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When I was young, I had no choice. I went to Sunday School and Church. I belonged to a protestant church, in a small neighborhood. Even at an early age I began to question the doctrine. Questioning the doctrine of “The Trinity” got me sent to the pastor. After some discussion I was told to simply “believe it, or end up in hell.”
The doctrine of salvation was another big question. How could believing Jesus was God and, He died for our sins save me from eternal hell? Didn’t I have to do something, feel something. It was easy to say “yes, I believe,” however that didn’t make me feel any different than before. I was missing something, but no one seemed to have the answer that worked for me.
Religion made me plenty afraid of going to hell. So afraid I had nightmares and would wake up crying and shaking. I had given my heart to God dozens of times by going down to the front. It didn’t help, the fear got worse.
I went to different churches, and studied different religions. This did help me with the fear. I learned not all churches, or religions believed in hell. But the nagging fear remained. When I returned to college I took “Religion” as a minor. “Old Testament,” “New Testament,” “Comparative Religions,” “Religion Founders,” are some of the classes I attended. Here I lost most of my fear, but what about spirituality. I still didn’t know what to believe about an afterlife, if there was such a thing.
Further studied revealed that most people do believe in an afterlife. But there was no consensus on what this afterlife might be. Some believed in God, and some not so much. From many different people I learned many different things about how the afterlife was supposed to work. But most just said “I don’t know.” I was confused. But I never gave up studying the question of spirituality and the afterlife.
Then the answer to this question came to me in the form of a heart attack. I was 49-years-old at the time, this heart attack and subsequent “Near Death Experience” started a spiritual journey that continues to this day. I found out what I was supposed to learn in church, and to do with my life. When I did it I felt the results of my efforts.
What I had missed going to church was now evident, bright and bold in my mind. It was Jesus, not believing Him to be God, or not God. Rather believing and following His teachings. It was very important to heed and do what He preached. Jesus knew about spirituality, He knew about the afterlife, and He knew exactly how our Creator wanted us to live our life.
Jesus’ basic teaching is Love. Love your enemies, your neighbors, those that hate you, those that use you, cheat you, just love everyone. Serve those in need. Feed the hungry, visit the sick, and those in prison, give to those that ask of you do not turn them away. That is exactly the kind of unconditional love that surrounded me and held me in my near death experience. It is exactly the kind of unconditional love thousands of other near death experiencers also feel. It is the love our Creator feels for us, and the love we are to feel for each other.
I called myself a Christian for years. All you had to do was join the church and you were a Christian. Now the word Christian means “a follower of Jesus” to me. This set the bar a lot higher, and over the years I have tried to reach those heights on a daily basis. No more judging, ridiculing, or belittling others. No more exaggerating, or overstating my deeds, only the simple truth will do. Choosing carefully to support leaders who are truthful in their words.
After my experience I worked in Hospice care, and attended spiritual groups where I helped others. Eventually I started a website on near death experiences and a blog. These sites are my contribution to mankind. I know they helped others because they tell me.
So if you want a happy and joy fulfilled life then follow the teachings of Jesus. You will be amazed at how well it works.
If you had a spiritual experience I would really like to hear about it. You can type your NDE or other spiritual experience here. If you would like to read more near death experiences. Some NDE are not positive if you wish to know about them.
© 2019, Lekatt. All rights reserved.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVwwJ1ey2Pg
This video is for Bible students. It will help them to understand the teachings of Jesus as they relate to Near Death Experiences. The knowledge imparted here came from thousands of NDEs, and helps explain many of Jesus’ Parables and Beatitudes. Jesus taught love, unconditional love. After experiencing and studying the phenomenon of near death experiences for over 30 years I believe Jesus knew the truth of life. Follow Him.
© 2019, Lekatt. All rights reserved.
Me
first; my family first; my city first; my state first; my country
first; does it end? My group first; my religion first; my nationality
first; my politics first; my decisions first; etc., etc., ad
nauseam.
If
any of these expressions sound selfish to you, it is only because
they are selfish. Jesus’ teachings are just the opposite of “me
first” language. When the people using this language reach Heaven
Jesus will explain it to them before sending them to the back of the
line. “The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.”
© 2018 – 2019, Lekatt. All rights reserved.
I grew up in Christian churches until I became old enough to choose whether I would go to church or not. I chose not to go to church around the age of 16. I had listened to all the lessons diligently and knew them by heart. But they had little appeal for a teenager setting out to make his mark in the world.
A big surprise when I went to college, and took a minor in religion. I was asked to read the entire Bible, and found that much of what I had been taught in church wasn’t in the Bible, and there was a lot of stuff in the Bible that I had never heard about in church. Disbelief, confusion, and other emotions rising from this discovery caused me to become agnostic, and generally forget about religion altogether.
I remained agnostic right up to the last second before my near death experience. During the experience my beliefs about life and the physical world were shattered and lay as dust about my feet. I gained a new knowledge, an expansion of consciousness, an enlightenment that has stayed with me for over twenty years now, and will remain with me forever.
I now know the difference between spirituality and religion, that I am loved unconditionally, that I am eternal, that I am spirit, in a physical body, living in a physical world created by Higher Intelligence. But the most valuable thing I received was an understanding of the teachings of Jesus.
People are leaving church today more than ever before. I think it is because the churches are not teaching love. They seem more concerned with doctrines and social issues than following the teachings of Jesus. I even had a minister tell me the teachings of Jesus were OK for His time, but were impractical in today’s world.
Jesus taught: John 13:34
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
This is the core teaching of the near death experience. Surrounded by the light of unconditional love, every experiencer feels the compassion and caring of a loving God, and knows he is expected to emulate that love with everyone in the world.
Jesus taught: Matthew 5:43
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”
This is consistent with near death experiences and the theme of love one another. We can not love only those who love us, we are to love all people. There are no exceptions to God’s love, nor should there be to our love of one another.
Jesus taught: Matthew 18:21
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
Jesus said: Matthew 7:1:
“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”
Near death experiencers feel total acceptance in the light. There is no judgement from God. We are loved for who we are, God’s children, and not what we believe or what we have done. There is no religion in the spirit world, only love. Experiencers do go through a “life review.” In this review their whole life passes before them, they feel the pain they have caused others as well as the joy. It is like changing places with others you have hurt and feeling exactly what they felt. It is a learning tool and not a judgement. We learn through the life review just how important it is to treat everyone with kindness and love.
Jesus said: John 14:1:
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
“Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
“Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
“Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
“Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”
Jesus said: Luke 17:20:
“The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”
These teachings of Jesus are about the Oneness of all creation. The Oneness that near death experiencers feel within the light. We are within God and God is within us. We are One. All creation is One. Like drops of water in the ocean, or leaves of a giant tree, we are all connected. The sum total of all creation is God. If we wish to know God we look within ourselves with prayer and meditation. Asking for knowledge, strength, and gratitude to be like Jesus, to love ourselves and all others so we may do as Jesus does.
Jesus said: Matthew 25:35:
“For I was an hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
“Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee as hungry, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Most near death experiencers are impelled to help others. The experience, almost always, causes profound personality and life style changes in the experiencer. Some NDE experiencers go back to school to become teachers or counselors. Some lecture, write books. Others do volunteer work at Hospices, Nursing Homes and Hospitals. Some open “Centers of Learning” or start classes/support groups. Even those who don’t “go public” with their experience are changed into kinder and more loving individuals. The impact of the experience is to change the experiencer, and the change lasts a lifetime. As Jesus said we are to help others, especially those in need.
This does not begin to cover all the teachings of love by Jesus. But it is a beginning in the right direction. I wish churches will begin to return to the teachings of Jesus as their main message of hope, and purpose in life.
Below is a quote from Paul lest we forget the real definition of love, and then a final quote from Jesus. God bless all.
“Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love doesn’t demand its own way. It’s not irritable or touchy. It doesn’t hold grudges and will not notice when others do it wrong. It’s never glad about injustice, but rejoices in truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends”. — Saint Paul.
The final quote comes from Jesus.
Jesus said: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” –John 14:15
Some near death experiencers see and talk to Jesus during their experience. They say He is always kind and loving to them, just as He asks them to be with others. I hope this helps in understanding near death experiences.
© 2009 – 2019, Lekatt. All rights reserved.
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