27 Feb What’s After ATX?

Hi everyone,

I’m excited to communicate with you about something really incredible Mosaic Church is getting ready to be a part of, something called “What’s After ATX?”

“What’s After ATX?” is a city-wide, spiritual awareness campaign that we are participating in, along with hundreds of other churches in the Greater Austin area.

It is focused on what the Bible has to say about life after death, specifically through the lens of decades of documentation and research around Near Death Experiences (NDEs). 

What research has uncovered, across religions, backgrounds, and ethnicities and ages, is that, during their Near Death Experience:

– Most people report meeting a man in a robe with a beard

– This man is a man of incredible love and blinding light

– This man gives them a life review

– This man commands them to love those they know

Does this person sound familiar? To Christians, it should.

Many people also report a “welcoming committee” of cherished loved ones who have passed on, describe glimpses of the Heavenly City as depicted in the book of Revelation, and describe things not knowable to others at the time, but confirmed later by investigation. Does this sound a lot like what the Apostle Paul hints at in 1 Corinthians 12:1-4? I think it does. 

…I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.

Many scholars believe that what Paul is quite possibly, even likely describing is his own Near Death Experience, is something he went through when he was stoned to death, and came back to life in Lystra as described in Acts 14.

 Based on John Burke’s bestselling book, Imagine Heaven, this six week campaign will be a powerful:

Pastoral tool: if you have recently lost a loved one, are grieving, or are about to lose a loved one, you need to read this book and to give it to them. It is unbelievably encouraging and absolutely eliminates fear about death for the Christian person.

Personal tool: this book made me want to love the people around me, including you, far better and more deeply than I do. It made me believe even more in the power of loving those in my life, especially my family and close friends.

Evangelism tool: The content and ideas in this book are a fantastic conversation starter for people in your life.

All right, Morgan, sounds great! What do I do with all of this?

1.) Get excited! This campaign begins the week after Easter (Sunday, April 19)

2.) Consider purchasing and reading Imagine Heaven. If I had to recommend one book to you to read this year (besides my wife’s new book! :)), it would be this one.

3.) For sure grab a copy of the booklet, “What’s After Life?”, if you didn’t get one last Sunday. We have purchased two copies for every adult at Mosaic – one to read and one to give away. These will next be available Sunday, March 8 in our lobby.

4.) Consider starting a discussion group for people not at Mosaic! There will be a training on Sunday, April 5 to help you get started. We will give you more info on March 8, so keep your eyes peeled.

That’s it! I can’t wait to see you this weekend! 

Morgan