Heaven and Hell are real places! We have all heard the stories of near death experiences where people almost die on the operating table, go through a tunnel of light, see loved ones that have passed on, then a voice tells them to go back its not their time and woooooosh they’re back in the operating room. Well one of the most interesting books I have read in the last 10 years is called "To Hell and Back," it reports about people having near death experiences and going not to a wonderful peaceful place, rather just the opposite. Here are some excerpts from the book. Following the book report are some scriptures taken from the Bible about heaven and hell.
Click here to watch the To Hell and Back video
TO HELL AND BACK
By Doctor Maurices S. Rawlings
To Hell and Back is not a religious book, even though it is about life after death. Dr. Rawlings (the author) is not a theologian or a pastor, but a cardiologist. Dr. Rawlings writes of the experiences of his own patients brought back to life. Here are some excerpts from his book.
"With the advent of new resuscitation techniques people can now be brought back to life after being dead several minutes. Just what happens after death. Eleven million Americans have reported near death, or out of body experiences. The typical description involves a beautiful light at the end of a tunnel. Many Christians are convinced that the light is Jesus Christ, because they often saw a figure on a cross. Some others perceive a heaven conforming to their own particular faith. Remarkably, others see the bright light turn into a ring of fire." (pg 10)
"Among the resuscitees who claim to have had a spiritual experience, the experience becomes so real that the victim is transfixed by every detail. While there are many positive experiences, there are also, as we shall soon see, many negative experiences." (pg 32)
WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE SEE LIGHT?
Why do people almost always report seeing a light and feeling only peace & serenity after a near death experience? Many religions associate their leader with light, and as mentioned in the Christian faith, both God and Lucifer claim to be light. It is crucial in near death experiences to identify this source of light -- whether the light is a true representative of God, or a luring mirage of evil that imitates God as an all forgiving force (pg 59).
Christians often perceive the light as Jesus, while a Jewish person might perceive the light as a representative of Jehovah God, yet a Hindu might envision Brahma, Vishnu, or Shiva, etc... (pg 61). But misrepresentations do in fact occur. One day I (Dr. Rawlings) performed CPR on a man who had been shot in the chest during a bank robbery. During CPR this man told me that he had an out-of-body experience, during this time he said he encountered the heavenly light, he was surprised at what surrounded him. There was no ridicule or rejection, the sordid parts of his life were not examined, and no mention was made of the couple he had killed three years before during a robbery. (pg 61).
I (keith mason) think that many of the experiences which seem to be positive, are positive only because it is a trick from Satan himself tricking people into believing that there only is peace and serenity after death (regardless if a person is Christian, Moslem, Atheist, Hindu, Jewish, or whatever); in this way people of all faiths are tricked into believing that there is no accountability, or no judgment.
The book is full of people who have had near death experiences, (both positive and negative). Skeptics dismiss these near death experiences as the result of a oxygen-depraved mind, while Theologians think that often these people are seeing none other than Satan himself... (pg 47).
NOT EVERYONE SEES LIGHT.
Not everyone sees light and reports peace and serenity. Dr. Rawlings explains it this way: As a general rule people remember that which is good, and forget that which is bad, and so if the interview is delayed just a little bit -- much less days, weeks, or months after the fact only the positive experiences will be found (pg 33).
Case in point. As stated earlier, many people see this tunnel of light turn into a ring of fire. Here are a couple of examples:
"I (Dr. Rawlings) was watching a monitor to guide a pacemaker into my patients heart when it happened: his heart stopped. This is the story. The patient recounts his story in this way: I blacked out and then you (Dr. Rawlings) hit me on the chest saying 'excuse me.' ... Somebody was yelling. Something crashed over my left shoulder, everybody went crazy. And then I was out of it. I was floating, pitch black, moving fast. The wind whistled by and I rushed toward this beautiful blazing light. As I moved past, the walls of the tunnel caught fire. Beyond the blazing tunnel a huge lake of fire was burning like an oil spill. Elongated shadows showed that people were moving aimlessly about like animals in a zoo enclosure. Down the hill I saw an old friend who had died -- the last I recall they were dragging the river for him, 'hi there Jim' I called out. He just looked at me, didn't even smile. They were taking him around the corner when he started screaming: I ran, but there was no way out. I kept saying 'Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord.' Suddenly I was back in my body, as you were putting in the stitches." (pg 72).
Another account is found on page 75. It goes like this: (one of Dr. Rawlings patients talking) "I was guided to a place in the spirit world called Hell. This is a place of punishment for all those who reject Jesus Christ. I not only saw Hell, but felt the torment that all who go there experience. The darkness of Hell is so intense that it seems to have a pressure per square inch. It is an extremely black, dismal, desolate, pressurized, heavy, type of darkness. It gives the individual a despondent feeling of loneliness. The heat is a dry, dehydrating type: your eyeballs are so dry they feel like red hot coals in there sockets. Your tongue and lips are parched and cracked with intense heat. ... The loneliness of Hell cannot be expressed." (pg 75).
Yet another story follows: "I (Dr. Rawlings) was giving CPR to a patient when the following incident occurred. I inserted a pacemaker through the shoulder and guided it through the vain into Charlie's heart. His heart stopped so I began to pound on the his heart, but as I did blood spurted out, I stopped to adjust the pacemaker. And as I did, Charlie's eyes would roll back in his head, he would sputter, turn blue, and convulse. This happened several times. Once while I was stopped to adjust the pacemaker Charlie screamed, 'Don't stop, don't stop, I'm in Hell, I'm in Hell.' Hallucinations, I thought at first, but most victims say, 'Take your big hands off me, your breaking my ribs,' but he was saying the opposite 'For Gods sake don't stop! Don't you understand, every time you stop I'm in Hell. When he asked me to pray for him I felt downright insulted. I told him to shut up, I'm a doctor, not a minister or a psychiatrist. Then the nurse gave me that expectant look. What would you do? That's when I composed a make believe prayer. I made him repeat the prayer to keep him off my back. Say it! Jesus Christ son of God, Keep me out of Hell. And a very strange thing took place. He was no longer that wild-eyed screaming lunatic. It was then that I too (Dr. Rawlings) became a Christian." (pg 37).
As I said earlier, Dr. Rawlings is not a Theologian, or a Minister, rather an unbiased Doctor who has written the findings of the patients he has resuscitated.
.====================================================
SCRIPTURES FROM THE BIBLE:
HELL: Hell is a real place, a place of torment.
Luke 16:19-31 Says this:
There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Can I repeat that. Verse 24 says:
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
HELL IS A PLACE OF SORROW & PAIN
Luke 13:28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth..."
HELL IS CALLED A LAKE OF FIRE
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Rev 21:8 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.
Rev 20:10 were cast into the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
.=================================
HEAVEN
Heaven on the other hand, is a place of beauty, of life, service, worship, and glory.
John 14:1-3 says
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
Rev 19:1-3 says
"And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever."
Rev 4:10-11 says
The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."
A description of heaven is given in Rev 21:1-22:7
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. 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. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."
"And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
.==================================
NO MORE SIN, NO MORE SORROW, NO MORE PAIN, GOD WILL BE THERE, GREAT PEOPLE WILL BE THERE, ONLY PEOPLE THAT ESTEEM OTHERS HIHGER THEMSELVES (Phil 2:3 says Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; let each esteem other better than themselves).
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.(Rev 21:4)
Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.(Rev 21:2).
I CANT WAIT.
Okay, What do I need to do to accept Jesus Christ as my savior (I want to go to heaven).
Click here to watch the To Hell and Back video
Click here to go to the Emjc3 Audio/video page
FROM CHRISTIANANSWERS.NET
Is there an actual place called "Hell"?
Why was Hell made?
How can a God of love send anybody to Hell?
What if I don't believe in Hell?
What should you be willing to do to stay out of Hell?
Will there literally be a burning fire in Hell?
Am I "good" enough to stay out of hell?
The EmJC3.com Home Page
Click here to watch the To Hell and Back video
TO HELL AND BACK
By Doctor Maurices S. Rawlings
To Hell and Back is not a religious book, even though it is about life after death. Dr. Rawlings (the author) is not a theologian or a pastor, but a cardiologist. Dr. Rawlings writes of the experiences of his own patients brought back to life. Here are some excerpts from his book.
"With the advent of new resuscitation techniques people can now be brought back to life after being dead several minutes. Just what happens after death. Eleven million Americans have reported near death, or out of body experiences. The typical description involves a beautiful light at the end of a tunnel. Many Christians are convinced that the light is Jesus Christ, because they often saw a figure on a cross. Some others perceive a heaven conforming to their own particular faith. Remarkably, others see the bright light turn into a ring of fire." (pg 10)
"Among the resuscitees who claim to have had a spiritual experience, the experience becomes so real that the victim is transfixed by every detail. While there are many positive experiences, there are also, as we shall soon see, many negative experiences." (pg 32)
WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE SEE LIGHT?
Why do people almost always report seeing a light and feeling only peace & serenity after a near death experience? Many religions associate their leader with light, and as mentioned in the Christian faith, both God and Lucifer claim to be light. It is crucial in near death experiences to identify this source of light -- whether the light is a true representative of God, or a luring mirage of evil that imitates God as an all forgiving force (pg 59).
Christians often perceive the light as Jesus, while a Jewish person might perceive the light as a representative of Jehovah God, yet a Hindu might envision Brahma, Vishnu, or Shiva, etc... (pg 61). But misrepresentations do in fact occur. One day I (Dr. Rawlings) performed CPR on a man who had been shot in the chest during a bank robbery. During CPR this man told me that he had an out-of-body experience, during this time he said he encountered the heavenly light, he was surprised at what surrounded him. There was no ridicule or rejection, the sordid parts of his life were not examined, and no mention was made of the couple he had killed three years before during a robbery. (pg 61).
I (keith mason) think that many of the experiences which seem to be positive, are positive only because it is a trick from Satan himself tricking people into believing that there only is peace and serenity after death (regardless if a person is Christian, Moslem, Atheist, Hindu, Jewish, or whatever); in this way people of all faiths are tricked into believing that there is no accountability, or no judgment.
The book is full of people who have had near death experiences, (both positive and negative). Skeptics dismiss these near death experiences as the result of a oxygen-depraved mind, while Theologians think that often these people are seeing none other than Satan himself... (pg 47).
NOT EVERYONE SEES LIGHT.
Not everyone sees light and reports peace and serenity. Dr. Rawlings explains it this way: As a general rule people remember that which is good, and forget that which is bad, and so if the interview is delayed just a little bit -- much less days, weeks, or months after the fact only the positive experiences will be found (pg 33).
Case in point. As stated earlier, many people see this tunnel of light turn into a ring of fire. Here are a couple of examples:
"I (Dr. Rawlings) was watching a monitor to guide a pacemaker into my patients heart when it happened: his heart stopped. This is the story. The patient recounts his story in this way: I blacked out and then you (Dr. Rawlings) hit me on the chest saying 'excuse me.' ... Somebody was yelling. Something crashed over my left shoulder, everybody went crazy. And then I was out of it. I was floating, pitch black, moving fast. The wind whistled by and I rushed toward this beautiful blazing light. As I moved past, the walls of the tunnel caught fire. Beyond the blazing tunnel a huge lake of fire was burning like an oil spill. Elongated shadows showed that people were moving aimlessly about like animals in a zoo enclosure. Down the hill I saw an old friend who had died -- the last I recall they were dragging the river for him, 'hi there Jim' I called out. He just looked at me, didn't even smile. They were taking him around the corner when he started screaming: I ran, but there was no way out. I kept saying 'Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord.' Suddenly I was back in my body, as you were putting in the stitches." (pg 72).
Another account is found on page 75. It goes like this: (one of Dr. Rawlings patients talking) "I was guided to a place in the spirit world called Hell. This is a place of punishment for all those who reject Jesus Christ. I not only saw Hell, but felt the torment that all who go there experience. The darkness of Hell is so intense that it seems to have a pressure per square inch. It is an extremely black, dismal, desolate, pressurized, heavy, type of darkness. It gives the individual a despondent feeling of loneliness. The heat is a dry, dehydrating type: your eyeballs are so dry they feel like red hot coals in there sockets. Your tongue and lips are parched and cracked with intense heat. ... The loneliness of Hell cannot be expressed." (pg 75).
Yet another story follows: "I (Dr. Rawlings) was giving CPR to a patient when the following incident occurred. I inserted a pacemaker through the shoulder and guided it through the vain into Charlie's heart. His heart stopped so I began to pound on the his heart, but as I did blood spurted out, I stopped to adjust the pacemaker. And as I did, Charlie's eyes would roll back in his head, he would sputter, turn blue, and convulse. This happened several times. Once while I was stopped to adjust the pacemaker Charlie screamed, 'Don't stop, don't stop, I'm in Hell, I'm in Hell.' Hallucinations, I thought at first, but most victims say, 'Take your big hands off me, your breaking my ribs,' but he was saying the opposite 'For Gods sake don't stop! Don't you understand, every time you stop I'm in Hell. When he asked me to pray for him I felt downright insulted. I told him to shut up, I'm a doctor, not a minister or a psychiatrist. Then the nurse gave me that expectant look. What would you do? That's when I composed a make believe prayer. I made him repeat the prayer to keep him off my back. Say it! Jesus Christ son of God, Keep me out of Hell. And a very strange thing took place. He was no longer that wild-eyed screaming lunatic. It was then that I too (Dr. Rawlings) became a Christian." (pg 37).
As I said earlier, Dr. Rawlings is not a Theologian, or a Minister, rather an unbiased Doctor who has written the findings of the patients he has resuscitated.
.====================================================
SCRIPTURES FROM THE BIBLE:
HELL: Hell is a real place, a place of torment.
Luke 16:19-31 Says this:
There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Can I repeat that. Verse 24 says:
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
HELL IS A PLACE OF SORROW & PAIN
Luke 13:28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth..."
HELL IS CALLED A LAKE OF FIRE
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Rev 21:8 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.
Rev 20:10 were cast into the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
.=================================
HEAVEN
Heaven on the other hand, is a place of beauty, of life, service, worship, and glory.
John 14:1-3 says
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
Rev 19:1-3 says
"And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever."
Rev 4:10-11 says
The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."
A description of heaven is given in Rev 21:1-22:7
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. 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. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."
"And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
.==================================
NO MORE SIN, NO MORE SORROW, NO MORE PAIN, GOD WILL BE THERE, GREAT PEOPLE WILL BE THERE, ONLY PEOPLE THAT ESTEEM OTHERS HIHGER THEMSELVES (Phil 2:3 says Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; let each esteem other better than themselves).
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.(Rev 21:4)
Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.(Rev 21:2).
I CANT WAIT.
Okay, What do I need to do to accept Jesus Christ as my savior (I want to go to heaven).
Click here to watch the To Hell and Back video
Click here to go to the Emjc3 Audio/video page
FROM CHRISTIANANSWERS.NET
Is there an actual place called "Hell"?
Why was Hell made?
How can a God of love send anybody to Hell?
What if I don't believe in Hell?
What should you be willing to do to stay out of Hell?
Will there literally be a burning fire in Hell?
Am I "good" enough to stay out of hell?
The EmJC3.com Home Page
