Imagine Heaven Podcast with John Burke

Near Death Experience Story | NDE | Heaven | God | Imagine Heaven | John Burke

When Dr. Colin Perry suffered a massive heart attack, he died—and encountered Jesus. But what Jesus showed him raised one of the biggest questions Christians have wrestled with for centuries: If God already knows the future, do we actually have free will?

During his near-death experience, Colin says he was shown the future—but also understood that what lay ahead still contained possibilities.

God knew what would happen, yet human choices remained real. How can both be true?

In this episode of the Imagine Heaven Podcast, John Burke sits down with Dr. Colin Perry, author of Dying to Be Alive, to explore his extraordinary encounter with Jesus, what he experienced beyond this life, and the mysterious relationship between God’s foreknowledge, our future, and human free will.

Is your future already determined?
Can our choices actually change what happens?
And how can God know the end from the beginning while still allowing us to freely choose?

Watch the full conversation as Colin shares what his near-death experience revealed about Jesus, heaven, the future, free will, and the nature of God.

Colin Perry's book, Dying to be Alive: https://a.co/d/0aka6LaE

Near Death Experience Story | NDE | Heaven | God | Imagine Heaven | John Burke

Dr. Ron Smothermon welcomed a house guest into his home during the aftermath of the man’s painful divorce. Then, without warning, his guest experienced a psychotic break—and Ron found himself fighting for his life.

As Ron was stabbed repeatedly, something extraordinary happened:--time appeared to stand still. In this episode of the Imagine Heaven Podcast, Dr. Ron Smothermon joins John Burke to recount the near-death experience that unfolded during the attack, the overwhelming presence he encountered, and what it revealed to him about 9 of God’s extraordinary qualities that came in the darkest moments of human suffering.

What happens when heaven suddenly breaks into the worst moment of your life? And could God be closer than we realize—even when everything appears completely out of control?

Listen to the full conversation to hear what Ron experienced when time stopped and how it permanently transformed his understanding of God, death, forgiveness, and the reality beyond this life.

Note: “Amin” is a pseudonym used at Dr. Smothermon’s request to protect the individual’s identity. John and Ron pronounce the pseudonym differently during the conversation, but both are referring to the same person.

Jim Woodford was agnostic yet had a surprising, detailed near death experience and saw the book of his life.

He was a successful Canadian businessman and airline pilot. He had built a comfortable life, never prayed, and saw no reason to believe in God.

Then an opioid overdose changed everything.

In this unforgettable conversation with John Burke, Jim shares the near-death experience that shattered everything he thought he knew.

He describes catching a glimpse of hell, being overwhelmed by the breathtaking beauty of Heaven, flying over the magnificent City of God, and encountering the book that contained every detail of his life. 

Most of all, he describes meeting God Himself. Whether you're curious about near-death experiences, the afterlife, Heaven, Hell, or the evidence people report after clinical death, Jim's story raises profound questions about life, eternity, and the God he never expected to meet.

Born into the chaos of the Rwandan genocide, Swidiq's childhood was marked by unimaginable loss, division, and survival.

As violence tore through his country and fractured his family, he found himself living on the streets, searching for purpose amid tragedy.

Determined to find truth, Swidiq devoted himself to Islam, eventually becoming a respected Imam and passionate defender of his faith. He was confident in what he believed about God, life, and the afterlife.

But everything changed when he died.

In this powerful episode of Imagine Heaven, Swidiq shares the extraordinary near-death experience that challenged his assumptions, transformed his understanding of eternity, and left him wrestling with questions he never expected to face.

What did he see? What did he learn? And why did the experience change the course of his life?

Join John Burke as he sits down with Swidiq to explore one of the most compelling near-death experiences we've ever featured.

In this fascinating true-life story of the evils of genocide, divorce, drug abuse, and finally death, Swidiq discovered during his life-altering near-death experience a love powerful enough to overcome, redeem, and restore it all. 

To read Swidiq's powerful full story, get his book: I Once Was Dead by Swidiq Cedric Kanana, available on Amazon.

A Hindu manufacturing engineer clinically dies — and what he experiences completely challenges what he expected about the afterlife.

Santosh grew up believing in reincarnation. But during his near-death experience, he says he encountered something else entirely: a radiant city unlike anything he had ever seen before… matching descriptions found in Revelation 21 of the Bible.

What he describes about God, heaven, judgment, and the nature of eternity raises profound questions about reincarnation, truth, and what really happens after death.

Was this simply the mind under stress — or did this Hindu engineer witness something impossible?

In this powerful episode of the Imagine Heaven Podcast, John Burke sits down with Santosh to unpack one of the most compelling cross-cultural near-death experiences we’ve heard yet.