dr. john mansonele as a 30 year resident of the tri-cities where he met his wife
of 29 years established himself as a respected educator and is raising four
children you may have seen his featured article on the front of Kadlecs
january news magazine he visits us today as a brother in christ with the
testimony on March 22nd 2018 dr. John collapsed on his office floor at
Washington State University tri-cities immediately taken to Kadlec Medical
Center where it was determined that he suffered a significant heart attack with
99 percent blockage in three arteries his wife and four kids were told not to
expect John to survive the next hours Sacred Heart Hospital refused his
transport because he will not survive the flight the Kadlec cardiac team led
by dr. al kaisi performed a catheterization to install stints as a
last ditch effort to get the blood flowing the hope was to give John time
and receive additional treatment later during this time five stints were
installed with complications John kept dying his heart stopped four times for a
significant amount of time while the doctors battled to keep John alive his
family huddled in the waiting room as they heard
code blue cath lab John was the only person in surgery at the time and his
second child kept repeating we need him but maybe God needs him more once a
heartbeat was stabilized the procedure stopped and John was in coma for six
days thereafter each day he was not expected to live to the next then his
family and friends were told that if John did wake he would likely have brain
damage and not be functional dr. John is here with us today
please give God some praise and some glory for him even being able to walk up
here amen amen
please join me John thank you so that is just one half of John's story because
there's a whole other side to things because while he was dying God had other
plans and God was meeting John so why don't you tell us a little bit about
that John Wow I'm supposed to do this quickly I tell you what a lot of people
ask what's it like to die and the journey is actually you know when I went
down to the ground actually I said a quick prayer I fear there God I could
use some help and I don't remember pretty much anything after that I was
generally at peace until I came to a dark place and I it was like my body was
in another room right and I had this urge that I need to go find I need to go
find where I needed to be and so I started struggling like swimming on the
stream I guess as how I'd best describe it time is gone there's no up/down
around but I need to go and so there was a lot of struggle there was a lot of
vignettes I call them little mini things that I experienced in each case there
was a watcher and this watcher was somebody who was unique who stood out
from the situation but was there and would speak on my behalf at times and I
there was things about struggle about human struggle about and this helper
helped me go around those things and and I had came to a village where I had
to justify myself and there was every earthly reason to justify myself why I
need to get past that next gate I didn't know why I need to go past that next
gate but I needed to go past that next gate and people were being turned away
and each time I was able to go in until I came to the last one where I said well
there's nothing left on nothing then just what my Creator made me to be and
at that point I was exhausted there was nothing left
I'm a former wrestler and I equated to being in overtime three overtime and
just spent nothing left in my body and I had realized that I hadn't cried out and
I cried out God are you there and he's
peace white not bright not like lights warmth and I feel arms come around me
and a very tender strong voice saying John I'm right here and it was in that
moment I've realized several things one I've been a Christian a long time I
accepted Christ when I was young family was Christian I had lived life the best
I thought I knew how right living life well making best decisions
but that starkness of me sitting in the presence of God I may as well have murdered
somebody with the difference that was there my heart I immediately had to
confess and I said god I am so angry at you I've been carrying a lot of stuff
that I learned really well how to hide as a Christian and at that moment
it was very clear to me I had allowed Satan to take advantage of
my situations in life my father was not necessarily a nice gentleman emotionally
he was a supposed man of God but yet he hurt me hurt my family divorced my mom
for his own desires and I in my own life had to experience 14 years previously my
wife had an affair and there was points in my life where I mean I immediately
went to my knees and asked for and tried to hold the faith but I tell you it to
be honest and God's big enough to handle this is that I wasn't seeing God the way
I thought I needed to see him and therefore he maybe wasn't there well at
this moment I'm realizing God's right here and I was expecting anger but I was
received with incredible grace I mean we think about God as being big but think
about the most caring individual you've ever met
the most strong individual you've ever met the most he designed it all he is so
much more I realized that my understanding of what I thought was God
shaped upon my life experiences was my definition of God and it was so much
bigger and he grabbed me and took me to an altar and he said we're gonna get
something right here because right about that time is when I said and why a child
from the my wife's affair there was a child and I have raised it raised this
child as my own and loved loved this child as my own but there was this
question of why and at that moment he took me the altar and he gave me a
correction and on the altar I saw ashes and I could tell it was as if you
could see different colors the ashes and the ashes had
representation of what my past concerns had been that I brought to God that he
took care of and there was no weight to them they were like fluffy little it
didn't matter he pointed to the stairs and there's clay pots and I could see
exactly my hurt my wife's betrayal my and he said John I've been waiting to
take him but you only brought him to the stairs so he gave me a chance to say you
know what and it felt like the universe had stopped at that moment and waiting
for my response I said if there's any grace left I'll take whatever I could
get I'm hoping for the custodian level at this point but there was glee in his
eye and he says I'm just waiting and he would not do it for me I had to take the
heavy pot I had to crush it throw it and crush it and watch his vicious wrath
take those things and consume them and relieve me from so he shifted in my eyes
from seeing only pain in life and try to use my own justification and gave me
Shalom which is peace but it also means balance or there's bad there is good and
God doesn't necessarily give us the bad he creates balance and there's things
that get out of balance and we get consequences from those but every one
of those is an opportunity for him to give us balance and Shalom and in that
he says I didn't give you the child to penalize you I gave you the child
because he needed you who I knew what kind of a person you were for him as a
father
amen so in this the verse Romans 8:28 that I've sit on so strongly in that I'm
sure at a lot of times you have that God will work all things together for the
good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose because
there are some things in life that you just cannot compute without the Holy
Spirit there are things you can just not handle but like John was telling us if
we take it to the altar not just to the steps but to the altar God will consume
it with his wrath because he does not want any harm to come to you and if you
sit in the presence of the Holy Spirit he will translate it and say I know what
this looks like but what you don't understand is he needed you and you were
strong enough to do it so let's go ahead and continue yeah this is gonna be easy
in 10 minutes I tell you it's been a transformational experience to go from
someone who thought that God cast me out and was not worthy of his love anymore -
and I was a believer don't get what a point I want to make is most of the
Bible is actually written to believers that need to fix their frame and Jesus
was sent because we weren't getting at the old way so we're gonna go even to
that next level and relationship became very clear to me I was after I was
released from that frame of mind of being a victim to being a hero
he said now let's get to work and he was able to show me the Magnificent work of
the Father taking every single prayer from everywhere every moment time is not
a thing he can intercede in every single thing and he can work in before during
and after and he's got the biggest compliment to
his creation as he's given free choice and at every step we are given that
choice and there's consequences for choosing or not choosing it was very
clear to me and the purpose we have in the other side is not just to exist and
praise and play harps there's powerful work to be done on the other side and he
got me excited and then he said guess what
you're going back he said I want you to be quiet and listen and I want you to
come to me and I want you to be with me and he made it real clear my God my wife
my kids everybody else in that order and when I came back it was like the
genie going back into that small itty-bitty little bottle the
communication and the intimacy I had at that time it was dimensional it was
color words flavor temperature emotion all at one time and it's
like going to see Mount Everest and now when I'm back away from my trip when I
want to see God and I go look at the word and I go oh there he is
and it's not you look at the vernacular you have to understand the context so
that you can see God its intent behind it and you go oh it's really that simple
isn't it I got to be with you and I got to be for you and I got to be broken
daily broken daily broken daily so it was fun to hear and see cuz every time
now after I come back I get reaffirmations everywhere on my experience
and I go yep there he is whereas before I was beginning to ask
where are you God well he so he took my physical heart and that
was just he took advantage of that situation to fix my real heart and it
was clear whenever I'm asked I'm to tell my story I don't need to convince
anybody I know I don't need any convincing I know where the other side
is I know what's going to be there I'm not afraid of the other side I don't
wanna leave my family but it is way bigger way beyond any imagination
that we think we understand what it's about so my words today are not as a
theologian I'm not gonna debate theology but I'm here as a brother who
experienced it has been transformed I was broken he met me where I needed to
be he made me whole Shalom and now it's for you to decide whether it's hope
whether it's motivation or it's something you need to do but don't hide
in your Christianity and protect yourself and think you're by yourself I
was a master I was a father I wasn't about to let my kids see myself be weak
I was a chief of staff and an executive in leadership everybody takes potshots
at you you protect yourself as a Christian we're under attack you learn
to protect yourself you don't risk sounding crazy I invite you to be crazy
a little bit hi there this is Lana thank you so much for watching this
testimony I bet you were blessed if you would like to see more of these
testimonies please subscribe and thank you again for watching