Heaven

When Piper passed in September of 2018, I suddenly found myself taking a real shine to anything that I could get my hands on that had a description of heaven.  Since then, I have read numerous books, articles and YouTube videos relating the stories of individuals who supposedly went there via death and then returned to life or others who told of anointed dreams or visions, as the Apostle Paul wrote concerning his vision of heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:3 saying, “And I know that this man-- whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know; .” (KJV).  Then of course, there are the commentary books written by Biblical Scholars explaining their views of the scriptures that talk about heaven.

I never really thought much about heaven before Piper’s passing as I was always more concerned about our life and ministry in the here and now, than looking off to the future.  And like I said, Piper’s going there changed all that!  I used the word “supposedly” when talking about individual’s personal experiences with heaven because… well, let’s face it… How can they really prove that their story is true?  Many of the sources I read though, come from very reputable ministers of the gospel that Piper and I followed for years and have come to trust… so, I would tend to believe them based on their track record of integrity and honor in the ministry.

But what really caught my attention was the many similarities in their descriptions from the variety of sources I looked at.  I wrote in my last blog post about “happenstance” and I don’t think that all these unrelated people coming from a wide distribution of Christian denominations, with some living in different countries and separated by centuries of time, just “happened” to agree on some points of their stories.  I tend to think that God did that on purpose.

Yesterday I forced myself to sit down in the middle of the afternoon to finish Reverend Jesse Duplantis’ book concerning his experience with heaven that occurred in the 1980’s.  The book is entitled “Heaven, Close Encounters of the God Kind.”  His encounter with heaven is a very personal experience for him and over the time since, he has very seldom spoken about it.  It wasn’t until many years after the experience that he felt the freedom to write the book.

Piper and I had heard parts of the story back in the 1990’s.  I’m not quite sure where we heard it, but it very well could have been during the two Believer’s Conventions we took our family to at the convention center in Anaheim California (right across the street from Disneyland!) where Jesse was one of the speakers.  He has a very humorous and captivating style of preaching which we’ve enjoyed, and also comes from musical background having been a professional musician in his pre-Christ days. 

Both Piper and I were amazed at one of the Anaheim conventions when he sat down at the nine-foot grand piano they had on the stage and began to play and sing.  All I can say is “WOW!”  That guy can sure make those ivories sing!  He is from Louisiana and his musical style is a blend of soul, blues and jazz!

I still follow and support his ministry today and was happy to find out that he was going to give another presentation of his heaven story back on the evening of the 21^st of this month.  I was spellbound as I listened to his very humble explanation of the things he heard and saw.  He shared many private insights and feelings that were not in the book. 

His experiences answered many of the questions that I have been bringing before the Lord about heaven.  Without going into descriptions, let’s just say that I have had an abundance of questions about what Piper’s and my relationship will look like there, what the souls in heaven do, what is Piper looking at every day, who else will be there and what will happen when I get there… and many, many more questions.

What impressed me about his particular story was that he many times gave scripture verses that already were giving us an idea of what he was actually seeing.  One in particular jumped out at me when he gave reference to Revelation 4:1 where the Apostle John wrote what he saw Jesus presenting before him in his vision of heaven saying, “After these things I saw a door standing open in heaven. I heard the first voice like a trumpet speaking to me. It said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.’" (God’s Word ©)

That verse made me literally jump out of the leather chair that I was sitting in near the window in my study.  For you see… on the day that Piper passed, I was standing alone in the dining room of our home in North Carolina when… in my minds eye… I don’t know if you could call it a vision or a dream or just a thought… I saw myself pushing Piper in her wheelchair up to a DOOR in heaven’s gates.

I stopped posting current pictures of Piper on my blog as her condition worsened over the years because I wanted people to remember her as she was in her healthy years. But let’s just say that she didn’t look anything like her healthy self during the last few years and even worse… much worse… in the last 2 weeks of her life.  And it was that shell of her former self that I wheeled up to that door… that I just knew to be at heaven’s gate that day. 

Then in what I was seeing, I suddenly found myself on the other side of the gate, looking at the back of the closed door… when it opened and through the door walked a totally healthy, vibrant, smiling from ear-to-ear Piper, complete with that familiar little hop in her step that characterized her bubbling personality.  She didn’t seem to see me, but she walked right up to a group of family and friends that I recognized as having gone on before her, and joined right in with their laughter, smiles and excited conversations.  Next thing that I knew, was that I was standing next the table, alone in the dining room… but I couldn’t help but cry and smile and tell the Lord “Thank You” after that!

During the few months remaining in 2018, I saw that same play unfold on at least two other occasions.  Once in a dream and another time while I was getting dressed in the master bedroom in our home.  And although it gave me great peace and joy in seeing that she WAS healed, that our prayers WERE answered, I sometimes questioned the authenticity of it… up until yesterday!   You see, I didn’t recall any Biblical reference to getting into heaven through a door.  I had heard about the gate of pearls, and of passing through the veil… but a door?  Well, Praise the Lord, I feel like the Lord gave me personal confirmation through Revelation 4:1!

I have many more examples that I learned of scripture-based places and events in heaven that all my research on heaven have provided for me.  But this post is getting way too long!  So, I’ll have to bring this one to a close with my renewed excitement over the confirmations that God gives to me from time to time, concerning many of the various directions, leadings or words of wisdom that I believe that He has given me over the years. 

Funny though, as I thought about that this morning, I realized that many times my second response (after joyously thanking and praising Him) is to call anyone who doubted me when I told them that “the Lord had spoken to me” and they laughed or criticized me and say “SEE… I DID hear Him!”  But, in reality, what good would that do?  Besides, doesn’t the Bible say that we need to forgive and forget just as Jesus did in regard to our sins?  Like I said the other day… I’ve been in this Christian walk for close to 50 years… and I am still learning, growing and receiving His loving confirmations! 

How about You?

Have a great rest of the week, and as you do… keep EXPECTING God’s best for your life!