Fifteen Minutes With Christ
The following is a high-level narrative of an out of body event that happened to Bruce Johnson on February 27, 2012.
By Bruce Johnson
To describe in detail would take volumes, and many things yet would be difficult for me to describe using earthly language. I will add detail as I am able, and for what I am able to. I pray that Christ uses this for His glory.
Introduction
What happens the very instant a Christian dies? I know first-hand what it feels like to die as a blood-bought child of God, and have been allowed insight into this mystery of God. The Christian’s death is a well-defined and orderly process, as would follow from an orderly Creator.
Prelude
My name is Bruce Johnson, and this is my story. On Monday morning, February 27, 2012, Penny, my wife, noticed that’ didn’t quite seem my usual self. She called my home health
nurse who, upon seeing my demeanor and checking my blood pressure (75/45), immediately called 911. By the time I had arrived at the emergency room, I was largely incoherent and rapidly becoming unresponsive. My blood pressure had dropped to < 40/28 and my body temperature was
My Death
As a last-ditch troubleshooting effort by emergency staff to determine if a blockage could be causing the kidney failure, a decision was made to attempt a CT scan of my kidneys. I was wheeled down to the scanner, but my condition had degraded to the point that a CT scan was not feasible. By that point, my body was respiring so shallowly that’ could not even exhale the carbon dioxide from my own lungs. ‘remember hearing one of the technicians say “scrap it” in reference to further CT scan attempts. This was the last human phrase I heard as I died.
Earthly Exodus
I left my earthly body behind in a flash, traveling at what seemed faster than the speed of light. My speed appeared comparable to when a spaceship “jumps to hyperspace” in the popular Star Wars movie series, but perhaps a billion times over. I was in a new form, an “other dimensional” creature, Bruce the spirit man. Upon leaving my body, I gave no further thought to its crippled form and pain.
The Passageway
I was in an “other-dimensional” passageway that had opened for me immediately upon death. The passageway appeared to be of highly polished silver or platinum. The passageway was of a perfectly symmetrical cross-sectional design, being fully enclosed with the original entrance sealed and the apparent exit yet in the distance. The passageway was exclusively for my use. This seemed reasonable, since death is a very personal occurrence; a transaction between an individual and the Creator. The passageway was lighted brilliantly by the Glory of Christ Jesus our Lord, Who waited at the passageway exit. Christ’s glory also streamed down the perfect walls in a form that I can only describe as pure, fiery white-hot molten gold. Movement through the passageway was always one-way: toward Christ Jesus. My motion in the passageway was always via flight of my spirit along the centerline axis, headfirst toward Christ at the exit.
Nothing is Hidden
As quickly as I had jettisoned my earthly body and as rapidly as the process had started, the time component of the process seemed to fade. Sure, I was still traveling at a high rate of speed, but I was paying more attention to my surroundings than to my rate of travel. I had become aware that a factoid about Bruce the human was encircling my spirit. My spirit questioned “Where did this come from, and who has exposed such fine detail that only I knew about my life on earth?”
Suddenly thereafter, I became aware that my spirit was passing through an immense field of
such small bits of information, so hewn and keyed that they could be used to build an entire
representation of my years on earth. All the information was there: time, place, emotion,
event, intent, people, etc. I was able to examine each piece of information. Nothing was
hidden. The contents of an entire life on earth lay bare! Even all my earthly knowledge was
exposed. Imbalances became obvious, such as where I had misused one of God’s most precious
resources entrusted to me: time. As an example, I saw the expense at which I had gained
useless knowledge – the expense of neglecting to care properly for a seemingly Simple resource
entrusted to me.
A New Language
As I neared the end of the passageway, where our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus in His
indescribable glory awaited me, all earthly remnants had been left behind, including earthly
language. I neither thought of nor cared about earthly components after this point. I then
became aware of a new language, one which while being of an origin previously unfamiliar to
me, I was perfectly fluent in. The new language was inscribed on perfectly white smooth
stones, and was inscribed in an apparent two-tone combination of black ink and blood. I can
neither recall specific characters ofthis new language nor even the basic character shapes. This
is perhaps a mystery of God that will remain a mystery until we live eternally with him.
In His Presence
As I exited my passageway into the indescribable presence of Christ Jesus, my spirit could only
lie down and basking His Glory! Also, my passageway was no longer available for use, and two
other passageway exits had appeared adjacent to mine. As I continued basking, there was a
terrible groaning within my spirit, such as in grievous disappointment. It realized that my time
in Christ’s presence was being shortened. My spirit had never desired to leave Christ’s
presence, but had desired to remain with him always.
The Return
As my spirit left Christ’s presence, Christ’s glory faded into the distance as my spirit returned to
earth and re-entered my earthly body. I became aware once again of earthly activity. I heard
the scurry of emergency workers about me, felt the touch of those helping me, and once again
felt bodily pain. I was being placed on life support. Even while my spirit grieved deeply du’eto
leaving Christ’s presence, my earthly body began to fight vigorously for this new breath of life.
As my vital signs stabilized, all I could think was “Why couldn’t I stay with Christ?” Christ has
begun to answer this question for me through an evangelical calling He is placing within my
heart.
I now have a first-hand understanding of what” Corinthians 5:6,8 means. (6) Therefore we are
always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the
Lord: (8) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be
present with the Lord.
The Calling
Unbeknownst to me, for three weeks prior to this event, Penny had been praying earnestly for
God to use my life as a living testimony for Christ. She had seen me suffer excruciating pain
daily for the past two years since I narrowly survived a major brain hemorrhage, such pain that
it was incomprehensible for a human to endure. She had also watched me struggle with a new
way of life, having my left and dominant side paralyzed. Throughout this period of suffering,
she had seen God begin growing through me a ministry of encouragement (Romans 12:8). Just
while being “out and about”, hundreds of people have come up to me to talk, and will depart
saying “I came over to encourage you, but you have encouraged me instead.” She had felt
impressed to pray for more, and each day she prayed, my condition worsened incrementally in
such a way as to go essentially unnoticed by Penny until my kidneys began failing. And our
Father so clearly answered her prayer, but certainly in a way she had never expected! She had
thought that perhaps the testimony would be through a miraculous healing of my painful
condition, but yet she had steadfastly prayed exactly as impressed.
How Far Did I Travel?
I often wonder how far I traveled to reach Christ’s abode. Based on the rate at which my spirit flew
through the passageway, I would suppose my journey to have been one of considerable distance.
However, this could be another mystery of God that will remain a mystery until we abide with him
eternally.
Conclusion
My death experience ended when I was placed on full life support on Monday afternoon (ventilator, feeding tube, etc.). The doctor had intended to leave me on life support for a few days. By Tuesday afternoon, I wanted off! I was restrained to my bed with my one good arm strapped down securely. I was desperate, and prayed for God to give me a way of escape as he did for Peter when he was bound between the soldiers in prison in Acts 12. Somehow (I still don’t know how) I was able to remove the restraints from my right hand, and I immediately extracted the life support system from my body. There was a bulb in my esophagus that held the apparatus secure in me. This bulb exploded in my throat and
gave me a really funny voice for a few days. The doctor had intended to keep me in the critical care unit a few more days, but after I removed my life support and seemed to be doing well without it, he immediately wrote orders to transfer me to a regular, private room (unrestrained). I am now at home with perfect kidney function and no residual kidney damage. Prayer answered!
