Near-death Experiences Case #5

Thomas Welch was required to walk across a trestle over a dam fifty-five feet above the water where the sawmill was located. He gives this account:

"I was dead as far as this world is concerned. But I was alivein another world. There was no lost time. I learned more in that hour out of the body than I could ever learn while in this body. All I could remember is falling over the edge of the trestle. The locomotive engineer watched me go all the way down into the water. The next thing I knew I was standing near a shoreline of this burning, turbulent, rolling mass of blue fire. As far as my eyes could see it was just the same, a lake of fire. There was nobody in it. I was not in it. I saw other people whom I had known that had died when I was thirteen. Another was a boy I had gone to school with who had died from cancer of the jaw that had started with an infected tooth while he was just a young lad. He was two years older than I. We recognized each other, even though we did not speak. They, too, were looking and seemed to be perplexed and in deep thought, as though they could not believe what they saw. Their expressions were those of bewilderment and confusion. The scene was so awesome that words simply fail. There is no way to escape, no way out. You don't even try to look for one. This is the prison out of which no one can escape except by Divine intervention. I said to myself in an audible voice, 'If I had known about this I would have done anything that was required of me to escape coming to a place like this.' But I had not known."

Near-death Experiences Case #4

Dr. Rawlings personally recorded this account shortly after reviving a heart attack victim:

"Next thing I remember was going through this dark passage. I didn't touch any of the walls. I emerged out into an open field and was walking toward a big white wall, which was very long. It had three steps leading up to a doorway in the wall. On a landing above the stairs sat a man clothed in a robe that was dazzling white and glowing. His face had a glowing radiance also. He was looking down into a big book, studying. As I approached him I felt a great reverence and I asked him, "Are you Jesus?" He said, "No, you will find Jesus and your loved ones beyond that door." After he looked in his book he said, "You may go on through."

"And then I walked through the door, and saw on the other side this beautiful, brilliantly lit city, reflecting what seemed to be the sun's rays. It was all made of gold or some shiny metal with domes and steeples in beautiful array, and the streets were shining, not quite like marble but made of something I have never seen before. There were many people all dressed in glowing white robes with radiant faces. They looked beautiful. The air smelled so fresh. I have never smelled anything like it. There was a background of music that was beautiful, heavenly music, and I saw two figures walking toward me and I immediately recognized them. They were my mother and father, both had died years ago. My mother was an amputee and yet that leg was now restored! She was walking on two legs! I said to my mother, 'You and father are beautiful.' And they said to me, 'You have the same radiance and you are also beautiful'."

"As we walked along together to find Jesus, I noticed there was one building larger than all of the others. It looked like a football stadium with an open end to the building where a blinding light radiated from it. I tried to look up at the light but I couldn't. It was too brilliant. Many people seemed to be bowed in front of his building in adoration and prayer. I said to my parents, 'What is that?' They said, 'In there is God. ' I will never forget it. I have never seen anything like it. We walked on as they were taking me to see Jesus and we passed many people. All of them were happy. I have never felt such a sense of well being. As we approached the place where Jesus was located, I suddenly felt this tremendous surge of electricity through my body as it someone had hit me in the chest. My body arched upward as they were defibrillating my heart. I had been restored to my former life! But I was not too happy to come back. However, I knew I had been sent back to tell others about this experience. I plan to dedicate the rest of my life to telling anyone who will listen!"

Near-death Experiences Case #3

As witnessed by Dr. Maurice Rawlings..

Several years ago a book was published, entitled Beyond Death's Door by Dr. Maurice Rawlings. Dr. Rawlings, a specialist in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease, resuscitated many people who had been clinically dead. Dr. Rawlings, a devout atheist, "considered all religion "hocus-pocus" and death nothing more than a painless extinction". But something happened in 1977 that brought a dramatic change in the life of Dr. Rawlings! He was resuscitating a man, terrified and screaming — descending down into the flames of hell:

"Each time he regained heartbeat and respiration, the patient screamed, "I am in hell!" He was terrified and pleaded with me to help him. I was scared to death. . . Then I noticed a genuinely alarmed look on his face. He had a terrified look worse than the expression seen in death! This patient had a grotesque grimace expressing sheer horror! His pupils were dilated, and he was perspiring and trembling — he looked as if his hair was "on end."
Then still another strange thing happened. He said,"Don't you understand? I am in hell. . . Don't let me go back to hell!" . . .the man was serious, and it finally occurred to me that he was indeed in trouble. He was in a panic like I had never seen before."
(Maurice Rawlings, Beyond Death's Door,(Thomas Nelson Inc., 1979) p. 3).

Dr. Rawlings said, no one, who could have heard his screams and saw the look of terror on his face could doubt for a single minute that he was actually in a place called Hell!