John Burke (93:21)
I'll tell you in the new book and imagine the God of Heaven. One of my favorite stories I got to know him well is a man named Santosh Akarji. He was a Hindu, he grew up in India, manufacturing engineer, very smart guy. He has a, he has his pancreas or his gallstones erupt into his pancreas. He's in the hospital for a week. He's got a 200 beat per minute heart rate. They can't get it down. In order to operate, he hears code blue, code blue. His heart stops, stop. And he, like most near death experiences, he, he said to me this, he said, I thought when you die it's just nothing or maybe I'd come back as another life form. But he said that's not what happened. He said, I, I saw my body down below and this divine light comes brighter than the sun but not hard to look at that. And he said I fell in love with this light because I knew this light was for me and was there to protect me. And this God of light takes him and similar through journey to this place. And he finds himself standing up high looking out over what he described to me as a. A giant compound. Now, if you've ever been to India, they're gated communities. Everywhere there are gates with high walls and they call them compounds. But what he was describing was the city thousands of miles, he said, square shaped. And he's looking in and he's describing these beautiful grounds and other buildings of otherworldly building material. That's the way he described it. He was a manufacturing engineer, which is what I love, is these people are still them, even on the other side. And he's describing this place and he longs to go in. And he said, this is the longing of every human heart to live there in this place. And he was looking for a way in. And he said, I counted, there were 12 gates. He said, I counted all the way around because your eyesight there is like telescopic, which I used to think, think, no, that's not biblical. Then I read Revelation 21. John is taken in the spirit through a very high mountain, and yet he reads the names on the foundation stones of the city. Yeah, how? Right. So Santosh says all these same things. He's describing the holy city of God, just like John does in Revelation 21. He's a Hindu, he's never read the Bible. He's only read the Vedas and, you know, the Bhagavad Gita and the Hindu scriptures. Then he's like, where am I? And he realizes I'm up on a very high platform looking, and he looks down to his left and he said, what I saw terrifies me even to say it to this day, he said, because what I saw was an abyss of darkness and at the end of it, a lake of fire that I would fall into if I fell. And I knew if I go there, it's hopeless, there's no way out. And it's like he got a vision of hell and he doesn't want to go there and he wants to go in the city, but he can't. He sees angels guarding the gates. He's like, how do I get in? And then he turns and there on the platform he sees this. He said, I knew this was the Almighty on this giant throne, but he's in the form of a man. And he looks at him. Now, he later said, I believe that was was the risen Jesus. He didn't know that at the time, he said, because I looked up into his eyes and his eyes were like lightning. Well, that's what John describes in Revelation 21 of the Risen Jesus. He said his eyes were like lightning. His feet gold like or like bronze, glowing metal. Santosh said the same thing. And he instantly, as soon as he looks in his eyes, his whole life flashes before him. And this is a life review which we talked about. You know, it's common in near death experiences because time doesn't work the same way on the other side. And so he re experiences life and realizes because of his sin, I deserve hell. I deserve that separation from God. And he falls to his knees and says, forgive me, Forgive me, God. Forgive me, forgive me, me. And he expected that the Lord was going to send him there. And he said, but when he spoke to me, he said, santosh, I'm going to send you back. And when you go back, you must love, love your family and especially your daughter. She needs you right now. And he said, I was shocked. I was shocked because I knew what I deserved. And he said, God is just. That's what he said to me. God is just. And he knew what he deserved. And by the way, this is a commonality of near death experiences. And we can, we can hide and pretend and you know, defer, deflect our wrongs and, you know, justify, but on the other side, it's all very clear. And he said, but God's voice was so tender and merciful and compassionate and full of love for me. I was shocked. And they had this conversation because you, because what happened is he sees a very narrow. He called it the very narrow gate or door right to the side of the throne that was open to him into the kingdom of God. And he was confused. He was like, okay, all these 12 gates are closed, but that narrow gate is open. And he wanted to go in, but he knew he couldn't without permission. This is the authority of all authority. And so after this long conversation, we're basically God. You know, he's asking which mosque, which synagogue, which temple, which church, what do I do? And he's thinking religious observance. And the Lord says to him, no, Santosh, I want to see how honest, how honest, how real you are with me. Not one day a week, but 24, 7, 365 days walk with me. And then he said, the wages of sin is death. Exactly what Lee just quoted from Romans 6:23 to this Hindu guy, right? And then he says, surrender yourself. And Santosh says, I should underline surrender. Surrender yourself to me in your daily life. And Santosh comes back. Oh, well, before he came back, he said, lord, when I, when I come back, I want to go through that narrow gate into your Kingdom, how do I go through that narrow gate? He didn't tell him and he sends him back, okay, so, and I told Lee, we were, we were talking about this and I told him, you know, it's so fascinating because God, for people who have, have not necessarily searched or don't know Jesus, he often gives them parables, even on the other side. Which is fascinating because Jesus taught in parables and no one, what is a parable? A parable is a teaching that doesn't just tell you what to do. It makes you think and it makes you search. And if you're just impatient and you're like, just either tell me or I'm done with you. God's like, okay, I guess you're done with me. But, but I want you to seek. And when you seek, you will find. And that's why Jesus taught in parables. He wanted to see what's in the heart. See, because that's what God is after. He's after our hearts. He wants relationship. That's what he said to Santosh. I want relationship. How honest will you be walking with me? Santosh didn't understand any of that. But he comes back and he is seeking God every day. He's praying. He's like, lord, you weren't like the Gods I learned about in the Vedas. Who are you? Who is this God of compassion and love and mercy? I want to know you and his daughter. Two years later so he's seeking for two years. His daughter is invited to sing at a church with a friend because she was a choral major in college. Santosh goes to hear her sing, walks into the church and feels the same loving presence of this God of light. And the message that day was Matthew 7 about the narrow gate that leads to heaven. There's a narrow gate through which you must go through. And then John 10 where Jesus said, I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters in through me will be saved and will find eternal, will find rest. And Santosh was blown away. He was like, like, oh my gosh, this is like just for me. So he goes home, he starts reading the Bible. He said, john, everything I experienced, I found in that book.
