Into the Fire

Ask Don Piper what happens when someone who knows Jesus personally dies. Well, if you can’t ask him or hear him speak about it, you can read 90 Minutes in Heaven as told to Cecil Murphey and published in 2004 by Revell.

Christians who follow Jesus expect to go to heaven because of what Jesus accomplished on the Cross and because He rose from the dead. Once we accept His sacrifice and invite Him to take over our lives, we’re “in” for eternal life in a perfect place known as heaven. If any of us have wondered or doubted or been unsure of that fact on our darkest days or in our weakest moments, we can read this account of one man’s experience in heaven. The blessing that awaits Christians is worth the struggle, the hardship, the suffering, and the journey to get there.

Pastor Don Piper and Cec Murphey tell us the route which led to the deadly car crash and the following transportation to the heavenly place where Don arrived after a semi truck crossed the center line of a two lane road and smashed Don Piper’s 1986 Ford Escort with him inside it. He was pronounced dead at the scene. And if it were up to Don, he would’ve gladly stayed that way because of where it took him. But it was not to be.

The explanation of Pastor Piper’s 90 minutes of being dead on earth and alive in heaven is detailed but somewhat brief. The bulk of the short book explains the absolute agony of his return to earth and how he happened to come back to a life situation he wished he could escape. The miracle of his earthly resurrection cannot be pooh-poohed and explained away by doubters. The facts are indisputable. And wonderfully unique.

I appreciate the final chapter which addresses “Near Death Experiences” (NDEs) and those accounts of people who’ve been “heroically resuscitated after dying”. He maintains that his own experience defies many of the explanations offered in those circumstances. He knows precisely where he was when he died, and although the time seemed immeasurable while he was there, it ended up being 90 minutes in earth time.

His testimony has encouraged innumerable people who needed to know what they or a loved one could expect when that final breath came and went. His experience after the accident which took his life has also provided the hope others so desperately needed in their pain and recovery.

I recommend 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper with Cec Murphey because all of us need a reason to exhort ourselves in times of intense need, to remind ourselves that what we can expect in heaven makes this life even more uniquely precious but fleeting. The book came out several years ago and achieved New York Times Bestseller status because even the darkest hearts tend to want to believe there’s a heaven even if they don’t accept the only way to get there.

Lest you ever doubted or wondered, it’s for real.

Father, thank you for eternal peace with you through Jesus Christ our Lord. Nothing could be more desirable. Thank you for those you allowed to return to us with a testimony of the incredible reality and beauty of a place without sin. A place where pain and suffering, sorrow and tears no longer exist. The kind of place you had in mind for us from the beginning . . . Holy Spirit, make it real for us. Help us to pray as you desire in accordance with the Father’s will. May we worship in Spirit and in Truth. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.