—By Father DavidDFO 850_219 June 1978

—What happens when you die?—A Book Review of Dr. R.A. Moody's Life After Life: A collection of death experiences of his patients & others!

60. AT THE REVIEW, EVERYONE OF THEM HAD THE FEELING that this was not being shown to them because the angel had to examine the facts of the history, but it was being shown to them to remind them of their life, as though God was letting them be their own judge of what they'd accomplished!

61. IT'S LIKE YOU ARE MADE YOUR OWN JUDGE‚ you see for yourself where you failed & where you succeeded, & you know it's the truth! The Being of Light sort of fades out of the picture while your history is going on, but then at the end He reappears & asks‚ "Now what do you want to do? Do you want to go back & do better & finish your work & help others? Do you want another chance?—Or are you satisfied & want to stay?" It's like being given a second chance.

62. IT REMINDS ME OF SOME OF THOSE QUIZ PROGRAMS where, if you made it on the first question & won, now you answer the next one for more money—& you either may get more or you may go broke! In other words‚ "Do you want to die now & get what reward you are going to get as is?—Or do you want to go back & do better, so you'll have a better reward?"

63. MOST OF THEM DECIDE THEY WANT TO GO BACK & DO BETTER. But a few don't want to go back at all, because life has been very hard. They don't even like life, they don't like the old world, & they are so thrilled & happy in this new world, they even dread the thought of having to go back!

64. OTHERS HE HAS TO ALMOST MAKE THEM GO BACK: "You have to go back & finish what you started to do" or, "You have to go back & help some people", or, "You have to go back & take care of your children," etc.

65. THAT'S THE FEELING I HAD WHEN I WAS REALLY DYING SOMETIME AGO: I really wanted to go. I didn't want to stay. But it came to me very strongly when you fellows prayed & talked to me, well, I had to stay for your sake. Like Apostle Paul said, "It's easier for me to go, but it's better for you that I stay." (Phil.1:23,24.) So the Question was No.8, & the Review was No.9,

66. NEXT COMES THE BARRIER, NO.10. By this time you have come to a place of decision‚ the point past which there is no return! The Barrier is represented in different ways, but it's like the Borderline of Heaven. Once you step across that line, there is no going back‚ & it's up to you to make that choice or the choice is made for you, one or the other.

67. THE BARRIER APPEARS SOMETIMES AS A WALL, A GATE, A FENCE, A STREAM, A BODY OF WATER, A MIST OR CLOUD—it's represented in different ways. But they have the distinct feeling, they know that if they go any further there's no going back, they'll pass the point of no return. That's a good way to express it.

68. I GUESS YOU COULD CALL NO.11 THE CHOICE OR THE ORDER TO GO BACK SO OF COURSE, THE NEXT STEP, NO.12, IS THE RETURN, The return to their body. Most of them expressed that this was the saddest part about the whole thing, having to go back to their body, especially when they're all messed up in a wreck or they're undergoing a painful operation & sick or injured & in pain!

69. THANK GOD, I WAS ONLY SLEEPING! Some of them really resented having to go back, & some pled not to have to go back, but some of them were compelled to go back anyway. I merely wished I could go back, & suddenly there I was again lying in bed!

70. NO.13. THEY HAD A GREAT IMPRESSION‚ A DISTINCT FEELING THAT THEY SHOULD TELL OTHERS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED. So the Holy Spirit really put a burden on their hearts to witness it, that it was to be a testimony & warning to others as well as themselves, to live better lives.

71. BUT THEN‚ NO.14 IS THE SHOCK THEY GET WHEN NOBODY BELIEVES THEM! It reminds me of the first witnessing experiences of new Christians. When first saved, they're all thrilled about it & want to tell everybody! But then everybody scoffs & makes fun of them

72. SO PRETTY SOON SOME OF THEM QUIT TELLING ANYBODY because nobody will believe them! People think they're crazy or flipped out, so they get to where they are actually afraid to tell anybody. People think they're some kind of a psycho or they've lost their minds! So they stop telling about it.

73. THEN THEY FINALLY MEET SOMEBODY OR FIND OUT ABOUT SOMEBODY WHO HAS HAD A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE, & then they are real anxious to share & compare notes & discuss it with somebody else.—And finally, No.15, it makes a real change for the better in all their lives!

74. THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK FIRST GOT HIS SUBJECTS WHO TOLD HIM THESE EXPERIENCES FROM HIS OWN PATIENTS & UNIVERSITY CLASSES. He began to sound them out on these things when he was teaching philosophy, & some phase of the subject brought this up: "What do we know about death?"

75. HE BRINGS OUT THE TABOOS OF DEATH, which is very interesting—how that here is something that should be a very popular subject because it happens to everybody, & yet it's something that we know the least about of almost any human experience.

76. EVEN TALKING ABOUT DEATH IS A HUMAN TABOO! You just don't talk about it‚ people don't like to talk about it, you try not to even think about it, they don't really seem to want to know. They just would rather forget it‚ even though they know it happens to everybody & is going to happen to them sometime. It's always the other guy who is going to die, not them!

77. HE ALSO DISCUSSED THE TWO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT ABOUT DEATH: Some people believe it's just unconsciousness—the annihilation of consciousness. Like the Jews always say, "When you die, you're just dead like a dog!" I've heard more Jews say that, that's their commonest answer. They don't care to believe in the resurrection or the afterlife, even though it's in their Old Testament Scriptures.

78. THE MODERN JEWS CLAIM THERE'S NO RESURRECTION & no resurrection is taught in the Old Testament. Yet there are several strong verses on it. (1Sam. 28:11‚14‚ & see page 6.) Jews say, "Our Bible doesn't teach anything about Resurrection, there's no afterlife! When you die, you're dead like a dog!"

79. THEN OF COURSE, THERE'S THE OTHER SCHOOL OF FAITH IN THE AFTERLIFE, far more popular throughout the ages & history, & a basic belief of most religions & cultures, the most widely held view of all! By far the vast majority of peoples & cultures in the history of all ages have believed there is life after death—that's the majority opinion.

80. SO FINALLY, NO.15, THE ONE WHO'S COME BACK FROM THE DEAD FINDS THE EXPERIENCE HAS PROFOUNDLY CHANGED & AFFECTED HIS WHOLE LIFE‚ & he lives differently after that.—Just like when I woke up, I went immediately & obeyed the Lord! I was almost scared to death not to obey the Lord after I came back to life!—Maybe I should say, I was scared to life! I mean, it had an effect, it made me do something! So even though they may stop telling people, they live better lives, they try to help people & be more loving, etc.

81. THE PRINCIPAL MESSAGE THAT THE BEING OF LIGHT WAS TRYING TO GET ACROSS TO THEM WAS THE IMPORTANCE OF LOVE!—And the secondary message was learning or wisdom. Keep your minds open to the Truth, & I would say, of course‚ the Word. Definitely they were given the impression that in the Afterlife they would continue to learn, & that there was a lot left to learn. We will still be learning lessons even in the Afterlife. This is a process which will continue. Isn't that beautiful!?

82. ONE OF THE COMMON SIGHTS THAT THEY SAW WHEN THEY GOT TO THE BORDER WAS THE CITY OF LIGHT, brilliant shining buildings surrounded by beautiful fields & trees & hills & streams & flowers & all the things I have told you about that I saw on my trip to Space City! Isn't that wonderful!

83. IT SO ENCOURAGED ME TO READ THIS, to find out that my experiences are in common with so many other people who've had the same experiences. Obviously his stories are from the people who came back, those who died & then were allowed to come back.—So they must've been good folks headed the right direction.

84. THEY LOOKED ACROSS THE BORDER & THEY SAW THE CITY OF LIGHT & the beautiful landscape! It shows you that the next world is not going to be too much different from this one—only better! After all, how could God make a world very much more beautiful than the one He has already made!

85. THEY ALSO ALL TESTIFIED TO THE BRILLIANCE OF THE COLOURS! One woman said the city was a City of Light, a sort of pale golden light, more beautiful than anything she had ever seen on Earth! Imagine! (Rev.21&22.)

86. NOW HERE'S THE TESTIMONY OF MANY, MANY‚ MANY, MANY PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN THERE & BACK! Why wouldn't modern Science & the World want to accept their testimony? Because "There are none so blind as those that will not see!" They don't want to see, they don't want to believe it!

87. SCIENCE FALSELY SO-CALLED (1TIM.6:20) DOESN'T WANT TO BELIEVE in the supernatural‚ the miraculous, the spiritual, that there's an afterlife, an afterworld, for this then proves that there's a God!—And "they do not like to retain God in their remembrance." (Rom.1:28.)

88. PAUL SAYS THAT IN THE FIRST CHAPTER OF ROMANS, & the whole story is right there!—Although the whole Creation testifies of the existence of the invisible God‚ they refuse to receive the testimony, because they choose to be ignorant!

89. BECAUSE THE WORLD DOES NOT LIKE TO RETAIN GOD IN THEIR KNOWLEDGE OR THEIR EDUCATION, they prefer to worship Creation (or Evolution) more than the Creator. Romans One really hits the nail right on the head! You want to know why evolution, & why the unbelief of science, & why the unbelievers?—It's all right there in Romans One, as simple as can be!

90. IT'S NOT THAT THEY DON'T KNOW THERE'S A GOD! It's not that there is not plenty of evidence that there's a God. It's simply that they don't want to know Him, & they don't want to confess that He exists. Because if they do, then they have to recognise Him!—And if they recognise Him, they have to admit that they owe Him some obeisance or obedience or some kind of acknowledgment.

91. ABOUT 150 SUCH DEATH EXPERIENCES form the foundation of Dr. Moody's death research. His book's foreword is by a lady, Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, already famous for her books on dying. She is now writing a book on the similar death experiences of about 300 cases that she has had. Hers are also actual cases of those who died & came back.

92. THE MAIN OPPOSITION THAT HE'S GETTING IS FROM THE CHURCHES!—LIKE JESUS DID!—Because some of the experiences don't agree with some of their doctrines. I don't know what doctrine they could have on death which would disagree with these experience. I've never heard much about death or dying in the churches, have you? They don't really prepare you, they don't really give you much information at all!

93. THE PICTURE THE CHURCHES ALWAYS GIVE YOU IS, YOU DIE & GO STRAIGHT UP TO BE IN HEAVEN WITH JESUS‚ & THAT'S IT! Well‚ that's true in a way—but any further details of the processing you go through they don't seem to have. They probably haven't believed the stories of the people who did die.

94. THE UNBELIEVING SCIENTISTS SIMPLY SAY THEY DON'T ACCEPT SUCH THINGS—it's just imagination‚ hallucination, dreams, etc., while they were unconscious, blah blah! But I certainly thought these stories were thrilling because they corroborated my own experiences & the experiences of others that I have heard of.

95. DID YOU KNOW YOU ALSO GROW UP IN HEAVEN? Remember, my Mother saw in her dream about Lamont's sister who died when 12, that Crystal looked the age that she would have been by the time of the dream about 18 years later—about 29 or 30! When Lamont died in WWII, Mother in that dream saw him walking up a beautiful Heavenly tree-lined road, meeting his sister Crystal coming down it. She not only had her identifying short neck, but she looked like she was about the age she should have been by then—29 or 30! So, praise the Lord!

96. I HOPE THIS WILL ENCOURAGE YOU, TO KNOW A BIT ABOUT WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU WHEN YOU DIE! PTL! Hallelujah! TYJ! (Prayer:) Amen. We thank Thee for this book, Lord, & how you're trying everything You can to persuade people of the existence of the World of the Spirit, the supernatural & the miraculous, & Thine own existence, Lord. If all this exists‚ then they have to admit that You exist.

97. THANK YOU FOR THIS GOOD DOCTOR who has done such a good job of trying to show the World that there is a hereafter from the testimony of many, many witnesses who have been there. So, we ask You to bless it & make it a blessing throughout the World, Lord, to encourage faith on the part of many who have been in the balance or uncertain.

98. WE KNOW IT WON'T DO ANY GOOD WITH THE UNBELIEVING SCRIBES & PHARISEES WHOSE MINDS ARE ALREADY CLOSED & made up, who don't want to be confused with the facts, who refuse to see, & therefore will never have their eyes open, & wouldn't believe even if someone came back from the dead, as You said. "Even though one were to come back from the dead‚ yet they will not believe!" (Lk.16:31) So, they certainly will not believe this book!

99. EVEN A LOT OF CHURCH PEOPLE WILL NOT BELIEVE because they feel it confounds some of their pet doctrines & traditional conceptions & preconceived ideas of the hereafter. But bless him, Lord—we're sure You must have raised him up, & Dr. Kubler-Ross, too, to be a Last-day testimony to the World to try to prove to them, like the Elixir TV show (see "The Elixir," No.713) that there is the supernatural & the miraculous & the spiritual World, so there is a God! Thank You, Lord!

100. BLESS US & KEEP US, & thank You for how You have kept us, & we know that even when death comes, Lord, it is still Thy keeping‚ because we're going to be with You, Lord! That's our release, & it's not at all bad.

101. THERE MAY BE A MOMENT OF PAIN‚ or something, but then we're released & relieved & we have a wonderful, wonderful life to live with You forever!—With Eternal peace & joy & happiness & bliss & love & beauty forever! Hallelujah! Thank You, Lord!

102. SO WE SHOULDN'T FEAR DEATH, LORD, we shouldn't have to fear death at all! No matter what happens, Lord, we shouldn't fear it. If anything, in a way, it's harder to live than it is to die! But we want to stay here & do what You want us to do, & get our job done, before we'll feel satisfied we're finished & ready to go.

103. WE ONLY WANT TO PLEASE YOU & FINISH WHAT YOU'VE GIVEN US TO DO. We don't want to have to face You with an unfinished task or things left undone that we should have done. Help us, Lord, to finish all we can, so when we see Thee‚ we will be thankful that we did the best we could & all we could‚ & receive Thy:

104. "WELL DONE, THOU GOOD & FAITHFUL SERVANT, ENTER THOU INTO THE JOY OF THY LORD!" (Mt.25:21) TYL! "For when I was sick ye visited me, & in prison ye visited me‚ & when hungry ye fed me, & when thirsty you gave me to drink‚" etc. (Mt.25:35 & 36)TYL! Hallelujah!

105. HELP US TO FEED THY SHEEP & do the best we can to instruct them & help them to learn the things they need to learn as they progress in this World—& help us even give them some hints about what they are going to learn in the next one!

106. IT WILL BE SUCH A JOY, LORD! Because then we'll all be so hungry & thirsty for the Truth & thy word & the knowledge of it all! We'll have to spend the first few thousand years just asking questions & learning. TYJ! PYL! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! TYJ! PYL!

107. THANK YOU, LORD, FOR THE TESTIMONY OF THESE WITNESSES! Help each one of us to be a testimony & a witness, Lord, even those of us who cannot Litness or FF, they can still be a testimony & a witness, Lord, & help reach the World through Thy Letters & Thy Word that they are helping make possible through their gifts & tithes. So we thank You for every one of them.

108. GIVE US THY SAFE-KEEPING, STRENGTH, WISDOM, LOVE & PATIENCE FOR OUR TASKS.—As we pray together the prayer You taught us to pray: (Prays the Lord's prayer.) Amen. Help our Family, Lord, Touch them & heal them & forgive them for not asking more for prayer. You said,

109. "IS THERE ANY SICK AMONG YOU?—LET HIM CALL FOR THE ELDERS OF THE CHURCH, & let them pray over him, anointing with oil in the Name of the Lord, & the prayer of faith shall save the sick, & the Lord shall raise him up!" (James 5:14,15.) Forgive us for our lack of faith in not calling for prayer, & have mercy now, Lord, & touch & strengthen & heal‚ in Jesus' name, we ask it all for Thy glory, Lord. Bless & keep us each one for Thy use, Lord, as long as we're needed in this world. Then take us to be with You forever!—In Jesus' name, Amen.—ARE YOU READY?

OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES ON RESURRECTION14/11/79

Last night Gene & Dora did a study on these verses & gave me the whole list below, GB'M'!

JOB 14:14: If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait‚ till my change come.

JOB 19:25-27: For I know that my Redeemer liveth, & that he shall stand at the Latter Day upon the earth: (26) And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: (27) Whom I shall see for myself, & mine eyes shall behold, & not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

PSALM 17:15: As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

PSALM 49:15: But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.

ISAIAH 25:8: He will swallow up death in victory; & the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; & the rebuke of his people shall he take away from all the Earth: For the Lord hath spoken it.

ISAIAH 26:19: Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake & sing, ye that dwell in dust: For thy dew is as the dew of herbs, & the Earth shall cast out the dead.

DAN.12:2 & 3: And many of them that sleep in the dust of the Earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, & some to shame & everlasting contempt. (3) And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: & they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever & ever.

DAN.12:13: But go thou thy way till the end be: For thou shalt rest, & stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

HOSEA 13:14: I will ransom them from the power of the grave: I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

SCRIPTURES ON ETERNAL LIFE

PS.22:26: ...your heart shall live forever.

PS.23:6: ...& I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

PS.37:18: The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: And their inheritance shall be forever.

PS.37:27: Depart from evil & do good; & dwell for evermore.

PS.121:8: The Lord shall preserve thy going out & thy coming in from this time forth, & even for evermore.

PS.133:3: ... For there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

PRO.14:32: The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: But the righteous hath hope in his death.

ECC.3:21: Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward‚ & the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth.

ECC.12:7: Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: & the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Also, when the Sadducees gave Jesus the story about the woman being a wife to seven husbands (all brothers)—asking Jesus whose wife she would be in the resurrection—Jesus said they did err‚ not knowing the Scriptures, & gave them the verse about God speaking to Moses: "I am the God of Abraham, & the God of Isaac, & the God of Jacob" (Ex.3:6)—There's another one! (Mark 12:18-27) God is not the god of the dead but of the living!" Jesus said.—So they're still alive!