open my eyes or say anything. I could hear and I understood what was going on. Then suddenly life came into my body and I opened my eyes and spoke to them.
It’s easy to talk about and describe something you have seen. I know there is a lake of fire because I have seen it. I know Jesus Christ is alive in eternity. I have seen Him. The Bible states in Revelation 1:9-11: “I, John…was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and, what thou seest, write in a book.”
Among the many things John saw was the judgment, and he describes it in Revelation 20 as he saw it. In verse 10 he says: “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire.” Again in Revelation 21:8, John says he saw the “lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.” This is the lake I saw, and I am certain of this one thing, that in the end of this age at the final judgment every corrupt thing in this universe will ultimately be cast into this lake and be forever destroyed.
I thank God for people who can pray. It was Mrs. Brocke I heard praying for me. She said, “Oh God, don’t take Tom; he is not saved.” Presently I opened my eyes and said to them, “What happened?” I had not lost any time; I had been gone somewhere and now I was back. Soon after this an ambulance arrived and I was taken to the Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland.
I arrived there just before six o’clock in the evening, was taken into surgery and my scalp was sewn with many stitches. I was put in the intensive care ward. There was really not much the doctors could do. It was simply a matter of wait and see. I had no pain and my mind was very clear. A special nurse was assigned to stay with me. Here is where I lay until Friday at 11:30 a.m.
During these four days and nights, I seemed to be in constant communication with the Holy Spirit. I relived the events of my past life and the things I had seen, such as the lake of fire, Jesus coming to me there, seeing my uncle and the boy I had been in school with, and the coming back to life again. The presence of God’s Spirit was with me continually, and many times I spoke out loud to the Lord. The Holy Spirit helped me untangle my twisted philosophy until I understood what was really happening to me now. He showed me what had been wrong in the past, and he helped me to piece it all together until it made sense why this had happened to me. Then I began to ask God what He wanted in my life, what His will for me was.
By Friday morning my broken body was so stiff and sore I could hardly move at all. Then some time around nine o’clock the call of God came. The voice of the Spirit can be very real. He said to me, “I want you to tell the world what you saw, and how you came back to life.” This was a hard decision for me to make. I knew nothing about this. How could I do it? Here I lay in the hospital bed barely able to move my right arm.
The supreme moment in my life had come. I will never forget this time of decision. At 11:30 a.m. I had made up my mind. I had no doubts. I asked the nurse to leave me alone. This she did very reluctantly, of course, because she knew I was helpless. But she went out.
Then I spoke out to the Presence of God that was there and said, “Lord, if this is what you want me to do, I’ll do my best, but I cannot do it lying here. You will have to get me out of this place.”
This doesn’t sound much like a prayer, but I was talking to God now and making a very solemn commitment. Instantly a warm, wonderful feeling like a gently breeze hit the top of my head where I was hurt the worst and went on down through my body and out through my feet. I was instantly healed from head to foot. A suitcase with some clothing in it had been left by my bed earlier in the week. I dressed and left the room and hurried down three flights of stairs and was out on the street in possibly less than six minutes. The nurse never did come back in time to sound an alarm.
By this time I was afraid someone would see me and try to force me back into the hospital, because my head was all bandaged and I was a sight fit to scare anyone, but God was with me. A close friend of mine, Pete Burness, had a printing shop near the hospital. I had been there before and knew where it was, so I rushed to his place and safety. Pete did not seem too surprised when I went into his printing shop. Pete had been a soldier in World War I. He had learned to pray in the trenches. He had served with the Canadian Army under the British, and holds some of the highest medals for bravery they have to give. All he said to me was, “Well, I see you are out.” His “calm” really helped me then. After some conversation he gave me the keys to his car and said, “Go down to the house in the car. I’ll ride the streetcar home today. You can’t imagine what you look like.”
I drove down to his house. I caused quite a commotion at Pete’s home when I went in. There were several people there and of course they could not believe what they saw when I came in. However, things quieted down pretty soon and I went to a dresser in Pete’s room to see what I looked like. My hair had been cut off on top, and there were stitches everywhere. I got all the bandages off and tried to comb what hair was left. The comb caught in a stitch and it began to bleed. I heard some voice say these words, “You are not healed.” My faith was being challenged. I stood there for several minutes looking at myself, and then I noticed Pete’s safety razor was lying there. I took the blade out and with a tweezers to hold the end of the stitches, I cut and pulled out every stitch. There was no more bleeding. I was really healed and this proved it to me.
I have learned since that time that you have to be very positive in your stand against all the negative suggestions that come to discourage your faith in a time like this. Our natural mind many times robs us of a supernatural victory. Believe God and act whether you understand it all or not.
After some time of cleaning up, I went downtown to see the doctor that had been coming to my hospital room, a Dr. Brewer. When I walked into his office and he saw me, he very quickly stood up. He looked so surprised and said, “Man what in the world are you doing here?” I did not answer that because I was not sure either. Then he asked, “Are you all right? How did you get out of the hospital?” I replied, “Doctor, I ran out. Maybe they don’t know yet that I am gone.” He said, “Tell me what happened.”
I said, “Doctor, the lord has healed me and I am all right now.” He came close to me and pushed on my ribs that were broken and asked me, “Didn’t that hurt?” I replied, “No.” It was true; there was no pain. “Well,” he replied, “the Lord must have healed you. I am sure we did not. This is only four days and it takes from six weeks to two months for broken bones to heal when everything goes well.” Then he asked, “Who removed the stitches from your head?” I said, “I did that myself,” and told him about how I had done it.
Then I told him of how the Lord had dealt with me, how God had called me to go and tell this to the world. Among other things, I knew may would ask who my doctor was and this worried me because I was beginning to wonder what he would say. So I asked him, “What are you going to tell people who come to ask you about me?” He very simply said, “Well, if you say God healed you, then it must have been God that healed you because I know we did not. It has been only four days.” I never have known who or how many did go see Dr. Brewer about me. Not once has anyone ever said he denied my testimony.
CHAPTER II
Back to Work Saturday
Friday was surely a red-letter day for me. Saturday morning I was back at the Palmer Mill and on the job. Nobody seemed to want to work that day. They were watching me work. After some hours of this I got disturbed myself, and told them that if they wanted to hear all about my healing, we could meet at the schoolhouse on Sunday evening and I would tell them what I had seen and how I was healed. This was satisfactory with all these men. So the word went out that we would meet Sunday night at eight o’clock.
Sunday night as I approached the little schoolhouse, not far from where I had fallen, I saw a large crowd. It was getting dark. I almost panicked and ran, but again the Lord strengthened me and I went on in. Most of the people did not recognize me as I crowded my way to the front. Mr. Brocke sang a song and had prayer. My zero hour had arrived.
I was nervous and not sure of what I should do next. As I stood there, God helped me and for the first time in my life I felt the anointing of the Holy Spirit to witness. It enveloped me like a cloud. This was the same Presence that had enabled me to walk out of the Good Samaritan Hospital. The same Presence had helped me to understand God’s will for me to go and tell whoever would listen about what I had seen, and warn them of the judgment to come and tell them of the love of God for man that he might escape it.
Just seven days had gone by since all this had happened. This was my first time to face an audience. I stood there behind the teacher'’ desk in a little schoolhouse. The very air seemed to be electrified, and as I opened my mouth to speak again the Presence of God settled over me and the Holy Ghost came in and filled me with His message.
I told the people what God had done, what I had seen during the time these same men were looking for my body in the pond. I knew nothing about the Bible, but the Holy Spirit speaking through me quoted much of the second and third chapters of the Prophecy of Nahum. Later that night, with the aid of a Bible concordance we were able to find what the Spirit had said concerning the day of His preparation, “The chariots shall jostle one against another in the broad ways…” At that time I had no idea that what I was saying was in the Bible. It was not until Mr. Brocke searched it out that I later learned that it was. That of course was a sign to me of things to come concerning my own ministry.
I wish to emphasize here that the Baptism of the holy Spirit is the most essential part of any person’s preparation for the ministry. Without Him we can do nothing. With Him, we can do all things. It is the Holy Ghost that convinces the world of:
1st, sin; then of righteousness and of judgment.
St. John 16:9-11: “…Of sin because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”
To be effective in bringing the message of salvation and deliverance to a lost world, one must be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Some have asked from time to time if I have ever had headaches or any of the aftereffects that usually follow this kind of injury. I never have had a headache in my life; my eyes and ears are almost perfect. I am still healed today.
The people who had played the most important role in this, of course, were Fin and Mabel Brocke. They had the faith and the courage to believe God for a miracle at a time and in a place of great need. They acted on instant notice and were rewarded by instant results.
Then there was Julius H. Gunderson, who found my body in ten feet of water when everyone else was giving up the search. He searched until he found me. God rewarded him, too, for his faith. Mr. Gunderson and fin and Mabel Brocke have written their testimonies of what happened that day and these testimonies are given here in their own words. Nothing has changed.
CHAPTER III
A Day Never to be Forgotten
(by Fin & Mabel Brocke)
I had gone over the hillside to pick some berries, but the rain had chased me in. I was within a few yards of our house when I saw my husband coming, walking fast, and he called to me and said, “Mamma, Tommy fell and he is dead.”
It is just as fresh in my memory now as then, what I said and how I felt. I asked, “Why Tommy?” and I heard a voice say, “For the Glory of God.” Then my husband said, “I came to get you to pray.”
I went with him back to the mill office. We didn’t talk but we did pray all the way. When we got back to the office the room was filled with men and there lay Tommy wrapped in a blanket on a table. His face and head were covered with blood; there was no pulse, no life. Surely we were in the presence of death. You could feel it, as well as see it.
Those men that were packed in there knew my husband. They knew he was a man of prayer, and that he had gone to get me to help him pray. They were expecting to see something happen. I went to one side of the table and my husband went to the other side. The Bible says in James 5:14-15: “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”
My husband anointed him with oil according to the Scripture, and then he said, “Mabel, you pray.” I placed on hand on his head and the other on his heart. A young man standing near took my hand off Tommy’s head and said, “Can’t you see that is where he is hurt?” It wasn’t a long prayer. We just asked God to be merciful and raise him up. First we saw his eyelids move just a little; then the tears began to come and he tried to talk. He said, “What happened?” The words were far apart, as though they were coming from a far country. Then he said, “I can’t help it now.” More life came into him and the men standing around were all amazed and happy. They had seen a miracle. The boss had called Portland for an ambulance soon after Tommy fell, and we knew it would be coming soon.
When they got him to the hospital, he was taken into surgery and they cleaned the wounds in his head and put a lot of stitches inhis scalp. Seven ribs on his left side were broken; they bandaged him up for that. It took a long time to do all this and we waited until they brought him out of surgery. He didn’t say anything so we asked him if he had any pain. He said, “No.” They took him to the intensive care ward, and then he asked the nurse if he could have something to eat. They did give him something to eat before we left him to go back to the mill. My husband was the chief engineer so we had to go back that night.
I returned to the hospital the next morning. The doctors asked me not to stay long; they did not hold out much hope that he would live. It was hard for Tommy to talk and his words came very slowly. He said, “I have something to tell you. You know I was dead for a while, but I found myself way off in a wilderness. It was as if a huge magnet were drawing me into it, and a lot of other people too, and there was no way to get out. I saw my uncle and a boy I went to school with. There was a great big lake of fire and I felt as if I were being drawn into it. I was afraid. Then I saw Jesus coming from a way off. He came closer and was going on by, and I said, ‘If He would only turn and look at me He would save me.’ Then Jesus looked at me and I heard you praying. I opened my eyes as soon as I could and I saw you.”
I had to leave then, but later on he told us about all the things he had seen. He talked a lot about the lake of fire and the ones there. He said there was not anybody in the fire, but they were in a prison waiting and there was no way to escape.
The next time we saw Tommy was on a Friday night, after work. We did not know about what had taken place in the hospital that morning. When we got to my sister’s home in Portland, we found that he was no longer in the hospital and that he had been instantly healed and had left the hospital about eleven o’clock that morning. He was in the hospital just four days. He went back to the mill with us that night and was back to work on Saturday.
Sunday night he told his experience at the little schoolhouse near the mill. The entire mill crew and their families were there. Many could not get inside the building; it was too small. They had seen a miracle. Now they wanted to hear about it. Needless to say, we were very grateful to God for letting us have a part in this great thing that He had done. Tommy has kept his word and has been telling his story and preaching faith and deliverance ever since. Have faith in God. He never fails when we believe.
Thorfin Brocke
Mabel E. Brocke
This is the endorsed statement of Mr. J.H. Gunderson, 1703 S.E. 16th Avenue, Portland, Oregon:
I, J.H. Gunderson, was at the Palmer Mill looking for a job and visiting Fin Brocke on July 1, 1924, when at about one-thirty in the afternoon Tom fell and I witnessed this miracle of faith.
A locomotive engineer sitting in his cab saw Tom fall. He ran from his locomotive down into the main engine room to tell Mr. Brocke what had happened.
The mill was shut down and Mr. Brocke and I and others went to recover Tom, but he had fallen into the water, which was ten feet deep at this point. We had a hard time finding him because the water was dirty and we were fishing for him with pike poles with long handles. After some time, another man gave me the pole he was using and I began probing the water deep down because I felt that he must be on the bottom. This was right because after some time of this kind of searching I hooked onto his clothes and pulled his body near enough for us to get our hands on him, and we pulled him out. He was dead. There was no life in him at all. His head was smashed in on top and blood was everywhere.
Mrs. Brocke got word and came down to the mill. When she saw Tom lying there still and dead, she knelt down and put her hand on his head. The blood oozed out between her fingers as she cried out to God to spare his life and save his soul because Tom was not a Christian. As she cried out and prayed, I saw life come back into Tom and he moved for the first time since we had recovered him from the water. Then he opened his eyes and asked, “What happened?”
Over these years I have thanked God many times for the privilege I had of seeing a dead man come back to life in answer to prayer. I stood on the bank of that pond for at least thirty minutes while other men were fishing for his body. I was watching for air bubbles or some sign of where he was. I never did see any air bubbles. There was no water in his lungs. He never had breathed in all that time he was under the water. One of the men who had been trying to find Tom had given up and handed me his pike pole. I pushed it down deep and it hooked onto his clothing. He must have been near the bottom. It must have been all of forty-five minutes to one hour from the time he fell until Mrs. Brocke prayed for him in the mill office.
This is my testimony as I saw it happen. I pulled Tom to the surface myself, and witnessed the miracle of life restored in him. I thank God for what I saw that day, and I thank God for the privilege of telling it here. It changed my life. It is the truth.
Julius H. Gunderson
CHAPTER IV
What I Saw During the Hour of Death
Many people today, especially the teenagers and young adults in their early twenties, who come to special meetings and hear this testimony, ask me for Bible references on the lake of fire. Just recently a group of young thirty-five young adults asked me to write down the Scripture references for them because they did not know how to search them out. They also said they had never heard any evangelist or pastor preach on this subject, and most of them seemed to be surprised to find that there really is such a place spoken of in the Bible. They were very familiar with the term hell, but knew nothing about the lake of fire.
Due to the fact that I saw the lake of fire and that I promised the Lord I would tell what I had seen, I feel that those who read this testimony should also read what the Bible says about the lake of fire and its ultimate purpose, and have therefore prepared this Bible reference:
Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
In Revelation 1:19 John received an instruction from Jesus Christ, “Write the things which thou has seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.” This is past, present and future.
The important thing here is that John was told to write the things which he had seen. It’s easy to describe something you have seen. Revelation 1:2 says John “bare record…of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.” A record is information that is preserved in writing so it will not be forgotten. Revelation 1:11 says, “What thou seest, write in a book, and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia.”
We must bear in mind here that John is talking about the things at which he had been looking, and leaving a record of them for all future generations.
In Revelation 19:19-20, John says: “And I saw the beast…And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet…these both were cast alive into a lake of fire buring with brimstone.” This will be the final curtain for these two; they will never get out. They are mentioned again after a one-thousand year period. Revelation 20:10, “And the devil…was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are.” Revelation 20:3 clearly indicates that Satan will be held captive in the “bottomless pit” for a thousand years, and then he will be turned loose again to deceive. Verses 7 and 8: “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. And shall go out to deceive the nations…” Verse 9 shows that judgment will come as it did on Sodom in the days of Lot, “…a fire came down from God out of heaven.”
Verse 10 then says, “And the devil…was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are.” These two had been cast alive into the lake of fire a thousand years previous to this and they are still here. And the last of verse 10 declares, “…and they shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
Then in Revelation 20:11-13 we see the great white throne judgment. Verses 12 and 13 state that all the small and the great that had ever lived were called to stand before God and they were judged, “every man according to his works.” Then verses 14 and 15 declare, “Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Also in Revelation 21:6-8, John wrote these words: “And He said unto me, It is done.” These words of a great hope are real for some, and words of dreadful finality for others. It is done – He has done all He can do. In verses 6 and 7: “I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.” But verse 8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” There will be no appeal from this final sentence. Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death.”
2 Thessalonians 1:7-9: “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” Phillips’ translation quotes it this way: “Their punishment will be eternal exclusion from the radiance of the face of the Lord and the glorious majesty of his power.”
St. John did see the lake of fire. I saw the lake of fire. There most certainly is such a place in existence now, and the Bible very clearly tells us why it is in existence. Perhaps the most eloquent illustration is in Matthew 13:40-43, “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
The testimony you are about to read is true in every detail. God alone knows why it happened to me, and why I was chosen to be this kind of witness to the grace and love of Jesus Christ in this 20th century. I am indebted to Jesus beyond measure for what He did for me, and my only desire now is to be faithful and true to Him.
I find great satisfaction in living for Christ and in being a witness to His saving and healing power. As Hebrews 13:5-8 declares: “For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may bodly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”
I was born and raised in Northern Alberta Canada, and was the oldest of four children. My father passed away and was buried on my eleventh birthday. Four months later my mother died and left us orphans, to be taken care of by others. Death is very final. It takes away from us the ones we need and separates us from the ones we love the most, and all we have left are memories. Our home was a happy home. No matter how kind others may be, they can never fully take the place of mother and dad, especially when you were old enough to remember all the things about them that were different from everyone else. I don’t remember ever hearing my parents quarrel. If they did, it never occurred in our presence. I am sure they loved each other and I know they loved us children.
Mother’s father, my grandfather was a school teacher and a Lutheran minister of the old circuit rider school. All were pioneers in a very real sense. As children, we understood what the word obedience meant. Confirmation in the Lutheran church we accepted as an essential part of our education.
After mother’s death I went to live with her brother, Uncle Sam, and Aunt Julia. She was a real fine person and treated me like her very own. I shall always be grateful to both of them for their kindness and love to me.
As life went on many things changed. God moves in mysterious ways. In the year of my eighteenth birthday, a very close friend and neighbor, Fin Brocke, and his wife left Canada and moved to Portland, Oregon. Mrs, Brocke was sick a lot of the time and no doubt they thought a change would help her physically.
As time passed by, we heard they had suddenly become very religious and were going to church every night, that Mrs. Brocke had been healed by prayer, and many other things that were hard to believe, knowing them like I did.
So when harvest had been gathered and the threshing season was over, a friend of mine and I decided to come to Portland and see for ourselves what this was all about. Surely at this point in my life God was directing my steps. For various reasons I had become very hard and critical of all religions, though I will not take the time or space here to go into this part of the story.
The Bible says, “God is Love.” This I know is surely true, and it is very possible that no human intelligence will ever comprehend the magnitude of the love of God until we are living with Him in eternity. At this point in my life my steps were being turned toward the very thing I had been trying so hard to avoid. My friend and I left Canada for Oregon to see for ourselves and on November 24, 1923 we arrived at the Brocke home in Portland.
We found that everything we had heard was true. They told us they had accepted Christ as their Savior and that Mrs. Brocke ahd been by prayer and faith. They certainly were a changed man and woman!
I listened to their story and was very impressed. I went to church with them many times. I liked the minister, the Rev. John G. Lake. He was a marvelous preacher, an ex-missionary to South Africa and a world traveler, that preached a message of love and power to heal and deliver from sin, bondage and sickness all who would believe. I enjoyed what I heard and I was glad for what had taken place in the lives of the Brockes, but nothing in me ever responded to what I had seen or heard. I was dead inside to the Spirit. Certain influences in my early teens had hardened my heart and mind. I had come to some conclusions about god and the Bible, the Lutheran doctrine on infant baptism, and so on, until I felt that if there was a God at all I was as good as He.
The Gospel that Dr. Lake preached was wonderful if it were true, but I never could believe it was for me. The influences of the past were too strong to dismiss, even though I would have liked to believe this.
I stayed on through the winter with the Brockes. He was the chief engineer at the Bridl Veil Lumber Company on Larch Mountain, thirty miles east of Portland. That was a large steam-operated sawmill and logging company, which employed over 150 men in the combined operations. The Brockes had a home in Portland and also a place at the mill.
The 1st of July, 1924 I got a job as engineer’s helper with Mrs. Brocke. Now, what I am about to tell happened on Monday, the day I started working at the mill, at one-thirty in the afternoon. We were sawing “Jap squares,” which in turn were flumed down the mountain in a trough filled with running water to the planer on the Columbia River, in the town of Bridal Veil. The stream that supplied the mill with water had a dam across it to provide water for the boilers, the log pond, and the flume to carry the lumber to Bridal Veil, a distance of four miles down the mountain.
The trestle over this dam was 55 feet above the water. I went out on the trestle to straighten out some timbers which were crossed and not moving on a conveyor. Suddenly I fell off the trestle and tumbled down between the timbers and into the pond, which was 10 feet deep. An engineer sitting in the cab of his locomotive unloading logs into the pond saw me fall. I landed on my head on the first beam 30 feet down, and then tumbled from one beam to another until I fell into the water and disappeared from his view.
There were 70 men working in and around the mill at that time. The mill was shut down then and every available man was called to search for my body, according to the testimonies of these men. The search went on for forty-five minutes to one hour before I was finally found by M.J.H. Gunderson, who has written his own account of this to verify the facts of this testimony.
Here is related my experience with death, the things I saw and heard and did during this hour the men were searching the waters of the pond for my body:
I was dead as far as this world is concerned. But I was alive in another world. There was no lost time. I learned more in that hour out of my body than I could ever learn while in this body. All I remember is falling over the edge of the trestle. The locomotive engineer watched me go all the way down into the water.
The next thing I knew I was standing near a shoreline of a great ocean of fire. It appeared to be what the Bible says it is in Revelation 21:8: “the lake which bureth with fire and brimestone.” This is the most awesome sight one could ever see this side of the final judgment.
I remember more clearly than any other thing that has ever happened to me in my lifetime every detail of every moment, what I saw and what happened during that hour I was gone from this world. I was standing some distance from this burning, turbulent, rolling mass of blue fire. As far as my eyes could see it was just the same. A lake of fire and brimstone. There was nobody in it. I was not in it. I saw other people whom I had known that had died when I was thirteen years old. One was an uncle of mine who died of consumption when I was thirteen. Another was a boy I had gone to school with who had died from cancer of the jaw that had started with an infected tooth while he was just a young lad. He was two years older than I. We recognized each other, even though we did not speak. They too, were looking and seemed to be perplexed and in deep thought, as though they could not believe what they saw. Their expressions were those of bewilderment and confusion.
The scene was so awesome that words simply fail. There is no way to describe it except to say we were eyewitnesses now to the final judgment. There is no way to escape, no way out. You don’t even try to look for one. This is the prison out of which no one can escape except by Divine intervention. I said to myself in an audible voice, “If I had known about this I would have done anything that was required of me to escape coming to a place like this.” But I had not known.
As these thoughts were racing through my mind, I saw another man coming by in front of us. I knew immediately who He was. He had a strong, kind, compassionate face, composed and unafraid, Master of all He saw. It was Jesus Himself.
A great hope took hold of me and I knew the answer to my problem was this great and wonderful Person who was moving by me there in this prison of lost confused judgment-bound souls. I did not do anything to attract His attention. I said again to myself, “If He would only look my way and see me, He could rescue me from this place because He would know I never understood it was like this. He would know what to do.” He passed on by and it seemed as though He would not look my way, but just before He passed out of sight He turned His head and looked directly at me. That is all it took. His look was enough.
In seconds I was back and entering into my body again. It was like coming in through the door of a house. I could hear the Brockes praying minutes before I could open my eyes or say anything. I could hear and I understood what was going on. Then suddenly life came into my body and I opened my eyes and spoke to them.
It’s easy to talk about and describe something you have seen. I know there is a lake of fire because I have seen it. I know Jesus Christ is alive in eternity. I have seen Him. The Bible states in Revelation 1:9-11: “I, John…was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and, what thou seest, write in a book.”
Among the many things John saw was the judgment, and he describes it in Revelation 20 as he saw it. In verse 10 he says: “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire.” Again in Revelation 21:8, John says he saw the “lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.” This is the lake I saw, and I am certain of this one thing, that in the end of this age at the final judgment every corrupt thing in this universe will ultimately be cast into this lake and be forever destroyed.
I thank God for people who can pray. It was Mrs. Brocke I heard praying for me. She said, “Oh God, don’t take Tom; he is not saved.” Presently I opened my eyes and said to them, “What happened?” I had not lost any time; I had been gone somewhere and now I was back. Soon after this an ambulance arrived and I was taken to the Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland.
I arrived there just before six o’clock in the evening, was taken into surgery and my scalp was sewn with many stitches. I was put in the intensive care ward. There was really not much the doctors could do. It was simply a matter of wait and see. I had no pain and my mind was very clear. A special nurse was assigned to stay with me. Here is where I lay until Friday at 11:30 a.m.
During these four days and nights, I seemed to be in constant communication with the Holy Spirit. I relived the events of my past life and the things I had seen, such as the lake of fire, Jesus coming to me there, seeing my uncle and the boy I had been in school with, and the coming back to life again. The presence of God’s Spirit was with me continually, and many times I spoke out loud to the Lord. The Holy Spirit helped me untangle my twisted philosophy until I understood what was really happening to me now. He showed me what had been wrong in the past, and he helped me to piece it all together until it made sense why this had happened to me. Then I began to ask God what He wanted in my life, what His will for me was.
By Friday morning my broken body was so stiff and sore I could hardly move at all. Then some time around nine o’clock the call of God came. The voice of the Spirit can be very real. He said to me, “I want you to tell the world what you saw, and how you came back to life.” This was a hard decision for me to make. I knew nothing about this. How could I do it? Here I lay in the hospital bed barely able to move my right arm.
The supreme moment in my life had come. I will never forget this time of decision. At 11:30 a.m. I had made up my mind. I had no doubts. I asked the nurse to leave me alone. This she did very reluctantly, of course, because she knew I was helpless. But she went out.
Then I spoke out to the Presence of God that was there and said, “Lord, if this is what you want me to do, I’ll do my best, but I cannot do it lying here. You will have to get me out of this place.”
This doesn’t sound much like a prayer, but I was talking to God now and making a very solemn commitment. Instantly a warm, wonderful feeling like a gently breeze hit the top of my head where I was hurt the worst and went on down through my body and out through my feet. I was instantly healed from head to foot. A suitcase with some clothing in it had been left by my bed earlier in the week. I dressed and left the room and hurried down three flights of stairs and was out on the street in possibly less than six minutes. The nurse never did come back in time to sound an alarm.
By this time I was afraid someone would see me and try to force me back into the hospital, because my head was all bandaged and I was a sight fit to scare anyone, but God was with me. A close friend of mine, Pete Burness, had a printing shop near the hospital. I had been there before and knew where it was, so I rushed to his place and safety. Pete did not seem too surprised when I went into his printing shop. Pete had been a soldier in World War I. He had learned to pray in the trenches. He had served with the Canadian Army under the British, and holds some of the highest medals for bravery they have to give. All he said to me was, “Well, I see you are out.” His “calm” really helped me then. After some conversation he gave me the keys to his car and said, “Go down to the house in the car. I’ll ride the streetcar home today. You can’t imagine what you look like.”
I drove down to his house. I caused quite a commotion at Pete’s home when I went in. There were several people there and of course they could not believe what they saw when I came in. However, things quieted down pretty soon and I went to a dresser in Pete’s room to see what I looked like. My hair had been cut off on top, and there were stitches everywhere. I got all the bandages off and tried to comb what hair was left. The comb caught in a stitch and it began to bleed. I heard some voice say these words, “You are not healed.” My faith was being challenged. I stood there for several minutes looking at myself, and then I noticed Pete’s safety razor was lying there. I took the blade out and with a tweezers to hold the end of the stitches, I cut and pulled out every stitch. There was no more bleeding. I was really healed and this proved it to me.
I have learned since that time that you have to be very positive in your stand against all the negative suggestions that come to discourage your faith in a time like this. Our natural mind many times robs us of a supernatural victory. Believe God and act whether you understand it all or not.
After some time of cleaning up, I went downtown to see the doctor that had been coming to my hospital room, a Dr. Brewer. When I walked into his office and he saw me, he very quickly stood up. He looked so surprised and said, “Man what in the world are you doing here?” I did not answer that because I was not sure either. Then he asked, “Are you all right? How did you get out of the hospital?” I replied, “Doctor, I ran out. Maybe they don’t know yet that I am gone.” He said, “Tell me what happened.”
I said, “Doctor, the lord has healed me and I am all right now.” He came close to me and pushed on my ribs that were broken and asked me, “Didn’t that hurt?” I replied, “No.” It was true; there was no pain. “Well,” he replied, “the Lord must have healed you. I am sure we did not. This is only four days and it takes from six weeks to two months for broken bones to heal when everything goes well.” Then he asked, “Who removed the stitches from your head?” I said, “I did that myself,” and told him about how I had done it.
Then I told him of how the Lord had dealt with me, how God had called me to go and tell this to the world. Among other things, I knew may would ask who my doctor was and this worried me because I was beginning to wonder what he would say. So I asked him, “What are you going to tell people who come to ask you about me?” He very simply said, “Well, if you say God healed you, then it must have been God that healed you because I know we did not. It has been only four days.” I never have known who or how many did go see Dr. Brewer about me. Not once has anyone ever said he denied my testimony.
CHAPTER II
Back to Work Saturday
Friday was surely a red-letter day for me. Saturday morning I was back at the Palmer Mill and on the job. Nobody seemed to want to work that day. They were watching me work. After some hours of this I got disturbed myself, and told them that if they wanted to hear all about my healing, we could meet at the schoolhouse on Sunday evening and I would tell them what I had seen and how I was healed. This was satisfactory with all these men. So the word went out that we would meet Sunday night at eight o’clock.
Sunday night as I approached the little schoolhouse, not far from where I had fallen, I saw a large crowd. It was getting dark. I almost panicked and ran, but again the Lord strengthened me and I went on in. Most of the people did not recognize me as I crowded my way to the front. Mr. Brocke sang a song and had prayer. My zero hour had arrived.
I was nervous and not sure of what I should do next. As I stood there, God helped me and for the first time in my life I felt the anointing of the Holy Spirit to witness. It enveloped me like a cloud. This was the same Presence that had enabled me to walk out of the Good Samaritan Hospital. The same Presence had helped me to understand God’s will for me to go and tell whoever would listen about what I had seen, and warn them of the judgment to come and tell them of the love of God for man that he might escape it.
Just seven days had gone by since all this had happened. This was my first time to face an audience. I stood there behind the teacher'’ desk in a little schoolhouse. The very air seemed to be electrified, and as I opened my mouth to speak again the Presence of God settled over me and the Holy Ghost came in and filled me with His message.
I told the people what God had done, what I had seen during the time these same men were looking for my body in the pond. I knew nothing about the Bible, but the Holy Spirit speaking through me quoted much of the second and third chapters of the Prophecy of Nahum. Later that night, with the aid of a Bible concordance we were able to find what the Spirit had said concerning the day of His preparation, “The chariots shall jostle one against another in the broad ways…” At that time I had no idea that what I was saying was in the Bible. It was not until Mr. Brocke searched it out that I later learned that it was. That of course was a sign to me of things to come concerning my own ministry.
I wish to emphasize here that the Baptism of the holy Spirit is the most essential part of any person’s preparation for the ministry. Without Him we can do nothing. With Him, we can do all things. It is the Holy Ghost that convinces the world of:
1st, sin; then of righteousness and of judgment.
St. John 16:9-11: “…Of sin because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”
To be effective in bringing the message of salvation and deliverance to a lost world, one must be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Some have asked from time to time if I have ever had headaches or any of the aftereffects that usually follow this kind of injury. I never have had a headache in my life; my eyes and ears are almost perfect. I am still healed today.
The people who had played the most important role in this, of course, were Fin and Mabel Brocke. They had the faith and the courage to believe God for a miracle at a time and in a place of great need. They acted on instant notice and were rewarded by instant results.
Then there was Julius H. Gunderson, who found my body in ten feet of water when everyone else was giving up the search. He searched until he found me. God rewarded him, too, for his faith. Mr. Gunderson and fin and Mabel Brocke have written their testimonies of what happened that day and these testimonies are given here in their own words. Nothing has changed.
CHAPTER III
A Day Never to be Forgotten
(by Fin & Mabel Brocke)
I had gone over the hillside to pick some berries, but the rain had chased me in. I was within a few yards of our house when I saw my husband coming, walking fast, and he called to me and said, “Mamma, Tommy fell and he is dead.”
It is just as fresh in my memory now as then, what I said and how I felt. I asked, “Why Tommy?” and I heard a voice say, “For the Glory of God.” Then my husband said, “I came to get you to pray.”
I went with him back to the mill office. We didn’t talk but we did pray all the way. When we got back to the office the room was filled with men and there lay Tommy wrapped in a blanket on a table. His face and head were covered with blood; there was no pulse, no life. Surely we were in the presence of death. You could feel it, as well as see it.
Those men that were packed in there knew my husband. They knew he was a man of prayer, and that he had gone to get me to help him pray. They were expecting to see something happen. I went to one side of the table and my husband went to the other side. The Bible says in James 5:14-15: “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”
My husband anointed him with oil according to the Scripture, and then he said, “Mabel, you pray.” I placed on hand on his head and the other on his heart. A young man standing near took my hand off Tommy’s head and said, “Can’t you see that is where he is hurt?” It wasn’t a long prayer. We just asked God to be merciful and raise him up. First we saw his eyelids move just a little; then the tears began to come and he tried to talk. He said, “What happened?” The words were far apart, as though they were coming from a far country. Then he said, “I can’t help it now.” More life came into him and the men standing around were all amazed and happy. They had seen a miracle. The boss had called Portland for an ambulance soon after Tommy fell, and we knew it would be coming soon.
When they got him to the hospital, he was taken into surgery and they cleaned the wounds in his head and put a lot of stitches inhis scalp. Seven ribs on his left side were broken; they bandaged him up for that. It took a long time to do all this and we waited until they brought him out of surgery. He didn’t say anything so we asked him if he had any pain. He said, “No.” They took him to the intensive care ward, and then he asked the nurse if he could have something to eat. They did give him something to eat before we left him to go back to the mill. My husband was the chief engineer so we had to go back that night.
I returned to the hospital the next morning. The doctors asked me not to stay long; they did not hold out much hope that he would live. It was hard for Tommy to talk and his words came very slowly. He said, “I have something to tell you. You know I was dead for a while, but I found myself way off in a wilderness. It was as if a huge magnet were drawing me into it, and a lot of other people too, and there was no way to get out. I saw my uncle and a boy I went to school with. There was a great big lake of fire and I felt as if I were being drawn into it. I was afraid. Then I saw Jesus coming from a way off. He came closer and was going on by, and I said, ‘If He would only turn and look at me He would save me.’ Then Jesus looked at me and I heard you praying. I opened my eyes as soon as I could and I saw you.”
I had to leave then, but later on he told us about all the things he had seen. He talked a lot about the lake of fire and the ones there. He said there was not anybody in the fire, but they were in a prison waiting and there was no way to escape.
The next time we saw Tommy was on a Friday night, after work. We did not know about what had taken place in the hospital that morning. When we got to my sister’s home in Portland, we found that he was no longer in the hospital and that he had been instantly healed and had left the hospital about eleven o’clock that morning. He was in the hospital just four days. He went back to the mill with us that night and was back to work on Saturday.
Sunday night he told his experience at the little schoolhouse near the mill. The entire mill crew and their families were there. Many could not get inside the building; it was too small. They had seen a miracle. Now they wanted to hear about it. Needless to say, we were very grateful to God for letting us have a part in this great thing that He had done. Tommy has kept his word and has been telling his story and preaching faith and deliverance ever since. Have faith in God. He never fails when we believe.
Thorfin Brocke
Mabel E. Brocke
This is the endorsed statement of Mr. J.H. Gunderson, 1703 S.E. 16th Avenue, Portland, Oregon:
I, J.H. Gunderson, was at the Palmer Mill looking for a job and visiting Fin Brocke on July 1, 1924, when at about one-thirty in the afternoon Tom fell and I witnessed this miracle of faith.
A locomotive engineer sitting in his cab saw Tom fall. He ran from his locomotive down into the main engine room to tell Mr. Brocke what had happened.
The mill was shut down and Mr. Brocke and I and others went to recover Tom, but he had fallen into the water, which was ten feet deep at this point. We had a hard time finding him because the water was dirty and we were fishing for him with pike poles with long handles. After some time, another man gave me the pole he was using and I began probing the water deep down because I felt that he must be on the bottom. This was right because after some time of this kind of searching I hooked onto his clothes and pulled his body near enough for us to get our hands on him, and we pulled him out. He was dead. There was no life in him at all. His head was smashed in on top and blood was everywhere.
Mrs. Brocke got word and came down to the mill. When she saw Tom lying there still and dead, she knelt down and put her hand on his head. The blood oozed out between her fingers as she cried out to God to spare his life and save his soul because Tom was not a Christian. As she cried out and prayed, I saw life come back into Tom and he moved for the first time since we had recovered him from the water. Then he opened his eyes and asked, “What happened?”
Over these years I have thanked God many times for the privilege I had of seeing a dead man come back to life in answer to prayer. I stood on the bank of that pond for at least thirty minutes while other men were fishing for his body. I was watching for air bubbles or some sign of where he was. I never did see any air bubbles. There was no water in his lungs. He never had breathed in all that time he was under the water. One of the men who had been trying to find Tom had given up and handed me his pike pole. I pushed it down deep and it hooked onto his clothing. He must have been near the bottom. It must have been all of forty-five minutes to one hour from the time he fell until Mrs. Brocke prayed for him in the mill office.
This is my testimony as I saw it happen. I pulled Tom to the surface myself, and witnessed the miracle of life restored in him. I thank God for what I saw that day, and I thank God for the privilege of telling it here. It changed my life. It is the truth.
Julius H. Gunderson
CHAPTER IV
What I Saw During the Hour of Death
Many people today, especially the teenagers and young adults in their early twenties, who come to special meetings and hear this testimony, ask me for Bible references on the lake of fire. Just recently a group of young thirty-five young adults asked me to write down the Scripture references for them because they did not know how to search them out. They also said they had never heard any evangelist or pastor preach on this subject, and most of them seemed to be surprised to find that there really is such a place spoken of in the Bible. They were very familiar with the term hell, but knew nothing about the lake of fire.
Due to the fact that I saw the lake of fire and that I promised the Lord I would tell what I had seen, I feel that those who read this testimony should also read what the Bible says about the lake of fire and its ultimate purpose, and have therefore prepared this Bible reference:
Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
In Revelation 1:19 John received an instruction from Jesus Christ, “Write the things which thou has seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.” This is past, present and future.
The important thing here is that John was told to write the things which he had seen. It’s easy to describe something you have seen. Revelation 1:2 says John “bare record…of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.” A record is information that is preserved in writing so it will not be forgotten. Revelation 1:11 says, “What thou seest, write in a book, and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia.”
We must bear in mind here that John is talking about the things at which he had been looking, and leaving a record of them for all future generations.
In Revelation 19:19-20, John says: “And I saw the beast…And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet…these both were cast alive into a lake of fire buring with brimstone.” This will be the final curtain for these two; they will never get out. They are mentioned again after a one-thousand year period. Revelation 20:10, “And the devil…was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are.” Revelation 20:3 clearly indicates that Satan will be held captive in the “bottomless pit” for a thousand years, and then he will be turned loose again to deceive. Verses 7 and 8: “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. And shall go out to deceive the nations…” Verse 9 shows that judgment will come as it did on Sodom in the days of Lot, “…a fire came down from God out of heaven.”
Verse 10 then says, “And the devil…was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are.” These two had been cast alive into the lake of fire a thousand years previous to this and they are still here. And the last of verse 10 declares, “…and they shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
Then in Revelation 20:11-13 we see the great white throne judgment. Verses 12 and 13 state that all the small and the great that had ever lived were called to stand before God and they were judged, “every man according to his works.” Then verses 14 and 15 declare, “Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Also in Revelation 21:6-8, John wrote these words: “And He said unto me, It is done.” These words of a great hope are real for some, and words of dreadful finality for others. It is done – He has done all He can do. In verses 6 and 7: “I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.” But verse 8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” There will be no appeal from this final sentence. Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death.”
2 Thessalonians 1:7-9: “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” Phillips’ translation quotes it this way: “Their punishment will be eternal exclusion from the radiance of the face of the Lord and the glorious majesty of his power.”
St. John did see the lake of fire. I saw the lake of fire. There most certainly is such a place in existence now, and the Bible very clearly tells us why it is in existence. Perhaps the most eloquent illustration is in Matthew 13:40-43, “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
Dr. Rene Turner's Near-Death Experience
Dr. Rene Turner was involved in a horrible car accident that left her with severe damage to her head. While she was severely injured, she had a remarkable near-death experience. As a result of her accident and NDE, she founded the Head Injury Society of New Zealand to help others with severe head injuries. Her NDE is featured in Kevin Williams' book, Nothing Better Than Death.
In February 1982, in Newcastle, Australia, Rene Turner left her optical instrument repair firm to go home. She was driving along the highway and slowed to stop at lights where a road crosses the highway. Here, her memory ends. Reports her partner who was riding with her:
"As we approached the lights, they changed to green. As we went into the crossing, the car aquaplaned and hit a large power pole just after the intersection. Stuart, who was laying on the mattress in the back of the panel van, was thrown forward into the back of Rene's head, driving her into the steering wheel."
At the hospital, the professor of neurosurgery reported Rene's death to her parents and said they should be grateful as she would have been a vegetable had she survived. During this conversation, a young frightened nurse came rushing into the office and blurted out, "She is alive! She sat up and spoke!"
The professor chastised her for interrupting them and lectured her about how "dead bodies" can move and make noises.
But the nurse was emphatic, "She sat up and said, 'Don't give me any more drugs!'"
At this point, Rene's mother took the professor by one elbow, Rene's father by his and marched them down the corridor to see for themselves. They found Rene in a back corridor where she had apparently been placed so the nurse could remove equipment prior to her transfer to the morgue. She was found in a deep coma and breathing - remaining that way for a further ten days.
The following is Rene Turner's NDE in her own words:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't know when in the above events my experience took place. I have no memory of the process of dying or leaving my body. I was moving head first through a dark maelstrom of what looked like black boiling clouds, feeling that I was being beckoned to the sides, which frightened me. Ahead was a tiny dot of bright light which steadily grew and brightened as I drew nearer. I became aware that I must be dead and was concerned for Mum and Dad and my sister, and somewhat upset with myself as I thought, "They will soon get over it," like it was, in passing, just a fleeting thought as I rushed greedily forward towards this light.
I arrived in an explosion of glorious light into a room with insubstantial walls, standing before a man about in his thirties, about six feet tall, reddish brown shoulder length hair and an incredibly neat, short beard and mustache. He wore a simple white robe. Light seemed to emanate from him and I felt he had great age and wisdom. He welcomed me with great love, tranquility, and peace (indescribable) - no words. I felt, "I can sit at your feet forever and be content," which struck me as a strange thing to think/say/feel. I became fascinated by the fabric of his robe, trying to figure out how light could be woven!
He stood beside me and directed me to look to my left, where I was replaying my life's less complementary moments. I relived those moments and felt not only what I had done but also the hurt I had caused. Some of the things I would have never imagined could have caused pain. I was surprised that some things I may have worried about, like shoplifting a chocolate as a child, were not there, whilst casual remarks which caused hurt unknown to me at the time were counted. When I became burdened with guilt, I was directed to other events which gave joy to others, although I felt unworthy. It seemed the balance was in my favor. I received great love.
I was led further into the room, which became a hall. There coming towards me was my grandfather. He looked younger than I remembered and was without his hare lip or cleft pallet, but undoubtedly my grandfather. We hugged. He spoke to me and welcomed me. I was moved to forgive him for dying when I was 14 and making me break my promise to become a doctor and find a cure for his heart condition. Until that moment, I had not realized I had been angry at him!
Granddad told me that grandma was coming soon and he was looking forward to her arrival. I inquired why she was coming soon as she had been traveling from her home in Manchester to New Zealand to Miami for continual summer for a number of years! Granddad told me she had cancer of the bowel and was coming soon. Granddad seemed to have no grasp of time when I pressed for how soon.
[Grandma was diagnosed three months later and died in August. I had upset my mother by telling her about it when I regained consciousness.]
After Granddad and I had talked a while, he took me further into the room which became a hall again. We approached a group of people whom I started to recognize.
The Person who first welcomed me came and placed his hand on my shoulder and turned me towards him.
He said, "You must return. You have a task to perform."
I wanted to argue. I wanted to stay. I glanced back at Granddad and was propelled quickly towards the entrance. At the threshold, all became blackness, nothing, no awareness.
I awoke from my coma slowly, over several days, half dreamed memories of familiar voices and glimpses of faces. The clearest moments were several occasions where I would awake from deep sleep to find a nurse with a syringe and refuse any drugs. I had no idea why! I had three lots of surgery to repair my face, skull, eye socket. I left the hospital with pain, double vision, anosmia, and damage to the eighth cranial nerve. It left me with nausea and a disturbed balance. I was for two years angry at G-d for sending me back in such torment with a task to do with no clues or instructions - only one thing: a clear message I have no idea how to pass on, which is:
"It is time to live according to your beliefs, whatever they may be - to put your house in order - for the end times are upon us!"
This can't be my task. There was no booming voice or any way I knew the message got there. I am also unsure of the identity of the gatekeeper - no name tag - no introduction!
It took me five years as a zombie before I was able to rehabilitate myself. I have gainful employment, formed the Head Injury Society of New Zealand in 1987, and am paraded as the example of how well it is possible to recover from acquired brain damage. I still don't know my task - still have pain, anosmia, diplopia, etc.
The memory of the NDE is more real than what I did yesterday.
In February 1982, in Newcastle, Australia, Rene Turner left her optical instrument repair firm to go home. She was driving along the highway and slowed to stop at lights where a road crosses the highway. Here, her memory ends. Reports her partner who was riding with her:
"As we approached the lights, they changed to green. As we went into the crossing, the car aquaplaned and hit a large power pole just after the intersection. Stuart, who was laying on the mattress in the back of the panel van, was thrown forward into the back of Rene's head, driving her into the steering wheel."
At the hospital, the professor of neurosurgery reported Rene's death to her parents and said they should be grateful as she would have been a vegetable had she survived. During this conversation, a young frightened nurse came rushing into the office and blurted out, "She is alive! She sat up and spoke!"
The professor chastised her for interrupting them and lectured her about how "dead bodies" can move and make noises.
But the nurse was emphatic, "She sat up and said, 'Don't give me any more drugs!'"
At this point, Rene's mother took the professor by one elbow, Rene's father by his and marched them down the corridor to see for themselves. They found Rene in a back corridor where she had apparently been placed so the nurse could remove equipment prior to her transfer to the morgue. She was found in a deep coma and breathing - remaining that way for a further ten days.
The following is Rene Turner's NDE in her own words:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't know when in the above events my experience took place. I have no memory of the process of dying or leaving my body. I was moving head first through a dark maelstrom of what looked like black boiling clouds, feeling that I was being beckoned to the sides, which frightened me. Ahead was a tiny dot of bright light which steadily grew and brightened as I drew nearer. I became aware that I must be dead and was concerned for Mum and Dad and my sister, and somewhat upset with myself as I thought, "They will soon get over it," like it was, in passing, just a fleeting thought as I rushed greedily forward towards this light.
I arrived in an explosion of glorious light into a room with insubstantial walls, standing before a man about in his thirties, about six feet tall, reddish brown shoulder length hair and an incredibly neat, short beard and mustache. He wore a simple white robe. Light seemed to emanate from him and I felt he had great age and wisdom. He welcomed me with great love, tranquility, and peace (indescribable) - no words. I felt, "I can sit at your feet forever and be content," which struck me as a strange thing to think/say/feel. I became fascinated by the fabric of his robe, trying to figure out how light could be woven!
He stood beside me and directed me to look to my left, where I was replaying my life's less complementary moments. I relived those moments and felt not only what I had done but also the hurt I had caused. Some of the things I would have never imagined could have caused pain. I was surprised that some things I may have worried about, like shoplifting a chocolate as a child, were not there, whilst casual remarks which caused hurt unknown to me at the time were counted. When I became burdened with guilt, I was directed to other events which gave joy to others, although I felt unworthy. It seemed the balance was in my favor. I received great love.
I was led further into the room, which became a hall. There coming towards me was my grandfather. He looked younger than I remembered and was without his hare lip or cleft pallet, but undoubtedly my grandfather. We hugged. He spoke to me and welcomed me. I was moved to forgive him for dying when I was 14 and making me break my promise to become a doctor and find a cure for his heart condition. Until that moment, I had not realized I had been angry at him!
Granddad told me that grandma was coming soon and he was looking forward to her arrival. I inquired why she was coming soon as she had been traveling from her home in Manchester to New Zealand to Miami for continual summer for a number of years! Granddad told me she had cancer of the bowel and was coming soon. Granddad seemed to have no grasp of time when I pressed for how soon.
[Grandma was diagnosed three months later and died in August. I had upset my mother by telling her about it when I regained consciousness.]
After Granddad and I had talked a while, he took me further into the room which became a hall again. We approached a group of people whom I started to recognize.
The Person who first welcomed me came and placed his hand on my shoulder and turned me towards him.
He said, "You must return. You have a task to perform."
I wanted to argue. I wanted to stay. I glanced back at Granddad and was propelled quickly towards the entrance. At the threshold, all became blackness, nothing, no awareness.
I awoke from my coma slowly, over several days, half dreamed memories of familiar voices and glimpses of faces. The clearest moments were several occasions where I would awake from deep sleep to find a nurse with a syringe and refuse any drugs. I had no idea why! I had three lots of surgery to repair my face, skull, eye socket. I left the hospital with pain, double vision, anosmia, and damage to the eighth cranial nerve. It left me with nausea and a disturbed balance. I was for two years angry at G-d for sending me back in such torment with a task to do with no clues or instructions - only one thing: a clear message I have no idea how to pass on, which is:
"It is time to live according to your beliefs, whatever they may be - to put your house in order - for the end times are upon us!"
This can't be my task. There was no booming voice or any way I knew the message got there. I am also unsure of the identity of the gatekeeper - no name tag - no introduction!
It took me five years as a zombie before I was able to rehabilitate myself. I have gainful employment, formed the Head Injury Society of New Zealand in 1987, and am paraded as the example of how well it is possible to recover from acquired brain damage. I still don't know my task - still have pain, anosmia, diplopia, etc.
The memory of the NDE is more real than what I did yesterday.
Roland Dell (USA Ret.) NDE STORY
My near death experience was a two fold experience, allow me to explain...
It was exactly my twenty years in the military, I had just returned to my former Unit of assignment (that I work for fulltime), post my Units Mobilization for Operation Iraqi Freedom at Ft Bragg NC; it was Sunday 02/06/2005.
On Friday I had received my ordination as a Christian Minister, and had prayed that I would be effective for the Lord, (Like the Apostle Paul) and that the enemy would know who I was.
Our Battle Group Training was in water survival, (that I had practiced for over twenty years.) Towards the end of completion of the course, I had what I thought was terrible heart burn. A little embarrassed, I approached my Commanding Officer and other NCOs' so that I could lie down for just a moment.
Due to the quick response of a Warrant Officer, an ambulance was soon dispatched.
Then as a NSA police officer was questioning me and as the Paramedics arrived, I would "black out" due to heart failure caused by a piece of plaque.
Immediately before blacking out, I would feel a being lying shoulder to shoulder with me, (on my right) and see HIM in shadow. I remember at this point the sound was my last sense to go.
As the Paramedics’ defibrillated my heart (one or two times) the sound returned in the blackness or void. As I regained consciousness it was if I was under the street and someone slowly slid open the manhole cover above me. I could look up and see the Paramedics faces working on me looking down.
As documented, I said "that feels better" although I only remember asking if I had a heart attack? I was told not to try and talk, so I said "being as no one said that I haven’t, I must have!"
The second experience I had was much different... In transport to my requested hospital my ambulance became stuck in traffic, I could hear Donny, (my Paramedic) saying that we must get on the highway and find a different route to a different hospital. I thought to myself, "This is not good" and only wished I could see outside. Immediately afterwards I could see a "birds eye view" of my ambulance moving "in slow motion" towards me, the clarity of that moment was perfect, I remember seeing everything looking down on the highway from the tan brick wall abutments to the puddles in the street.
My ambulance raced toward me with headlights and strobes flashing.
However, this time there was no sound! Sight was all that I maintained. Oh yes, this was the "best mood" I have ever remembered being in! My mind was very sharp and I was still very much aware of what was happening to me. I knew I was married and in transport, I could have even given you my social security number, I had forgotten nothing about my life, but when you are in such a good mood nothing can seem to bother you! All that I can remember thinking too myself was that "this is really cool and amazing".
The next thing that I remember was being stabilized for airlift to Washington hospital center, I remember seeing my wife, the commanding officer, and my buddy the Platoon Sergeant standing by the door as I was made ready for flight.
My wife asked if she could fly with me, but she could not. I remember being laid on the deck of the helicopter, trying to stay awake so that I could remember the flight, but could not.
I awoke briefly in intensive care, later my wife would tell me that she tried to hide behind my door, but they shortly removed her. I also found out that I was not expected to survive the night as my lungs filled up with fluid.
One or two days went by and I awoke again first seeing my elderly parents clutching each other and staring at me. Then I saw my wife and brother beside me. When I told the story of the ambulance to them, my mother asked me how I could have seen that event.
Immediately, I told her that it must have been looking out the back doors and saw my ambulance in a bug eye mirror along the highway. She looked at me strangely and asked how that was possible?
I thought about that for a second, and realized this could not have been possible as I was strapped down facing the front of the ambulance with no windows, and now just realized that it would be impossible to see the front of the ambulance from the rear anyway! But the whole experienced seemed so natural that your mind doesn't know any difference anyway.
About the second week in the hospital I started experiencing another heart attack, as my emergency stent had attracted another clot. I remember speaking to a nurse that exclaimed too me: “Mr. Dell, the enemy knows who you are, but it will not stop what the Lord has planned for you!”
I was stunned when she repeated that private prayer, I had prayed a couple weeks before!
I feel I should add that; later when I returned to Church about three weeks later, a fellow deacon approached me with eyes as big as silver dollars.
I asked him what was the matter? This is when he told me he expected never to see me again. It seems the hospital told my Pastor I was not expected to pull through. The sermon that Sunday was the "Good Shepherd" lying down with the lamb. I had the sensation of having water poured over me as I thought about the "being" lying next to me shoulder to shoulder in my original experience. Why do I believe in this "Christ" so intently you may wonder?
It is because many times on this side of my existence, I have continually known Him!
Death is only a continuation of the spiritual life that I already posses.
If you would like to read more of my testimonies please visit my web site at: http://LightshipMinistries.Org
Please allow me to ask you a question, why is it that so many scientific minds are closed to the idea of an "intelligent design"? Is it because we must have physical evidence? That is not very scientific as quantum mechanics do not apply to the physical laws we are familiar with. In fact in my humble opinion it would most likely be opposing to anything that we would understand.
It is my belief, that faith like gravity in the natural realm must be applied before we can start to comprehend a place that is infinite rather than finite.
Could it be that mankind is naturally hostile towards the recognition of a God, because than he would be held accountable to a "higher power" than himself? This is what the Bible tells us is so.
It was exactly my twenty years in the military, I had just returned to my former Unit of assignment (that I work for fulltime), post my Units Mobilization for Operation Iraqi Freedom at Ft Bragg NC; it was Sunday 02/06/2005.
On Friday I had received my ordination as a Christian Minister, and had prayed that I would be effective for the Lord, (Like the Apostle Paul) and that the enemy would know who I was.
Our Battle Group Training was in water survival, (that I had practiced for over twenty years.) Towards the end of completion of the course, I had what I thought was terrible heart burn. A little embarrassed, I approached my Commanding Officer and other NCOs' so that I could lie down for just a moment.
Due to the quick response of a Warrant Officer, an ambulance was soon dispatched.
Then as a NSA police officer was questioning me and as the Paramedics arrived, I would "black out" due to heart failure caused by a piece of plaque.
Immediately before blacking out, I would feel a being lying shoulder to shoulder with me, (on my right) and see HIM in shadow. I remember at this point the sound was my last sense to go.
As the Paramedics’ defibrillated my heart (one or two times) the sound returned in the blackness or void. As I regained consciousness it was if I was under the street and someone slowly slid open the manhole cover above me. I could look up and see the Paramedics faces working on me looking down.
As documented, I said "that feels better" although I only remember asking if I had a heart attack? I was told not to try and talk, so I said "being as no one said that I haven’t, I must have!"
The second experience I had was much different... In transport to my requested hospital my ambulance became stuck in traffic, I could hear Donny, (my Paramedic) saying that we must get on the highway and find a different route to a different hospital. I thought to myself, "This is not good" and only wished I could see outside. Immediately afterwards I could see a "birds eye view" of my ambulance moving "in slow motion" towards me, the clarity of that moment was perfect, I remember seeing everything looking down on the highway from the tan brick wall abutments to the puddles in the street.
My ambulance raced toward me with headlights and strobes flashing.
However, this time there was no sound! Sight was all that I maintained. Oh yes, this was the "best mood" I have ever remembered being in! My mind was very sharp and I was still very much aware of what was happening to me. I knew I was married and in transport, I could have even given you my social security number, I had forgotten nothing about my life, but when you are in such a good mood nothing can seem to bother you! All that I can remember thinking too myself was that "this is really cool and amazing".
The next thing that I remember was being stabilized for airlift to Washington hospital center, I remember seeing my wife, the commanding officer, and my buddy the Platoon Sergeant standing by the door as I was made ready for flight.
My wife asked if she could fly with me, but she could not. I remember being laid on the deck of the helicopter, trying to stay awake so that I could remember the flight, but could not.
I awoke briefly in intensive care, later my wife would tell me that she tried to hide behind my door, but they shortly removed her. I also found out that I was not expected to survive the night as my lungs filled up with fluid.
One or two days went by and I awoke again first seeing my elderly parents clutching each other and staring at me. Then I saw my wife and brother beside me. When I told the story of the ambulance to them, my mother asked me how I could have seen that event.
Immediately, I told her that it must have been looking out the back doors and saw my ambulance in a bug eye mirror along the highway. She looked at me strangely and asked how that was possible?
I thought about that for a second, and realized this could not have been possible as I was strapped down facing the front of the ambulance with no windows, and now just realized that it would be impossible to see the front of the ambulance from the rear anyway! But the whole experienced seemed so natural that your mind doesn't know any difference anyway.
About the second week in the hospital I started experiencing another heart attack, as my emergency stent had attracted another clot. I remember speaking to a nurse that exclaimed too me: “Mr. Dell, the enemy knows who you are, but it will not stop what the Lord has planned for you!”
I was stunned when she repeated that private prayer, I had prayed a couple weeks before!
I feel I should add that; later when I returned to Church about three weeks later, a fellow deacon approached me with eyes as big as silver dollars.
I asked him what was the matter? This is when he told me he expected never to see me again. It seems the hospital told my Pastor I was not expected to pull through. The sermon that Sunday was the "Good Shepherd" lying down with the lamb. I had the sensation of having water poured over me as I thought about the "being" lying next to me shoulder to shoulder in my original experience. Why do I believe in this "Christ" so intently you may wonder?
It is because many times on this side of my existence, I have continually known Him!
Death is only a continuation of the spiritual life that I already posses.
If you would like to read more of my testimonies please visit my web site at: http://LightshipMinistries.Org
Please allow me to ask you a question, why is it that so many scientific minds are closed to the idea of an "intelligent design"? Is it because we must have physical evidence? That is not very scientific as quantum mechanics do not apply to the physical laws we are familiar with. In fact in my humble opinion it would most likely be opposing to anything that we would understand.
It is my belief, that faith like gravity in the natural realm must be applied before we can start to comprehend a place that is infinite rather than finite.
Could it be that mankind is naturally hostile towards the recognition of a God, because than he would be held accountable to a "higher power" than himself? This is what the Bible tells us is so.
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