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When the proposal for 90 Minutes in Heaven appeared before our publication board, it was met with understandable caution. The company division that hosted this opportunity, Revell, had a limited tradition of publishing such testimonies. However, these books appeared well before Baker and Revell began publishing together. Therefore, the people around the table on that morning in 2003 had no background to prepare them for Don Piper’s claims. We hadn’t personally witnessed his accident or shared his experience in heaven firsthand. Such a testimony cannot be proved or disproved; it can only be accepted or ignored.

Our decision to publish 90 Minutes in Heaven was strengthened by related factors. First, we were impressed with the personal character of Don Piper. We were influenced by Don’s credentials and lifelong dedication as a pastor of God’s Word, before and after the incident. In his denominational community and within our publication board, Don was not surrounded by people who are easily influenced by modern miraculous claims. We soon recognized that Don was not releasing his story to gain personal wealth. At the onset, our company investment was modest by any standard. Don mentioned later that he wrote the book to save him the time of verbally repeating the story. He hoped to pass along a few copies to his closest relatives.

Most significantly, Don’s testimony does not expand on or contradict any scriptural teachings on the afterlife. Any statement along the lines of “I have talked with Jesus face-to-face, and he told me to tell you that . . .” would have immediately removed Don’s testimony from consideration. We decided to proceed, based on these observations and on the strength of the testimony. We started with a cautious first printing of 8,000 copies. We knew from experience that similar recovery stories often fell entirely between the cracks.

But Don’s story was capable of so much more than he, or we, had anticipated. Don speaks to thousands and thousands each year, and at the current pace of book sales, our cautious first printing quantity would be depleted in merely two days.

90 Minutes in Heaven required nearly a year to circulate broadly, but when it did, the reception for Don’s story took a different path than we anticipated. The book was initially overlooked by Christian book retailers, a reaction explained by the same cautious skepticism that we initially felt. However, it soon developed a readership beyond merely curious observers of miracles and wonders. 90 Minutes in Heaven is widely embraced by people who face personal suffering. It offers comfort during end-of-life burdens. It serves elderly people and the family members who care for them. Most significantly, people who have recently lost a loved one use 90 Minutes in Heaven as an encouraging report on the whereabouts of those they have lost. The book relates a joyous vision of the afterlife that is unique and rare.

Don Piper’s story provides comfort to a troubled community, even as we understand that our worldly suffering will not soon abate. For instance, Don tells us that the injuries from his crash leave him with few pain-free intervals each day, even after many years of medical treatment. In spite of his physical limitations, however, Don maintains a vigorous travel and speaking schedule that would exhaust even people who have never had a semitruck roll across their lap. His eagerness to spread this message energizes him beyond the usual limits of human endurance.

Don’s testimony reminds us that our human pain is not the final word. His book 90 Minutes in Heaven generates a message of hope that our anxious planet simply can’t ignore. We hope for glorious things to come, and we carry a faith for things unseen. In this spirit, we offer his story to you, our readers.

Dwight Baker

President

Baker Publishing Group

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wrote this book in self-defense. In the years since 1989 I have seldom satisfied anyone with quick answers or brief encounters retelling my experiences. On radio,