University Professor Dies and Meets Jesus During Heart Attack

It all began in 2008. I was a university professor in Australia and I was 49 years old. On weekends, I played blues music with my band. From the outside, anyone would have thought my life was in order, but inside, I was broken. I had been divorced for two or three years and was living alone in my house. Loneliness was eating away at me from the inside. It was not that I doubted God's existence. I had never questioned that.

My complaint was about something else. I kept asking him, "Why? Why did my marriage fall apart? Why had my life crumbled like this?" The more I asked, the more I felt that God was moving farther away from me, or perhaps I was moving farther away from him. It was as though an invisible wall had risen between us and I had no idea how to tear it down. It was during that period of my life that I began experiencing chest pains.

At first, I ignored them as many men do, but the pain would not go away. So I went to the doctor. They performed an electrocardiogram and the doctor told me to take things easy and avoid strenuous activities while we waited for the results. A week passed, the pain eased a little, and I did what people often do when their fear begins to subside. I convinced myself that nothing serious was wrong. I told myself I was exaggerating.

One day, I looked through the back door of my house and saw that the garden was a complete mess. I thought it was time to clean it up. I went to the garage and took out the lawn mower, one of those gasoline-powered machines that never seem to start when you need them. If you have ever owned one, you know what I mean. I kept pulling the starter cord again and again for a couple of minutes. The machine would not start and neither would I give up.

Then, all of a sudden, a brutal pressure struck my chest. It felt as though someone had placed a steel plate directly on my heart. A massive grab tore through my chest from one side to the other. I let go of the lawnmower and stood there. At that moment, I knew exactly what was happening. Given my recent visit to the doctor and the chest pain I had been experiencing for weeks, there was no way I could fool myself.

My heart was failing. I stood there struggling to breathe when I heard it. A voice. I do not know whether it was audible, as though someone were speaking directly into my ear, or whether I heard it inside my mind, but it was incredibly powerful and unmistakably clear. There was no doubt about who was speaking. God told me, "You are going to die, but I have things for you to do." My first reaction, and I know this sounds strange, was almost humorous.