Trips to heaven, hell, and the returns

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richrock Sep 27, 2012

I am simply curious after seeing the promotion of yet another video of someone who died and come back from Heaven.

I know of the instance where Paul writes of one who did go, who never said a word about it, but are these valid and real? Are they deceptions?

The Revelation was a vision, and I seem to find no real instance of this happening anywhere else in scripture, unless someone can point it out to me.

Just asking for references, not a debate or opinions that may go sour. I'm trying to figure out why these are happening more frequently these days.

sermonindex Sep 27, 2012

I believe John Bunyon had such an experience shortly after his conversion. He chronicled a dream he had called My Sojourn in Heaven and Stopover in Bell.

Bearmaster.

S

Sree Sep 27, 2012

What is the use of one going to Heaven if he/she does not see Jesus? Many of these instances where people report events they have not mentioned anything about seeing Jesus or very few focus on Jesus. Seeing their dead relatives mean nothing in heaven as Jesus has said that we are all brothers and sisters there an no other relation counts.

Even Apostle Paul does not report what he has seen in Heaven to us, he just says they are better not said. In Revelation John writes these things because he is asked to write, he does not write about things which he is not asked to write as well.

sermonindex Sep 27, 2012

I cant say it never happens, but I do firmly believe that 99.8% of them are the result of an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about them!

Krispy

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DEADn Sep 27, 2012

While these little tidbits are a fun read and can give a soul some hope I find it hard to test whether they are true or not. Even compared with scripture there isn't alot that can to said to support these trips to 'heaven'. God uses earthly means to show a heavenly reality with streets of gold but in testimonies how often have you heard such a thing?

My bigger concern is trips to hell and the notion that devils rule in hell and torture anyone. That is an alarm and false doctrine just as the book 'A divine revelation of hell'. Again, while these books can be a fun and fascinating read a reader needs to separate their emotions and beliefs from the content and realize that what they just read could be mere fantasy and not reality.

John

sermonindex Sep 27, 2012

Rich,

I don't follow other's back from the dead experiences, and many may not be legitimate, but I know of one that is true.

When my son was 13, he was electrocuted by a downed power line. According to every doctor and medical personnel, it was a miracle that he came back to life.

When he came to, his first words were, "How long have I been gone?" While his heart was stopped for only seconds, he was "gone" for four days. His return trip was at such high speed that the scenery was blurry.

There are a lot of details he told me about during the four day period, but one comment stood out. We were in the car, weeks later, and he said,"It's like a dream." I said, "When you were dead?" And he responded, "No. This life is like a dream, the other is the real world." It reminded me of the scripture, "These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ" (Col 2:17).

Blessings.

L

Lysa Sep 28, 2012

100fold wrote:
There are a lot of details he told me about during the four day period, but one comment stood out. We were in the car, weeks later, and he said,"It's like a dream." I said, "When you were dead?" And he responded, "No. This life is like a dream, the other is the real world." It reminded me of the scripture, "These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ" (Col 2:17).

That is beautiful... "this life is like a dream," if we could only get that through our thick skulls! Thank you sooo much for sharing this!

God bless you,
Lisa

E

ET101 Sep 28, 2012

I am always struck by the richness of detail that some such people speak of - I keep one audio account of hell to hand and try and listen to it regularly just to keep my mind sharp about the eternal stakes.

"No. This life is like a dream, the other is the real world."

I had a dream once where I knew I was dreaming. Knowing that it was a dream was so liberating. I let loose and fought the 'monsters' etc because I knew I would wake up in the end and be fine.

There was a lesson in that - similarly, knowing that this world will pass, we ought to keep it fresh in our minds that this life is a dream, and to live eternity now - liberated.