I got this book as a 40th birthday present from Jeff S., a good friend of mine from church. I was already backlogged in the reading department (including Agape Leadership, below), so it took me a while to get to it. In the meantime though, Amanda tore through it pretty fast and really liked it. So I was even more excited to be able to finally get to it. And it did not disappoint me.
This book follows the true story of a pastor who gets in a horrific accident with a tractor-trailer, and subsequently dies. Through another man's obedience to pray for him (when stirred to do so) he ended up returning to life. The author takes great care to explain the details of his accident in order to provide as much credibility as possible to his claims of being clinically dead, and also his experience of heaven. The rest of the story follows him through his long and painful physical recovery from the accident, and the process of figuring out what to do with the experiences he encountered and in finding purpose behind them.
Admittedly, since I'm a Christian, I did not truly approach it skeptically. I already believe in Heaven, and the way Mr. Piper describes what he encountered does not conflict with what I have read in the Bible and/or what I believe. But as with other books (such as "This Present Darkness"), even though I already held these beliefs, reading about them in this manner gives me an entirely different perspective to them. Having a mental image of what it will be like to experience Heaven for myself changes the way I visualize the big picture of life and encourages me to make decisions that could have a positive affect for myself and others on that fateful (and joyful) day that I get to meet my maker.
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