Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You

by John Burke

All of life is a birth canal into eternal life. One day all creation

the outcome will always serve God’s purpose in the end, no matter how long it takes to unfold or how impossible it might seem.9

That’s why Jesus taught us to pray, “Your will be done [Father], on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew

Life is all about learning to love God and trust him while we can’t see him, because then we will forever choose to love and follow him throughout eternity when we can see him.

Angels are God’s servants sent to help

God has also created spiritual creatures who do not live confined to time and space as we do—one species we call angels.

Angel literally means “messenger.”

“Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews

1:14). Scripture teaches that

angels are spirit creatures who live in God’s realm, but they can interact with earth in order to serve people and accomplish God’s will. Even in Heaven, God accomplishes his will through free-will cooperation of angels. Some are guardian angels ...

2), some are over cities or nations (Daniel 12:1). And some were...

Not every spiritual being is benevolent. Jeffrey Burton Russell, professor of history, emeritus, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is a leading historian on the topic of evil. He says, “The problem of evil exists in every single world-view and religious tradition except radical relativism.”5 Russell points out that although modern people have tended to believe less and less in a supernatural evil force, the practical experience of evil has

not decreased but maybe even increased in our society.

The Hebrew Old Testament prophets taught there are unseen spiritual beings at work in the world. The Hebrew word that is translated Satan means “adversary, accuser.” Devil, diabolos, means “one who divides.” In the New Testament, Jesus confronted demonic forces, and Russell notes how most c...

“Our angels are ever vigilant to protect us from evil that originates from other dimensions of

the unknown universes. . . . They

are keeping u...

There exist supernatural beings that seek chaos. They have no power over us except the power we give them. They are known as d...

Lucifer’s downfall was his pride. God says through Ezekiel the prophet, “You were anointed as a guardian cherub [high-ranking angel], for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God. . . . You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. . . . Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth” (Ezekiel 28:14–17). When Lucifer fell, he persuaded a third of Heaven’s angels to follow him (Revelation 12:3–7). He wanted to be God, and as Ezekiel 28 indicates, his evil angels’ most powerful lie is to persuade us to play god of our little universe (my will be done) instead of allowing God to be God (God’s will be done). Deceptive

Scripture teaches that God wants us to seek his guidance so we won’t be deceived.

As Oxford scholar C. S. Lewis once said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”17 Jesus said, “It is not my

My life was devoted to building a monument to my ego. My family, my sculptures, my painting. . . . All of those things were gone now, and what did they matter? I wasn’t far from becoming like one of my own tormentors for all eternity.3

And, much more significantly to me than the physical healing was that I was experiencing a love that is beyond—far beyond words. I have never been able to articulate it, but I can say that if I took all my experience of love in my entire life and could condense it into a moment, it still wouldn’t begin to measure up to the intensity of this love that I was feeling. And, that love is the foundation of my life from that moment on. . . .

Everything was going at a great rate of speed, and off in the distance is this . . . tremendous center of light. A world of light beyond being able to perceive . . . bigger than galaxies. . . . And, as I looked towards this tremendous center of light [I knew] . . . that’s God’s house. That’s

heaven.6

As he looked far across space to this great City of Light, Howard said he had a life review in the presence of Jesus and several

angels,

Howard revived, miraculously, and several years later left his career as a university professor and chairman of the a...

“Hell is separation from God,” he says. “How it is experienced is proportionate to the life of the individual.” God gives us free will; neither he nor the angels will intervene. He will respect a person’s choice to embark on an eternal journey without

Why would a loving God allow so much evil, pain, and suffering on this earth? Because it’s a warning and a chance to choose him!

the Holy Spirit keeps our evil inclinations in check on earth through our consciences and law (John

God does not want us to fear death or condemnation. He has made entrance to Heaven so simple that anyone, anywhere, can call on his Name and be saved—set right with God (Romans

10:13).

The only thing that can keep us out of Heave...

heard his Name? Ultimately, we don’t know. But we do know God looks at the heart, he’s just, and Scripture tells us it is by faith, not by our deeds, ...

If a person is not ruled by the love of God, he or she is ruled by hatred of God. The greatest hatred of God is to be indifferent to God.4

it is true: beauty comes of all

things.

Through this experience, I was able to clearly see that every action, every decision, and every human interaction impacts the bigger world in far more significant ways

than we could ever be capable of appreciating.7 God records every thought,

every act, and every motive. He promises to reward those who love him and have been faithful to him. Jesus reminds us what to live for: “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in hi...

what they have done” (Matthew 16:26–27). The life revie...

“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known” (Matthew 10:26).

“Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart.

Some of the things I would have never imagined could have caused pain.

every single person can succeed in what God put them here to do. He looks at the heart and motives most. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes

to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Jesus told us that in the final day God will say, “When you failed to love, serve, clothe, feed, care for the least, the forgotten, the unimportant . . . you failed to do it to me. When you did love, serve, clothe, feed, care for the least important, you did it to me—now come and receive your reward” (Matthew 25, my paraphrase).

Jesus said it’s the little, unseen things that matter: “When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:13–14).

One NDEr noticed, “I lingered at those incidents where I had trouble recognizing my responsibility until I was ready to accept it.” He wanted to explain his reasoning