Fact or Fairy Tale? You Better be Sure.

Dear Friends,

I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that time is running out for me and you, my fellow seniors. We will be dead before we know it. It’s a fact. Therefore, I strongly recommend considering your options. Is there life after this Earthly one? If so, do all religions lead there? Do all “good” people get a pass? Or is there a narrow gate where few actually get in as Christ stated? Yes, it sounds cold, if that is so.

As former non-believer who had a profound near-death experience in which I experienced hell first hand, I urge you to consider a few points. I was fairly accomplished in the sin department by Biblical standards. Mercifully, I believe I was allowed to return from the dark side so that I could file my report. Though it was forty-three years ago, it feels like yesterday.

In the ICU, after “dying” I was cast into outer darkness as described in Christ’s words (Matthew 8:11-12). “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

“Cast into outer darkness”: This is precisely what I experienced. Imagine floating in cold, utter darkness, permanently alone, separated from all other lost souls but still able to hear the never-ending moans of suffering, desperation and grief of those souls around you. Words cannot describe the true terror and helplessness I felt. There was a shattering hopelessness, believing that this would be my circumstance for eternity. I begged God to let me return. If allowed to return, I vowed that I would try to be “good.” I also vowed to relay this message.

Miraculously, after the doctors had given up and were about to pull the plug, my vital signs returned and my organs again began to function. Before dying, I had the out-of-body, remote viewing experience which others have described. From above, I could see all that was happening in the ICU. This is true. It happens. After awakening from a coma, I was never so happy to be alive. Though, still gravely ill and skeletal, I was grateful beyond words. I told everyone my story, but few appeared to believe me. Before dying, I had heard a voice asking if I wished to stay or leave. Being desperately ill and exhausted from years of declining health, I chose to leave. I was given a choice. By whom? I am pretty sure it was God.

After continued hospitalization and with the use of a non-approved, experimental medication, my health began to improve. After about four months of rest and rehab, I was once again a functioning young adult. This profound brush with death, prompted me to explore more spiritual paths in different arenas. I studied various religious and philosophical texts. I was curious and trying to keep an open mind.

Before my emergency hospitalization I had been involved with a couple of New Age cults in California. I had even joined a farm commune in foothills outside of Santa Barbara. This stay was short-lived as I soon discovered that it was really a prison camp for naive hippies run by a small-time, narcissistic tyrant. I managed to escape one night only because I had kept a spare key to my motorcycle in my boot at all times. My bike, license, title and money had been confiscated by the cult leader as “communal” property (meaning his), but through a tip from one of my fellow captives, I managed to find hidden location where my motorcycle had been taken. In the dead of night while the commune slept, I quietly pushed it to a remote part of the farm, kicked over a fence post and made my getaway. Lesson learned. My New Age Utopian lifestyle of meditation, veganism and inner-searching now felt like a wrong turn. Maybe, Dick Gregory (a 70’s spiritual leader) did not hold the answers, after all.

Ironically, the last religious source which I considered exploring was the Bible. I had soured on Christianity early as a young, confirmed Episcopalian. That religious franchise did not resonate with me on any level. I learned little about the Bible through sermons. The rituals and incense seemed tedious and pointless. The young people there seemed terminally square. I attended church occasionally only to please my mother.

Why did I eventually return to the Bible? It was only through my increasing interest in prophecy. I had been studying various sources of prophecy including Nostradamus and wanted to learn more. About this time I had decided to take a road trip to Ocean City, Maryland. I can’t ever remember why now. Anyway, on the road, I ran out of gas. As the car engine began to sputter I happened to be approaching an exit off of Rt. 95 south onto which I steered. The car continued to sputter and drift and finally quit as I approached a residence in a suburban neighborhood somewhere. Seeing other cars in a large driveway, I deduced that someone must be home there. The car had just enough momentum to drift into the driveway and stop. I was hoping the owner of the home would allow me to use the phone to call road service. This was before the advent of cell phones. As I got out and approached the house, the door swung opened and a woman announced. “You’re just in time. We’re about to begin.” Before I could explain my situation, she hurriedly ushered my to the basement where about fifteen other people were seated in folding chairs. The lights went out and a projector started up. What followed was a film about, of all things—prophecy. Coincidence? I think not.

What especially captured my interest was the last part of the movie which focused on Bible prophecy. Though not a Christian film, it mentioned the Bible’s perfect track record on the subject. It touched on various predictions of the major and minor Prophets. It described Daniel’s amazing prophecy. It mentioned the Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah and the mathematical improbability that a single person could fulfill them all...but did. It discussed the prophecy currently being fulfilled as described in the book of Revelation. I began to rethink my attitude regarding the Bible. Maybe I should give it a look-see after all.

After the film ended, I was able to call road service and was soon on my way. On the road, I asked myself, did that just happen? Strange. So that’s when my Bible journey began. As any “saved” person will tell you, the Bible does not really come to life without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is an unfortunate but true phenomenon. I read the Bible through and it did begin to open my eyes to some degree, especially books like Daniel in the Old Testament and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark Luke and John, and Apostle Paul’s letters in the New Testament. The Book of Revelation was hopelessly mysterious though in large part. It was interesting enough for me to plug away at it, though.

Other strange things occurred which conspired to point me to true Christianity. A Christian friend of a friend showed up one day at the house I was renting and talked me into letting him store his old Ford in the driveway. He hoped to restore it at some point. He heard that I had restored a couple of antique vehicles and thought I might help him out. I really did not want to but ultimately relented. Soon, he became a true pest, dropping by with Bible tracts and prayers hand-written especially for me. Late one night he showed up with a black youth as I was about to go to bed. Apparently, God had sent them to “anoint” me. Terrific, I was tired and just wanted to sleep. I was seated in my kitchen and olive oil was poured over my head while the two prayed, insisting that God had a plan for me. Shortly, after this, the annoying weirdoes left. I had a shower and went to bed. Again, I thought: did that just happen? Strange.

A few weeks passed until one night I had my “road to Damascus experience” (reference to the Apostle Paul). Out of the blue I was struck down by some invisible force. I dropped to my knees in that same spot in my kitchen where I was anointed. Suddenly, all the sinful acts I had ever committed flashed before my eyes. All the pain I had caused people...all the lies, all the deceit. I started to shake uncontrollably. Tears began to flow. I tried to stand up but could not. I was paralyzed with grief and guilt that I did not know I even carried. I was a “good” person after all, except for all the sexual immorality, “recreational” drug use, myriads of little lies, and a couple other serious moral failures I’m ashamed to mention. But hey, I never “intentionally” hurt anyone. This emotional torment lasted for at least a half hour I’m guessing. Time stood still. Finally, I begged God for forgiveness. Jesus Christ was convicting me and I knew without a doubt that He was real after all, and powerful. Jesus was not a fairy tale character, but God in the flesh. In a way, I had no choice. It was not until I accepted Him as my savior that I was physically able to get off the floor. It was like a bizarre supernatural dream or nightmare. But it wasn’t a dream.

I was still shaking but felt like an enormous weight had been lifted. Exhausted, I climbed the stairs and collapsed into bed. The next time I opened the Bible, the light bulb turned on. The words were now alive and clear. I couldn’t stop reading. I felt true joy. I soon began to tell others. I started giving out tracts and Bible study CDs to people. Of course, they saw me just as I formerly saw Christians. They saw me as some simple-minded, deluded, misguided fool. Even so, I did not really care. What I had experienced was more real than I can describe. The highly educated, sophisticated, former Pharisee, Apostle Paul clearly understood how Christians would be viewed:

1 Corinthians 1:18-19 and 21 – For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 21 For since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

I soon lost some of my cool friends, of course. But, I made new friends, some square Christian ones. The difference is my new friends understood they were not “good” people, at least by God’s standards. No one is. The Bible says so clearly. So why is this realization so important?

Here’s the Cliff Notes version of Christianity as explained throughout the New Testament. God is a Holy God. What does that mean? He is all powerful, all good, all knowing, infinitely intelligent, creator of all, and incapable of sin. Whereas, we were born with a sin nature since the fall of Adam. You might have observed that you do not have to teach young children to be bad. It comes naturally. You have to teach them to be good. Going by the Ten Commandments, none of us can say that we have passed that test. The bottom line is we are all sinners, some more accomplished than others, but no one has led a perfect life—except for Jesus Christ.

God’s bookkeeping system annotates all our sins no matter how small. Unfortunately, we sinners can never come into a Holy God’s presence—except on one condition. That is, unless someone has paid our sin debt for us. In the times of the early Hebrews, God, through His prophets, had created a sacrificial system which temporarily “covered” the sin debt of the guilty. These were strict, specifically prescribed rituals involving the shedding of blood (killing) of innocent animals which served to pay the ransom for the guilty. People understood that their immoral acts would lead to the suffering of innocent animals. Of course, this explanation is rather simplified.

So where does Jesus come in? The gospels are the most documented historical accounts in ancient history. There are even secular writings from the time which describe Jesus of Nazareth. Hundreds of meticulously copied scriptures in Hebrew and Greek were preserved through the generations. The discovery of the third century Dead Sea Scrolls in the Qumran caves on the north shore of the Dead Sea in the forties and fifties confirmed the authenticity of later copies of scripture.

What do these historical accounts say? Among many other things, New Testament scripture describes Jesus as one born of a virgin who led a perfect sinless life, performed miracles, claimed to be God in the flesh and came to save humanity and grant us eternal life—on one condition. We must repent of our sins and have faith in Him as our Lord and Savior. How did He save us? He became the perfect sin offering, the perfect final sacrifice. His horrific, voluntary suffering and death was payment in full for our sins and the sins of the entire world past and future. There has been no greater act of love. The good news is He rose again.

Christ willingly paid your sin debt so you could be presented sinless before a Holy God. He picked up the tab. The only catch is that you must truly repent and follow Him with gratitude for such a priceless FREE gift. Attempting to follow His commandments is a small price to pay for eternal life in heaven. Like Him, you too will have a resurrected body (perfected DNA), most likely not carbon based, I’m guessing. You will be in the Book of Life. Over five hundred witnesses saw the risen Christ and heard Him speak. His disciples obviously believed what they saw—enough to willingly suffer horrific deaths themselves for being followers of Christ.

I urge you to think about all this. Try reading the Book of Romans written by the Apostle Paul, formerly the chief persecutor of Early Christians before his supernatural encounter with Jesus on the Road to Damascus. Read at least one of the Gospel accounts: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.

To my dear rebel friends who sneer at Jesus, read how Jesus was the ultimate rebel of His time. He hung out with the prostitutes and undesirables. He rebelled against the religious leaders of the time. Ironically, while studying the Gospel accounts for the first time, I remember thinking: this may be the coolest person I ever heard of. Read His own words. Some Bibles have his dialog printed in red ink. His humanness comes through in His masterful teaching. His parables are brilliant. His miracles confirm His claims of divinity. He challenges us, though.

Matthew 7:11-12 - “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.

John 14:6-7 – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

What does this mean? It’s pretty clear. Not much wiggle room here. Sadly, not all religions and belief systems lead to eternal life. According to Jesus, the only way to eternal life is by accepting God’s free gift of salvation. By repenting of your sin, acknowledging His sacrifice and believing in Him you can be saved and have everlasting life. PLEASE think carefully before rejecting this offer. Imagine eternity separated from God, floating in outer darkness, listening to desperate moans and cries—completely alone—forever. Crazy talk? Not from my very real experience.

So what should you do? First, get saved. Search your soul. Repent and ask forgiveness. Accept Jesus as your Lord and savior. Ask for God’s Holy Spirit to enter you. Though not absolutely necessary, I recommend visiting a true Bible teaching church. Finding one can be a challenge. Probably ninety-percent of churches these days are compromised and are just glorified social activity centers or worse. There are still some good ones out there, though. Most Calvary churches may still be authentically Bible-centered. Search online for a Bible-centered church.

I have spent a few decades now studying scripture and also detractors of the Bible. I am more confident than ever that every word of scripture is God inspired and true. No other book describes human nature better or explains why the world is in its current state. Apostle Paul’s Epistles read like letters that could have been written yesterday. Solomon’s advice in the book of Proverbs is timeless. His cynical writings, reflections and conclusion in his Book of Ecclesiastes are fascinating and instructional. The Book of Psalms (songs) penned mostly by David cover the gamut of emotions from solemn prayers, solace, rejoicing, fear, faith and praise. Revelation is modern prophecy revealed. There are sixty-six books in the Old and New Testaments which all point to Jesus in some way.

As I said, we will be dead before we know it, my friends. Think seriously about what I have written here. This will be the biggest decision you ever make. Rejecting Christ might just doom you for eternity. More than ever, I want to hang out in the afterlife with all my family and friends. I sincerely hope God speaks to your heart and that you take this very seriously. It’s your decision. The clock is ticking.

Blessings to you all,

Mark