90 Minutes in heaven

I recently finished a book titled "90 Minutes in Heaven"--a true story about a Baptist pastor, Don Piper, who was pronounced dead on the scene of an accident for 90 minutes until he miraculously came back to life. In the book he tells his story of his brief time in heaven and then expands primarily on his recovery--physically, mentally, and spiritually. When someone speaks of experiencing heaven, Western culture has a way of being skeptical--and rightly so most of the time--but thankfully I don't believe that was his primary focus of the book (it only presented itself in the first two chapters). I think he had 3 main principles he tried to convey.
1. Heaven is real. We can have assurance that to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord for Christians.
2. Prayer changes things. Another pastor actually entered his car when he was "dead" and prayed earnestly for him and for his life. Specific prayer was instrumental in his return to earth and recovery, and he definitely saw miracles because of the prayers of God's people (the reason he believes he is still alive today).
3. There is a reason we are all still on earth. It took Don many years to overcome depression and a desire to be in heaven, but some 17 years later he is understanding his role in the Kingdom and how he can be a blessing to others with his story of hope and faith. He's a living example of the goodness of God.
Overall it's a pretty good read. It's a great example of overcoming severe obstacles in life--and how those can only be overcome with God's help and the constant help of Christians. He definitely experienced supernatural life change.

Happy July 4! Start up those grills!