Ask Pastor Mike Live

Gina: What do you think about some people who've had near-death experiences?

Focal Point Ministries: I wrote about this in a book I wrote for Harvest House called *Ten Mistakes People Make About Heaven, Hell and the Afterlife*. I dealt with it having studied these books and testimonies and people giving their stories in churches about their near-death experiences.

On the whole, I would say this: it seems like most of these, much like I said with the last caller, you'll know them by their fruits. Most of the theological fruit that comes from people on the teaching circuit or writing circuit when they write these books on their near-death experiences leads to bad theology.

The only near-death experience we have in Scripture, so to speak, is Paul there in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12. He talks about having been taken up into the third heaven, but God didn't allow him to say anything about it. He didn't write a best-selling book about it.

The point is, whatever's going on in the other world, even in Jesus's parable about someone who's gone to the other world and wants to go back or send someone back, the answer is always no. It's appointed unto man once to die. Therefore, I think there's a lot of hallucinogenic effects of being near death.

I'm really concerned when I read about some of these books, and I may even footnote some of this in my book on the topic. It's all about heaven, hell, and the afterlife. As I research this, some of the books themselves have been recounted because people have admitted, "We just wrote this stuff. Not all of it was true. We took a kernel of truth and built something that would sell."

That's horrific when people are lying in these contexts. Not that all of them are; I think some people legitimately believe, "I died on the operating table," or, "I died in that car accident and I went toward the light. I had a conversation and then I went back." But we don't usually see people coming out of that having biblical things to say.

They often have unbiblical things to say, and I judge that kind of experience by the fruit of it. If your fruit is telling everybody—for instance, a lot of these near-death experience testimonies are: "Everything's going to be fine. Don't worry about death. It's all good. You walk toward the light. I felt good. I felt fine"—and it's not a call to repentance and faith, it's problematic.

If it's all about "it's all going to be okay, don't fear death," well, the non-Christian should fear death. So anybody who's telling people not to fear death better be focused on the Gospel, because that's the only hope I have.

So, Gina, that's my concern. I could talk more about it. There have been other books written critiquing a lot of the near-death experiences, and maybe I footnote that in my book. I'd have to look it up. But if you want to read a little bit about death, the concept of death, and why the near-death experiences don't always impress me, it makes me rightfully very skeptical of the veracity of what they're saying.

I can easily judge by God's Word that what they're saying is not true based on the fruit of it. Hope that helps, Gina.