Pastor goes from earth to heaven to earth!

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Baptist Pastor Don Piper insists it was no dream. He was killed in a 1989 traffic accident and according to him, He visited heaven, and has chronicled his experience in the New York Times bestseller, "90 Minutes in Heaven."

Piper said his heart stopped pumping and paramedics declared him dead. He was without a pulse, he said, for 90 minutes before coming back to life. But before he rejoined the living, Piper said he communed with the dead.

Did He???? What are your thoughts?
 
I believe his story---I saw him interviewed on Christian television. "Communing with the dead" paints a picture that resonates with occultists and New Agers, where the clear truth is that he spent those 90 minutes in the Kingdom of heaven, and saw other believers there who had gone on before him. You can't miss them!
 
I believe his story---I saw him interviewed on Christian television. "Communing with the dead" paints a picture that resonates with occultists and New Agers, where the clear truth is that he spent those 90 minutes in the Kingdom of heaven, and saw other believers there who had gone on before him. You can't miss them!

What then do we do with John 3:13.........
"No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven".
 
What then do we do with John 3:13.........
"No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven".

Yes, only Jesus whose home is heaven has been able to descend from heaven, which makes the point in John's gospel that only Jesus is able to tell us with all authority about the Kingdom of heaven...and then He has ascended and returned to heaven.

It is by the hand of God that people are given a great heavenly experience and opportunity to discover portions of our heavenly home and use that information to turn men's hearts toward Jesus Christ.
 
Yes, only Jesus whose home is heaven has been able to descend from heaven, which makes the point in John's gospel that only Jesus is able to tell us with all authority about the Kingdom of heaven...and then He has ascended and returned to heaven.

It is by the hand of God that people are given a great heavenly experience and opportunity to discover portions of our heavenly home and use that information to turn men's hearts toward Jesus Christ.

Sister, do you see that you have contradicted yourself here?????

Comment was...........
" only Jesus is able to tell us with all authority about the Kingdom of heaven".

Then........
"It is by the hand of God that people are given a great heavenly experience".

That is contradictory.

My point was, how can we say that we have been to heaven when the Scriptures tell us that it is not possible to do so and return.

Hebrews 9:27 says.............
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."

Certainly, angels go back and forth all the time at the behest of God or on their own. What I don't see is any biblical evidence of people coming back from heaven giving descriptions of heaven. I think that once you are in heaven, you stay there.

IMO, when this pastor was unconscious he saw what his mind wanted to see. I hope that if that happens to me I will see what he says he saw but I do not believe that my spiret will go there and then return to my body. That is more "New Age" philosophy than it is Bible truth.........IMO!
 
Sister, do you see that you have contradicted yourself here?????

Comment was...........
" only Jesus is able to tell us with all authority about the Kingdom of heaven".

Then........
"It is by the hand of God that people are given a great heavenly experience".

That is contradictory.

My point was, how can we say that we have been to heaven when the Scriptures tell us that it is not possible to do so and return.

Hebrews 9:27 says.............
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."

Certainly, angels go back and forth all the time at the behest of God or on their own. What I don't see is any biblical evidence of people coming back from heaven giving descriptions of heaven. I think that once you are in heaven, you stay there.

IMO, when this pastor was unconscious he saw what his mind wanted to see. I hope that if that happens to me I will see what he says he saw but I do not believe that my spiret will go there and then return to my body. That is more "New Age" philosophy than it is Bible truth.........IMO!

I expected that, Major.

John 3:10-13
10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven.

However, Jesus is not declaring the supernatural revelation of heaven afforded by God to people. His context is the authority He has to speak of heavenly, spiritual matters. Paul and John himself had such experiences. That doesn't preclude anyone else having such a glorious preview by God's grace.

Neither I nor the scriptures contradict these marvelous supernatural events in some people's lives.

Read the wonderful story of Capt. Dale Black in "Flight to Heaven". You'll be blessed and change your mind.
 
I do not believe that he actually went to heaven and came back, however, I do not believe he is trying to be deceitful and using it to make money.

I have read the book, and I genuinely believe that he is telling the truth of what he experienced. I cannot say exactly for sure what he experienced, however, I believe that John 3:13 makes it pretty clear that human spirits arent going back to earth from heaven.
Maybe he experienced an amazing encounter with God, maybe it was his subconscious. Either way, a miracle did happen that day and praise God he is alive and still spreading the gospel!
 
I do not believe that he actually went to heaven and came back, however, I do not believe he is trying to be deceitful and using it to make money.

I have read the book, and I genuinely believe that he is telling the truth of what he experienced. I cannot say exactly for sure what he experienced, however, I believe that John 3:13 makes it pretty clear that human spirits arent going back to earth from heaven.
Maybe he experienced an amazing encounter with God, maybe it was his subconscious. Either way, a miracle did happen that day and praise God he is alive and still spreading the gospel!

Agreed!

It was absolutely a miracle he survived the crash and I have no doubt he believes what he saw to be the truth. I do know also that the mind can play some really good tricks on us and it will convince us that what has been in our subconscious was true when we are under the influence of certain medications.
 
John 3:13 does not teach that people are not raised from the dead. In fact, it teaches us to raise the dead. People who have experienced death and returned to life and know Christ experience heaven.
 
Baptist Pastor Don Piper insists it was no dream. He was killed in a 1989 traffic accident and according to him, He visited heaven, and has chronicled his experience in the New York Times bestseller, "90 Minutes in Heaven."

Piper said his heart stopped pumping and paramedics declared him dead. He was without a pulse, he said, for 90 minutes before coming back to life. But before he rejoined the living, Piper said he communed with the dead.

Did He???? What are your thoughts?
Three words: Mount of Transfiguration
 
John 3:13 does not teach that people are not raised from the dead. In fact, it teaches us to raise the dead. People who have experienced death and returned to life and know Christ experience heaven.

Not so. I can not agree with you on that. It certainly does not teach us to raise the dead. It actually confirms Jesus as the Messiah and God and harmonizes John 1:1-3.

"No man had so passed to heaven and returned again to earth"; but there was One then speaking with Nicodemus who had been in heaven with God, and could tell him its eternal truths which confirms the diety of Jesus.. He had that knowledge which a man could obtain only by ascending to heaven, and He came down from heaven with it. From the human point of view He was as one who had already ascended and descended. This is the evident meaning of the sentence, and the form is quite consistent with it and it does not speak to raising the dead.

At that point in time Jesus said that no man had ascended to heaven. The actual words say that He is the only one who has ascended up to heaven. At that time the spirits of the dead went to Paradise and not heaven as seen in Luke 16.

It was after the resurrection when Christ ascended that He took those in Paradise to heaven with Him. Since then the Bible says in 2 Corth. that "to be absent from the body is to present with the Lord".

Because of that Bible fact the body cannot live without the animating life force of the soul, so when the soul is gone, the body is dead. We have all seen lifeless bodies—the body is there but the soul, the life force, is gone.
 
Not so. I can not agree with you on that. It certainly does not teach us to raise the dead. It actually confirms Jesus as the Messiah and God and harmonizes John 1:1-3.

"No man had so passed to heaven and returned again to earth"; but there was One then speaking with Nicodemus who had been in heaven with God, and could tell him its eternal truths which confirms the diety of Jesus.. He had that knowledge which a man could obtain only by ascending to heaven, and He came down from heaven with it. From the human point of view He was as one who had already ascended and descended. This is the evident meaning of the sentence, and the form is quite consistent with it and it does not speak to raising the dead.

At that point in time Jesus said that no man had ascended to heaven. The actual words say that He is the only one who has ascended up to heaven. At that time the spirits of the dead went to Paradise and not heaven as seen in Luke 16.

It was after the resurrection when Christ ascended that He took those in Paradise to heaven with Him. Since then the Bible says in 2 Corth. that "to be absent from the body is to present with the Lord".

Because of that Bible fact the body cannot live without the animating life force of the soul, so when the soul is gone, the body is dead. We have all seen lifeless bodies—the body is there but the soul, the life force, is gone.

No, Jesus did not say that only He had ascended to heaven. He said no one who has come from heaven has also ascended to heaven. He was saying to Nicodemus that only He knows whereof He speaks as He has come from heaven, and that no man can speak with His authority about heavenly things, having never come from heaven. See? What you have said is correct---He was impressing upon Nicodemus His deity. You cannot fall back on this passage to further your beliefs about life-after-death experiences of Christians.
 
Baptist Pastor Don Piper insists it was no dream. He was killed in a 1989 traffic accident and according to him, He visited heaven, and has chronicled his experience in the New York Times bestseller, "90 Minutes in Heaven."

Piper said his heart stopped pumping and paramedics declared him dead. He was without a pulse, he said, for 90 minutes before coming back to life. But before he rejoined the living, Piper said he communed with the dead.

Did He???? What are your thoughts?
I totally agree with Klub.. I think often we mix up visions and physically being somewhere.. At least we mix it up when it comes to spiritual discussions! May be that Pastor had amazing visions in those 90 minutes. Instead of being literally being taken up to heaven.. God can open up eyes of man on occasions to see beyond the earthly realm. Does not mean the person has to be somewhere else. We see this all through the Bible.. Ezekiel, John and so on.. But no one went to heaven and came back. They all had visions of heavenly realm and heavenly activities.. Is it possible today? Yes certainly! Are we going to learn anything new other than what is revealed in Scripture? No!!
 
I totally agree with Klub.. I think often we mix up visions and physically being somewhere.. At least we mix it up when it comes to spiritual discussions! May be that Pastor had amazing visions in those 90 minutes. Instead of being literally being taken up to heaven.. God can open up eyes of man on occasions to see beyond the earthly realm. Does not mean the person has to be somewhere else. We see this all through the Bible.. Ezekiel, John and so on.. But no one went to heaven and came back. They all had visions of heavenly realm and heavenly activities.. Is it possible today? Yes certainly! Are we going to learn anything new other than what is revealed in Scripture? No!!

The man was dead, not unconscious.
 
How does that translate into a man going to heaven when he was thought to be dead when he was not?
Peter, John, and James all heard the conversation with two men that we're dead: Moses and Elijah. Even the witch of Endor allowed herself to be used so Saul could talk to Samuel, her way is forbidden, it's witchcraft which means it's possible with the saints as we are eternal beings linked to eternity. Not to mention John and Daniel's prophecies and their interactions. In fact, those seven "trumpet angels" are saints. So I've given you three examples from the scriptures, which is more than enough to believe a brother's story. Now, you can judge him false if you so desire, but I think you'll be judging something you don't understand by your own lack of experience, which is not in faith in the scriptures. Don't be like Thomas, the scriptures give us all the answers we need, so according to the scriptures, there is precedence.
 
I expected that, Major.

John 3:10-13
10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven.

However, Jesus is not declaring the supernatural revelation of heaven afforded by God to people. His context is the authority He has to speak of heavenly, spiritual matters. Paul and John himself had such experiences. That doesn't preclude anyone else having such a glorious preview by God's grace.

Neither I nor the scriptures contradict these marvelous supernatural events in some people's lives.

Read the wonderful story of Capt. Dale Black in "Flight to Heaven". You'll be blessed and change your mind.

As i fully agree with you, it reminds me also that John 3:13 was prior to Jesus ascending to Heaven for the first time. He was to be the first born from the dead (Colossians 1:18) and in my mind the first one to rise to heaven as well. Besides i also believe that after Jesus defeated death, hell and the grave...all of the saints that were in Abraham's bosom are now in heaven (Matthew 27:52-53) as well as the other believers who have gone on before us. For it says in 2 Corinthians 5:8 to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
 
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