A Testimony of Heaven

My grandpa suffered a terrible car wreck when he was middle-aged. He claimed to have seen a vision of heaven at that time that he was near death. I have often wondered about that near-death vision that he claimed was too "beautiful for words."

Don Piper, pastor of First Baptist of Pasadena, Texas tells of his vision of heaven in this book from Revell Publishers.

Recently my father died, and since then I have watched numerous videos on near-death experiences. If you haven't read of these experiences, most of them involve the person's testimony of being transported through a portal toward light, feelings of intense peace and pleasure, seeing a light, seeing loved ones (or seeing hell!), and seeing a life-review.

These testimonies are very controversial. In this book, Piper explains why his experience was not like these. He claims that he saw fellow Christians (some of them family members), and that these people welcomed him into a land (or realm) of intense light and joy, led him to the gates of heaven, and that there was heavenly music composed of thousands of beautiful songs of praise to God. Piper did not stay dead, however, and he attributes this to the answered prayers of a pastor friend who prayed intensely over his dead body at the scene of the accident. He testifies God sent him back in answer to this prayer to testify to heaven.

This book is very interesting. It is my opinion that Piper is being totally honest about his experience, but there will be skeptics, though he was declared dead at the scene of the accident by several trained medical workers. Without an EKG record, some people would never believe he was dead, and others would attribute his experience to the workings of his mind as he slowly died (or at least more slowly than the workers thought).

I believe, based on the testimony of Scripture, that there is life after death. I also believe there are people (Paul and John, for instance), who saw God's dwelling place and re-emerged in the world of the living. Readers will have to judge for themselves whether Don's vision of heaven lines up with that found in Scripture. I think it does. This book will surely capture the minds of those Christians who have experienced the death of a close loved one recently. It will give many hope who struggle in interpreting the Scriptures on heaven.

Lastly, I will say that as Don's friend prayed for him as he lay dead, so I recently prayed for my dead father--but my dad didn't get up. However, as I stood by his death-bed, I also prayed "The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away: Blessed be the Name of the Lord." At that moment a picture as clear as day came to my mind: Dad standing on the edge of the clouds of heaven, dressed in a white robe, smiling and waving, and standing behind him was Jesus. That vision in my head gave me so much comfort that day. As I read of Heaven in the Scripture, I rejoice, because I know that of which I read is real, and I'm going there someday--whatever may come of visions in this life.