The statistics are simply amazing. It would seem that current surveys estimate that between 4% and 9% of people claim to have had an NDE (Near Death Experience). If true that’s a staggering figure given an estimated world population of some 8.3 billion. (‘ll let you do the maths to see if you agree with me).

As far as I am aware I have only knowingly met one person who has had such an experience, and it completely transformed his life. He was diving for lobster off the small Island of Mauritius when he was stung by five Box Jellyfish, one of the most venomous creatures in the world.

I’m talking of the Ian McCormack of course, or ‘The Box Jelly Fish Man’ as he known to so many. I don’t have the space to recount his story in detail in this short column but if you want more information, you can find it at https://www.aglimpseofeternity.org.

If my memory serves me correctly MCormack was rushed to hospital, but to no avail, but as he was dying, he remembered his mother’s advice that if cried out to God He would listen to him, and so he prayed the Lord’s Prayer.

He believes he had an encounter with Jesus and came back to life. He says medical workers told him he had been dead approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Whatever the detail though it was such a remarkable experience that this former atheist became a Christian who now shares his life changing story worldwide.

I found his account both gripping and challenging, but I had no one else’s story to compare it with until I came across a very helpful article written by Michael Zigarellii a professor at Messiah University in Pennsylvania and the author of several books that include ‘Evidence for Heaven’.

Several things stood out for me. Firstly, the sheer numbers involved and the fact that NDE’s seem to be a historical phenomenon and not just a contemporary experience. Secondly, it was hugely encouraging to read that his research has shown that NDE’s tend to result in transformed lives with people becoming ‘less concerned about prestige, power, accumulation or reputation’, atheists becoming pastors, and even a mafia boss becoming a social worker!

But I hear you say, NDE’s are nothing more than the product of brain activity? I can see why many would find that a plausible explanation, but Zigarellii points to one detail in his research that seriously challenges that hypothesis: reports that have been independently verified because the details check out.

He refers to several of these but the one that stood out for me tells the story of the lady who claimed she saw a blue shoe on the hospital roof as she floated up into the sky. This was checked out and proved to be true. If I understand my Bible correctly, we are all going to meet the Risen Jesus when we leave this earthly life and we will all verify that too, whether we want to or not.