The stories usually have a lot in common. A person suffers a catastrophic injury or a grave illness and is near death when he or she finds themselves going through a long, dark tunnel with a bright light at the end.
They come out to find themselves in a place suffused with overwhelming love, see angels, meet loved ones who have died and sometimes even meet Jesus Christ and God. They are in Heaven and after a short while they come back to life on earth healing with their profound experience having permanently changed them.
Before entering the tunnel, some report being elevated above an accident scene or a hospital gurney, seeing themselves lying unconscious and hearing people say things that they later astonish the people with by telling what they heard.
The stories are of what’s known as near-death experiences and the Revs. Bill Hutto and Mark McCuistion say some are probably legitimate.
“I’ve got no way of proving it other than people’s testimony that something happened that spiritually tested them,” said the Rev. Hutto, pastor of Sunset Heights Baptist Church. “I would think it would change them.
“Sometimes I think God uses those as a wake-up call to get people off the fence and get serious about their relationship with him.
“I can’t see any other reason for it.”
However, Hutto said having such an experience doesn’t necessarily mean the person will be redeemed.
“They still have to make a choice to come to know the Lord,” he said. “The Bible says the proof will be borne out in the life.”
He said the adage that God works in mysterious ways is well-founded.
“I think some of the stories are real and some probably aren’t,” Hutto said. “Too many people are trying to get brownie points with God by knocking on doors or feeding the homeless.
“Works are important, but our relationship with God is built on faith alone in Christ. That’s why we do the works.”
The Rev. McCuistion, pastor of the First Church of Nazarene, has not had a classic near-death experience, but he experienced the pure love of God early this year when his sister-in-law called from Fort Dodge, Iowa, at 4:15 a.m. and said she had been inspired in a dream to impart Psalm 118:17 to him to assure him that his stage 4 stomach cancer would not be fatal.
The psalm says, “I will not die but live and will proclaim what the lord has done.”
“I think some of the stories are legitimate,” McCuistion said. “I wouldn’t believe them all because the devil is a liar and he could easily create things like that.
“Why do they happen? Because God wants to warn people that they will not live forever and the choices they make here on Earth will have eternal consequences.
“I think some are shown that if they died now, they would not go to Heaven. They are shown the torments of Hell like a warning shot across the bow.”
Citing Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25, he said, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of destruction.
“Hell has every kind of suffering you can imagine. It was created for the devil, whose name is Lucifer, who was the worship leader in Heaven. He said, ‘I want to be God,’ and this place was created for him and those who choose to follow him.
“Ephesians 6:12 says our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
“If you reject God and chose own selfish ways, that’s what Satan is all about. You become part of his crowd.
“Ask God to forgive you, make him the boss and do what pleases him by living a life that honors him.”
