Secrets from Beyond The Grave

away. Just prior to retiring, Granddad called and shared a remarkable incident with me. Bill Fishel had just passed away, and Granddad was quite sad. He was given a spiritual dream that night. In his dream, Granddad was carried into heaven, where his spirit (or soul) was hovering over a particular area, and he could see the outlay of a portion of heaven just below him! Also below, standing near a massive, pearly-white, double gate were numerous men who had been faithful Christians and members of Granddad's church in Maryland. All of these men had passed, some many years ago, and were all together near this gate as though they were waiting for someone to arrive. Granddad saw his own father, Pete Bava, in the group. He said that Pete was talking and using his hands and pointing around (which is normal for a full-blooded Italian), and the group seemed in high anticipation of something about to occur. Granddad described a wind that suddenly began to blow, and he observed the massive, double gate begin opening. There, outside the gate, stood Bill Fishel! When the men--all of whom had known Bill in their earthly life--saw Bill, they began to shout and praise God, hugging Bill and welcoming him into the eternal kingdom. Granddad was impressed and even laughed when he described his own father being so excited and jumping up and down at the appearing of Bill. His dad, Pete, was an Italian Catholic whom God had raised up from his deathbed and baptized in the Holy Spirit. Pete loved to rejoice in church. Nothing was different in heaven. Pete was still shouting and praising the Lord! When death arrived, Bill was prepared this time, as his soul and spirit went up and not down , and he entered his eternal "rest" in the heavenly kingdom, where he and all of the "dead in Christ" will remain until the resurrection (1 Thess. 4:16). Certainly this is what Paul meant when he said, "We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:8). There are numerous men and women who have experienced a near-death or an after-death experience that convinced them there is a life beyond this life. I realize there are many good Christians whose church doctrines teach them that the soul and spirit stay in the body at death, and they do not enter either heaven or hell until after the resurrection and the judgment. They would consider this story to be the figment of someone's imagination while under medication. However, there are far too many stories similar to Bill's for this to be a coincidence or an imaginative mental journey. Yes, there is a world of the lost. However, there is also a world where the righteous journey after their departure from this life. In the next chapter we will look up --to a land that is a heavenly paradise!