What happens when the church becomes so concerned about false spiritual claims that it stops listening to every testimony about heaven altogether?
Author and near-death experience survivor Randy Kay believes that question carries profound implications for the modern church.
In a recent message promoting his new book, Heaven Encounters, Kay reflected on a decision made more than a decade ago when a major Protestant denomination removed books about personal experiences in heaven from its bookstore shelves. While acknowledging that some widely publicized accounts were later exposed as fraudulent, Kay argued that the response went too far.
“When they could not tell the true witness from the false one, they threw them both away,” Kay said. “It was a discernment problem. And instead of doing the patient work of discernment, they burned the field.”
Kay contends that the issue extends far beyond a single denomination or a publishing controversy. He believes many churches have grown increasingly uncomfortable discussing heaven, eternity and the supernatural realities described throughout Scripture.
To order Randy Kay’s new book, Heaven Encounters, visit Amazon.com.
“Most of the Western church has gone quiet about the two things every human being fears most and needs most to hear—death and what waits on the other side of it,” he said.
Throughout his message, Kay pointed listeners back to biblical examples of heavenly encounters, including the Transfiguration, Stephen’s vision before his martyrdom, Paul’s experience of being caught up to the third heaven and John’s revelations on Patmos.
According to Kay, Scripture reveals a recurring pattern: God sends messengers, people reject them and judgment eventually follows if hearts remain hardened.
Quoting 2 Chronicles 36, he warned that there comes a point when people repeatedly refuse God’s warnings.
“The Lord of their fathers sent warnings to them by his messengers,” Kay said. Yet eventually, people “mocked the messengers of God, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people till there was no remedy.”
At the same time, Kay emphasized that God’s purpose is not destruction but repentance.
“I do not believe He is only cleaning house,” Kay said of the current state of the church. “I believe He is exposing it.”
He added, “Exposure is mercy because you cannot repent of what stays hidden.”
Kay also shared his own near-death experience, which he says occurred roughly 20 years ago in a hospital in Oceanside, California. During that experience, he believes God gave him four words that would later shape his ministry: “Take back the narrative.”
Those words, he said, ultimately inspired his mission to collect and share testimonies from people who claim to have encountered eternity.
The message concluded with a call for spiritual readiness and renewed focus on Christ.
“The door is still open. The remedy has not run out for you, not today,” Kay said. “If something in you has gone cold toward heaven, toward the supernatural, toward Him, you can come back right now.”
For Kay, the ultimate question is not whether people believe every testimony they hear, but whether they are prepared for the reality those testimonies point toward—the person of Jesus Christ and the eternity that awaits beyond this life.
Abby Trivett is a writer and editor for Charisma Media and has a passion for sharing the gospel through the written word. She holds two degrees from Regent University, a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Journalism and a Master of Arts in Journalism. She is the author of the newly released book, The Power of Suddenly: Discover How God Can Change Everything in a Moment. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
