Have you ever wondered about all the stories of people who’ve supposedly died for a short period of time and have come back to share their bright light encounters? Some have even claimed to have made it as far as heaven or hell, been reunited with dead relatives, and have even met Jesus. Many of these heartfelt tales of death and revival seem pretty convincing to include medical reports, and by all accounts and medical standards, they were indeed, dead!

So, is temporarily dying and seeing a bright white light or other phenomenon, a divine appointment, or a clever deception by the evil one to get us to think everything is okay?

In December or 2011, a young man’s near death experience video on You Tube called, “Do You Believe in Angels, or God” went viral, and no doubt had an impact on a lot of people. 

I must admit, his story and others like it can sometimes sound good while at the same time be a bit confusing. How do we take them, or even more importantly, how do we evaluate these bright white light stories? 

Let’s first of all, take the story at face value and admit that this kid did in fact have the experience he claimed he did. I have condensed it below:

He claimed to have passed out and was attended to by an EMT crew. He said his heart stopped and he had no pulse for approximately 3 minutes. During this time he admits that he did not know whether or not he had a dream, or a vision. 

During this dream, or vision he claimed to be in a white room with no walls that went on and on. He remembered feeling really good and at peace. He found himself to be dressed in a white suit and in front of a mirror. His favorite rap artist was next to him and he remembered that his first thought was, “damn we look good,” and he couldn’t stop smiling. 

He continued on with relating how he thought he was proud of himself, his entire life and everything he had done. The young man was smiling throughout the silent flashcard video. 

Near the video’s end he stated that he heard his favorite rapper song with the lyrics, “…when will the fantasy end, when will heaven begin.” Then the rapper told him, “go now.” He woke up with the EMT crew having revived him and the feeling that he didn’t want to leave that place and wishing that he never woke up. His concluding remark was, “do you believe in God and Angels – I do.” 

Apparently, the teen died shortly after making this video. On an emotional level, it grabs you and makes you wonder. 

Now I don’t know what this teen’s religious beliefs were other than the fact that he did acknowledge a belief in a god and angels. This experience of his has been shared by many others as well, some who have even gone on to write books and claimed to have been in either heaven or hell. So what does it all mean to us who are still here and anxiously curious about news from the other side?

Once you get away from the whole emotional response of these gripping testimonies and get into a thorough understanding of the scriptures in the Bible, the fog is lifted. God did not leave us empty handed, and even more than the scientist who has his experiment to test the truth of a claim, we have God’s word and His Spirit to test the truth of spiritual matters. 

In 1 John 4:1-3, we are warned to “not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God…,” and that, …”Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist.” 

Is Satan capable of this? Yes we know that he is because scripture tells us so in 2 Cor. 11:14, “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of the light. “ 

Thus, let us be wary of any bright lights that guide us into a false sense of security that everything is all right without Christ.