Seventy near-death experiences recounted by a Texas author who encountered the 'God of light and love'

Multiply the total love you've experienced in your life by a thousand.

People who've had near-death experiences report feeling the presence of God.

John Burke, a bestselling author from Texas, vividly writes about the topic in his new book "Imagine the God of Heaven," which is a follow-up to "Imagine Heaven."

He is the president of Gateway Leadership Initiative (GLI) and lives in Austin with his wife, Kathy, of Gateway Church.

Burke stated that he conversed with 70 individuals from diverse backgrounds for "Imagine the God of Heaven," including individuals from every continent and religion. Despite encountering a God of light and love, many of them also experienced Him as Jesus.

Clinically dead individuals experience NDEs, which are recognized scientifically as a phenomenon.

According to the University of Virginia's Division of Perceptual Studies, "intensely vivid and life-transforming experiences often occur under extreme physiological conditions such as trauma, ceasing of brain activity, deep general anesthesia, or cardiac arrest, in which no awareness or sensory experiences should be possible according to prevailing views in neuroscience."

Some people even describe scenes they couldn't possibly have seen except supernaturally.

Individuals frequently experience visions of themselves in various scenarios, such as paramedics attempting to resuscitate them, doctors performing surgery, or family members anxiously waiting in rooms.

Some even describe scenes they couldn't possibly have seen except supernaturally.

Burke interviewed Mary, a woman who died in childbirth, on the "Lighthouse Faith" podcast.

Burke stated, "She departs from her physical form and encounters God. She experiences an overwhelming sense of pardon and affection, and He imparts to her, 'Your son will survive.'"

Burke said Mary is told she must go back.

"As she returns to her body, she passes through the ceiling and beyond the top of the ceiling fan. She is revived and attempts to convey the incredible experience she had. However, everyone believes she is hallucinating. Psychotic."

Medical staff apparently said that Mary had no heartbeat, no brainwaves.

"Imagine the God of Heaven"

So a curious nurse got an orderly and a ladder and looked.

"Indeed," said Burke, "a red sticker is visible on the ceiling fan's top side, which Mary somehow spotted."

Dr. George Ritchie, a 20-year-old Army private, died of pneumonia in Dec. 1943 and is one of the first documented NDEs.

Nine minutes later, he came back to life and was profoundly changed.

Ritchie, who later became a doctor of psychiatry, wrote books on the phenomenon of NDE. In a late 1990s interview with Joan Rivers, he discussed the incredible light and love he encountered, as well as being in the presence of what he believed to be God in Jesus Christ.

NDEs have been researched and studied by science since then. A 2019 study by the European Academy of Neurology found that one in 10 people supposedly have NDEs. Additionally, Dr. Bruce Greyson of the University of Virginia has studied over 1,000 cases of NDEs.

Burke said there's overwhelming evidence that what people experience is actually in the Bible.

Although he retired in 2015, he still collaborates with researchers at UVA who are still active in the field.

Burke stated that he thinks science can only comprehend the metaphysical aspects of NDEs.

The Bible contains evidence of people's experiences.

"Many of these things are linked to biblical teachings, but Christians often overlook this connection."

In the Bible and NDEs, both light and love are the two attributes that people commonly describe.

• "Jesus declared, 'I am the source of light in the world. Those who follow me will not be enveloped in darkness but will possess the radiance of life'" (John 8:12).
• Love: "For God is love" (I John 4:8).

Burke said he'd always been a skeptic when it came to religion.

He wasn't an atheist, but had serious doubts.

People who lack a Christian background or comprehension have reported seeing things that are only described in the Judeo-Christian scriptures, specifically Revelation 21.

Burke interviewed a Hindu manufacturing engineer named Santosh, who "coded." Unfortunately, when his heart stopped, the medical staff were unable to revive it.

Santosh was on artificial life support for three days. He later described his experience as being "taken by this God of light that was personal, that he knew was protecting him and takes him to this place," said Burke.

In Revelation 21, the Apostle John was transported to heaven and ascended to a high mountain, where he gazed upon the Holy City.

In the Spirit, he took me to a magnificent mountain and revealed to me the glorious city of Jerusalem descending from heaven, radiating with the glory of God. Its walls were towering and adorned with twelve gates, each guarded by twelve angels. On the gates, the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were inscribed.

Santosh, a Hindu man who has never read the Bible, described the same city as Burke. He stated that he intuitively knew that this was where everyone was meant to be, and he found it to be beautiful. He referred to the buildings as mansions or otherworldly structures, and he was a manufacturing engineer, so he would appreciate the quality of the construction materials.

"He called them mansions or buildings of other worldly building material. And he was a manufacturing engineer. So he would notice that."

Santosh's statement that there were 12 gates with angels guarding them astonished Burke.

A large number of individuals who have experienced NDEs report that they do not wish to return to their earthly existence; instead, they describe the love they encountered as the fulfillment of their life's search.

In 2007, at the age of 84, Ritchie, who died of cancer, discussed his love and other topics. He stated that there were multiple levels in the afterlife.

Our fate after death is not limited to two options: heaven or hell, but rather is determined by our actions and experiences on Earth.

Joan Rivers was told by him that one of the most significant points he made was, "Life is eternal. We don't pass away. Death is merely a doorway through which we transition."

And that brings up a question for Burke.

Are these people who have NDEs meant to help humanity find God?

Only heaven knows for sure.