MY TIME IN HEAVEN By Don Piper
When I died, I didn’t flow through a
long, dark tunnel. I had no sense of
fading away or of coming back. I never
felt my body being transported into the
light. I heard no voices calling to me
or anything else. Simultaneous with my
last recollection of seeing the bridge and
the rain, a light enveloped me, with a
brilliance beyond earthly comprehension
or description. Only that.
In my next moment of awareness, I
was standing in heaven.

Joy pulsated through me as I looked
around, and at that moment I became
aware of a large crowd of people. They
stood in front of a brilliant, ornate gate.
I have no idea how far away they were;
such things as distance didn’t matter.
As the crowd rushed toward me, I
didn’t see Jesus, but I did see people I
had known. As they surged toward me,
I knew instantly that all of them had
died during my lifetime. Their presence
seemed absolutely natural.
They rushed toward me, and every
person was smiling, shouting, and praising
God. Although no one said so, intuitively
I knew they were my celestial
welcoming committee. It was as if they
had all gathered just outside heaven’s
gate, waiting for me.
The first person I recognized was Joe
Kulbeth, my grandfather. He looked
exactly as I remembered him, with his
shock of white hair and what I called a
big banana nose. He stopped momentarily
and stood in front of me. A grin
covered his face. I may have called his
name, but I’m not sure.
“Donnie!” (That’s what my grandfather
always called me.) His eyes lit up,
and he held out his arms as he took
the last steps toward me. He embraced
me, holding me tightly. He was once
again the robust, strong grandfather I
had remembered as a child.
I’d been with him when he suffered
a heart attack at home and had ridden
with him in the ambulance. I had been
standing just outside the emergency room
at the hospital when the doctor walked
out and faced me. He shook his head
and said softly, “We did everything we
could.”
My grandfather released me, and
as I stared into his face, an ecstatic
bliss overwhelmed me. I didn’t think
about his heart attack or his death,
because I couldn’t get past the joy of
our reunion. How either of us reached
heaven seemed irrelevant.
I have no idea why my grandfather
was the first person I saw. Perhaps it
had something to do with my being
there when he died. He wasn’t one of
the great spiritual guides of my life,
although he certainly influenced me
positively in that way.
After being hugged by my grandfather,
I don’t remember who was second or
third. The crowd surrounded me. Some
hugged me and a few kissed my cheek,
while others pumped my hand. Never
had I felt more loved.
One person in that greeting committee
was Mike Wood, my childhood friend.
Mike was special because he invited me
to Sunday school and was influential in
my becoming a Christian. Mike was the
most devoted young Christian I knew.
He was also a popular kid and had lettered
four years in football, basketball,
and track and field, an amazing feat.
He also became a hero to me, because
he lived the Christian lifestyle he often
talked about. After high school, Mike
received a full scholarship to Louisiana
State University. When he was nineteen,
Mike was killed in a car wreck. It broke
my heart when I heard about his death,
and it took me a long time to get over
it. His death was the biggest shock and
most painful experience I’d had up to
that time in my life.
When I attended his funeral, I wondered
if I would ever stop crying. I couldn’t
understand why God had taken such a
dedicated disciple. Through the years
since then, I had never been able to
forget the pain and sense of loss. Not
that I thought of him all the time, but
when I did, sadness came over me.
Now I saw Mike in heaven. As he
slipped his arm around my shoulder,
my pain and grief vanished. Never had
I seen Mike smile so brightly. I still
didn’t know why, but the joyousness
of the place wiped away any questions.
Everything felt blissful. Perfect.
More and more people reached for
me and called me by name. I felt overwhelmed
by the number of people who
had come to welcome me to heaven.
There were so many of them, and I had
never imagined anyone being as happy
as they all were. Their faces radiated a
serenity I had never seen on earth. All
were full of life and expressed radiant
joy.
Time had no meaning. However, for
clarity, I’ll relate this experience in terms
that refer to time.
I saw my great-grandfather, heard his
voice, and felt his embrace as he told me
how excited he was that I had come to
join them. I saw Barry Wilson, who had
been my classmate in high school but
later drowned in a lake. Barry hugged
me, and his smile radiated a happiness
I didn’t know was possible. He and everyone
that followed praised God and
told me how excited they were to see
me and to welcome me to heaven and
to the fellowship they enjoyed.
Just then, I spotted two teachers who
had loved me and often talked to me
about Jesus Christ. As I walked among
them, I became aware of the wide variety
of ages—old and young and every
age in-between. Many of them hadn’t
known each other on earth, but each had
influenced my life in some way. Even
though they hadn’t met on earth, they
seemed to know each other now.

Sidespin, you haven't mentioned how you got this message from Don piper, an angel delivered it to you? If Don is back, won't he set up a church - a thing that often follow this kind of tale?