Howard Storm's near death experience

Ernest T. Bass · August 01, 2009, 11:22:57 PM

Found out about this guy and his story recently.. It's pretty inspiring. Naturally, most people will greet something like this with a fair bit of skepticism, and I can't say if I'm totally sold on it either, but it's still a pretty neat thing to think about.

Basically, he was an atheist who died and went to hell, and then was saved by God's grace and saw a lot of stuff before he came back. There's a three part documentary-type thing I found that tells the story in better detail. It's kind of annoying how they put it together at times, but you get the idea.

It's quite thought-provoking..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUi7zOoiwnQ

If you haven't rolled your eyes and hit the 'back' button yet, there's another video where he goes into greater detail about what was shown to him as the possible future of our country and world. There's quite a few parts, but this one is the most interesting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aE9Z8HLsAA&annotation_id=annotation_522914&feature=iv

I imagine most people will have a hard time accepting some of the things he has to say.. You really have to open up your mind to the possibilities beyond this physical realm that we exist for the time being in... No, you don't have to believe it--I'm not sure I do--but it's still interesting stuff to think about...

glenn kangiser · August 02, 2009, 01:20:34 AM

I checked it out Andrew.

I am a skeptic. Is it real or is it simply brain damage from the trauma?

I have two things that bother me about him.

He is a preacher now. That is one.

He wears a suit. I don't trust people in suits.

I trust nudists more than people in suits.

August 02, 2009, 01:27:36 AM

I don't like how he implied that if you led a Christian life, and used that as a way (leading by good example) preach his word, that he said it counted against you. I find that highly unlikely that God would count that as a strike against you for obeying his word in living as Christian a life as possible. In my opinion, leading by example is much more effective than how some of those guys on TV go about doing it.

glenn kangiser · August 02, 2009, 01:31:10 AM

I always look at the money angle and it looks like there is some of that there too - promoting a book?

The thoughts implied could be good but are they genuine - hard to tell... everyone is an actor and preachers practice a lot.

Virginia Gent · August 02, 2009, 01:46:07 AM

I'm sure money plays a part in a lot of it.

As for me, whether this guy is telling the truth or not, I don't really care. If God is gonna punish me, in the end, for living my life and helping those less fortunate than myself as I see fit, then there is nothing I can do; I'm simply doing as I think Jesus would do.

August 02, 2009, 07:35:19 AM

I definitely agree that you never know the motives, especially when money is involved. That's one of the reasons I am skeptical as well.

However, I haven't really heard him say anything I strongly disagree with. Gent, where does he imply that living a Christian life is counted as a strike against you? He was an atheist before he 'died', and he says that God was happy with the times in his life where he unselfishly cared for others and shared Christ's love..

diyfrank · August 02, 2009, 09:57:57 AM

My mother had an aneurysm, died and then was brought back. She explained to me that she died, and an Angel took her hand and said god wasn't ready for her yet and it wasn't time for her to die. She has always been a strong christian woman. There's a lot of these stories around and they're somewhat believable. I do believe in the power of prayer and good and evil and a spirit world based on what I've experienced in my life.

I also think people are far from reliable and tend to try to connect the dots and come up with an explaination for the unexplainable.
From watching these videos, I think Howard gave up and died because the surgeon wasn't there. People die from shock with injuries that should never have killed them. They simply give up. Living as an atheist all his life may have been just a way of turning his back on there being consequences for living a selfish life. In the back of his mind, he remembered stories of heaven and hell and got scaried at to end. The pain and people grabbing him was probably hospital staff scrambling to bring him back. Once back he convinced himself god gave him a second chance. As with any story telling, It gets better as time goes on and people ask questions. His mind begins to play connect the dots. All the attention and interest in him feeds him and makes him want to go public.
Could it have happened just like he said? Sure. I will have to remain undecided on this because people are too unreliable and are fed too much crap about life and death. It's something that no one can answer.

glenn kangiser · August 02, 2009, 10:11:18 AM

I pretty much agree with that, Frank.

I have heard that as people re-recall things over the years it many becomes more of what they currently wanted it to be than what it really was.

Ernest T. Bass · August 02, 2009, 12:28:36 PM

Sounds plausible, but I would expect a devout person to convince themselves of a heaven and hell, not the type of person he was.. Also, I doubt that he is rounding out the truth and telling the big-fish-that-got-away story. I think he is either outright lying or telling the truth, based on all the detail he describes.

August 02, 2009, 05:38:42 PM

Well, I have heard this guys story in person. He came to one of our regional church gatherings.

I don't know what to believe about his account, except to say that his experience was real to him and he is very sincere.

I didn't get the impression that he was after money; we certainly didn't pay him anything and I don't remember him talking about a book.

I am a skeptic by nature but no red flags sprung up before, during, or after his talk.

It was certainly not the typical near death experience that you hear about.

glenn kangiser · August 03, 2009, 12:12:28 AM

I guess it was a reality of some sort to him. Who knows what was really real and what was done by his mind when he was out of it.

Ernest T. Bass · August 03, 2009, 11:05:32 AM

I know the mind can work in strange ways, but it just seems unlikely to me that a 'dream' could be so vivid, long and coherent decades after the fact. Perhaps his brain was functioning a little differently in his circumstance, but I can count the dreams I remember that are older than a couple months on one hand, and they only last a few seconds..