WEBVTT 00:00:03.749 --> 00:00:06.750 From the time that they pronounced me dead was 00:00:06.750 --> 00:00:10.210 a good 45 minutes. They cut my clothes and then 00:00:10.210 --> 00:00:13.130 they paddled. My heart, my heart had stopped 00:00:13.130 --> 00:00:16.129 and I could see people screaming and crying but 00:00:16.129 --> 00:00:18.589 I didn't realize that was actually my physical 00:00:18.589 --> 00:00:22.010 body because I was somewhere else. The only thing 00:00:22.010 --> 00:00:25.370 that I could feel if you could imagine absolute 00:00:25.370 --> 00:00:28.510 love and peace, there wasn't anything else to 00:00:28.510 --> 00:00:31.600 be felt. I was greeted by people I'd known in 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:35.079 the past. I'm back home again. Incredibly safe 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:40.420 and felt at home. Welcome, welcome to Round Trip 00:00:40.420 --> 00:00:43.240 Death, everybody. And I'd like to welcome from 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:45.880 SoCal today, Steve King. How are you, Steve? 00:00:46.219 --> 00:00:47.920 I'm doing really well, Eric. It's a blessing 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:50.140 and honor to be here on your show. Well, thank 00:00:50.140 --> 00:00:52.840 you. Hey, I didn't warn you of this up front. 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:55.520 But one thing that I like to ask each of our 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:57.960 guests is if they'll tell just a little bit about 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:00.320 themselves, if you just take one to two minutes, 00:01:00.780 --> 00:01:03.579 just so our listeners get to know who they're 00:01:03.579 --> 00:01:06.219 talking to. And then I'll lead you through some 00:01:06.219 --> 00:01:09.099 questions to talk about your NDE. Sure. Yeah. 00:01:09.099 --> 00:01:11.359 My name is Steve Kang, married to a lovely wife 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:13.219 of eight years. She's a professional pianist. 00:01:13.299 --> 00:01:15.439 I work in the local church. I was a radical Buddhist 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:17.980 trying to reach Nirvana, had a near -death experience 00:01:17.980 --> 00:01:20.780 of heaven and hell, and now I work as a pastor. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:23.060 I also work, you know, a normal job as well. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:26.079 So I love, I believe God loves all people and 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:28.840 I love life and I'm very diligent in doing the 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:32.579 work of God, including being with you. Well, 00:01:32.579 --> 00:01:35.640 we appreciate you being with us. I had read your 00:01:35.640 --> 00:01:39.079 story quite a few weeks ago and I'm glad we could 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:42.599 finally get together. So let's just jump right 00:01:42.599 --> 00:01:46.280 into it. I would like a little bit of your history 00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:50.430 about being Buddhist and then Tell me what led 00:01:50.430 --> 00:01:53.969 up to your NDE. Yes, so as a Buddhist, Eric, 00:01:54.090 --> 00:01:56.049 I had grandparents who were Buddhist on both 00:01:56.049 --> 00:01:57.750 sides. They did an arranged marriage from my 00:01:57.750 --> 00:02:00.049 mom and dad. They met in the temple. Because 00:02:00.049 --> 00:02:02.010 back in those days, a lot of our current grandparents 00:02:02.010 --> 00:02:04.870 still went to the temple religiously. And I was 00:02:04.870 --> 00:02:07.769 born, so from birth, I was in the temple. I was 00:02:07.769 --> 00:02:10.250 at the age of six, though. Unlike maybe some 00:02:10.250 --> 00:02:12.250 of the other kids, I was asking the monks and 00:02:12.250 --> 00:02:14.650 myself, why is there injustice in this world? 00:02:14.689 --> 00:02:17.490 Why is there some poor, some rich, some powerful, 00:02:17.569 --> 00:02:20.789 some powerless? Why is there evil and good? And 00:02:20.789 --> 00:02:23.069 how do you reach heaven? How do I become right 00:02:23.069 --> 00:02:25.090 with God? And the monks told me I need to pray 00:02:25.090 --> 00:02:27.770 a million years. And I said, oh my gosh, a million 00:02:27.770 --> 00:02:30.669 years to reach eternal life? And they go, yes. 00:02:30.930 --> 00:02:32.469 And I was like, I better start now. And they 00:02:32.469 --> 00:02:35.409 go, yes, you better start now. So out of fear 00:02:35.409 --> 00:02:39.629 of not wanting to be judged and perish, I was 00:02:39.629 --> 00:02:41.530 in the temples praying eight hours a day, Eric, 00:02:41.530 --> 00:02:44.169 on the weekends. I was in the temple. I brought 00:02:44.169 --> 00:02:46.590 the, I wasn't just a nominal Buddhist. When I 00:02:46.590 --> 00:02:49.360 do something, I go all in. I was a radical Buddhist. 00:02:49.620 --> 00:02:52.479 I had the Buddhist beat on, stared at the statue. 00:02:52.699 --> 00:02:55.060 I remember praying many, many hours. In high 00:02:55.060 --> 00:02:57.500 school, when I went back to Korea, I remember 00:02:57.500 --> 00:03:00.680 waking up an hour before school, like bus came, 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:02.319 because we had school buses in Korea. I went 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:04.639 to an international school in South Korea, and 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:07.500 I would pray to the monks, the monk's prayer. 00:03:07.719 --> 00:03:10.340 The Buddha wrote the rules and laws on the wall. 00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:12.979 So yeah, I was a very devout Buddhist before 00:03:12.979 --> 00:03:15.900 I met God at the age of 19. How old were you 00:03:15.900 --> 00:03:18.419 when you had your near -death experience? I was 00:03:18.419 --> 00:03:20.479 19 years old, Eric. I had my whole life planned 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:23.879 out. My parents were pretty well off. I went 00:03:23.879 --> 00:03:26.979 to a very good private college called Claremont 00:03:26.979 --> 00:03:30.280 Colleges, Pomona College. But I remember my near 00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:32.639 -death experience happened at the age of 19, 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:35.259 going into the sophomore year. Okay, and this 00:03:35.259 --> 00:03:38.719 was a suicide attempt, right? Yeah. Should I 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:42.759 describe how it led to that? Yeah, but let me 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:44.979 just, I love to throw out a little disclaimer. 00:03:45.210 --> 00:03:48.110 For listeners, when we're talking about something 00:03:48.110 --> 00:03:52.409 like suicide, that really a sensitive topic, 00:03:52.889 --> 00:03:54.990 just want to let people know upfront, we're going 00:03:54.990 --> 00:03:58.169 to be discussing that and some some pretty rough 00:03:58.169 --> 00:04:00.409 things, but we won't go into too much detail 00:04:00.409 --> 00:04:05.009 or or too much graphic about it. So, OK, you've 00:04:05.009 --> 00:04:07.969 been forewarned. Steve, tell me what led up to 00:04:07.969 --> 00:04:10.270 it, because, you know, you were having a pretty 00:04:10.270 --> 00:04:12.949 good life. So what went wrong? Yeah, my life 00:04:12.949 --> 00:04:15.650 was pretty good. I went to a great school, good 00:04:15.650 --> 00:04:17.829 private school in Korea. But one thing that really 00:04:17.829 --> 00:04:20.029 I was always afraid of as a Buddhist, Eric, was 00:04:20.029 --> 00:04:23.009 I was afraid of death, I was afraid of demons, 00:04:23.310 --> 00:04:26.029 and I was always afraid of the dark. And because 00:04:26.029 --> 00:04:28.410 in Buddhism, I was taught that all my issues 00:04:28.410 --> 00:04:32.209 is a result of my previous life sense. And I 00:04:32.209 --> 00:04:34.230 was like, man, what was I in my past life? And 00:04:34.230 --> 00:04:36.769 they're like, you know, nobody knows. You can 00:04:36.769 --> 00:04:39.769 find out by meditating more. So I'm like, I guess 00:04:39.769 --> 00:04:42.639 I did some good in my... previous life, which 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:45.180 I don't believe in anymore. But at the time, 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:48.160 I was living a normal life. But the Asian financial 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:50.740 depression crisis happened where my dad, who 00:04:50.740 --> 00:04:53.459 was super wealthy, went from riches to rags. 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:56.139 And then I had no tuition, no place to live. 00:04:56.199 --> 00:04:59.100 So I ended up living in a drug dealer friend's 00:04:59.100 --> 00:05:01.139 house. And then we ended up getting high every 00:05:01.139 --> 00:05:03.660 day. So I don't remember being sober, Eric, that 00:05:03.660 --> 00:05:07.399 whole summer of 1998, the whole summer of 98, 00:05:07.699 --> 00:05:09.980 June to September. I don't think I was sober 00:05:09.980 --> 00:05:12.980 for one day. While in one of those parties, I 00:05:12.980 --> 00:05:16.459 smoked a very heavily laced drug called the death 00:05:16.459 --> 00:05:19.199 bowl in the street language. It looks like marijuana. 00:05:19.339 --> 00:05:21.319 So I'm like, I'll get high today. By the way, 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:24.180 I've been drug free for 25 years. Congratulations 00:05:24.180 --> 00:05:26.540 on that. Thank you, sir. Yeah, I don't need that 00:05:26.540 --> 00:05:28.379 anymore. I get high on the most high for free. 00:05:28.579 --> 00:05:32.029 So I smoked this bowl. And I stayed up for 10 00:05:32.029 --> 00:05:34.750 straight days, Eric. It was laced with heroin, 00:05:34.889 --> 00:05:38.629 cocaine, PCP, meth, you name it. And I felt so 00:05:38.629 --> 00:05:40.689 weird after smoking that I lost the track of 00:05:40.689 --> 00:05:43.610 time. I lost the track of, I couldn't read one 00:05:43.610 --> 00:05:46.050 sentence in a book. My brain was so damaged. 00:05:46.629 --> 00:05:49.810 My anxiety, fear level just went up the roof 00:05:49.810 --> 00:05:52.750 and I didn't see for 240 hours. Around the eighth, 00:05:52.910 --> 00:05:55.529 ninth day, a spirit came to me and I thought 00:05:55.529 --> 00:05:58.350 it was a good Buddhist god. And he didn't come 00:05:58.350 --> 00:05:59.810 to me, you know, the devil came to me, but he 00:05:59.810 --> 00:06:01.769 didn't come to me with pitchforks and horns. 00:06:02.310 --> 00:06:04.569 He came to me, Eric, and said, you know, and 00:06:04.569 --> 00:06:06.029 you're having a hard time right now. I said, 00:06:06.129 --> 00:06:09.029 yeah, I feel like I already died. I looked in 00:06:09.029 --> 00:06:11.670 the mirror. I looked at my eyes and the white 00:06:11.670 --> 00:06:13.730 lens was like not visible. It was a very scary 00:06:13.730 --> 00:06:16.389 time. And this evil spirit is speaking to me 00:06:16.389 --> 00:06:18.769 and he goes, if you lay down your life for me 00:06:18.769 --> 00:06:22.170 and commit suicide, cut yourself open and give 00:06:22.170 --> 00:06:24.750 yourself to me, I will give you 50 ,000 less 00:06:24.750 --> 00:06:28.019 years of hell. Mind you, I haven't slept in many 00:06:28.019 --> 00:06:29.800 hours. You start losing your mind around the 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:32.300 third, fourth day, fifth day. And it sounded 00:06:32.300 --> 00:06:34.980 like a good deal at the time. I thought the Buddhist 00:06:34.980 --> 00:06:37.220 God visited me. So I went to, I wrote my mom 00:06:37.220 --> 00:06:39.879 a letter saying, Mom, I failed you in this life, 00:06:40.379 --> 00:06:42.079 but hopefully in the next life, you know, we 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:43.740 can meet together. And she read that letter and 00:06:43.740 --> 00:06:45.980 she was weeping. And I remember when she went 00:06:45.980 --> 00:06:48.540 into her bedroom on the 10th day of being up, 00:06:48.540 --> 00:06:50.959 I went to their kitchen and I grabbed the biggest 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:52.879 knife I could find and all in the hopes of going 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:55.720 to heaven. I got on my knees and I I put the 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:58.759 knife and I'm about to stab myself to go to heaven 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:02.040 while high. And my mom walks out of her bedroom. 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:04.120 I thought she was sleeping when she comes out. 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:07.360 She sees the whole thing. She calls 911. And 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:09.959 this was at the city of Irvine at the time. So 00:07:09.959 --> 00:07:12.819 the cops and the police and the paramedics even, 00:07:12.860 --> 00:07:15.360 I think they came right away and they put the 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:17.740 knife down. And the evil spirit goes, it's now 00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:20.769 or never. And the cops are there. the evil spirits 00:07:20.769 --> 00:07:22.769 here and he's like, you better go now. So I went 00:07:22.769 --> 00:07:26.269 for it and I cut my neck open. I cut my stomach 00:07:26.269 --> 00:07:28.490 open. I don't want to lift up my shirt right 00:07:28.490 --> 00:07:31.850 now, but there's a scar which many people saw 00:07:31.850 --> 00:07:35.910 and the scar right here. And I was cutting myself. 00:07:36.370 --> 00:07:38.009 The police jumped on me. They took the knife 00:07:38.009 --> 00:07:41.689 away. And it was such a painful time. Now the 00:07:41.689 --> 00:07:44.110 whole living room was bloody red. Oh, by the 00:07:44.110 --> 00:07:47.829 way, in America, about I think roughly a hundred 00:07:47.829 --> 00:07:50.860 people commit suicide every day. In South Korea, 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:53.819 my home country, 40 people commit suicide every 00:07:53.819 --> 00:07:57.120 day. So there's two countries. This is not weekly 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:00.000 or monthly. It's a daily average. So I was going 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:03.480 to become a statistic, and I did for eight hours. 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:06.920 I was gone for eight hours. But before I was 00:08:06.920 --> 00:08:09.759 unconscious on Earth, going from consciousness 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:13.699 to unconsciousness, I have what's called OBE, 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:16.790 which is out of body experience. So my spirit 00:08:16.790 --> 00:08:19.209 leaves my body and I see myself but I'm here 00:08:19.209 --> 00:08:22.389 and I'm going from eternity to the present world 00:08:22.389 --> 00:08:25.230 and I come out and I see myself but instead of 00:08:25.230 --> 00:08:28.750 going up I start sinking and it was a very fearful 00:08:28.750 --> 00:08:31.689 feeling. I didn't expect that because in Buddhism 00:08:31.689 --> 00:08:33.429 I don't believe in hell. They don't teach you 00:08:33.429 --> 00:08:35.509 about hell and heaven. It's all about reincarnation. 00:08:35.970 --> 00:08:38.389 But here I am sinking into some hole and it felt 00:08:38.389 --> 00:08:41.009 like I was in an elevator roller coaster just 00:08:41.009 --> 00:08:43.820 sinking going down but never going back up. And 00:08:43.820 --> 00:08:45.440 the grandpa was looking for guidance, like, where 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:47.440 are we going next? But he's gone, so I couldn't 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:50.960 ask him for any questions. But after falling 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:55.059 for about five minutes, I remember landing in 00:08:55.059 --> 00:08:58.799 a place, just like a big thumb, boom, boom, and 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:02.820 I land. And I look around, and this is not heaven. 00:09:03.019 --> 00:09:04.899 This is not what I thought I was going to end 00:09:04.899 --> 00:09:09.340 up in. And I'm in this place of just red, purplish 00:09:09.340 --> 00:09:11.759 soil and rocks. There's no plants. There's no 00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:15.159 light. It's very dark. And I landed there, and 00:09:15.159 --> 00:09:18.440 it's filled with so many people. There's people 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:20.639 to my right, to my left, in front of me, behind 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:24.179 me, and I'm like, and I was in so much pain. 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:28.899 I was in so much pain, I could not ask the person 00:09:28.899 --> 00:09:30.259 in front of me, hey, how you doing? What's your 00:09:30.259 --> 00:09:33.179 name? And the spiritual, physical, emotional, 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:36.879 intellectual pain that I felt in hell was just 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:39.200 a lot worse than earth. So I went from having 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:41.100 a bad time on earth to having a worse time in 00:09:41.100 --> 00:09:43.720 hell. And mind you, I don't even believe in hell. 00:09:43.899 --> 00:09:46.379 But here I am in hell, and for the first time 00:09:46.379 --> 00:09:48.899 in my life, I supernaturally knew in my conscience 00:09:48.899 --> 00:09:51.500 that I'm a sinner and a bad person while I landed. 00:09:51.659 --> 00:09:54.419 Now, when I was on Earth, I never killed anybody. 00:09:54.580 --> 00:09:56.740 I sold drugs, but it was only marijuana. Someone's 00:09:56.740 --> 00:09:58.980 gotta sell weed. I don't remember hitting anyone. 00:09:59.179 --> 00:10:02.700 I was a good person in my eyes. But when I died, 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:05.799 or rather was unconscious in your death experience, 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:09.659 I knew I was a sinner. And number two, I knew 00:10:09.659 --> 00:10:11.460 I was going to be here forever, Eric. I knew 00:10:11.460 --> 00:10:14.279 this was an eternal place for me to be. And it 00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:16.139 was just so weird. I just supernaturally knew. 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:18.360 And then when I looked up, there's demons, and 00:10:18.360 --> 00:10:21.539 they're not real small. They were huge, with 00:10:21.539 --> 00:10:24.179 cakes on, walking around. And I knew they were 00:10:24.179 --> 00:10:26.679 in charge of this place. And I looked to my left. 00:10:26.679 --> 00:10:29.139 There's a cliff. I looked down. It's just all 00:10:29.139 --> 00:10:31.940 rocks. And there's no plants. There's no light 00:10:31.940 --> 00:10:35.580 there. And I experienced eternal separation from 00:10:35.580 --> 00:10:38.000 God from a firsthand point of view, from my own 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:41.309 heart. So I know that hell is real, Eric. Let 00:10:41.309 --> 00:10:44.009 me ask you a question right here. A lot of people 00:10:44.009 --> 00:10:47.009 that I talk to have had a heavenly experience, 00:10:47.049 --> 00:10:51.230 and they talk about this feeling of oneness and 00:10:51.230 --> 00:10:54.289 this amazing love. They just can't even describe 00:10:54.289 --> 00:10:58.649 the love of God that is just so profound. Tell 00:10:58.649 --> 00:11:01.309 me how you're feeling at that point, because 00:11:01.309 --> 00:11:03.990 I have a feeling it's an opposite. Yeah, hell 00:11:03.990 --> 00:11:06.960 was the opposite. Because on earth, you know, 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:09.440 God gives grace and mercy even to the righteous 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:11.139 and the wicked, it says in the Bible, meaning 00:11:11.139 --> 00:11:14.200 He blesses all people, you know, because it's 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:16.779 life. But in hell, there's not even one percent 00:11:16.779 --> 00:11:19.399 of God. I did go to heaven nine months later. 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:22.779 I can share about that with you as well. Lord 00:11:22.779 --> 00:11:24.559 have mercy on me. He took me to heaven nine months 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:27.120 later, which was life -changing and healed me 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:30.039 from all the trauma of hell. But in hell, you 00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:31.919 got to understand, hell is a place where God 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:34.580 judges the wicked. and whoever follows the devil 00:11:34.580 --> 00:11:37.620 or doesn't believe in Jesus goes there. So I 00:11:37.620 --> 00:11:39.659 was a Buddhist monk saying, I'm going to become 00:11:39.659 --> 00:11:43.100 God. I don't need Jesus. God is for weak people. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:45.480 And I was one of those prideful guys. So when 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.399 I was in hell, everything I felt pain -wise on 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:52.480 earth, fear, anxiety, condemnation, guilt, powerlessness, 00:11:53.299 --> 00:11:56.440 was just multiplied like a hundredfold. It's 00:11:56.440 --> 00:11:58.799 the only way I can describe it. So I was trying 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:01.100 to escape pain and I committed suicide, but now 00:12:01.100 --> 00:12:04.940 the pain just got worse. So hell is what a pastor 00:12:04.940 --> 00:12:08.139 describes the perfect judgment of a perfect God 00:12:08.139 --> 00:12:11.159 against His perfect enemies. It's total perfect 00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:14.179 judgment from the infinite Creator that judges 00:12:14.179 --> 00:12:17.200 wicked. And I was wicked at the time because 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:19.740 I didn't have relations with God, Eric. Sorry, 00:12:19.740 --> 00:12:22.279 I'm a little speechless here for a second. Yeah, 00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:24.980 I was too when I first encountered that place. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:27.500 Yeah, just give me an idea of what happened next. 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:32.299 Did it end at this point? Yeah, Noel, it's a 00:12:32.299 --> 00:12:33.639 different ending because I'm here in front of 00:12:33.639 --> 00:12:38.940 you. So my mom who had one Christian friend who 00:12:38.940 --> 00:12:40.899 avoided church and Jesus her whole life with 00:12:40.899 --> 00:12:44.019 me, who programmed me not to go to church, sees 00:12:44.019 --> 00:12:46.120 her own son praying to Buddha his whole life 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:48.419 and attempting suicide and she's like, something 00:12:48.419 --> 00:12:50.799 is definitely not working. Our religion is not 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:52.399 working. Something's wrong. So she goes, you 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:54.340 know, she humbles herself for the first time 00:12:54.340 --> 00:12:56.980 and she calls her Christian friend and she says, 00:12:57.080 --> 00:12:58.980 this is spiritual warfare. My mom goes, spiritual 00:12:58.980 --> 00:13:02.100 what? She calls eight of her intercessor friends 00:13:02.100 --> 00:13:04.659 and pastors, Eric, and they came rushing into 00:13:04.659 --> 00:13:07.399 the ER at UCR Medical Center, UCR Medical Center, 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:10.500 from a local church called Grace Ministries International, 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:14.139 where two years later I got baptized, and then 00:13:14.139 --> 00:13:15.960 eight years after that I became the youth pastor 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:18.480 there. Isn't that amazing how God redeems? They 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:21.299 came and they prayed for me during this operation. 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:24.360 While I'm in hell, on earth the doctor was... 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:27.120 He was a specialist that flew into the emergency 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:29.460 room or drove in and he was tying up all the 00:13:29.460 --> 00:13:31.299 blood vessels. But while they were doing the 00:13:31.299 --> 00:13:33.279 surgery, my blood pressure and heart rate just 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:35.259 kept dropping and he actually told my mom he 00:13:35.259 --> 00:13:37.059 might not make it. It would be a miracle if he 00:13:37.059 --> 00:13:39.440 makes it. They did two surgeries over a period 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:43.600 of eight hours or so and I ended up coming to 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:45.679 life. And when I woke up, the doctor said, Steve, 00:13:45.779 --> 00:13:47.980 it's a miracle you're here. It's a miracle you're 00:13:47.980 --> 00:13:49.860 here. And while this was happening, the surgery 00:13:49.860 --> 00:13:52.399 and the operation, the eight intercessors and 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:54.720 pastors, Eric, They were praying for me the whole 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:57.000 time. I am so grateful for them because I never 00:13:57.000 --> 00:13:59.480 met them. They don't owe me anything. They were 00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:02.419 strangers. But because they were lovers of Jesus 00:14:02.419 --> 00:14:04.679 from a Spirit -filled church that prayed and 00:14:04.679 --> 00:14:07.120 went for the lost, they came to the hospital, 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:09.460 and here I am standing before you. And right 00:14:09.460 --> 00:14:11.899 before I woke up, this is another amazing part 00:14:11.899 --> 00:14:14.259 of the testimony, right before I woke up from 00:14:14.259 --> 00:14:16.820 hell, thank God I'm not there anymore, because 00:14:16.820 --> 00:14:19.480 I believe prayer and intercession changes the 00:14:19.480 --> 00:14:22.460 fate of nations and people. In Buddhism, we're 00:14:22.460 --> 00:14:24.860 fatalists, like you deserve your fate. In Christianity, 00:14:25.539 --> 00:14:28.580 in biblical faith, you can change fate through 00:14:28.580 --> 00:14:30.299 prayer. I see it all the time, like God's about 00:14:30.299 --> 00:14:32.639 to judge somebody. He's about to judge Sodom 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:35.460 and Gomorrah. King Hezekiah and somebody prays, 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:37.519 or King Hezekiah prays, Abraham prays, and somebody 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:39.440 prays, and God changes his mind. So you know 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:42.120 what? I will relent. You humble yourself and 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:44.740 pray. So the prayers of these saints that prayed 00:14:44.740 --> 00:14:46.740 for me at the hospital, I believe brought me 00:14:46.740 --> 00:14:49.799 to life. I opened my ass, but before I do, I 00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:51.440 don't see Jesus at the time, Eric, because I 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:53.820 didn't see him yet. He didn't reveal himself 00:14:53.820 --> 00:14:56.379 to me, but I heard his voice. He said, Steve, 00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:58.600 I love you. No more drugs and no more Buddhism. 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:02.080 And I'm just like, what is this feeling? Who 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:03.919 the heck is that? Because I never went to church 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:06.460 in my life. I was the antichrist. I brought people 00:15:06.460 --> 00:15:08.399 from the church to the temple. I repented of 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:11.580 that, by the way. And I always thought Christians 00:15:11.580 --> 00:15:13.960 were just a bunch of hypocrites. You've got to 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:16.159 be really stupid to believe in Christianity. 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:19.299 But here I am, before the Lord of Lords and King 00:15:19.299 --> 00:15:21.960 of Kings, the only Savior of mankind." And he's 00:15:21.960 --> 00:15:23.500 like, I love you. And I was like, oh, shoot. 00:15:24.539 --> 00:15:27.320 Who is this? He didn't even say, like, I am Jesus 00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:29.820 Christ. It was a new voice, you know, because 00:15:29.820 --> 00:15:31.919 Buddha never talked to me during my 19 years 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:35.059 of praying. Oh, I opened my eyes. I'm surrounded. 00:15:35.139 --> 00:15:37.960 I have like tubes and staples all over me. I'm 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:40.539 surrounded by these amazing pastors and intercessors, 00:15:40.539 --> 00:15:42.940 and they led me in the sinner's prayer. So that 00:15:42.940 --> 00:15:44.519 day, Eric, I prayed the sinner's prayer, not 00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:47.240 once, twice, or three times. but 10 times to 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:48.779 make sure I don't go back down to hell. And I 00:15:48.779 --> 00:15:50.559 described to them what I saw and they said, Steve, 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:53.519 that is hell. And I said, how do I not go there? 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:55.759 And they go, say the sinner's prayer. So that 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:59.620 was my introduction to Christianity. Wow. Now, 00:15:59.620 --> 00:16:01.519 did you immediately tell them everything that 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:04.059 you had seen? I didn't tell them everything, 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:07.059 but I told them a very brief overview because 00:16:07.059 --> 00:16:10.100 I was so tired from losing blood, getting whacked 00:16:10.100 --> 00:16:13.049 by the bat, not sleeping for 10 days. going through 00:16:13.049 --> 00:16:15.669 the surgery. But I told them I saw a place that 00:16:15.669 --> 00:16:18.549 was utterly dark, filled with people and demons 00:16:18.549 --> 00:16:20.269 everywhere. And they're like, Steve, we think 00:16:20.269 --> 00:16:22.789 you went to hell. And that was enough for them 00:16:22.789 --> 00:16:25.450 to lead me in prayer. Actually, the first thing 00:16:25.450 --> 00:16:26.870 they said was they looked in my eye and said, 00:16:27.269 --> 00:16:29.730 Satan be gone. And I attempted suicide. Maybe 00:16:29.730 --> 00:16:31.909 I was still demon possessed. And I told them, 00:16:31.909 --> 00:16:34.009 I'm not the devil. And they go, OK, good. Now 00:16:34.009 --> 00:16:36.090 let us lead you in the Lord's prayer. Do you 00:16:36.090 --> 00:16:38.590 want to accept Jesus? I said, yes, I do. And 00:16:38.590 --> 00:16:40.470 they're like saying that, you know, you have 00:16:40.470 --> 00:16:42.210 to lead people in the sinner's prayer. After 00:16:42.210 --> 00:16:44.029 three times, I said, can I just have the piece 00:16:44.029 --> 00:16:46.129 of paper? Just give it to me. And I prayed it. 00:16:46.250 --> 00:16:47.690 And I was like, remember, I was like, I was like 00:16:47.690 --> 00:16:50.049 praying it myself over and over again. Yep, September 00:16:50.049 --> 00:16:54.009 of 1998. So we've heard the big wide scope of 00:16:54.009 --> 00:16:55.850 what happened after that and big changes you 00:16:55.850 --> 00:16:58.210 made in your life and stuff. But on a day to 00:16:58.210 --> 00:17:00.509 day basis, like, were you in the hospital a long 00:17:00.509 --> 00:17:03.730 time? Did you feel kind of lost or did you feel 00:17:03.730 --> 00:17:06.410 like you immediately had a direction to go in? 00:17:06.890 --> 00:17:08.910 Yeah, I did not have an immediate direction. 00:17:09.009 --> 00:17:12.250 I was still recovering physically. I was in the 00:17:12.250 --> 00:17:16.009 after, I think it's called the care unit for 00:17:16.009 --> 00:17:17.829 a few more days. They even put me in the mental 00:17:17.829 --> 00:17:20.950 hospital for a few days to get evaluated. This 00:17:20.950 --> 00:17:22.710 guy attempted suicide and they're like, oh, he's 00:17:22.710 --> 00:17:25.210 normal so they released me. I'm back in my house, 00:17:25.390 --> 00:17:27.869 but I'm out of school. I'm not fully recovered. 00:17:28.750 --> 00:17:31.069 So the Christians kept visiting my home with 00:17:31.069 --> 00:17:34.140 baked goods and Bible studies. And I remember, 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:36.220 I was like, what's next? You know, I'm just, 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:38.259 it's like time off, right? The Lord gave me a 00:17:38.259 --> 00:17:40.180 few months off from September to January when 00:17:40.180 --> 00:17:42.680 the next semester starts. So for the next few 00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:45.059 months, I read the Bible, but it was so hard 00:17:45.059 --> 00:17:47.720 to understand. I was like, what is it? What? 00:17:47.720 --> 00:17:50.220 It's just so many books. What's the Old Testament, 00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:52.859 New Testament? Thank God that the pastors and 00:17:52.859 --> 00:17:54.839 small group leaders, the people visiting at the 00:17:54.839 --> 00:17:56.859 hospital even, they kept visiting me, Eric, and 00:17:56.859 --> 00:17:58.579 taught me the truth of the scripture little by 00:17:58.579 --> 00:18:00.319 little. But I still told them, you know, something's 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:03.869 missing. I said, I get it and I saw hell, but 00:18:03.869 --> 00:18:06.089 what's next? And they go, we believe you need 00:18:06.089 --> 00:18:08.430 to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And I said, 00:18:08.609 --> 00:18:11.190 baptized in the what? Like in water? And they're 00:18:11.190 --> 00:18:13.289 like, no, this is different. We want you to be 00:18:13.289 --> 00:18:15.549 filled with God's Spirit. So they suggested I 00:18:15.549 --> 00:18:18.029 go to a prayer mountain that the church was running. 00:18:18.210 --> 00:18:20.609 So Grace Church had a Grace Prayer Mountain back 00:18:20.609 --> 00:18:22.750 then there. So I go to the prayer mountain and 00:18:22.750 --> 00:18:25.609 there was an amazing pastor there who had service. 00:18:25.809 --> 00:18:27.670 It's like a monastery, modern day monastery. 00:18:28.089 --> 00:18:30.549 but it's a Protestant Christian, 6 a .m., 11 00:18:30.549 --> 00:18:33.230 a .m., 8 p .m., and I'm there, and He laid His 00:18:33.230 --> 00:18:36.130 hands on me on November 28th. And now I'm like 00:18:36.130 --> 00:18:38.150 listening to three sermons a day. It's like my 00:18:38.150 --> 00:18:39.910 first sermon ever, so I'm kind of understanding 00:18:39.910 --> 00:18:42.490 Christianity. It's all about Jesus dying for 00:18:42.490 --> 00:18:45.089 my sins on the cross, and I have to live a new 00:18:45.089 --> 00:18:48.089 life. But, you know, I'm still a little sick, 00:18:48.089 --> 00:18:50.549 still out of it. But when the Holy Spirit baptized 00:18:50.549 --> 00:18:55.069 me on November 20th, 1998, roughly nine weeks 00:18:55.069 --> 00:18:58.519 or so, 10 weeks after the event happened, I remember 00:18:58.519 --> 00:19:01.500 feeling just fire go through my body. I started 00:19:01.500 --> 00:19:03.700 speaking in tongues. I didn't even know what 00:19:03.700 --> 00:19:06.480 was going on, but this pastor put his hands on 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:09.200 my head and said, God bless Steve, Lord. And 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:11.740 Jesus said, Amen. I got filled with fire. That 00:19:11.740 --> 00:19:14.680 day I slept so well, like I felt like my body 00:19:14.680 --> 00:19:17.599 got rejuvenated. And little by little, Eric, 00:19:17.619 --> 00:19:20.599 just to encourage the listeners, it was a gradual 00:19:20.599 --> 00:19:25.039 healing, progressive revelation and gradual understanding 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:27.279 of God. It wasn't like, now that you saw hell, 00:19:27.559 --> 00:19:30.079 Now you go preach the gospel. There's situations 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:32.579 like that, but for me, it took me another three 00:19:32.579 --> 00:19:35.079 months just to understand the gospel and to understand 00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:37.740 church. And then in June, I saw heaven, but I 00:19:37.740 --> 00:19:38.980 don't know if I should go into that right now 00:19:38.980 --> 00:19:42.640 or... Yeah, let's go for it. So, you know, so 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:44.539 I get baptized in the Spirit. I come back to 00:19:44.539 --> 00:19:46.839 school in January, back to Pomona College, thinking 00:19:46.839 --> 00:19:49.099 everything has to be fine and dandy. I hope this 00:19:49.099 --> 00:19:51.859 also encourages new believers and seekers. I 00:19:51.859 --> 00:19:53.680 thought I'd be like this holy guy, not tempted, 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:56.869 but I started smoking again. drinking and partying 00:19:56.869 --> 00:19:58.210 again, Eric. Can you believe that? I'm getting 00:19:58.210 --> 00:20:00.930 high again. Because somewhere in the Bible, I 00:20:00.930 --> 00:20:03.289 read God is merciful. And I was like, He'll forgive 00:20:03.289 --> 00:20:06.250 me, right? So I'm like driving and I'm getting 00:20:06.250 --> 00:20:09.009 into car accidents. Every time I go out, it was 00:20:09.009 --> 00:20:12.150 scary. Steve, welcome to being human. We do stupid 00:20:12.150 --> 00:20:15.009 things. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. We need a savior 00:20:15.009 --> 00:20:17.509 every day. So he looks at, so my non -Christian 00:20:17.509 --> 00:20:20.109 friends look at me and they go, Steve, how come 00:20:20.109 --> 00:20:21.849 you're saved? And we heard your story, like everyone 00:20:21.849 --> 00:20:24.450 on campus knows about it. Oh, how come you're 00:20:24.450 --> 00:20:25.990 still getting high with us? You're a Christian 00:20:25.990 --> 00:20:27.349 now." And I go, yeah, you're right. I shouldn't 00:20:27.349 --> 00:20:28.490 be here. And they're like, yeah, you shouldn't 00:20:28.490 --> 00:20:30.650 be here anymore. Like they were preaching at 00:20:30.650 --> 00:20:32.950 me and they don't even know Jesus. So I felt 00:20:32.950 --> 00:20:35.329 so guilty and my church friends are like, come 00:20:35.329 --> 00:20:37.130 to church with me. And I was like, yeah, you're 00:20:37.130 --> 00:20:39.829 right. I need to go to church. So this gradual 00:20:39.829 --> 00:20:42.509 sanctification took another six months from January 00:20:42.509 --> 00:20:46.569 to June. But I was like, you know what? Yolo, 00:20:46.670 --> 00:20:49.150 let me party it out one last time. But every 00:20:49.150 --> 00:20:50.670 time I try to go to the world, the Lord would 00:20:50.670 --> 00:20:53.210 get me in a car accident, rebuke me, my Christian 00:20:53.210 --> 00:20:58.009 friends rebuke me. And I think I broke or surrendered 00:20:58.009 --> 00:21:01.789 more in the month of June, June of 1999, the 00:21:01.789 --> 00:21:05.430 summer of my sophomore year in college when God 00:21:05.430 --> 00:21:08.170 showed me a trip to heaven. He gave it to me. 00:21:08.190 --> 00:21:10.049 He showed me heaven, Eric, the heaven in the 00:21:10.049 --> 00:21:13.930 book of Revelation 20, 21, 22. When I least deserve 00:21:13.930 --> 00:21:16.509 it, when I least expected it, it's called grace. 00:21:16.569 --> 00:21:19.319 It's called amazing grace. None of us deserve, 00:21:19.319 --> 00:21:22.319 you know, the free gift of eternal life. It's 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:24.700 literally a gift undeserved. And that makes human 00:21:24.700 --> 00:21:26.900 beings go, wow, I am thankful because we were 00:21:26.900 --> 00:21:29.920 created to thank and worship God. Thank and worship 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:32.640 Him all the time. So here I am in this dream. 00:21:33.339 --> 00:21:37.099 I see heaven. I'm standing on top of a hill. 00:21:37.700 --> 00:21:40.799 And there is the most beautiful meadow and valley 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:44.059 I've ever seen. I look up, the most beautiful 00:21:44.059 --> 00:21:47.619 sky. I was like, wow. And I hear an angelic choir. 00:21:47.829 --> 00:21:51.269 just worshiping God. And I knew it was angels, 00:21:51.450 --> 00:21:55.109 Eric, because the voice level, the quality, the 00:21:55.109 --> 00:21:58.329 depth, the joy, the beauty cannot be humans. 00:21:58.950 --> 00:22:02.069 Humans, not even the greatest soloist, baritone, 00:22:02.230 --> 00:22:04.990 Italian opera singer cannot sing like that. There's 00:22:04.990 --> 00:22:07.549 a worst bring the father. And I look up and I 00:22:07.549 --> 00:22:12.500 see this huge light and it speaks to me. And 00:22:12.500 --> 00:22:14.859 I knew it was God the Father. And he didn't go, 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:16.779 you know, Steve, like, you know, I like your 00:22:16.779 --> 00:22:19.500 hair. He's not like chit chatty. He just said, 00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:24.579 Jesus Christ is my beloved Son in whom I am well 00:22:24.579 --> 00:22:28.480 pleased. Listen to him. Listen to him. Listen 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:30.099 to him. Later on, because I haven't read the 00:22:30.099 --> 00:22:31.720 Bible too much at this time, but later on when 00:22:31.720 --> 00:22:33.319 I started going to seminary reading the Bible, 00:22:33.539 --> 00:22:36.059 like almost every day, Eric, Jesus actually says 00:22:36.059 --> 00:22:38.720 that three times out of the four gospels where 00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:42.210 God, when Jesus is being baptized, When Jesus 00:22:42.210 --> 00:22:45.309 prays, the Holy Spirit falls when He's baptized, 00:22:45.710 --> 00:22:48.369 the Kingdom of God comes because Jesus is the 00:22:48.369 --> 00:22:51.170 Kingdom of God. Wherever He is, God is there, 00:22:51.210 --> 00:22:53.589 the Father and the Son are one. And I remember 00:22:53.589 --> 00:22:56.549 hearing His voice. I saw the glory of the Father 00:22:56.549 --> 00:22:59.349 and I felt His love for me, Eric. And I was like, 00:22:59.349 --> 00:23:01.710 you know what? This is where I belong. And I 00:23:01.710 --> 00:23:03.750 want all my loved ones to experience this. I 00:23:03.750 --> 00:23:05.930 want my mom, my dad, my brother, my ex -girlfriend, 00:23:05.970 --> 00:23:08.490 even my enemies sometimes, my friends who hurt 00:23:08.490 --> 00:23:11.269 me. I want them to experience the exact same 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:14.180 perfect peace and presence of God because in 00:23:14.180 --> 00:23:17.599 His presence, there was and is and will be a 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:21.299 fullness of joy and peace to the maximum capacity 00:23:21.299 --> 00:23:24.680 humans can experience. So I said, wow, I saw 00:23:24.680 --> 00:23:27.240 heaven. And then I saw the New Jerusalem, Revelation 00:23:27.240 --> 00:23:31.859 20, 21, this huge city made of pure translucent 00:23:31.859 --> 00:23:35.880 gold. The whole city was gold coming from heaven. 00:23:36.740 --> 00:23:40.130 Just like the Bible says, 2 ,000 stadia by 2 00:23:40.130 --> 00:23:42.210 ,000 stadia by 2 ,000 stadia. It's a distance 00:23:42.210 --> 00:23:44.670 from Texas to New York. It's a perfect cube. 00:23:45.410 --> 00:23:47.369 It looked like a triangle looking up, but the 00:23:47.369 --> 00:23:50.049 city came down and I saw the heavenly Jerusalem 00:23:50.049 --> 00:23:52.230 that the saints of God reign for a thousand years. 00:23:52.369 --> 00:23:54.789 It talks about it on the scripture. And I was 00:23:54.789 --> 00:23:56.890 like, wow, who needs money when you're going 00:23:56.890 --> 00:23:58.730 to live in that thing? Like God has all the wealth 00:23:58.730 --> 00:24:01.109 in the world. Wow. And I was just worshiping 00:24:01.109 --> 00:24:04.029 it. And I woke up and I said, I just saw heaven. 00:24:04.170 --> 00:24:07.049 I saw the rivers, the meadow, the grass. I saw 00:24:07.049 --> 00:24:10.289 the new heaven and new earth. And I opened my 00:24:10.289 --> 00:24:11.990 eyes and I said, you know what, I can't keep 00:24:11.990 --> 00:24:14.130 partying. I think something's gotta change. So 00:24:14.130 --> 00:24:16.309 after a series of more car accidents, after that 00:24:16.309 --> 00:24:18.490 dream, I stopped partying, Eric. I said, Lord, 00:24:18.490 --> 00:24:21.130 I surrender. And I went to be a full -time missionary 00:24:21.130 --> 00:24:24.069 in China. A year later, I just moved. I quit 00:24:24.069 --> 00:24:26.650 school. I just moved to China. Okay, a couple 00:24:26.650 --> 00:24:30.190 of quick questions. First one is, I hope you're 00:24:30.190 --> 00:24:34.430 okay answering this. You said that you saw the 00:24:34.430 --> 00:24:37.690 glory of God. What exactly does that mean? Does 00:24:37.690 --> 00:24:40.930 that mean you saw a godly person? What did you 00:24:40.930 --> 00:24:43.210 see? Yeah, I didn't see his face. I didn't even 00:24:43.210 --> 00:24:45.369 see a body. You know, I know some friends who 00:24:45.369 --> 00:24:47.150 saw the Father like sitting on the throne and 00:24:47.150 --> 00:24:48.769 they saw his feet and all that. I didn't see 00:24:48.769 --> 00:24:52.490 none of that. I just saw an emanating like sun 00:24:52.490 --> 00:24:55.849 -looking light and in this light he spoke. I 00:24:55.849 --> 00:24:58.549 just knew it was God the Father because he called 00:24:58.549 --> 00:25:01.630 Jesus the Son. I didn't see a figure or like 00:25:01.630 --> 00:25:05.589 a throne or even or like a hair or face. I just 00:25:05.589 --> 00:25:09.000 saw light. emanating at me. And the light spoke, 00:25:09.720 --> 00:25:12.740 and I knew it was God the Father. And when He 00:25:12.740 --> 00:25:16.400 spoke, the voice was so authoritative, rushing 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:19.960 of many rivers. It's so warm and authoritative. 00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:23.140 It's God, the Most High Voice. And when I heard 00:25:23.140 --> 00:25:25.339 His voice, it wrecked me. I will never forget 00:25:25.339 --> 00:25:28.480 it. It was 25 years ago, 26 years ago, and I 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:32.000 still can go back to that experience like it's 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:34.069 happening right now. That's interesting that 00:25:34.069 --> 00:25:37.329 it can sound both warm and authoritative at the 00:25:37.329 --> 00:25:40.549 same time. Yeah. And I think that's why Jesus 00:25:40.549 --> 00:25:43.230 Christ said, I came full of grace and truth. 00:25:43.849 --> 00:25:45.910 He came filled with grace and truth. Some people 00:25:45.910 --> 00:25:48.869 say, lovey -dovey, you know, God loves everybody. 00:25:48.890 --> 00:25:52.509 He does, but He's also holy. Truth is not evil. 00:25:52.690 --> 00:25:56.009 Truth is what is the, what is fact. God is holy. 00:25:56.069 --> 00:25:58.470 He is still King. He's my dad. He's your dad. 00:25:58.859 --> 00:26:01.240 We can be intimate with Him, but He's still the 00:26:01.240 --> 00:26:04.500 highest president, highest king of all. All creation 00:26:04.500 --> 00:26:05.980 worships Him. So it's kind of weird because we 00:26:05.980 --> 00:26:08.579 like His kids, but we still worship Him and He's 00:26:08.579 --> 00:26:10.279 our dad. It's like there's different modes. I 00:26:10.279 --> 00:26:13.019 feel like we can have the son -kid -baby moment. 00:26:13.059 --> 00:26:15.519 We can have the bond -servant -master moment. 00:26:15.539 --> 00:26:18.380 We can have the creation -creator moment. There's 00:26:18.380 --> 00:26:21.319 so many facets to our relationship with the Father. 00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:24.779 I feel like the human beings are created to experience 00:26:24.779 --> 00:26:28.940 all of that, to be intimate. and worshiping and 00:26:28.940 --> 00:26:31.900 surrender to God because He's the Creator, we're 00:26:31.900 --> 00:26:35.660 the creature. And we were, I'll be very frank 00:26:35.660 --> 00:26:38.859 with you today, and every day, we were created 00:26:38.859 --> 00:26:42.099 to worship. We were like, I feel like my DNA, 00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:45.380 my heart was made to worship. If we worship the 00:26:45.380 --> 00:26:48.319 wrong thing, end up all funky and weird, if we 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:51.500 worship God, we become like Him, holy. We become 00:26:51.500 --> 00:26:54.339 whom we behold. And God says, when you see my 00:26:54.339 --> 00:26:56.940 son Jesus, you saw me. So it's like, He's also 00:26:56.940 --> 00:27:00.450 human. His son is, so we can interact with him. 00:27:00.529 --> 00:27:02.849 He's very compassionate. He's very merciful. 00:27:03.289 --> 00:27:05.529 The other question that I had a few minutes ago, 00:27:05.529 --> 00:27:09.230 I asked you about your actual feelings when you 00:27:09.230 --> 00:27:12.650 were in hell. What were your feelings and emotions 00:27:12.650 --> 00:27:18.549 in heaven? In heaven, I felt accepted, felt home. 00:27:18.710 --> 00:27:22.769 I felt like this is my home. I felt bliss, pure 00:27:22.769 --> 00:27:26.109 bliss, like no worries. Like hell was like anxiety, 00:27:26.170 --> 00:27:30.509 worry, fear. multiplied, heaven was like loved, 00:27:30.910 --> 00:27:35.869 joyful, peace, serenity, glory, exciting all 00:27:35.869 --> 00:27:39.509 at once. It's like no drug and cafe can produce 00:27:39.509 --> 00:27:41.630 that kind of feeling on earth. Sometimes when 00:27:41.630 --> 00:27:43.970 I worship, I get close to that feeling. But when 00:27:43.970 --> 00:27:46.130 I was in heaven Eric, I felt like I was where 00:27:46.130 --> 00:27:48.670 I was supposed to be in my father's bosom. Yeah. 00:27:48.769 --> 00:27:50.430 I felt like this is where I'm going to spend 00:27:50.430 --> 00:27:53.279 eternity. So every day now I live for heaven. 00:27:53.640 --> 00:27:55.660 Every day we pray in the morning one hour, two 00:27:55.660 --> 00:27:58.460 hours, we evangelize souls, go to mission fields, 00:27:58.599 --> 00:28:01.599 serve the homeless, build a church, forgive the 00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:04.259 unforgivable, bless the unblessable, love the 00:28:04.259 --> 00:28:06.740 unlovable, and serve those who can never repay 00:28:06.740 --> 00:28:10.000 us. Take up the cross every day because that's 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:12.680 the only way to go to heaven is surrender. We're 00:28:12.680 --> 00:28:16.180 not saved by works, but this proves we're truly 00:28:16.180 --> 00:28:18.609 repented and saved. I feel like the Lord made 00:28:18.609 --> 00:28:20.970 us to experience all that. And by the way, God 00:28:20.970 --> 00:28:23.829 wants everybody there, Eric. God desires all 00:28:23.829 --> 00:28:27.049 men in heaven. Amen, 2nd Timothy, yes. I couldn't 00:28:27.049 --> 00:28:30.730 agree more. He does not want anyone to go down 00:28:30.730 --> 00:28:33.869 and experience the place where you were. If we 00:28:33.869 --> 00:28:37.230 really are His children, He wants us all to come 00:28:37.230 --> 00:28:40.609 back to Him. Yes, amen. That's really the bottom 00:28:40.609 --> 00:28:44.650 line of His whole plan. How much fear of death 00:28:44.650 --> 00:28:48.269 do you have? Zero I think as a Buddhist I was 00:28:48.269 --> 00:28:50.869 so afraid to die because in Buddhism I was taught 00:28:50.869 --> 00:28:54.309 due to my sin or my past life I'll be born into 00:28:54.309 --> 00:28:58.029 an ant if I wrong somebody a cow I was like man 00:28:58.029 --> 00:29:00.430 if I die, I'm gonna be a pig in my next life. 00:29:00.490 --> 00:29:03.549 Am I gonna be somebody's barbecue? You know, 00:29:03.589 --> 00:29:05.589 so I was McDonald's, you know Big Mac and I was 00:29:05.589 --> 00:29:08.369 so worried and I was so afraid of demons because 00:29:08.369 --> 00:29:10.809 the monks never taught me how to battle demons 00:29:10.809 --> 00:29:13.609 in Christianity You bind that sucker. You're 00:29:13.609 --> 00:29:15.210 saying, Jesus seeing the devil be gone, I'm not 00:29:15.210 --> 00:29:18.269 afraid of you. My Savior fights my battles. Jesus 00:29:18.269 --> 00:29:21.970 is inside of me. So His perfect love casts out 00:29:21.970 --> 00:29:24.930 all fear. Now the last enemy to be defeated, 00:29:25.089 --> 00:29:26.769 according to the Bible, Eric, as you well know, 00:29:26.809 --> 00:29:29.369 and hopefully some of the listeners can think 00:29:29.369 --> 00:29:32.349 about this, is the last enemy to be defeated 00:29:32.349 --> 00:29:35.289 is death because the devil used death, which 00:29:35.289 --> 00:29:38.390 is a result of sin or us choosing to go away 00:29:38.390 --> 00:29:41.059 from God at the Garden of Eden. Death is like 00:29:41.059 --> 00:29:44.539 the ultimate price to pay for not being with 00:29:44.539 --> 00:29:47.380 God. But Jesus took care of all that on the cross. 00:29:47.960 --> 00:29:50.200 So after seeing heaven and hell, Eric, I have 00:29:50.200 --> 00:29:53.000 no fear of death. Sometimes I look at earth and 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:54.440 I go, man, I experienced everything on earth 00:29:54.440 --> 00:29:56.799 and nothing here for me. I'm just an alien and 00:29:56.799 --> 00:29:59.160 a stranger or a pilgrim just passing through, 00:29:59.299 --> 00:30:01.900 just like first Peter says. And I look forward 00:30:01.900 --> 00:30:03.819 to death. I look forward to heaven. I look forward 00:30:03.819 --> 00:30:06.200 to seeing my maker and saying, Lord, All I want 00:30:06.200 --> 00:30:09.039 to hear from you is, well done, my good and faithful 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:11.819 servant. Enter into the joy of your Master. And 00:30:11.819 --> 00:30:15.680 my Master is Jesus. My Lord is Jesus. He dictates 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:18.440 my life. Whatever He wants, I do. What doesn't 00:30:18.440 --> 00:30:22.099 please Him, I fight and say no to, sin and whatever 00:30:22.099 --> 00:30:24.339 He wants. I say, yes, Lord, help me to obey You. 00:30:24.759 --> 00:30:28.059 So yeah, I can boldly tell you with all my heart 00:30:28.059 --> 00:30:30.809 and mind that I have zero fear of death. That's 00:30:30.809 --> 00:30:33.049 why I'm preaching in mosques, preaching in temples, 00:30:33.269 --> 00:30:35.730 preaching at Costco, preaching in the streets, 00:30:35.990 --> 00:30:39.710 byways, opposition, homeless people, drunk people, 00:30:40.210 --> 00:30:41.609 people who hate you, love you, it doesn't matter. 00:30:41.730 --> 00:30:43.869 We preach the gospel anywhere, everywhere. Not 00:30:43.869 --> 00:30:45.730 because we're cooler, like we're better than 00:30:45.730 --> 00:30:48.150 them or we want to cause a scene, but we got 00:30:48.150 --> 00:30:50.269 to get the word out that Jesus is Lord and He 00:30:50.269 --> 00:30:52.470 wants to save everybody. He loves everybody. 00:30:53.009 --> 00:30:55.029 All right, very last thing that I'm gonna let 00:30:55.029 --> 00:30:58.210 you go and that is our show is all about hope 00:30:58.210 --> 00:31:01.750 and Giving people hope and there is one person 00:31:01.750 --> 00:31:04.650 out there and it only matters if this is for 00:31:04.650 --> 00:31:08.170 one person That needs some kind of a message 00:31:08.170 --> 00:31:11.789 today. Maybe they lost a loved one Maybe they've 00:31:11.789 --> 00:31:14.769 just had really a rough year with every trial 00:31:14.769 --> 00:31:17.410 you can imagine What kind of message of hope 00:31:17.410 --> 00:31:20.259 do you have for this person? Yeah, Eric. Yeah, 00:31:20.259 --> 00:31:22.240 that's such a good thing. I love how your show 00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:25.279 is about giving hope to people. The God of Mercy 00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:27.980 visited me at my lowest state when I was totally 00:31:27.980 --> 00:31:31.539 hopeless, totally dead, and that's the kind of 00:31:31.539 --> 00:31:35.619 God we have. Now, this message I really pray 00:31:35.619 --> 00:31:38.319 with all my heart in Jesus' name will encourage 00:31:38.319 --> 00:31:41.220 at least one person or even more. The Lord, when 00:31:41.220 --> 00:31:44.339 we come to Him, Jesus, He doesn't ask us about 00:31:44.339 --> 00:31:47.390 all the wrong He did. In the Bible, when he encounters 00:31:47.390 --> 00:31:50.869 tax collectors, even prostitutes, fishermen, 00:31:51.410 --> 00:31:53.349 violent people, he doesn't go, look what you 00:31:53.349 --> 00:31:55.829 did. When he met me, he never said, Steve, you're 00:31:55.829 --> 00:31:58.390 such an idol worshipping Buddhist. I can't believe 00:31:58.390 --> 00:32:00.849 you didn't come to me until now. All he told 00:32:00.849 --> 00:32:04.009 me was, I love you. No more drugs, no more Buddhism, 00:32:04.269 --> 00:32:07.089 Steve, and I love you. And God is telling you 00:32:07.089 --> 00:32:09.849 right now that He loves you. He's not going to 00:32:09.849 --> 00:32:13.109 ask about your mistakes to your past ex -husband, 00:32:13.349 --> 00:32:16.359 your sins, your... all the mess -ups you made, 00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:18.400 He already knows all that, and He has chosen 00:32:18.400 --> 00:32:22.259 to forgive you. So please come as you are, surrender 00:32:22.259 --> 00:32:24.920 at His feet, and no matter what stage in life 00:32:24.920 --> 00:32:26.940 you're in, or you've been Christian or not, what 00:32:26.940 --> 00:32:28.900 religious background you have, just come to Jesus, 00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:33.079 say, Lord, I need you, I need your mercy. Father, 00:32:33.180 --> 00:32:35.099 God, help me, and He will help you. And you might 00:32:35.099 --> 00:32:37.160 be like, what if He doesn't help me? What if 00:32:37.160 --> 00:32:39.960 He does help you? What if He doesn't show up? 00:32:39.960 --> 00:32:42.359 What if He shows up and He will show up? Because 00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:44.740 in Him is always yes and amen. And the Lord is 00:32:44.740 --> 00:32:47.700 asking you to not fear. Fear is a tactic of the 00:32:47.700 --> 00:32:50.119 enemy. The God is telling you today it's going 00:32:50.119 --> 00:32:53.200 to be okay. Do not fear. Do not be anxious about 00:32:53.200 --> 00:32:55.799 anything. Just thank me and let me guide you. 00:32:55.819 --> 00:32:58.539 He says he has you. All he wants is your heart. 00:32:58.579 --> 00:33:00.460 And you might be like, my heart is dirty. It's 00:33:00.460 --> 00:33:02.799 not perfect. Welcome to the club. Eight billion 00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:05.539 people have broken, messed up hearts. But when 00:33:05.539 --> 00:33:08.400 I gave my broken, messed up, idol worshiping, 00:33:08.579 --> 00:33:12.460 suicidal, depressed, zero self -esteem, no value 00:33:12.460 --> 00:33:14.579 for others, heart to God. I said, Lord, this 00:33:14.579 --> 00:33:16.819 is all I have. He said, you know what, Steve? 00:33:17.339 --> 00:33:19.859 It is not clean, but you gave me what you have. 00:33:19.880 --> 00:33:22.059 And he took it, and he gave me a new heart. So 00:33:22.059 --> 00:33:24.099 today, I want to say God bless you with a new 00:33:24.099 --> 00:33:26.279 heart and a new spirit, because that's what Jesus 00:33:26.279 --> 00:33:28.480 does. He's not religion. He literally gives you 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:30.339 a new heart and a new spirit. He's called being 00:33:30.339 --> 00:33:33.380 born again, and He will take charge of you, and 00:33:33.380 --> 00:33:35.980 He loves you very much. He will never leave you 00:33:35.980 --> 00:33:40.259 or forsake you, in Jesus' name. Amen. You nailed 00:33:40.259 --> 00:33:42.819 it, Steve. Thank you. Thank you, Eric. Yeah, 00:33:42.819 --> 00:33:48.000 thank you for your time. Thanks again for listening 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:50.460 and sharing this podcast. Don't forget to hit 00:33:50.460 --> 00:33:53.299 the follow or subscribe button and sign up for 00:33:53.299 --> 00:33:56.160 our newsletter at roundtripdeath .com. If you 00:33:56.160 --> 00:33:58.740 want to share your near -death experience, or 00:33:58.740 --> 00:34:00.680 if you have questions or comments about the show, 00:34:01.180 --> 00:34:04.279 send an email to eric at roundtripdeath .com. 00:34:04.619 --> 00:34:06.759 Until then, I wish you everything good that you're 00:34:06.759 --> 00:34:09.159 looking for in this life and the next.