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    Bridging the Gap: A Spiritual Journey to Heaven and Back

    What happens when you die?

     

    Bridging the Gap is the story of that miraculous event and the life of fulfillment that followed. Experience that fulfillment through Calvin’s spouse, his children, his students, his friends, and through the lives of total strangers as they became players in the great spiritual adventures of his life. Observe as the Holy Spirit guides Calvin through natural disasters and serious health issues, and feel the love as he takes into the mission field..

     

  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Calvin Cassady

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    is a retired schoolteacher who taught middle and high school students for 35 years. He served as a director at the local Episcopal Church for 15 years. He enjoys outdoor activities and quality family time. He lives with his wife, Vicki, in Carl Junction, Missouri.

  • PATRICK’S PEOPLE: Calvin Cassady wrote “Bridging the Gap”  

    Calvin Cassady, Carl Junction,Mo., holds a copy book,titled "Bridging the Gap -- A Sprirtual journey to Heaven And Back"An official launch party and book signing, open to the public,

    Making a spiritual journey to heaven is a remarkable experience, but there is one problem. You have to come back to earth.

    Making a spiritual journey to heaven is a remarkable experience, but there is one problem. You have to come back to earth.
    More than 40 years after the event, Calvin Cassady, Carl Junction, Mo., a new author for Inspiring Voices, a service of Guidepost Magazine, has written a book about his own experiences in heaven and on earth.
    Titled “Bridging the Gap — A Journey to Heaven and Back,” the book will be debuted with an official launch party and signing at 2 p.m. April 7 at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, Joplin. Open to the public, the event will include a presentation by Cassady on the development of the book, as well as the reading of selected passages.
    All of this is quite a change for Cassady, who did not speak much about his experience for many years.
    “When it happened, I was real guarded about sharing the experience,” he said in a telephone interview. “Back in the 1970s, people could come up with all kinds of reasons why you didn’t see what you saw.”
    He was a southwest Missouri teenager in the spring of 1971 when he was involved in an automobile accident on a twisting Ozark mountain roadway. The impact caused the car in which he was riding to burst into flames. He was plunged into a clouded existence which include a walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and finally felt himself surrounded by eternity and standing before God and all creation.
    And then, of course, he was back to life, in an injured body.
    “I was just an ordinary teenager, I hadn’t been studying to be a preacher,” Cassady said. “Then I had this experience that separates you from everybody else, but only in your own mind. I’m not a professional evangelist or a sports star or a movie star.”
    He’s grateful for the time he had to be hospitalized following the accident.
    “The hospital stay was a sanctuary,” Cassady said. “It gave me time to sort out what had happened to me, and gave me strength to move on. Once I walked out of the hospital, it didn’t make any difference if I had gone to heaven and talked to God. I still had to go back to the same world I’d come from.”
    He said that he started his teaching career 18 months after the accident. Cassady is now retired after teaching middle school and high school students for 35 years. He also served as director of Christian education at his local Episcopal Church for 15 years.
    These were good and fulfilling years, but not without problems. He lost his house in a tornado that struck Carl Junction in 2003.
    During these years he did occasionally talk about his experience, but only on a limited basis.
    “I shared with my family, and sometimes with troubled young people who had lost a family member,” Cassady said. “It’s about the difference you can make in people’s lives.”
    He said that he’s often asked why he waited so long to write his book.
    “My grandson asked me how long it took to write the book,” Cassady said. “I said it took two years, but there are 40 years worth of experience in it. “You can have pretty much face-to-face assurance there is an afterlife, but you still have to live in the world we live in, and there are a lot of challenges. The book is a progression of my struggles as the years go by.”
    His decision to finally write about the experience was influenced by Easter season comments he heard around two years ago.
    “First a priest talked on the responsibility of sharing your most spiritual moments with the rest of the world,” Cassady said. “Then the new bishop spoke to McAuley students and said that when God involves us in special spiritual moments, it is our responsibility to share them. After two sermons in two weeks, I got the idea.”
    So, a little over two years ago, he started writing.
    “I wrote the chapters not necessarily in order, but what I was going to write that day,” he said. “Then I put it in order. I finished it last May, and then did the rewriting and editing. I submitted the manuscript in September.”
    Now the book is a reality, in paperback and as an e-book. How does that feel to the new author?
    “It feels better than I ever thought it would,” Cassady said.
    The book is available from www.bookstore.inspiringvoices.com, Amazon.com and most online book distributors.
    And, of course, Cassady will have copies available for purchase on April 7. It will be new for him to talk about his heavenly visit in public, but he’s getting used to the idea.
    “It’s getting a little more comfortable coming out of my mouth,” he said.

  • Videos

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    What happens when you die? How does one transcend mankind to heavenly being, the known to the eternal mystery? One spring day in 1971, Calvin Cassady, a southwest Missouri teenager, was a victim in an unexplained automobile accident on a curvy Ozark mountain roadway. The impact caused the car that Calvin was a passenger in to burst into flames, plunging him into a clouded existence that included a walk through the valley of the shadow of death, leaving him on the threshold of eternal life. Eternity surrounded him and filled him with an absolute certainty of heaven. Standing before the Master and all his creation Calvin became troubled with the vision of his judgment and the life that he brought with him. Consumed with feelings of emptiness, he needed fulfillment. Bridging the Gap is the story of that miraculous event and the life of fulfillment that followed. Experience that fulfillment through Calvin's spouse, his children, his students, his friends, and through the lives of total strangers as they became players in the great spiritual adventures of his life. Observe as the Holy Spirit guides Calvin through natural disasters and serious health issues, and feel the love as he takes into the mission field. Bridging the Gap celebrates the ordinary and illustrates the extraordinary results that occur during a lifetime lived for Christ. While you continue your spiritual journey, remember that faith, hope, and love conquer all. May your journey be fruitful, and may God's peace be with you.

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  • Daily Spark TV Interview of Author Calvin Cassady for A Journey of Spirit

    Calvin Cassady is a retired schoolteacher who taught middle and high school students for thirty-five years. He served as the director of Christian at the local Episcopal Church for fifteen years. He enjoys outdoor activities and quality family time. He lives with his wife, Vicki, in Carl Junction, Missouri.

     

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    Paperback: 202 pages

    Publisher: InspiringVoices (February 12, 2013)

    Language: English

    ISBN-10: 1462404952

    ISBN-13: 978-1462404957

    Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches

    Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces

    $14.99

  • CONTACT

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    Carl Junction, Missouri
  • Customer reviews

    berakha

    5.0 out of 5 stars A Positive Sharing of His Story

    Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2013

    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

    I found the book inspiring and insightful. Mr. Cassady's experience points to the existence of a realm beyond that which we can experience with our senses, the existence of Heaven.

     

    henry walker

    5.0 out of 5 stars Bridging the Gap: read and believe in God. Faith

    Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2013

    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

    I read this book because I konow the Author and it is a tru e story of his life. ! was inspired by the book.

     

     

     

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