Howard Storm was a committed atheist and university professor who openly rejected God all his life, until one day in 1985 when he suffered a sudden medical emergency in Paris and clinically died before surgery. He found himself out of his body, hearing voices calling him, and he followed them into a growing darkness that eventually turned into a horrific place filled with violent, mocking beings who tormented him—beings he later understood were people who, like him, had lived rejecting God and love. In total despair, he remembered the name “Jesus” and cried out for help, and in that instant, a brilliant, loving light—Jesus Himself—appeared and rescued him. Jesus told him that He never wanted him in hell, but Storm had chosen a path of selfishness and unbelief that led him toward that darkness. Jesus showed him his life, not with judgment but with love, helping him see that hell was not God’s desire but the natural consequence of rejecting His mercy. Storm returned to life transformed, became a Christian, and later a pastor, and he now shares his story to show that God does not send people to hell—people move toward it through their choices, while God continually reaches out to save.
