90 Minutes in Heaven

Hey quest! Tonight I started reading 90 Minutes in Heaven...if you haven't already read it, I really suggest reading it. It's so amazing. I don't know about you, but I absolutely LOVE hearing stories about near-death experiences and people visiting Heaven. So awesome that God has given us true evidence of His Kingdom! What more could we ask for?! This one's about a Baptist preacher who died in a car accident and went straight to Heaven. Here's some of the things he said about Heaven.

- He said it was just glowing with light.
- "My heart filled with the deepest JOY I've ever experienced."
- "Never have I felt more loved." He said he experienced perfect love.
- "Everything felt blissful. Perfect."
- He said he experienced a "happiness he didn't know was possible."
- "I had never, ever felt more alive than I did then."
- He said the very first thing he saw when we went to Heaven was a huge group of people that immediately ran towards him and embraced him. He said all of these people were family members or friends who had already died. And he said all of them had, in one way or another, inspired him and guided him in his relationship with the Lord. He said every single one of them hugged him. He said he felt an immense amount of love from these people. They all said they were so excited to see him. And he said it was the "greatest family reunion of all time."
- He said that everyone he saw in Heaven looked just the same as they did on earth. Except there was one difference: his great-grandmother, who had osteoporosis on earth and had an extremely hunched back, and who had no teeth on earth, had the straightest, strongest back and the brightest teeth in Heaven. He said everyone looked so healthy and in such perfect condition.
- He said that, on his way to the gates of Heaven, he heard constant hymns of praise. He said he heard the "wings of angels" and the voices that sang that hymns he heard were absolutely beautiful. He said it was great to see his loved ones in Heaven, but the sounds and songs he heard were like nothing he had ever heard before.
- Also...one of the most important things he mentioned..."I wasn't conscious of anything I'd left behind and felt no regrets about leaving family or possessions. It was if God had removed anything negative or worrisome from my consciousness, and I could only rejoice at being together with these wonderful people."

While his body was still on earth, everyone thought he was dead. Another priest at the scene of the accident felt that God was calling him to pray for him, so he did. He prayed and prayed for the whole 90 minutes that the man was in Heaven (while everyone else still thought the man was dead). The preacher praying started singing after he said some prayers. He sang a song that goes like this, "Oh what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!" Then, the preacher who had died started singing with the other preacher who was praying for him! And the man came back to life.

I just started reading this book tonight, and as you can probably tell, I've already gotten SO much out of it. Sorry for giving away the entire first 50 pages of the book if you were planning on reading it (still read it anyway, please!). I don't know about you, but this gets me so insanely excited for Heaven. And it makes me think of that verse, "For to me, life is Christ and death is gain." ~ Philippians 1:21. If we live for Christ on earth we get to experience this AMAZING place in Heaven! Wow. Live each and every day for God...that's all we have to do. It's not easy, but we gotta do it.

One more thing...
"But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a heavenly city for them." Hebrews 11:16

Love you all :)
-Haley