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LIFE AFTER DEATH EX P E R I E C ES

3/20/09 Connections #2 Mrs. Crawford __Life after Death__

After life itself…you are alive. Not here on earth, but in heaven or hell. When most people die they see themselves while they are floating above their dead bodies. Even though most people may not believe in life after death, this paper will prove that life after death experiences really do exist!

Many people have had these kinds of experiences, where they die and come back to life. People who are dying can hear the doctors pronounce them clinically dead. They float above their dead bodies and usually get scared. Sometimes they don’t know that they’re dead until they realize that no one around them can hear or see them! When you die, you can be anywhere. Most people are zooming through a dark tunnel and see a light. Anyone who has died and came back to life can’t describe how wonderful and bright this light is. Jesus said **"I AM the light of the world; he who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."** (John 8:12) Some believe the light is Jesus others believe that the Holy Spirit is speaking to them. They can’t understand the language, but it speaks to them through their thoughts! The people say they see their whole life flash before their eyes! Their childhood, their wedding, they also see all the bad things they’ve done and they are ashamed. They can’t go back and erase those things, but can only make them better. Not all people go to heaven. Some people experience going to hell and it changes their lives forever! There was this man who died and he was a "bad person." He was in hell and heard and felt the cries of the others. He was in pain and wanted to get out as soon as possible. He saw the Christ walk by and called out, but he ignored him and the man said to himself "now all hope is gone". The Christ turns around and says "go back to life, I am giving you a chance to fix your mistakes." Every man who encounters that dedicates the rest of his life to God. Nobody knows how long these encounters have been going on, but they have been going on for a long time. We may not know why, but death is a mystery and we will find out all the answers once we die. Lots of theories support that life after death really does exist! I went to church on Sunday and the priest told a story about a man named Lazarus. Lazarus was very sick and died, because Jesus wasn’t there to save him. Jesus came back sad and knowing his loved friend was dead. Lazarus’s two sisters were very sad and weeping. Martha came out to Jesus and said, "Lord, if only you were here my brother wouldn’t be dead." Jesus told her, **"I am the Resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."( John 11:25-26)** Lazarus’s other sister was really depressed and had all the Jews weeping with her. Jesus loved Lazarus and started to weep with them. Jesus lead them all to the tomb and tells them to move the stone blocking the tomb. He looks up and says **"Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me**," **Then he called in a loud voice! "Lazarus come forth!"(John 11: 41-43)** At that moment Lazarus came walking out of the tomb! There are many beliefs that death is not the end. "**When our body can no longer perform its functions in the physical world, expressing the thoughts and feelings of our spirit (which we have from the spiritual world) we say that we die. This happens when our lungs stop breathing and our heart stops beating. Yet we do not die, but are only separated from the body that had been useful to us in the world. We ourselves continue to live. I say we ourselves continue to live since we are not human because of our body, but because of our spirit. It is the spirit within us that thinks--and thinking together with feeling makes us human. This means that when we die, we only pass from one world to another. Because of this, when "death" is mentioned in the Bible, its deeper meaning is re-awakening and continued life." (**Bruce DeBoer) There are more stories to prove that there is such thing as resurrection. A lady that my mom knows was in her kitchen and had a stroke. She collapsed and hit her head. Her hearts stopped beating. She felt her self being lifted up and saw her body underneath her. All her dead friends and family lovingly welcomed her! She was happy and didn’t want to leave, but she felt it wasn’t her time so she said goodbye and was back in her body. This woman is still alive today. When people are about to die they see a hand or dead friends waiting for them. This is called a deathbed vision. Almost all people have them before they die. Some people believe that there is no such thing as life after death or deathbed visions. They say that the drugs and medications make them delirious. Some people don’t experience deathbed visions so we have no idea what its like to die, unless we have and came back to life like some. Some people who have died and came back to life remember nothing, so how do we know that they weren’t just lying there being dead? Some people may not believe in life after death, but I hope this paper will prove to you that out there somewhere there is life after death and we will live forever. After researching this topic, I do believe in life after death. Remember that depending on what you do down here on earth will affect your life in heaven or hell. Also remember that death may seem scary, but its not, so try to be the best person you can be and life your life!