Man who had 'near-death' brush describes approaching God
@Spirit Daily
Periodically we've reported on those who have what are known as "near-death" experiences, glimpses of the afterlife during events in which they "died" but came back. In Christianity such accounts were first recorded by Pope Gregory the Great in the fourth century (if we don't count Paul's mention in II Corinthians 12:2 of a man who went to the "third heaven"). Since that time literally millions have had the experience, many of them because of new medical technology. We've reported several times on the incredible case of Howard Storm, an atheistic college professor from the Cincinnati area who suffered a perforated duodenum (intestine) in 1985 and much to his shock found himself in a netherworld. He was on his way to what he believes was hell before calling out to Jesus. He is now a Protestant minister, and though, naturally, we differ with some of his views, he is a very good man and his story is about as profound as it gets.
Reverend Storm describes his rescue from the dark -- and his approach of God. We submit it for your discernment.
"I saw a vast area of illumination that looked like a galaxy," he told an interviewer who wrote an academic book called The Near-Death Experiencer. "In the center there was an enormously bright concentration. Outside the center countless millions of spheres of light were flying about entering and leaving what was a great Beingness at the center.
"As we approached the great luminous center I was permeated with palpable radiation which I experienced as intense feelings and thoughts. People who had had their near-death experiences, I have since learned, have described encounters with the Light as being exposed to complete knowledge. Yet when they are asked to remember, they recall few if any specifics. That's the way it was for me. At the time I felt that I was in touch with everything, but subsequently I couldn't recall the knowledge. And there was a period of time, during my presence in the great Light, when I was beyond any thoughts. It is not possible to articulate the exchange that occurred. Simply stated, I knew God loved me.
"Eventually I began to be aware of my separate self, and I became very ashamed and afraid. How many times in my life had I denied and scoffed at the reality before me, and how many thousands of times had I used it as a curse. What incredible intellectual arrogance to use the name as an insult. I was afraid to go closer. I was also aware that the incredible intensity of the emanations might disintegrate what I still experienced as my intact physical body. The being who was supporting me, my friend [Jesus], was aware of my fear and reluctance and shame. For the first time He spoke to my mind in a male voice and told me if I was uncomfortable we didn't have to go closer. So we stopped where we were, still countless miles away from the great Being."
It was then that three angelic-like beings approached Storm and answered many questions he had, including about America. What he was told bears striking resemblance to the messages we have been reporting from "Our Lady of America." "This country has been given an assignment," Reverend Storm says he was told. "It was to be a light to the nations, a moral leader to the world. It has been blessed more than any people in the history of the world."
If America does not come back to its moral senses, says Storm, "God will take the blessing away. This society will very rapidly fall into barbarism."
But out of any chaos, says Storm, God will "raise people to live in peace and love."
[For Howard Storms videos, click here]