Shortly after it took place in December 2001, I heard the report of the resurrection from Nigerian Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu via email from my friend Pastor David K. Aboderin from Lagos, Nigeria. I also heard this miracle from my friend Brent Regis, Reinhard Bonnkee's stepson. Bonnkee was preaching at the church where Ekechukwu was resurrected shortly before the event.
Brent told me at that time some of the details of Pastor Ekechukwu's experience in Hell. A few months later, I also watched the video documentary of this miracle performed by Christ For All Nations, which mainly focused on the miracle of the resurrection. I wanted to know more about the incident. Since I was to spend the first two weeks of September 2002 teaching at three pastors' congresses in Nigeria, I told David Aboderin that if it would be possible,
I learned that Pastor Ekechukwu was from a village called Amaimo, in the Federated State of Imo, and that he was pastor of a church in the city of Onitsha, in the Federated State of Anambra. , called Power Chapel Evangelical Church. Onitsha was about a three hour drive from where our last convention would be held, in the eastern Nigerian town of Umahia. So I asked the pastors at this conference if any of them knew how we could find Pastor Ekechukwu. A young man raised his hand and told me that he had a friend who had a friend who personally knew Pastor Ekechukwu. However, we also learned that Pastor Ekechukwu was very difficult to meet because he is in high demand.
To shorten a long story, we finally learned that Pastor Ekechukwu was staying temporarily in a hotel five minutes from David Aboderin's home in Lagos, where I would be staying for my last three days in Nigeria. We were also given the opportunity to meet him. So in a country of 130 million people, and in a city of 12 million, the man I wanted to meet was staying just five minutes from me! It was either a beautiful coincidence or a wonderful fate. I was given the grace to meet Daniel Ekechukwu personally twice during these three days, and also to speak with several people among the staff of his ministry who were very familiar with his history.
The following report was compiled from several sources:
1 From Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu himself through personal discussions I had with him from September 12-14 2002, while I was in Lagos, Nigeria,
2 From his personal written testimony contained in his self-published booklet he gave me, titled Miracle of the 21st Century,
3 From listening to his public testimony on September 13 at Chapel of Glory, Lagos, Nigeria,
4 From video documentary produced and sold by the ministry of Christ For All Nations, which includes testimonies from Pastor Daniel, the doctor who pronounced the death, Daniel's wife, Daniel's father, the worker who embalmed Daniel , and several pastors who were present at his resurrection, and
5 From a personal discussion with Ede Samuel, a longtime friend and personal assistant to Pastor Daniel, who was also an eyewitness to many events surrounding Daniel's death and resurrection. The events described in the following report are facts proven to the best of my knowledge and memory. I sent this report to a Nigerian man named Uche Chikezie, who was Daniel Ekechukwu's PR manager, and he claimed that everything I reported is true.
I am convinced that due to complications from an automobile accident, Nigerian Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu died physically late on the evening of Friday, November 30, 2001, had died for at least 42 hours visited Heavenand Hell during the time of his physical death and was resurrected from the dead between 3:50 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. on Sunday December 2, in the basement of Grace of God Mission, located in Onitsha, Nigeria. The resurrection of Pastor Ekechukwu is the greatest modern miracle I have heard of.
While some of the things that happened to Pastor Ekechukwu are certainly extra-biblical, none of it is against the bible. Indeed, neither the story of Daniel Ekechukwu's resurrection nor the story of your salvation is found in the Bible, which makes them both extra-biblical, but neither should be rejected on that basis.
The story.
On Thursday, November 29, 2001, Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu and his wife, Nneka, had a misunderstanding which escalated into an argument which ended with her slapping him in the face. He was very upset by this incident, to the point of not even acknowledging her attempt to reconcile the next morning. Pastor Daniel admitted that throughout the day of November 30, he was thinking angrily about how he would put his wife in her place when he returned home. He would not be coming home, however, that Friday.
As he was driving home that evening, the brakes on his 20-year-old Mercedes 230E failed as he descended a steep hill, and his car crashed into a concrete pillar that was built to keep cars out. to fall down a steep slope. He was not wearing a seat belt. Few Nigerians did them in 2001, but that changed in 2003, when wearing a seat belt became a national law, and his chest hit the steering wheel and pommel with great force, apparently causing damage to his body. his internal organs, as he was soon vomiting blood and breathing heavily not to mention that he quickly lost all signs of life. Daniel was unable to get out of his car, but frantic onlookers pulled him out.
Within minutes of their arrival at the hospital, a doctor began administering emergency treatment, but Daniel knew his body was unresponsive. He began to pray the prayer of a man who knows he is going to die, asking God to forgive him all his sins so that he would be ready to stand before the Lord. He also sent to bring in his wife, Nneka, with whom he had refused to speak when he left his house earlier that day. She passed out upon hearing the news of the accident and her husband's condition, but once revived was taken by a Christian neighbor to the hospital. Daniel's friend Samuel Ede whom I interviewed at length was with her and basically saw everything that transpired over the next three days.
Seeing Daniel in critical condition when she arrived at Saint Charles Borromeo Hospital, Daniel's wife burst into tears, begging her husband not to die and leave her. The doctor admitted that there was nothing he could do to save Daniel's life. Keep in mind that this was a third world hospital, and so Daniel requested that he be transferred by ambulance to Umezuruike Hospital in Owerri, where his personal physician was practicing. Umezuruike Hospital was 80 kilometers away. Daniel's wife organized the ambulance against the advice of doctors at Saint Charles Hospital. It was on the way to Umezuruike hospital that Daniel died.
Daniel was lying in the back of the ambulance while his wife was in the front passenger seat. He began to feel that he was not going to survive, and he called his wife to come to him. He began to say goodbye, instruct her on some personal and church documents, and, and counseled her to take care of their sons and her church. She began to sob considerably and in the midst of her tears strongly berated him for such negative statements. He was a man of God and should have faith, not talk about dying!
As she spoke Daniel saw two big angels They were so tall that later he wondered how they fit inside the ambulance - one was as big as the ambulance which were completely white even the pupils of their eyes. Daniel tried to speak to the angels, but one held his finger to his lips, gesturing to keep silent. The angels lifted him up on either side, and Daniel realized that there were now two of himself. The angels held him under each arm of his perfectly sane spirit man, while his broken body lay below. Once they left the ambulance, Daniel became oblivious to the natural world.
When the ambulance arrived at Umezuruike Hospital with Daniel's body, it was late Friday evening, November 30, and Daniel's doctor was not there. A member of the medical staff, however, examined her body and sadly told Nneka that her husband was dead and that there was nothing that could be done. Nneka refused to believe the bad report.
So they drove to the Federal Medical Center in Owerri, but couldn't find a doctor there either. Finally, they drove to the Eunice clinic, and there Daniel was confirmed dead by Doctor Jossy Anuebunwa. There was no breathing, no heartbeat or pulse, and Daniel's pupils were dilated and fixed. The doctor said there was nothing he could do. A death certificate was made at 11:30 p.m. on November 30, 2001.
They then drove Daniel's corpse to his father's house in a nearby village, and naturally Daniel's father and other family members were heartbroken at the sight of Daniel's body, crying profusely. . Daniel's father asked them to take his body to the mortuary at Ikeduru General Hospital now known as Inyishi Community Hospital nearby. They got there at around 1 a.m. on Saturday morning.
The on-site funeral director, Mr. Darlington Manu, received the corpse and the family members left. The rudimentary Nigerian morgue where Daniel's body was taken did not have cold storage facilities, and so the undertaker injected embalming chemicals into Daniel's fingers and feet. He then prepared to embalm Daniel's body entirely by cutting Daniel's inner thigh in order to insert a pipe through which he could inject more embalming fluid.
As he was doing this, he experienced a shock that pushed him away from the corpse. This did not surprise him, as he had experienced similar forces before and attributed them to occult powers. These things are widely practiced in Africa and highly respected by all the African pastors that I know. Africans never understand Americans' skepticism about the reality of occult power.
After a second attempt and a second shock that paralyzed his right arm somewhat, he concluded that Daniel must have been a member of a powerful secret society. He assumed, however, that after some occult sacrifices and incantations the powers in the corpse would subside, and he could then finish his job. This undertaker, of course, was not a Christian, but was converted after Daniel's resurrection. So he asked an assistant to put Daniel's body in the back of the morgue, where many other corpses were already lying. Separately, Daniel said people could smell the embalming chemicals coming out of his body for two weeks after his resurrection. They kissed her and then covered their noses.
At around 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, the undertaker, who lived very close to the morgue, was disturbed by chants of worship coming from inside his morgue, which ceased as soon as he approached the door of the mortuary. the morgue. This has happened twice. While searching to find the source of the music in his mortuary, he noticed a kind of light emanating from the face of Daniel's corpse. It completely destabilized him.
The undertaker was so disturbed by what was happening that he tracked down Daniel's father on Saturday morning to keep him updated on what was going on and to ask him to remove Daniel's corpse from his morgue. Then, on Saturday night, while she was sleeping, Daniel's wife had a dream in which she saw her husband's face, and he asked her why they had left him in the morgue. He said he was not dead and that she should take him to Onitsha where German evangelist Reinhard Bonnkee was preaching. She decided to do it, even though her family thought she was crazy.
Daniel had been dead for over 28 hours. The family eventually relented, but bought a casket and brought funeral clothes for the undertaker to dress Daniel. The rigor mortis had acted fully at this moment. An ambulance was hired on Sunday morning, December 2, and the coffin that contained Daniel's body was taken to Grace of God Mission a large church in Onitsha, about an hour and a half away, where evangelist Reinhard Bonnke preached at an afternoon worship service to dedicate a church. They arrived at the church around 1 p.m.
The church premises were protected by swarms of federal, state and local security forces because of Reinhard Bonnkee, who has received numerous death threats, and who is hated by Muslims across Africa. Not to mention the fact that the World Trade Center had been destroyed by Muslim hijackers a few weeks before. For this reason, the guards did not allow the coffin to be brought to the church premises, believing that it might in fact contain explosives.
Daniel's wife loudly pleaded with them, and opened the coffin to show them her deceased husband, which resulted in them mocking her and even whipping her due to her persistence in entering. She caused such a disturbance that the senior pastor was notified, and her son decided that Daniel's wife be allowed to bring her body into the church without the casket, and that it be placed in the basement. Daniel's body was laid there on two tables together in a Sunday school room.
Some believers gathered around Daniel's body and prayed as Reinhard Bonnkee, who knew nothing about the corpse in the basement, preached and prayed. Eventually Daniel's corpse was found to be shaking, and then irregular breathing began. By this time, Reinhard Bonnkee had left the premises entirely. The believers present began to pray fervently, and because her body was stiff and cold, they began to massage her neck, arms, and legs. When people in the shrine heard that a dead man below was coming back to life, the basement room was quickly crammed with people. Suddenly Daniel sneezed and jumped up. It was somewhere between 3:50 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. Daniel was dead Friday night around 10 p.m.
Daniel stood with the angel and looked at a multitude of worshiping people who were dressed in bright white clothes. He immediately thought they were angels, but the angel accompanying him told him that they were human beings who, “while they lived on the earth, served God and had faith centered on Jesus- Christ and lived straight. ” These people were all ageless and without race. That is, none appeared to be young or middle aged or aged, and none had any racial hallmarks in their appearance. All were focused on a very bright light above them, and all bowed down in perfect unison. They all raised their hands at once and bowed down at the same time, "as if some kind of electronic device was activating them."
Daniel noticed a man who looked old among the multitude, and the thought occurred to him that maybe this man was God, but the accompanying angel immediately corrected her. The man was Father Abraham. Read Luke 16: 19-31 for a story Jesus told that talks about Abraham in the Hereafter.
Daniel yearned to join the worshipers, but the angel told him that there were other things Daniel needed to see. He told Daniel that they were then going to see Jesus' promise to his disciples, the house that He prepared for those who “He would find righteous on the last day.” They were there immediately. Daniel said there is no earthly way to describe what he saw.
The house had no apparent end to its height or width. She kept moving, and each room also turned in a certain way. It was made of something that was transparent like glass, and the floors seem to be made of light. Daniel didn't see anyone in the big house, but heard beautiful songs. Wondering where the music was coming from, the angel immediately showed him the many flowers around the house. When Daniel looked at them closely, they were moving and swaying and singing praise to God!
The angel said to Daniel: “The house is ready, but the saints of God are not. Jesus is delayed because the Christians in the church are not ready yet. ” It is quite biblical. See 2 Peter 3:12. Then the angel took Daniel to Hell, and they stood at the door. When the angel raised his hand and brought it down, the door opened, and Daniel could immediately hear the terrible sounds of people crying and crying, but all of Hell was in total darkness. Then a light shone from the angel, and Daniel could see many groups of people in pain. He told me about several specific groups that went through endless cycles of torment, held captive to the same sins they practiced on earth.
One group was made up of people who ate their flesh and then vomited it out on the ground, at which point the vomit would fly back to their bodies and change back into flesh which they ate again. The angel told Daniel that these people were the ones who had eaten human flesh as an occult practice. This kind of thing happens in Africa all the time. Another group, who had stolen the earth from others while they were on the earth, was constantly digging into the hard rocky ground with their bare hands.
As I heard Daniel relate this scene, I couldn't help but think of how many times Scripture declares that God will give back to each person according to their deeds, and also promises that everyone will reap exactly what they sowed. I remembered the story Jesus told of Lazarus and the rich man. In the hereafter, their roles were exactly reversed. The rich man longed for a drop of water from Lazarus just as Lazarus had previously desired a crumb from the rich man's table.
Pastor Daniel also saw Nigeria's former military dictator. He saw a Christian who got involved in occult practices and walked away from the Lord, and a pastor who embezzled money from his own church and also lied about it. The former pastor begged that he would return the money if Daniel could help him escape Hell. Even though there were different kinds of torture, all of the people in Hell were writhing in pain under an unseen force that continually gripped them. They were all screaming and crying and gritting their teeth. Pastor Daniel told me that if every Christian could see what he saw, there would be no need to preach the gospel anymore, because every Christian would become the gospel.
The most surprising thing is what happened next. The accompanying angel told Pastor Daniel, “If your case should be called here, you will undoubtedly be thrown into Hell.” Pastor Daniel immediately defended himself by saying, “I am a man of God! I serve it with all my heart! “But a Bible appeared in the hand of the angel, and it was open to Matthew 5, where Jesus warned that if one calls his brother a fool, he is guilty enough to go to the fiery hell. See Matthew 5: 21-22.
Pastor Daniel knew he was guilty of the angry words he had said to his wife. The angel also reminded him that Jesus promised that God will not forgive our sins if we do not forgive others. See Matthew 6: 14-15, because we will reap what we have sown. Only those who are merciful will obtain mercy. Matthew 5: 7. The angel told Daniel that the prayers he was praying as he died in the hospital were of no avail, because he refused to forgive his wife even when she tried to be reconciled on the morning of his fatal accident. .
Pastor Daniel cried at this revelation, but the angel told him not to cry, because God was going to send him back to the earth to grant the rich man's request. See Luke 16: 27-30. A man would return from death and warn the people of Hell. The angel said that Daniel's resurrection would serve as a sign and be the last warning for this generation.
Finally, Pastor Daniel was taken to the top of a mountain, in which there was a large, completely dark hole. There the accompanying angel handed Daniel over to a man who was standing there whom he did not recognize at first, but soon realized he was the German evangelist Reinhard Bonnkee. The angel told Daniel that this man was going to help him spread the gospel of salvation.
Daniel and Reverend Bonnkee fell into the hole, and that's when Pastor Daniel jumped off the table where he was at Grace of God Mission. He was back in his body after being dead for at least 42 hours, almost two full days.
As you can imagine, Pastor Daniel places great emphasis in his preaching on the need to forgive those who have hurt us, lest anyone suffer the fate he almost suffered. How important it is that we obey Jesus' commandments regarding forgiveness and walking in love with one another, as well as all the rest of his commandments. It is indeed time for the Church to repent and “seek peace with all, and sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord”. Hebrews 12:14.
Do not listen to false teachers who say that holiness is not essential in order to ultimately gain eternal life. Jesus warned that only those who do His Father's will will enter the kingdom of Heaven. See Matthew 7:21. Do not listen to the teachers who say that if you are once saved you are guaranteed to always be saved. Jesus warned His closest disciples, see Matthew 24: 1-3, of the possibility that they might not be ready when He returned and be cast into Hell. See Matthew 24: 42-25: 46.
If we are waiting for God to forgive us, we must forgive others. This is what Jesus solemnly promised. Are you ready to stand before Jesus sincere and without reproach?
God has repeatedly promised in His Word that He will render to each person according to their deeds. Paul wrote: But by your hardness and by your unrepentant heart you are piling up for yourself a treasure of anger for the day of wrath and the manifestation of the righteous judgment of God, which will render to each according to his works: reserving eternal life to those who, by perseverance in doing well, seek honor, glory and immortality; but irritation and anger to those who, out of a spirit of contention, are rebellious to truth and obey injustice. Tribulation and anguish on every human soul that does evil, on the Jew first, then on the Greek! Glory, honor and peace for whoever does good, for the Jew first, then for the Greek! Romans 2: 5-10.
The people Daniel saw continually eating their own flesh were apparently judged to have eaten human flesh as an occult practice during their lifetime. In the Old Testament, God promised that He would judge the wicked by leaving them no choice but to eat the flesh of their own dead children. See Deuteronomy 28: 54-57. As predicted in the New Testament book of Revelation, when an angry God turns the waters of the earth to blood, an angel will declare, “Righteous art, Lord, you who are, and who was; you are holy because you have exercised this judgment. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink; they are worthy of it. ” Revelation 16: 5-6.
Unless people repent, God will give them exactly what they deserve. They will reap what they have sown, and so Hell will be personalized for each sinner. Jesus warned of this “The servant who, knowing his master's will, did not prepare anything and did not do according to his will, will be beaten with many stripes. But he who, not knowing him, has done things worthy of punishment, will be beaten with few stripes “Luke 12: 47-48.
Certainly, the most solemn aspect of Daniel's experience in Hell was the angel's declaration that Daniel would have ended up there because of his refusal to forgive if God had not had mercy on him. Can forgiveness actually get a Christian into Hell in the end? Again, the Scripture says Yes. Do you remember the parable of the ruthless servant found in Matthew 18: 21-35?
When the master learned that his servant who he had graciously forgiven had refused to forgive a fellow servant, he was “irritated” and “delivered him to the executioners, until he paid all he owed.” Matthew 18:34. In other words, the formerly forgiven and unpayable debt of the servant was reinstated, so that he again found himself before what he could never repay, under the wrath of his master and handed over to be tortured. So Jesus warned, “This is how my Heavenly Father will treat you, unless each of you forgive your brother with all your heart.” Matthew 18:35.
Obviously, this was a warning to Christians as the external context proves. See Matthew 18: 1-2,21. The parable was told to believers, urging them to forgive their brethren, and through the internal context, as the ruthless servant obviously represents a person who has already been forgiven by God, a Christian. But the forgiven status of this forgiven person has been canceled. He reaped what he had sown. Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu was no different from the ruthless servant in the parable of Jesus. So why should we be surprised that the angel was telling Daniel Ekechukwu what Jesus said to all of His disciples?
All this means that Christians can lose their salvation by not forgiveness. If you are among those who believe that if you are saved once you are guaranteed that you will always be saved, you must reconsider your position. This view is not only contradicted by the parable of the merciless servant, but also by many other scriptures.
See Matthew 24: 4-5,11-13,23-26,42-51, Matthew 25: 1 -30, Luke 8: 11-15, Luke 11: 24-28, Luke 12: 42-46, John 6 : 66-71, John 8: 31- 32,51, John 15: 1-6, Acts 11: 21-23, Acts 14: 21-22, Romans 6: 11-23, Romans 8: 12-14,17 , Romans 11: 20-22, 1 Corinthians 9: 23-27, 1 Corinthians 10: 1-21, 1 Corinthians 11: 29-32, 1 Corinthians 15: 1-2, 2 Corinthians 1:24, 2 Corinthians 11: 2-4, 2 Corinthians 12: 21-13 5, Galatians 5: 1-4, Galatians 6: 7-9, Phillipians 2: 12-16, Philippians 3: 17-4, Colossians 1: 21-23, Colossians 2 : 4-8, 18-19, 1 Thessalonians 3: 1-8, 1 Timothy 1 3- 7,18-20, 1 Timothy 4: 1-16, 1 Timothy 5: 5-6,11-15, 1 Timothy 6: 9- 12,17-19,20-21, 2 Timothy 2: 11-18, 2 Timothy 3: 13-15, Hebrews 2: 1-3, Hebrews 3: 6-19, Hebrews 4: 1-16 , Hebrews 5: 8-9, Hebrews 6: 4-9,10-20, Hebrews 10: 19-39, Hebrews 12: 1-17,25-29, James 1: 12-16, James 4: 4-10 , James 5: 19-20, 2 Peter 1:5-11, 2 Peter 2: 1-22, 2 Peter 3:16 -17, 1 John 2: 15-2 28, 1 John 5:16, 2 John 6-9, Jude 20-21, Revelation 2: 7 , 10- 11,17-26, Revelation 3: 4-5,8-12,14-22, Revelation 21: 7-8, Revelation 22: 18-19.
Jesus solemnly warned that if we do not forgive others, God will NOT forgive us either. It is so essential that we should examine ourselves in this regard at least as much as each time we pray according to Jesus, when you are standing praying, if you have something against someone, forgive, so that your Father who is in heaven also forgives you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, your Father who is in heaven will not forgive your trespasses either. Mark 11:25 -26.
It is so fundamental that the concept is included in the our Father, which says: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we also forgive those who trespass against us”. ” If you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses. ” Matthew 6: 12-15.
Jesus said: “If your brother has sinned, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he has sinned against you seven times in a day, and comes to you seven times, saying: I repent, - you will forgive him ”. Luke 17: 3-4. In the parable of the Merciless Servant quoted earlier, notice that the first and second servants both asked for mercy. In the case of Pastor Daniel, his wife had sought reconciliation, Daniel had refused it, and then had his untimely death. Thank God that he took pity on Daniel, and in doing so, God showed His mercy to all of us who are not ready to stand before him because of the unforgiveness in our hearts.
Obviously, it is very bad in the sight of God to refuse to forgive a brother or sister in Christ. However, it is commonly practiced by those of us who name Jesus as Lord. When offended, we harbor a grievance and tell everyone about the offense, reporting, adding sin to our sin, and putting ourselves in danger of being judged by God. See Matthew 7: 1-5. Jesus warned us that if our relationship with our brother is not good, our relationship with God is not good either.
If therefore you present your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go first be reconciled to your brother; then come and present your offering. ” Matthew 5:23 - 24.
If we realize that we have offended a brother, we should stop what we are doing, even if we are performing some spiritual obligation, and go to that brother to work for reconciliation, just as Jesus taught.
Thus, the one who committed the offense, if he realizes what he has done, and the offended have a responsibility before God not to make any delay in the work for reconciliation. And if they cannot achieve reconciliation, they should seek help from others until reconciliation is achieved or until some part is excommunicated from the church, as Christ instructed in Matthew 18: 15-17. Obviously, this is something serious for God.
As our general rule, we are to imitate God, who longs for sinners to turn from their sins and be reconciled to Him, and therefore He is always working at reconciliation, patiently waiting for sinners to repent. We too, must maintain an “open heart” policy, always doing what we can to be at peace with others. In this regard, Paul wrote: “If it is possible, as much as it depends on you, be at peace with all.” Romans 12:18. Jesus and Stephen both prayed that God would forgive the very ones who killed them. We too have the same ability to love by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu now calls Christiansto do what Christ has commanded all His disciples to do for two thousand years. Forgive each other. And he does it with the passion of a man who really believes that Jesus meant what He said. What if this was all just a hoax? So the worst thing that will come out of this is that hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions, of Christians will examine their lives and obey Jesus' commandments regarding forgiveness. That way, they'll be more ready to meet him when he comes back. It's not that bad, is it? And even if we ignore everything Daniel Ekechukwu says, we would be well advised not to ignore anything Jesus said. He had a lot to say about the absolute necessity of forgiveness and the dire consequences of not forgiveness.
And if you invoke as Father the one who judges according to the work of each one, without regard to persons, behave with fear during the time of your pilgrimage, knowing that it is not by perishable things, by money and gold, which you were redeemed out of your vain way of living which you inherited from your fathers, but by the precious blood of Christ, as of a flawless and spotless lamb. 1 Peter 1: 17-19.
Finally, I filmed an interview with Daniel himself for almost an hour about his experiences in Heaven and Hell. He is a passionate communicator. There is no doubt that he believes his experience was from God. He explained in more detail than he had done with me the year before. Listening to him, I had the continual feeling that Daniel found it very difficult to describe to his own satisfaction what he saw and heard because the spiritual world is so different from that of the material world, and he does not. there is nothing to use as a comparison to provide an explanation. I have the same feeling when I read one of the prophets or the Apocalypse of John.
I also had a feeling that he himself couldn't understand everything he went through while he was out of his body, and he was still thinking about them and trying to figure them out. He would tell me about his speculations about some things he didn't understand. For example, Daniel said that the angel who accompanied him always used the word “we” when talking about himself and at least one other person that Daniel did not see.
Daniel thinks that maybe there were other angels around him that he was not aware of. I suggested that maybe this angel was speaking in the name of God, as we read in scripture that angels often do, and God was using the word “we” just as He used the word “we” in the first chapters of Genesis. Daniel wasn't sure. Daniel again told me that his entire experience outside of his body felt like only fifteen minutes, and that when he was resurrected he thought his experience had just been a powerful dream. However, his wife eventually convinced him that he had been lying in a morgue the previous two nights between two other corpses. If Daniel's experience was just a dream, it was an amazing dream in the extent of detail and revelation.
I also learned that Nneka begged Daniel to forgive him for slapping him before he left their home on the morning of November 30, 2001. But he refused. He said that such a thing (A woman slapping her husband) never happens in his country. It is an “abomination.” His intention was to wait until after the Sunday worship service, to suspend her for a year of separation from him at her father's home in the village of Amaimo. The liberation of women has not yet reached the villages of Nigeria. After his resurrection, however, Daniel told his wife that his forgiveness is like bread in the fridge - if she wants it, she can come and get it whenever she wants!
Daniel also gave me some information on the difference between Heaven and Heaven, and Hell and the lake of fire. For example, he said that many people think that Hell and the lake of fire are the same, but they are not. Hell is just a place of pre-trial detention, and eventually everyone in Hell will be tried at the Great White Throne of Judgment, then thrown into the lake of fire. I already knew it, as it is marked in Scripture. We read in Revelation 20:14 that Death and Hell, or as the “New American Standard Bible” more specifically says “Hades,” will be cast into the lake of fire.
Daniel said that before the death and resurrection of Jesus, the deceased saints went to a place in Hell. I would prefer to say “Hades,” as more accurately translated by NASB “Hades” in English, Hades is the Greek word which is equivalent to the Old Testament Hebrew word “sheol”. Compare Acts 2:27 with Psalm 16:10. Sheol or Hades in English was the Hades of the righteous and unrighteous in the Old Testament apparently consisting of a place of torment and a place of comfort. See Luke 16: 19-31. Daniel said that after his death Jesus took the righteous with Him to Heaven . I have heard the same doctrine taught several times in the United States by conservative evangelicals.
I asked Daniel a question on the sign he saw above the Gates of Hell that read, “Welcome to the Gates of Hell.” I told him I found it hard to believe that God would put such a sign there, as it would appear to be sarcastic, inappropriate, mockery. Daniel told me something that I had never considered, and would still consider in the light of Scripture. He said that Satan still has authority over the unrighteous in Hell, just as he did on earth, and that Hell is indeed Satan's domain. There the devil tortures and torments his own, keeping them captive to the same sins to which they were enslaved when serving him on earth. Having nothing to lose
Satan no longer deceives them about his true nature, and therefore he fully reveals it to them, hating his own spiritual children who served him. God does not deal with the unrighteous until they are brought before the Great White Throne of Judgment, after which they are cast into the lake of fire. This pond is a manifestation of God's judgment against them, and that is why Hell and Satan himself are ultimately cast into it.
One might ask: If Hell is God's domain of punishment, why wouldn't He throw people into Hell after their judgment at His Great White Throne, rather than into the lake of fire? Why wouldn't he throw Satan there too, rather than into the lake of fire as we are told He will? And why would God throw Hell himself into the lake of fire if is something of his design? Finally, why Jesus promised that “the Gates of hell,” or “Hell,” as the “King James” version says, will not prevail over His church. See Matthew 16:18, if “the Gates of Hades” speak of or represent a place of God's domain? These are some questions to ponder.
Daniel also indicated that Heaven and the place of the big house, “the house of the Father” that Jesus prepared for his people, are different places. Right now, believers who die go to Heaven, not to the big house. He said it is only at Christ's return when Jesus will take the believers out of Heaven and earth and bring them into the house, "the house of His Father," as he may have referred to in John 14: 2-3. Daniel said that the great house he saw is New Jerusalem, or at least part of it, which will someday descend from Heaven to earth. See Revelation 21: 2,10.
In any case, I ended my investigation even more convinced that Daniel Ekechukwu really died on the night of November 30, 2001, and came back to life on the afternoon of December 2, 2001, in response to the persistent faith of his wife, Nneka. The evidence is very convincing. I am also more convinced that Daniel's out-of-body experience was genuine, and that he had a God-granted opportunity to see parts of Heaven and Hell. And I have once again verified that I am not having any As reported by David Servant
(Free download from website. Heavensfamily.org Used with permission) Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu and his Resurrection from the Dead. www.heavensfamily.org / ss / Daniel_mainnon sorry in my heart!
As reported by David Servant
(Free download from website. Heavensfamily.org Used with permission) Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu and his Resurrection from the Dead. www.heavensfamily.org / ss / Daniel_main
Brent told me at that time some of the details of Pastor Ekechukwu's experience in Hell. A few months later, I also watched the video documentary of this miracle performed by Christ For All Nations, which mainly focused on the miracle of the resurrection. I wanted to know more about the incident. Since I was to spend the first two weeks of September 2002 teaching at three pastors' congresses in Nigeria, I told David Aboderin that if it would be possible,
I learned that Pastor Ekechukwu was from a village called Amaimo, in the Federated State of Imo, and that he was pastor of a church in the city of Onitsha, in the Federated State of Anambra. , called Power Chapel Evangelical Church. Onitsha was about a three hour drive from where our last convention would be held, in the eastern Nigerian town of Umahia. So I asked the pastors at this conference if any of them knew how we could find Pastor Ekechukwu. A young man raised his hand and told me that he had a friend who had a friend who personally knew Pastor Ekechukwu. However, we also learned that Pastor Ekechukwu was very difficult to meet because he is in high demand.
To shorten a long story, we finally learned that Pastor Ekechukwu was staying temporarily in a hotel five minutes from David Aboderin's home in Lagos, where I would be staying for my last three days in Nigeria. We were also given the opportunity to meet him. So in a country of 130 million people, and in a city of 12 million, the man I wanted to meet was staying just five minutes from me! It was either a beautiful coincidence or a wonderful fate. I was given the grace to meet Daniel Ekechukwu personally twice during these three days, and also to speak with several people among the staff of his ministry who were very familiar with his history.
The following report was compiled from several sources:
1 From Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu himself through personal discussions I had with him from September 12-14 2002, while I was in Lagos, Nigeria,
2 From his personal written testimony contained in his self-published booklet he gave me, titled Miracle of the 21st Century,
3 From listening to his public testimony on September 13 at Chapel of Glory, Lagos, Nigeria,
4 From video documentary produced and sold by the ministry of Christ For All Nations, which includes testimonies from Pastor Daniel, the doctor who pronounced the death, Daniel's wife, Daniel's father, the worker who embalmed Daniel , and several pastors who were present at his resurrection, and
5 From a personal discussion with Ede Samuel, a longtime friend and personal assistant to Pastor Daniel, who was also an eyewitness to many events surrounding Daniel's death and resurrection. The events described in the following report are facts proven to the best of my knowledge and memory. I sent this report to a Nigerian man named Uche Chikezie, who was Daniel Ekechukwu's PR manager, and he claimed that everything I reported is true.
I am convinced that due to complications from an automobile accident, Nigerian Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu died physically late on the evening of Friday, November 30, 2001, had died for at least 42 hours visited Heavenand Hell during the time of his physical death and was resurrected from the dead between 3:50 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. on Sunday December 2, in the basement of Grace of God Mission, located in Onitsha, Nigeria. The resurrection of Pastor Ekechukwu is the greatest modern miracle I have heard of.
While some of the things that happened to Pastor Ekechukwu are certainly extra-biblical, none of it is against the bible. Indeed, neither the story of Daniel Ekechukwu's resurrection nor the story of your salvation is found in the Bible, which makes them both extra-biblical, but neither should be rejected on that basis.
The story.
On Thursday, November 29, 2001, Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu and his wife, Nneka, had a misunderstanding which escalated into an argument which ended with her slapping him in the face. He was very upset by this incident, to the point of not even acknowledging her attempt to reconcile the next morning. Pastor Daniel admitted that throughout the day of November 30, he was thinking angrily about how he would put his wife in her place when he returned home. He would not be coming home, however, that Friday.
As he was driving home that evening, the brakes on his 20-year-old Mercedes 230E failed as he descended a steep hill, and his car crashed into a concrete pillar that was built to keep cars out. to fall down a steep slope. He was not wearing a seat belt. Few Nigerians did them in 2001, but that changed in 2003, when wearing a seat belt became a national law, and his chest hit the steering wheel and pommel with great force, apparently causing damage to his body. his internal organs, as he was soon vomiting blood and breathing heavily not to mention that he quickly lost all signs of life. Daniel was unable to get out of his car, but frantic onlookers pulled him out.
Within minutes of their arrival at the hospital, a doctor began administering emergency treatment, but Daniel knew his body was unresponsive. He began to pray the prayer of a man who knows he is going to die, asking God to forgive him all his sins so that he would be ready to stand before the Lord. He also sent to bring in his wife, Nneka, with whom he had refused to speak when he left his house earlier that day. She passed out upon hearing the news of the accident and her husband's condition, but once revived was taken by a Christian neighbor to the hospital. Daniel's friend Samuel Ede whom I interviewed at length was with her and basically saw everything that transpired over the next three days.
Seeing Daniel in critical condition when she arrived at Saint Charles Borromeo Hospital, Daniel's wife burst into tears, begging her husband not to die and leave her. The doctor admitted that there was nothing he could do to save Daniel's life. Keep in mind that this was a third world hospital, and so Daniel requested that he be transferred by ambulance to Umezuruike Hospital in Owerri, where his personal physician was practicing. Umezuruike Hospital was 80 kilometers away. Daniel's wife organized the ambulance against the advice of doctors at Saint Charles Hospital. It was on the way to Umezuruike hospital that Daniel died.
Daniel was lying in the back of the ambulance while his wife was in the front passenger seat. He began to feel that he was not going to survive, and he called his wife to come to him. He began to say goodbye, instruct her on some personal and church documents, and, and counseled her to take care of their sons and her church. She began to sob considerably and in the midst of her tears strongly berated him for such negative statements. He was a man of God and should have faith, not talk about dying!
As she spoke Daniel saw two big angels They were so tall that later he wondered how they fit inside the ambulance - one was as big as the ambulance which were completely white even the pupils of their eyes. Daniel tried to speak to the angels, but one held his finger to his lips, gesturing to keep silent. The angels lifted him up on either side, and Daniel realized that there were now two of himself. The angels held him under each arm of his perfectly sane spirit man, while his broken body lay below. Once they left the ambulance, Daniel became oblivious to the natural world.
When the ambulance arrived at Umezuruike Hospital with Daniel's body, it was late Friday evening, November 30, and Daniel's doctor was not there. A member of the medical staff, however, examined her body and sadly told Nneka that her husband was dead and that there was nothing that could be done. Nneka refused to believe the bad report.
So they drove to the Federal Medical Center in Owerri, but couldn't find a doctor there either. Finally, they drove to the Eunice clinic, and there Daniel was confirmed dead by Doctor Jossy Anuebunwa. There was no breathing, no heartbeat or pulse, and Daniel's pupils were dilated and fixed. The doctor said there was nothing he could do. A death certificate was made at 11:30 p.m. on November 30, 2001.
They then drove Daniel's corpse to his father's house in a nearby village, and naturally Daniel's father and other family members were heartbroken at the sight of Daniel's body, crying profusely. . Daniel's father asked them to take his body to the mortuary at Ikeduru General Hospital now known as Inyishi Community Hospital nearby. They got there at around 1 a.m. on Saturday morning.
The on-site funeral director, Mr. Darlington Manu, received the corpse and the family members left. The rudimentary Nigerian morgue where Daniel's body was taken did not have cold storage facilities, and so the undertaker injected embalming chemicals into Daniel's fingers and feet. He then prepared to embalm Daniel's body entirely by cutting Daniel's inner thigh in order to insert a pipe through which he could inject more embalming fluid.
As he was doing this, he experienced a shock that pushed him away from the corpse. This did not surprise him, as he had experienced similar forces before and attributed them to occult powers. These things are widely practiced in Africa and highly respected by all the African pastors that I know. Africans never understand Americans' skepticism about the reality of occult power.
After a second attempt and a second shock that paralyzed his right arm somewhat, he concluded that Daniel must have been a member of a powerful secret society. He assumed, however, that after some occult sacrifices and incantations the powers in the corpse would subside, and he could then finish his job. This undertaker, of course, was not a Christian, but was converted after Daniel's resurrection. So he asked an assistant to put Daniel's body in the back of the morgue, where many other corpses were already lying. Separately, Daniel said people could smell the embalming chemicals coming out of his body for two weeks after his resurrection. They kissed her and then covered their noses.
At around 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, the undertaker, who lived very close to the morgue, was disturbed by chants of worship coming from inside his morgue, which ceased as soon as he approached the door of the mortuary. the morgue. This has happened twice. While searching to find the source of the music in his mortuary, he noticed a kind of light emanating from the face of Daniel's corpse. It completely destabilized him.
The undertaker was so disturbed by what was happening that he tracked down Daniel's father on Saturday morning to keep him updated on what was going on and to ask him to remove Daniel's corpse from his morgue. Then, on Saturday night, while she was sleeping, Daniel's wife had a dream in which she saw her husband's face, and he asked her why they had left him in the morgue. He said he was not dead and that she should take him to Onitsha where German evangelist Reinhard Bonnkee was preaching. She decided to do it, even though her family thought she was crazy.
Daniel had been dead for over 28 hours. The family eventually relented, but bought a casket and brought funeral clothes for the undertaker to dress Daniel. The rigor mortis had acted fully at this moment. An ambulance was hired on Sunday morning, December 2, and the coffin that contained Daniel's body was taken to Grace of God Mission a large church in Onitsha, about an hour and a half away, where evangelist Reinhard Bonnke preached at an afternoon worship service to dedicate a church. They arrived at the church around 1 p.m.
The church premises were protected by swarms of federal, state and local security forces because of Reinhard Bonnkee, who has received numerous death threats, and who is hated by Muslims across Africa. Not to mention the fact that the World Trade Center had been destroyed by Muslim hijackers a few weeks before. For this reason, the guards did not allow the coffin to be brought to the church premises, believing that it might in fact contain explosives.
Daniel's wife loudly pleaded with them, and opened the coffin to show them her deceased husband, which resulted in them mocking her and even whipping her due to her persistence in entering. She caused such a disturbance that the senior pastor was notified, and her son decided that Daniel's wife be allowed to bring her body into the church without the casket, and that it be placed in the basement. Daniel's body was laid there on two tables together in a Sunday school room.
Some believers gathered around Daniel's body and prayed as Reinhard Bonnkee, who knew nothing about the corpse in the basement, preached and prayed. Eventually Daniel's corpse was found to be shaking, and then irregular breathing began. By this time, Reinhard Bonnkee had left the premises entirely. The believers present began to pray fervently, and because her body was stiff and cold, they began to massage her neck, arms, and legs. When people in the shrine heard that a dead man below was coming back to life, the basement room was quickly crammed with people. Suddenly Daniel sneezed and jumped up. It was somewhere between 3:50 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. Daniel was dead Friday night around 10 p.m.
Daniel stood with the angel and looked at a multitude of worshiping people who were dressed in bright white clothes. He immediately thought they were angels, but the angel accompanying him told him that they were human beings who, “while they lived on the earth, served God and had faith centered on Jesus- Christ and lived straight. ” These people were all ageless and without race. That is, none appeared to be young or middle aged or aged, and none had any racial hallmarks in their appearance. All were focused on a very bright light above them, and all bowed down in perfect unison. They all raised their hands at once and bowed down at the same time, "as if some kind of electronic device was activating them."
Daniel noticed a man who looked old among the multitude, and the thought occurred to him that maybe this man was God, but the accompanying angel immediately corrected her. The man was Father Abraham. Read Luke 16: 19-31 for a story Jesus told that talks about Abraham in the Hereafter.
Daniel yearned to join the worshipers, but the angel told him that there were other things Daniel needed to see. He told Daniel that they were then going to see Jesus' promise to his disciples, the house that He prepared for those who “He would find righteous on the last day.” They were there immediately. Daniel said there is no earthly way to describe what he saw.
The house had no apparent end to its height or width. She kept moving, and each room also turned in a certain way. It was made of something that was transparent like glass, and the floors seem to be made of light. Daniel didn't see anyone in the big house, but heard beautiful songs. Wondering where the music was coming from, the angel immediately showed him the many flowers around the house. When Daniel looked at them closely, they were moving and swaying and singing praise to God!
The angel said to Daniel: “The house is ready, but the saints of God are not. Jesus is delayed because the Christians in the church are not ready yet. ” It is quite biblical. See 2 Peter 3:12. Then the angel took Daniel to Hell, and they stood at the door. When the angel raised his hand and brought it down, the door opened, and Daniel could immediately hear the terrible sounds of people crying and crying, but all of Hell was in total darkness. Then a light shone from the angel, and Daniel could see many groups of people in pain. He told me about several specific groups that went through endless cycles of torment, held captive to the same sins they practiced on earth.
One group was made up of people who ate their flesh and then vomited it out on the ground, at which point the vomit would fly back to their bodies and change back into flesh which they ate again. The angel told Daniel that these people were the ones who had eaten human flesh as an occult practice. This kind of thing happens in Africa all the time. Another group, who had stolen the earth from others while they were on the earth, was constantly digging into the hard rocky ground with their bare hands.
As I heard Daniel relate this scene, I couldn't help but think of how many times Scripture declares that God will give back to each person according to their deeds, and also promises that everyone will reap exactly what they sowed. I remembered the story Jesus told of Lazarus and the rich man. In the hereafter, their roles were exactly reversed. The rich man longed for a drop of water from Lazarus just as Lazarus had previously desired a crumb from the rich man's table.
Pastor Daniel also saw Nigeria's former military dictator. He saw a Christian who got involved in occult practices and walked away from the Lord, and a pastor who embezzled money from his own church and also lied about it. The former pastor begged that he would return the money if Daniel could help him escape Hell. Even though there were different kinds of torture, all of the people in Hell were writhing in pain under an unseen force that continually gripped them. They were all screaming and crying and gritting their teeth. Pastor Daniel told me that if every Christian could see what he saw, there would be no need to preach the gospel anymore, because every Christian would become the gospel.
The most surprising thing is what happened next. The accompanying angel told Pastor Daniel, “If your case should be called here, you will undoubtedly be thrown into Hell.” Pastor Daniel immediately defended himself by saying, “I am a man of God! I serve it with all my heart! “But a Bible appeared in the hand of the angel, and it was open to Matthew 5, where Jesus warned that if one calls his brother a fool, he is guilty enough to go to the fiery hell. See Matthew 5: 21-22.
Pastor Daniel knew he was guilty of the angry words he had said to his wife. The angel also reminded him that Jesus promised that God will not forgive our sins if we do not forgive others. See Matthew 6: 14-15, because we will reap what we have sown. Only those who are merciful will obtain mercy. Matthew 5: 7. The angel told Daniel that the prayers he was praying as he died in the hospital were of no avail, because he refused to forgive his wife even when she tried to be reconciled on the morning of his fatal accident. .
Pastor Daniel cried at this revelation, but the angel told him not to cry, because God was going to send him back to the earth to grant the rich man's request. See Luke 16: 27-30. A man would return from death and warn the people of Hell. The angel said that Daniel's resurrection would serve as a sign and be the last warning for this generation.
Finally, Pastor Daniel was taken to the top of a mountain, in which there was a large, completely dark hole. There the accompanying angel handed Daniel over to a man who was standing there whom he did not recognize at first, but soon realized he was the German evangelist Reinhard Bonnkee. The angel told Daniel that this man was going to help him spread the gospel of salvation.
Daniel and Reverend Bonnkee fell into the hole, and that's when Pastor Daniel jumped off the table where he was at Grace of God Mission. He was back in his body after being dead for at least 42 hours, almost two full days.
As you can imagine, Pastor Daniel places great emphasis in his preaching on the need to forgive those who have hurt us, lest anyone suffer the fate he almost suffered. How important it is that we obey Jesus' commandments regarding forgiveness and walking in love with one another, as well as all the rest of his commandments. It is indeed time for the Church to repent and “seek peace with all, and sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord”. Hebrews 12:14.
Do not listen to false teachers who say that holiness is not essential in order to ultimately gain eternal life. Jesus warned that only those who do His Father's will will enter the kingdom of Heaven. See Matthew 7:21. Do not listen to the teachers who say that if you are once saved you are guaranteed to always be saved. Jesus warned His closest disciples, see Matthew 24: 1-3, of the possibility that they might not be ready when He returned and be cast into Hell. See Matthew 24: 42-25: 46.
If we are waiting for God to forgive us, we must forgive others. This is what Jesus solemnly promised. Are you ready to stand before Jesus sincere and without reproach?
God has repeatedly promised in His Word that He will render to each person according to their deeds. Paul wrote: But by your hardness and by your unrepentant heart you are piling up for yourself a treasure of anger for the day of wrath and the manifestation of the righteous judgment of God, which will render to each according to his works: reserving eternal life to those who, by perseverance in doing well, seek honor, glory and immortality; but irritation and anger to those who, out of a spirit of contention, are rebellious to truth and obey injustice. Tribulation and anguish on every human soul that does evil, on the Jew first, then on the Greek! Glory, honor and peace for whoever does good, for the Jew first, then for the Greek! Romans 2: 5-10.
The people Daniel saw continually eating their own flesh were apparently judged to have eaten human flesh as an occult practice during their lifetime. In the Old Testament, God promised that He would judge the wicked by leaving them no choice but to eat the flesh of their own dead children. See Deuteronomy 28: 54-57. As predicted in the New Testament book of Revelation, when an angry God turns the waters of the earth to blood, an angel will declare, “Righteous art, Lord, you who are, and who was; you are holy because you have exercised this judgment. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink; they are worthy of it. ” Revelation 16: 5-6.
Unless people repent, God will give them exactly what they deserve. They will reap what they have sown, and so Hell will be personalized for each sinner. Jesus warned of this “The servant who, knowing his master's will, did not prepare anything and did not do according to his will, will be beaten with many stripes. But he who, not knowing him, has done things worthy of punishment, will be beaten with few stripes “Luke 12: 47-48.
Certainly, the most solemn aspect of Daniel's experience in Hell was the angel's declaration that Daniel would have ended up there because of his refusal to forgive if God had not had mercy on him. Can forgiveness actually get a Christian into Hell in the end? Again, the Scripture says Yes. Do you remember the parable of the ruthless servant found in Matthew 18: 21-35?
When the master learned that his servant who he had graciously forgiven had refused to forgive a fellow servant, he was “irritated” and “delivered him to the executioners, until he paid all he owed.” Matthew 18:34. In other words, the formerly forgiven and unpayable debt of the servant was reinstated, so that he again found himself before what he could never repay, under the wrath of his master and handed over to be tortured. So Jesus warned, “This is how my Heavenly Father will treat you, unless each of you forgive your brother with all your heart.” Matthew 18:35.
Obviously, this was a warning to Christians as the external context proves. See Matthew 18: 1-2,21. The parable was told to believers, urging them to forgive their brethren, and through the internal context, as the ruthless servant obviously represents a person who has already been forgiven by God, a Christian. But the forgiven status of this forgiven person has been canceled. He reaped what he had sown. Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu was no different from the ruthless servant in the parable of Jesus. So why should we be surprised that the angel was telling Daniel Ekechukwu what Jesus said to all of His disciples?
All this means that Christians can lose their salvation by not forgiveness. If you are among those who believe that if you are saved once you are guaranteed that you will always be saved, you must reconsider your position. This view is not only contradicted by the parable of the merciless servant, but also by many other scriptures.
See Matthew 24: 4-5,11-13,23-26,42-51, Matthew 25: 1 -30, Luke 8: 11-15, Luke 11: 24-28, Luke 12: 42-46, John 6 : 66-71, John 8: 31- 32,51, John 15: 1-6, Acts 11: 21-23, Acts 14: 21-22, Romans 6: 11-23, Romans 8: 12-14,17 , Romans 11: 20-22, 1 Corinthians 9: 23-27, 1 Corinthians 10: 1-21, 1 Corinthians 11: 29-32, 1 Corinthians 15: 1-2, 2 Corinthians 1:24, 2 Corinthians 11: 2-4, 2 Corinthians 12: 21-13 5, Galatians 5: 1-4, Galatians 6: 7-9, Phillipians 2: 12-16, Philippians 3: 17-4, Colossians 1: 21-23, Colossians 2 : 4-8, 18-19, 1 Thessalonians 3: 1-8, 1 Timothy 1 3- 7,18-20, 1 Timothy 4: 1-16, 1 Timothy 5: 5-6,11-15, 1 Timothy 6: 9- 12,17-19,20-21, 2 Timothy 2: 11-18, 2 Timothy 3: 13-15, Hebrews 2: 1-3, Hebrews 3: 6-19, Hebrews 4: 1-16 , Hebrews 5: 8-9, Hebrews 6: 4-9,10-20, Hebrews 10: 19-39, Hebrews 12: 1-17,25-29, James 1: 12-16, James 4: 4-10 , James 5: 19-20, 2 Peter 1:5-11, 2 Peter 2: 1-22, 2 Peter 3:16 -17, 1 John 2: 15-2 28, 1 John 5:16, 2 John 6-9, Jude 20-21, Revelation 2: 7 , 10- 11,17-26, Revelation 3: 4-5,8-12,14-22, Revelation 21: 7-8, Revelation 22: 18-19.
Jesus solemnly warned that if we do not forgive others, God will NOT forgive us either. It is so essential that we should examine ourselves in this regard at least as much as each time we pray according to Jesus, when you are standing praying, if you have something against someone, forgive, so that your Father who is in heaven also forgives you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, your Father who is in heaven will not forgive your trespasses either. Mark 11:25 -26.
It is so fundamental that the concept is included in the our Father, which says: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we also forgive those who trespass against us”. ” If you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses. ” Matthew 6: 12-15.
Jesus said: “If your brother has sinned, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he has sinned against you seven times in a day, and comes to you seven times, saying: I repent, - you will forgive him ”. Luke 17: 3-4. In the parable of the Merciless Servant quoted earlier, notice that the first and second servants both asked for mercy. In the case of Pastor Daniel, his wife had sought reconciliation, Daniel had refused it, and then had his untimely death. Thank God that he took pity on Daniel, and in doing so, God showed His mercy to all of us who are not ready to stand before him because of the unforgiveness in our hearts.
Obviously, it is very bad in the sight of God to refuse to forgive a brother or sister in Christ. However, it is commonly practiced by those of us who name Jesus as Lord. When offended, we harbor a grievance and tell everyone about the offense, reporting, adding sin to our sin, and putting ourselves in danger of being judged by God. See Matthew 7: 1-5. Jesus warned us that if our relationship with our brother is not good, our relationship with God is not good either.
If therefore you present your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go first be reconciled to your brother; then come and present your offering. ” Matthew 5:23 - 24.
If we realize that we have offended a brother, we should stop what we are doing, even if we are performing some spiritual obligation, and go to that brother to work for reconciliation, just as Jesus taught.
Thus, the one who committed the offense, if he realizes what he has done, and the offended have a responsibility before God not to make any delay in the work for reconciliation. And if they cannot achieve reconciliation, they should seek help from others until reconciliation is achieved or until some part is excommunicated from the church, as Christ instructed in Matthew 18: 15-17. Obviously, this is something serious for God.
As our general rule, we are to imitate God, who longs for sinners to turn from their sins and be reconciled to Him, and therefore He is always working at reconciliation, patiently waiting for sinners to repent. We too, must maintain an “open heart” policy, always doing what we can to be at peace with others. In this regard, Paul wrote: “If it is possible, as much as it depends on you, be at peace with all.” Romans 12:18. Jesus and Stephen both prayed that God would forgive the very ones who killed them. We too have the same ability to love by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu now calls Christiansto do what Christ has commanded all His disciples to do for two thousand years. Forgive each other. And he does it with the passion of a man who really believes that Jesus meant what He said. What if this was all just a hoax? So the worst thing that will come out of this is that hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions, of Christians will examine their lives and obey Jesus' commandments regarding forgiveness. That way, they'll be more ready to meet him when he comes back. It's not that bad, is it? And even if we ignore everything Daniel Ekechukwu says, we would be well advised not to ignore anything Jesus said. He had a lot to say about the absolute necessity of forgiveness and the dire consequences of not forgiveness.
And if you invoke as Father the one who judges according to the work of each one, without regard to persons, behave with fear during the time of your pilgrimage, knowing that it is not by perishable things, by money and gold, which you were redeemed out of your vain way of living which you inherited from your fathers, but by the precious blood of Christ, as of a flawless and spotless lamb. 1 Peter 1: 17-19.
Finally, I filmed an interview with Daniel himself for almost an hour about his experiences in Heaven and Hell. He is a passionate communicator. There is no doubt that he believes his experience was from God. He explained in more detail than he had done with me the year before. Listening to him, I had the continual feeling that Daniel found it very difficult to describe to his own satisfaction what he saw and heard because the spiritual world is so different from that of the material world, and he does not. there is nothing to use as a comparison to provide an explanation. I have the same feeling when I read one of the prophets or the Apocalypse of John.
I also had a feeling that he himself couldn't understand everything he went through while he was out of his body, and he was still thinking about them and trying to figure them out. He would tell me about his speculations about some things he didn't understand. For example, Daniel said that the angel who accompanied him always used the word “we” when talking about himself and at least one other person that Daniel did not see.
Daniel thinks that maybe there were other angels around him that he was not aware of. I suggested that maybe this angel was speaking in the name of God, as we read in scripture that angels often do, and God was using the word “we” just as He used the word “we” in the first chapters of Genesis. Daniel wasn't sure. Daniel again told me that his entire experience outside of his body felt like only fifteen minutes, and that when he was resurrected he thought his experience had just been a powerful dream. However, his wife eventually convinced him that he had been lying in a morgue the previous two nights between two other corpses. If Daniel's experience was just a dream, it was an amazing dream in the extent of detail and revelation.
I also learned that Nneka begged Daniel to forgive him for slapping him before he left their home on the morning of November 30, 2001. But he refused. He said that such a thing (A woman slapping her husband) never happens in his country. It is an “abomination.” His intention was to wait until after the Sunday worship service, to suspend her for a year of separation from him at her father's home in the village of Amaimo. The liberation of women has not yet reached the villages of Nigeria. After his resurrection, however, Daniel told his wife that his forgiveness is like bread in the fridge - if she wants it, she can come and get it whenever she wants!
Daniel also gave me some information on the difference between Heaven and Heaven, and Hell and the lake of fire. For example, he said that many people think that Hell and the lake of fire are the same, but they are not. Hell is just a place of pre-trial detention, and eventually everyone in Hell will be tried at the Great White Throne of Judgment, then thrown into the lake of fire. I already knew it, as it is marked in Scripture. We read in Revelation 20:14 that Death and Hell, or as the “New American Standard Bible” more specifically says “Hades,” will be cast into the lake of fire.
Daniel said that before the death and resurrection of Jesus, the deceased saints went to a place in Hell. I would prefer to say “Hades,” as more accurately translated by NASB “Hades” in English, Hades is the Greek word which is equivalent to the Old Testament Hebrew word “sheol”. Compare Acts 2:27 with Psalm 16:10. Sheol or Hades in English was the Hades of the righteous and unrighteous in the Old Testament apparently consisting of a place of torment and a place of comfort. See Luke 16: 19-31. Daniel said that after his death Jesus took the righteous with Him to Heaven . I have heard the same doctrine taught several times in the United States by conservative evangelicals.
I asked Daniel a question on the sign he saw above the Gates of Hell that read, “Welcome to the Gates of Hell.” I told him I found it hard to believe that God would put such a sign there, as it would appear to be sarcastic, inappropriate, mockery. Daniel told me something that I had never considered, and would still consider in the light of Scripture. He said that Satan still has authority over the unrighteous in Hell, just as he did on earth, and that Hell is indeed Satan's domain. There the devil tortures and torments his own, keeping them captive to the same sins to which they were enslaved when serving him on earth. Having nothing to lose
Satan no longer deceives them about his true nature, and therefore he fully reveals it to them, hating his own spiritual children who served him. God does not deal with the unrighteous until they are brought before the Great White Throne of Judgment, after which they are cast into the lake of fire. This pond is a manifestation of God's judgment against them, and that is why Hell and Satan himself are ultimately cast into it.
One might ask: If Hell is God's domain of punishment, why wouldn't He throw people into Hell after their judgment at His Great White Throne, rather than into the lake of fire? Why wouldn't he throw Satan there too, rather than into the lake of fire as we are told He will? And why would God throw Hell himself into the lake of fire if is something of his design? Finally, why Jesus promised that “the Gates of hell,” or “Hell,” as the “King James” version says, will not prevail over His church. See Matthew 16:18, if “the Gates of Hades” speak of or represent a place of God's domain? These are some questions to ponder.
Daniel also indicated that Heaven and the place of the big house, “the house of the Father” that Jesus prepared for his people, are different places. Right now, believers who die go to Heaven, not to the big house. He said it is only at Christ's return when Jesus will take the believers out of Heaven and earth and bring them into the house, "the house of His Father," as he may have referred to in John 14: 2-3. Daniel said that the great house he saw is New Jerusalem, or at least part of it, which will someday descend from Heaven to earth. See Revelation 21: 2,10.
In any case, I ended my investigation even more convinced that Daniel Ekechukwu really died on the night of November 30, 2001, and came back to life on the afternoon of December 2, 2001, in response to the persistent faith of his wife, Nneka. The evidence is very convincing. I am also more convinced that Daniel's out-of-body experience was genuine, and that he had a God-granted opportunity to see parts of Heaven and Hell. And I have once again verified that I am not having any As reported by David Servant
(Free download from website. Heavensfamily.org Used with permission) Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu and his Resurrection from the Dead. www.heavensfamily.org / ss / Daniel_mainnon sorry in my heart!
As reported by David Servant
(Free download from website. Heavensfamily.org Used with permission) Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu and his Resurrection from the Dead. www.heavensfamily.org / ss / Daniel_main
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