Andy Anderson on the "Overcomers"

[MacDuff]

It could be true that when we die we go to wherever Jesus is. At this point he is in heaven seated at the right hand of the Father. And we who are in Christ and part of his body thereby, it makes sense that we would be there. But also there is also the reference to the heavenly Jerusalem, and Revelation is clear that Jesus is there. And it comes to earth in the end. And that both the Father and the Son are there. So it may be we can eventually come up with a scenario that covers most of the verses. And there seems to be quite a few verses that hint at what will be after death. I know there are a lot of books written on the subject. None of which I've read because I only have time to deal with the present.

These people who claim to have seen things on the other side before being revived, there are getting to be quite a few of these people. Haven't paid much mind to them either. Do they all become Christians? I'm thinking of that parable where Jesus said something like even if one was sent back they still wouldn't believe.

MacDuff

[ZNPaaneah]

Originally Posted by MacDuff

These people who claim to have seen things on the other side before being revived, there are getting to be quite a few of these people. Haven't paid much mind to them either. Do they all become Christians? I'm thinking of that parable where Jesus said something like even if one was sent back they still wouldn't believe.

MacDuff

I was in Taiwan teaching English and we were reading a story published in Life magazine on children that had been resuscitated and the pictures they drew of their experience. It was very interesting, regardless of where they lived or the religion of their family they all reported seeing Jesus. In that class there was a man who said he also had been resuscitated, and that he had died for about 30 seconds. I already knew from prior discussions that he was a Buddhist.

So I asked what his experience was. He said he also saw Jesus. That really confused me, so I asked if you saw Jesus why are you a Buddhist? He said that for a few weeks he tried going to Christian churches but didn't understand what they were talking about so he returned to being a Buddhist.

[aron]

Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah

I was in Taiwan teaching English and we were reading a story published in Life magazine on children that had been resuscitated and the pictures they drew of their experience. It was very interesting, regardless of where they lived or the religion of their family they all reported seeing Jesus.

The universal story I hear is of being "embraced by the light", as Betty Eadie put it.

http://www.embracedbythelight.com/

And I had not considered the "Jesus" part of it so strongly, but you seem to have a point.

I remember a story of an English rock star, Robert Plant, who wrote a blues number called "In my time of dying", in which at one point he sings, "Oh my Jesus!" over and over. Years later, he was in a horrific car crash. He testified that as the vehicle tumbled down the embankment, the only thing in his mind were those words.

[aron]

Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah

... there was a man who said he also had been resuscitated, and that he had died for about 30 seconds. I already knew from prior discussions that he was a Buddhist.

So I asked what his experience was. He said he also saw Jesus. That really confused me, so I asked if you saw Jesus why are you a Buddhist? He said that for a few weeks he tried going to Christian churches but didn't understand what they were talking about so he returned to being a Buddhist.

I think that story is hilarious. I mean, I have to laugh so that I don't cry. My feeling for quite some time has been that the only thing stopping the Good News is our interpretation of it.

By this I don't argue for some universalist, watered-down version, but rather that the power, the simplicity, the purity and the visceral impact of the Spirit of the Man Jesus has been largely lost. We believers get a brief glimpse, then we typically spend the rest of our time in either empty ritual or empty doctrine. And the curious and open person visits our ekklesia and says, like your Buddhist, "I don't know what they are talking about".