I was encircled by God's glory and there on a very enormous Pure White Boulder sat Jesus Christ my name is Mark Stenson I had another brush with death and another trip out of my body a few months after the vehicle accident I was taking medication at the time for a possible Ulcer Disease ulcers were common in my family I used to hang out with a guy who was also on medication for another reason however I was in the restroom after my friend had returned after a visit when it was time for my medication I reached
down got my tablets and swallowed them the trouble was that these weren't my tablets they belonged to a friend he'd left a couple on the bathroom counter they looked so much like my own that I didn't notice that they weren't I exited the bathroom and continued down the corridor not knowing what I had done I started to feel odd my heart began to pound after a while I walked over to the couch to sit but before I got there I broke out in a cold sweat perspiration just poured out of my pores and I was
drenched my heart began to race as I sat on the edge of the couch and breathing became increasingly difficult the intensity of my heartbeat caused my chest to bulge I sagged back into the couch and rested hoping to decrease my heartbeat I laid on my back looking down at my chest where my rib cage continued to swell with each heartbeat then my heart gave a huge push and my rib cage seemed to Rise 3 in before freezing that was the end of it I had left in California I was no longer in my body I
was now hovering at ceiling level in the living room of my childhood home in Washington I couldn't believe how much Serenity I had just being out of my body the clarity of everything around me was like to waking up from a dream into reality I had complete Vision the peace calm and joy I felt were Indescribable I wasn't really in heaven no I wasn't it was the sense of freedom and joy that came from being free of a body that was constantly fighting to get its way it's remarkable how much we put up with just
being alive the colors I saw were quite vibrant my senses were really acute I peered out the front door across the street and over to the house next door the sunshine glistened like liquid gold in beautiful Glory I was enjoying this beautiful experience without thinking about how I got there then I started thinking about how I got there let's see the last thing I recall is being in my California home and well I'd been lying on the couch with something wrong with my heart oh my goodness now I remember my heart had ceased with one
last heave and now I've arrived when I mold this over in my mind my overpowering awe gave way to a sense of loss well I assumed I was dead but my anguish was not about my death it was about the fact that my mother sister or brother were about to return home and discover my body I wanted terribly for them not be subjected to the shock of that this contemplation was interrupted by the sight of two entities speaking in the distance and the subject of their conversation was me what was to become of me now
I became aware of a spiritual Dimension opening up beneath me I was taken aback to see what appeared to be an entrance to hell I could see the fires of Hell far below me but I avoided staring at them directly what am I doing what exactly is going on I was perplexed I appeared to be poised Between Heaven and Hell yet conscious of Earth and aware that my eternal fate was being decided looking up I saw a highway made of pure translucent gold in front of me I knew it led all the way to God's
throne even the possibility of Hell below me and the promise of paradise above me couldn't take my mind off the concern that my family would soon discover me dead I was overwhelmed with guilt I was determined to put things right I didn't want them to go through it I had no notion how to get back to my body or if I did how I would get back in it and then how I would bring it back to life so there I was stripped of my Earthly body and crying out oh God for the second time
in front of God that was all I could think of I was in a situation I couldn't change so I just fell down before God and cried out oh God and then whoosh I took out into the air and found myself back in California hovering above the roof of our apartment building I could see clear through the roof to my body which was laying face up on the couch suddenly like a child sliding down a playground slide I slid through the roof and into my body my eyes popped open as I entered through the top
of my skull I lay there completely stunned remembering the calm and joy I had had but more importantly feeling grateful that my family would not discover me dead on the couch I began to think about the two entities who had been debating my fate they had to be Angels or Saints of some sort entities sent by the Lord I reasoned what on Earth happened to me while I laid there I reflected I arose from the couch and went into the bathroom to try to piece things together when I felt it was safe to get up
and wander about was it my prescription that caused this why had it happened this time and not the others there were a couple of pills left over from the ones I'd taken shortly before my heart started beating on the bathroom counter when I looked closer I realized Iz they weren't my medications after all these belonged to one of my friends I eventually found out what had happened from a doctor a chemically induced Cardiac Arrest had occurred and bless the Lord because of the type of medication it had not harm my heart it had just come
to a halt so I was a dead person with a perfectly good heart for a while all that was required was someone knowledgeable about Reviving Hearts God and now I was seriously considering death in the afterlife at the the age of 12 I accepted Christ at Camp Cedar Crest in the San Bernardino Mountains but by this time I was about 18 and had strayed fairly far from God and what he wanted me to do these experiences were unmistakably pointing to the need for me to return to God the vehicle accident my life flashing before my
eyes and now being suspended between heaven and hell was I even still saved in person with Jesus that question am I saved became increasingly prominent in my mind I'd had two close calls with death and both times the question seemed to be whether or not I was rescued I begged for and accepted the Lord into my life when I was 12 years old yet around the age of 18 my life did not appear to have any evidence that God was still present Within Me In fact I had grown to despise Christians I thought and thought
in my mind I replayed the car accident over and over to the point where I began to suspect that I had genuinely died and was now in hell that's true I began to suspect that what appeared to be reality to me was only an illusion my worry and fear of not being saved had become so intense that I had begun to lose contact with reality I became so worried that I thought hearing the sound of a pin drop would send me over the edge while I was nearing the end of my life I was directing
theater at a college in California I had just finished directing the play Revolt at the Port holes when I received a job offer in North Dakota near where I grew up I reasoned that changing job jobs which would require me to leave LA and get away from everything might be beneficial I hurriedly grabbed some clothing and a few books into a suitcase and took off I had no idea what inspired small book I had thrown into my suitcase until I got to North Dakota my aunt and uncle took me in my aunt worked at the
hospital where the job opportunity existed so she arranged the interview I went but I was not hired I had assumed the job was fully set up so there I was in North Dakota with nothing to do but sit with my thoughts which were killing me when I opened my suitcase there found that little book called The ABC of fasting I had no notion what the term fasting meant I grew up attending a Baptist Church with my mother and a Lutheran Church with my grandma so what exactly was fasting I'd never heard of it before well
I read in the book that fasting is the best way to connect with God I reasoned and that is what I have to do I concluded I needed to communicate with with God or one of two things would happen I was afraid that my concerns would either drive me insane or kill me outright and I didn't believe this was an exaggeration so it wasn't a question of choice for me that was a question of life and death I began my fast I drank nothing except water I determined that while I was fasting I would read
the entire Bible from beginning to end I started at the beginning with Genesis I'd grown up going to church but I didn't know the difference between the Old and New Testaments so when I got to the part in Exodus where I had to sacrifice bulls and other animals to atone for my sins I became very discouraged I had no idea how I was going to procure a bull to offer for my sins let alone what I was going to do with one once I got one that exacerbated my Despair and bewilderment my thinking became incredibly
clear after the third day of my fast it was as if I had a super mind my mind became so alert that I could recall events from my entire life with extraordinary Clarity the problem was was that I could recall my misdeeds with greater clarity as well I was increasingly Afflicted not by the spirit of conviction that comes from God but by the spirit of condemnation and accusation that comes from the enemy it was a really joyful experience at moments as my spirit would leap with hope but then it would turn into a living nightmare
as when I was lying in bed faces would appear before me and accuse me of every Vice I had ever committed and even ones I hadn't committed as long as I believed them that's when I discovered one of Satan's axioms if anything Works use it Satan began telling me that I was the reincarnated Judas es scariot and that God had only permitted me to be reborn as me out of Mercy because I had been languishing in hell since I betrayed Christ in my previous Incarnation as Judas and now I was on my way back to
hell for my most recent misdeeds to be sure I didn't have a solid Christian Foundation to determine whether reincarnation was nonsense or not I began blending every notion I'd ever heard with Christianity assuming they were supposed to match not realizing that a lot of it wasn't Satan exploited all of these strange Concepts to Rattle My Cage he blamed me for World War I World War II and Vietnam as I already stated if he believes it would work he will employ it he has no qualms about doing such things I must admit that I had a
more difficult time fighting for my salvation than others because our family had been connected with the occult for many years as part of what was going on in my family I made a contract with Satan when I was approximately 14 or 15 years old and I had obtained what I had asked for in that Arrangement that made this conflict more difficult for me Satan was telling me that I belonged to him that there was no Prospect of my going to Paradise or receiving Jesus and that all this fasting nonsense was feudal on the eighth day
of my fast I called my mother and expressed my anxiety that I would be unable to find or pay a bull to sacrifice for my sins she inquired as to what I had been reading I told her I had begun at the beginning of the Bible and had become frustrated when I discovered I needed to sacrifice a bull well I discovered that this was Bull she tried to explain to me that I was in a different dispensation and that I should read the New Testament first since that was the section of the Bible that dealt
with me okay I said I'll do that I was still wondering what is a dispensation for all I know it could have been some kind of duck in any case I began reading the New Testament I began to read about how I didn't need a bull or a lamb since Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God when I read that I didn't have to find my own Bull and plus I didn't need any more bull in my life I was overjoyed I was coping with everything I could handle at the moment thinking I'd created World
War II and everything then I began reading about something known as a Holy Spirit what an earth is a holy spirit in addition the Bible says that when Jesus left he told us that he would send back the comforter man what exactly is a comforter I'd like to know I really need something to console me I was thinking to myself I was approaching the 12th day of my fast I was still waiting for my salvation on pins and needles most of the time I felt damned to Hell yet I persisted in my Pursuit Of God
I began to discuss what I had been reading about the Holy Spirit while sitting in the kitchen at my aunt's house with my uncle sitting nearby enjoying lunch on his lunch break from work I was hoping we'd have have a great talk and that because my aunt was always so engaged with church she'd be able to cast some light on the situation for me so I opened up to them and told them about how I was reading in the Bible about something called the Holy Spirit and how it says God gives us that when we
become Christians and that we acquire power to perform things I had never heard about in church before I mean it said that sick people would be healed and all sorts of other things so there I sat at the kitchen table expecting some fantastic wisdom and edifying from the mouth of my presumably seasoned Christian aunt she started yelling at me you keep that Holy Spirit stuff to yourself that is the work of the devil if you mess with that you'll go insane into hell that Holy Spirit nonsense is straight from hell would you believe me if
I said I was in shock not minor shock but major shock I was very perplexed this was my aunt who was constantly involved with church ladies groups and who always carried her Bible with her I held a Bible in my hands that mentioned the Holy Spirit and getting Authority from God it stated that this was excellent and that it was part of our Legacy I began to question if we were reading from the same Bible but she was in such an overwhelming wrath that I decided to just sit there and be quiet the air became
as thick as asphalt during the next two days I was still fasting which had already worried both my aunt and uncle they were getting upset because I was getting caught up in this Holy Spirit nonsense during the 16th day of my fast my aunt handed me an ultimatum mom said I had to break the fast and leave all that Holy Spirit nonsense alone or I'd have to return to California this was not an option for me I was still clinging to life and Sanity so I just told her I was going to start packing so
there I was back in California still fighting for my life my fast entered its 18th day then the 19th day and finally the 20th day I wanted to fast for 40 days like they do in the Bible I guess I assumed it had to be 40 days to be considered a true fast I assumed it had to be 40 days to acquire the answers you were seeking for but lying there on the 20th day I started to get minor twinges of hunger I hadn't gone hungry in all those days you will no longer be hungry
after the second or third day I felt it was time to break the fast thus after considerable deliberation about whether or not to break the fast I chose to do so by following the instructions in my abc a fasting book on how to break a fast take it slowly and gently after that time I was only supposed to consume an ounce or two of orange juice so I poured myself a tiny glass and sipped oh my goodness that was the most potent flavor fasting and cleansing my body had enhanced my sense of taste and I
couldn't get over how intense that orange juice tasted so I blended it 10 times with water I sipped it again and it was delicious even after being diluted so much then as I stood in the kitchen sipping orange juice I noticed a bag of marshmallows in the cupboard I plann to eat one Marshmallow with my orange drink that appeared secure to me it's pretty nice stuff orange juice and marshmallows aren't the best mix but they're delicious after I was finished I lay on the couch and thought okay God I have done all I can I
am entrusting my soul and salvation to you I closed my eyes and simply began to Twilight it is the state in which you are neither sleeping nor awake yet you are aware you are aware that you are only twilighting then and poof I was out of my body again I found myself sitting in a chair as sturdy as any on the planet it appeared to be floating in midair above what appeared to be hell just as it had previously the Flames were getting closer and I could see them lashing out at me Satan was cursing
me and reminded me of all I had done wrong and what a I was to expect to be saved and he pressed his face against mine accusing me viciously and relentlessly I was so terrified of the truth of what he was saying that I didn't know what to do I was powerless to defend myself I was to blame I was a sinner and not a minor one at that my mind scrambled for ideas I couldn't say anything my hands sagged at my sides then like a flash of light one solitary notion struck me that was
a recollection from when I was 3 years old and my mother taught me to fold my hands in prayer that's what I'll do I reasoned I'll just pray with my hands together Satan stepped back as I began to raise my hands as if I had shocked him in some way Suddenly at the same time I felt an unseen Force pushing my hands apart it appeared as if Satan did not want my hands to join in prayer I had not anticipated how moved he would be by the simple concept of someone deciding to pray my hands
were being pushed apart by an extremely intense Force because it felt like a war for my life I focused everything I had to Simply putting my hands together I noticed myself breaking out in a cold sweat this was interesting in and of itself because I was out of my body I pushed and pushed in desperation and my hands slowly went near each other and the closer they got the more frantic Satan's face became my two hands finally got near enough for just my middle fingers to connect after a long struggle I felt so completely depleted
of energy the moment they touched that I cried out in a voice that seemed to fill the universe oh God that was my third time out of my body and I exclaimed oh God when I yelled out Satan the chair the flames and the entire chamber rushed forward and away from me like the Starship Enterprise shifting from pulse drive to warp 10 I heard a strange high-pitched screeching zipping sound as it moved I paused suspended in a void for a split second and then I noticed something in the distance approaching me there was another unusual
sound a low pitched humming sound at the time it appeared that this scene was approaching me but I've since realized that perhaps I was the one journeying to it well there was a flesh and Bone person in front of me before I could say anything I heard my own voice say it's really you I was encircled by God's glory and there on a very enormous Pure White Boulder sat Jesus Christ my focus shifted to him at first noting the Minor Details I realized he was barefooted then my attention going clockwise observed his robe and how
absolutely amazingly white it was there are no words to express how white it was in comparison everything on Earth is just unattractive Hues of gray my gaze was drawn to his shoulders when I noticed his hair the color of ripe black olives just brushing the tops of his shoulders I was enjoying in the Brilliance of his robe again as I approached waist level eventually it was up to his cheek he was looking to the side his right side turned toward me his cheeks were gaunt and he appeared to have not eaten in a long time
he was a plain looking person by our standards but what I observed at this point confused me he didn't have a beard as I had assumed and he had these prominent pock marks on his cheeks as if his face had been damaged by a severe attack of acne that perplexed me greatly my gaze then went up his face where I met him eye to eye there are no words to describe what I witnessed his eyes were like flames of black fire and it was as if I were seeing into another Universe within him a cosmos
without limitations infinite in size and made of the pure substance of love I was gazing into an infinite World of pure love what happened next felt like I was carrying a dynamite case that exploded in my hands the power I saw in his eyes blew me backwards with such force that I thought I was being propelled across the entire Cosmos and maybe I was I could see a ceiling about an inch in front of my face as I slowed down I was flying towards the ceiling in my apartment again and I could see my body
on the couch below me eventually like one of those gently falling dandelion lion seed Puffs I began to float downhill toward my body I could feel my body grasping hold of me as I entered my body this time through my chest it felt like two huge nasty claws appeared from both sides and snatched me with a bang that was a horrible sensation having just returned from the Majesty of Jesus to that unglorified lump of sin wracked flesh we name our bodies I was aware of what I had witnessed I knew I knew I knew I
had just been face to face with Jesus Christ himself but there was a hitch I'd never heard of this happening to anyone else before I wondered if I was the only one in the entire world who felt this way I have no idea what to do with this I wasn't sure if I should tell anyone or not I decided that I had to find out therefore only moments after returning this was my first prayer Lord if this has happened to anyone else please show me and direct me to them to confirm what I have just
experienced I pleaded God then presented to me about 60 more persons who had experienced comparable experiences over the next 3 weeks it was around 3 and a half months later that the perplexing question of why Jesus didn't have a beard when I saw him was explained for me in fact because he didn't have a beard it had become a pressing question in my mind whether I had seen the real Jesus or not but then one lovely day while reading my Bible I came across a prophecy that stated that when he was taken before Pilate as
well as at the crucifixion he would be mistreated and beaten and they would also rip his beard out by the handfuls that explains everything I'd seen the genuine Jesus and the scars and pock marks were where the roots had ripped out his beard Jesus's face may have been emaciated scarred and unappealing but I can declare from personal experience that If Heaven had nothing else to give just sitting and staring into his eyes for all eternity would be enough as previously stated I really wanted the confirmation of others and I met several people who informed me
of their own encounters with Jesus one of the first was my mother who had not informed anyone about the story in almost 50 years her mother cautioned her not to do it again when she mentioned her experience I still hadn't spoken anything to her about my own we were having dinner together when she glanced across the table at me and said I feel inspired to tell you about an encounter with Jesus that I've only told one else about since it happened and she said Jesus looked exactly like I remember remembered him confirmations like these with
a variety of people continued for several months one of the most bizarre experiences I had occurred while working the night shift at a 7 11 a very attractive man walked into the store approached me and simply said aren't his eyes the most wonderful thing he then stood there smiling at me absolutely I said with a smile on his face he blessed me and walked out the door without purchasing anything I can't help but think he was an angel
