Summary Of 90 Minutes In Heaven By Don Piper

INTRODUCTION: I selected the novel 90 Minutes In Heaven by Don Piper, which was originally published in 2004 by Revell and contains anywhere from 208 to 299 pages, depending on the edition. This book is categorized under the genre of Christian literature and “Heaven Tourism”. In this extraordinary true account of life and death, the author and main character of the book, Don Piper, is involved in a severe automobile accident that leaves him dead for ninety minutes. During this time, Don encounters a life-altering experience, which raises questions about his faith and changes his entire outlook on life: a trip to Heaven. However, Don returns to earth to share his remarkable story. Overall, 90 Minutes In Heaven is an inspiring autobiography,
Don recalls seeing a welcoming party, including everyone he knew who had passed on before him. He had trouble describing his experience because human words could not explain the extravagant details of Heaven. Don goes on to illustrate gates constructed from pearls, a heavenly body illuminated by light, and choirs of angelic voices, like nothing he had ever seen or heard on Earth. Additionally, he states that while in Heaven, there was no measure of time, and he could not remember anyone from his former life, including his wife and children. Meanwhile on Earth, another pastor from Texas, Dick Onerecker, and a man who had never even met Don, felt a calling from God. By some miracle, Dick had attended the same conference as Don and was only a few cars behind when the accident occurred. Dick quickly rushes to the scene, where paramedics inform him that the man in the vehicle was dead, but Dick insists that he needs to pray over the lifeless body. Dick crawls into the smashed vehicle, lays his hand on Don’s shoulder, and begins a series of intense prayers. As time goes on, Don returns back to Earth and his first conscious memory is that he began to sing 'What a Friend we have in Jesus.' Dick recalls that he began to sing and the dead man began to sing with him. Shocked by what he just heard, Dick immediately signals a paramedic, and Don is transported to the hospital. Don has become a
Through the author’s style of writing, the reader was able to imagine themselves as part of the story. One of the most memorable scenes of the book was when Don was telling the story of his accident to his congregation and he mentioned his comfort in Dick holding his hand. Immediately after the mass was over, Dick’s wife approach Don and told him his story was lovely, except for one detail; Dick had placed his hand on Don’s shoulder, not his hand. Don’s arm had been barely attached to his body, and there is no way Dick could have reached his hand from his positioning in the backseat. Although Don had lost most of his memory from the day of the accident, he could distinctly remember the feeling of someone holding his hand, then it hit him. The person holding his hand at all was not a person at all, but rather it was the presence of God. After reading this passage, I felt a shiver down my spine and immediately received goosebumps. I cannot even imagine how Don felt when he came to this realization, but I assume his reaction was very similar to mine. We hear about miracles all the time, but it’s not often that someone has experienced God’s presence firsthand like Don did. For this reason, I believe one of the most prominent strengths of the book is Don’s ability to provide spine-chilling descriptions such as this