Book Review: “90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life” by Don Piper with Cecil Murphey

Book Review:

“90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life”

by Don Piper
with Cecil Murphey

I’m glad I read the book.

Pastor Don Piper chronicles his death, resurrection, and long road to recovery. I had hoped the book would be all about the 90 minutes though. That would’ve been cool. But he repeatedly reiterates his difficulty in expressing the inexpressible. He expresses some, but not as much as I wanted. I, like you, have many questions about Heaven: Who tunes the harps? Do the cool late night TV shows come on earlier? And, most importantly, are there rivers of chocolate?

The man died in a car wreck. His car got totaled. And so did he. Mangled. He shouldn’t have survived. In fact, he didn’t. He died.

Game Over.

Until another pastor (Dick Onerecker) in the long line of cars backed up behind the accident, got out of his car, and came forward to pray for whomever he could. Everyone else was unhurt. And Don Piper was dead. So it seemed like the pastor had no one for whom he could pray. And yet, God urged him to pray anyway. So he did. For quite a while. He prayed. And he sang hymns. During a rousing round of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”, the pastor felt astonished to find himself no longer singing a solo. The no longer dead Don sang along.

The pastor rushed out of the mangled car to tell the EMT in charge, but he didn’t believe him. He knows a dead man when he sees one. And Don was dead. And the EMT refused to believe he no longer was. Finally, the EMT agreed to check the dead man, because the pastor promised that if Don wasn’t alive, he’d stop pestering the EMT. And what do you know? He found a pulse, where previously there had been no pulse. No pulse for 90 minutes!

The book is a fascinating testament to the power of prayer. Don Piper recounts how he wished he hadn’t come back, because he left the glories and splendors of Heaven to suffer with constant pain and limited mobility. But despite that, or rather through that, and because of that, Don finds a purpose for his being here. God brought him back, so He must have a reason for his being here.

Don spends a chapter or two on Heaven, but the rest deals with his coping with “the new normal” he faces. As painful as all that sounds, and was, this is a powerful and moving book of faith, hope, and encouragement. Contains some fun moments too, like the mystery of his clasped hand.

God answers prayer.

Blessings & Joy,
Dean