Don Piper
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Don Piper (born 1950) is a Baptist minister who wrote 90 Minutes in Heaven, a book describing his near-death experience.
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[edit] Near-death experience
On January 18, 1989, Piper was driving on an old bridge, and before he cleared that bridge, a tractor-trailer crossed into his lane and hit his small Ford Escort head on. Paramedics on the scene pronounced him clinically dead after the impact. Piper claims to have gone to heaven, where he was reunited with loved ones, but did not claim to have met Jesus Christ there. Within an hour and a half after the accident, another Baptist minister came to the scene as he was reportedly prompted by God to pray for Piper. Ninety minutes after "dying", Don came back to life, and he faced a long, grueling recovery in and out of hospitals and home.
[edit] Book
Piper wrote the book in collaboration with Cecil Murphey. It is narrated in first-person from Piper's point of view (although he personally does not remember many of the details of the crash). The book contains two chapters detailing his experience in heaven. The remaining chapters deal with Piper's recovery — an ordeal that included 34 separate surgeries, and many life and spiritual lessons learned along the way.
In addition to his work as an author, he has been a public speaker, actor, syndicated columnist, CBS and CBN Television Network Executive, Youth Minister, Education Minister, Senior Adult Minister, Baptist Student Ministry Director, Pastor, Single Adult Pastor, and Minister of Education, Don Piper is now often introduced as "The Minister of Hope". He also appeared once on the FOX show Hannity's America.
[edit] Further reading
- Piper, Don; Murphey, Cecil (2004-09-01). 90 Minutes in Heaven. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Revell Books. ISBN 978-0-8007-5949-0.
