Dr Paul Allen

Cover via Amazon We know of three people, from Scripture, who were privileged to see heaven. All of these men, Stephen and the Apostles Paul and John , were alive when they were given a glimpse of the wonders of heaven. Don Piper, a Baptist pastor, claims to be a fourth, though unlike the other three, he first had to die. Returning home from a conference, Piper’s car was crushed under the wheels of a truck. Medical personnel declared him dead at the scene of the accident. But ninety minutes after this accident, a pastor, waiting at the scene, was told by God to pray for the dead man. He did so, and Piper immediately returned to life. For the 90 minutes that his body lay lifeless inside the car, Piper claims to have been in heaven. He now carries with him memories of paradise and in 90 Minutes in Heaven , a book which has sold over 500,000 copies, he seeks to encourage other Christians with a description of our eternal home. “Because I was able to experience heaven,” he says,...

90 Minutes in Heaven  by Don Piper It is not often that a book races to the top of the bestseller charts and opens up the way for a whole new genre of Christian literature . But such is the case with Don Piper’s  90 Minutes in Heaven , a book that spurred an entire genre of what I refer to as “Heaven Tourism” books. Don Piper was involved in radio and television ministry when he determined that he had been called to be a pastor. In 1985 he was ordained as a Baptist minister and was soon serving in Houston as a minister of education and single adults. It was shortly thereafter, in 1989, that he had an experience that would forever change his life and ministry. Fifteen years later, in 2004, he would team with Cecil Murphey and Baker Publishers to release  90 Minutes in Heaven , the book in which he described his experience. On January 18, 1989, Piper was driving through rural Texas, returning from a Christian conference that had ended a little bit e...

John Piper (theologian) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Several months ago, shortly after the  Strange Fire Conference , notable continuationist pastor, John Piper ,  responded to some of the claims of the conference  via his question-and-answer program,  Ask Pastor John .  Over the last couple of weeks, John MacArthur has begun responding to Piper’s remarks over at the  Grace To You blog .  These posts represent valuable, rubber-meets-the-road exegetical discussion as it relates to the cessation of the miraculous gifts, and it’s happening between two lifelong students of Scripture who many in our generation consider to be fathers in the faith. It’s surely an exchange you don’t want to miss. I want to devote today’s post to recapping what’s been said there so far. #1  Biblical Prophecy and Modern Confusion In the first post, MacArthur begins with some comments of appreciation for John Piper and his ministry, speaking...

One month ago, John MacArthur hosted a conference titled “Strange Fire.” The conference opposed the so-called “ prosperity gospel ” and with it the excesses of “charismania.” But somewhere along the way all things charismatic and continuationist got swept up into the conference conversation, too, igniting a strange online conflagration of its own. The conversation prompted a variety of questions from listeners of the Ask Pastor John podcast. Before boarding a flight for the Middle East , John Piper agreed to field a few of the questions, particularly: If you’re a continuationist (believing the supernatural gifts of the Spirit continue still today), why doesn’t this show up more often in your ministry? Why do you not seem persuaded enough to advocate that others pursue the gifts of tongues and prophecy today? How do you define contemporary prophecy? Are there charismatic abuses that need to be addressed? Open, Cautious, or Advocate? At the conference, Piper was characteri...