- Thirty years ago DonPiper was on his way home

from a pastor's conference,

just not the home he wasplanning to see that day.

As he was driving on acold and rainy morning,

an 18 wheeler slid into his lane,

and Don says he took his nextbreaths in the great beyond.

- [Narrator] In 1989, DonPiper was killed instantly

when his Ford Escort wascrushed in a head-on collision.

After paramedics declared himdead, Don came back to life.

In his book People I MetAt The Gates of Heaven,

Don reveals the loved ones

who greeted him at the pearly gates,

and the role we play in populating heaven.

- Don Piper joins us now for more,

and we welcome you back to the program,

it's good to have you here.

- Deeply honored, always, thank you.

- Talk a little, if youwill, about the fact

that there are many, many people,

and we've had some on this program,

who've had what they callnear-death experiences.

- Right.

- But you have the uniqueexperience of having been dead

for, what, 90 minutes?

- Hour and a half, yeah.- Wow!

- I often say I didn't havea near-death experience.

I know they can happen andI've talked to many people

who have had them.

I was killed instantly andwas gone for 90 minutes.

It was 90 minutes after the accident

that a gentleman who felt led of the Lord

to crawl in the car and prayover the body was praying

at 1:15 from an accidentthat happened at 11:45,

and he's singing What aFriend We Have in Jesus,

that great old hymn.- Yes.

- And suddenly I started singingit with him and I was back.

- That had to be so eerie for him--

- Without a doubt.

- Because the police officertold him you were dead.

- Exactly.

- But something that theLord impressed on him

just caused him to insiston praying for you.

So, let's get to whereyou went and what you saw,

'cause that's whateverybody's interested in.

- Sure.- Talk about the sounds,

you said that everything thathad to do with your senses

was just enhanced beyond description.

- Exponentially.

- What was the soundthat you heard in heaven?

- The sound that I heardthat was most profound to me

were praise songs, allof them glorifying God.

Thousands of them actually,

which I thought was just...

I don't have the words for it,because they were symbiotic.

I could distinguish eachone of the praise songs,

but they did notinterfere with each other,

they were distinguishable.

One song kind of rose above all of them,

and it was Holy, Holy, Holy.

So, I can still hear this music today,

it's the one thing I brought back with me,

is the sound of heaven.

- One of the other soundsthat you write about

that was so moving when I read your book,

was the sound of angel wings.

- Everywhere.- Everywhere.

- Yeah.- What did you see?

- You couldn't see them asmuch as you could hear them.

It was like what I calla holy whoosh of wings.

One was in the car with me, I know that

because I held the hand of the angel.

I thought the man who was praying for me

was holding onto my hand,

but it was my shoulderhe was holding onto,

the hand held an angel.

So, angels are all around us,

but in heaven they're everywhere

and they're all glorifying God.

We do not become angels in heaven,

they're a completely differentset of beings from us,

but I was surrounded by themand it was so comforting

and encouraging to hearthe wings of angels.

- So it wasn't a frighteningexperience that you had at all.

- No, no it was so warmand comforting, and home.

Heaven is home, we knowwe don't get to stay here,

and I knew I was homewhen I arrived there,

not only because of theangels and the street of gold

and all the things that Iexpected to see that were there,

it was because of the people I met there

who I'd loved here and hadlost for a little while.

- Were you surprised at who...

There was a welcoming committee--

- Yes.

- First of all, which wasa relatively new concept.

I guess people talk aboutseeing people there,

but they really were there to welcome you

and were you surprised at who was there?

- In some cases. (laughs)

I expected to see some of the people

because they'd had such aprofound impact on my life

in an obvious way.

Some of the other people

maybe had a little less todo with me here on earth,

but on reflection I can realize

why they would have been there.

I don't think you sneak up on heaven,

I think everybody thereknows who's coming.

We're told that there's a big celebration

every time someone makesa reservation there.

So they were expecting me

and I just wasn'tnecessarily expecting them,

and I was surrounded by them,

so when I saw theirfaces I knew where I was

'cause I knew where they were,

and they were welcoming me to heaven.

- You waited a longtime after the accident

before you wrote your firstbook, 90 Minutes in Heaven,

and then even longer

before you wrote aboutthe people that you met,

that you saw at the gate of heaven.

Why did you wait?

- It was a process for me.

In the first case, I neverreally planned to talk about

what I experienced in heaven.

I was convinced by people

who's judgment I trusta lot more than my own

because people said to me,

don't you think peopleneed to know heaven is real

from somebody who saw it?

And so I finally got peace with that,

and so 14 years after theaccident I wrote that first book.

These people are, theseare very specific people,

many of whom I havenever spoken of before.

I really had to get comfortablewith telling their stories.

And I think people will fallin love with these people

just like I did, and thenrealize that we're here

to help everyone else get there,

and we have much work to do.

- Can we go back for aminute to what you saw,

because I think that'sso fascinating to people.

These people were all dressed in robes.

- Yes.- Were the all the same?

- Yes, the robes were all the same.

They were quite spectacular,beautiful robes.

Glowing robes, in fact everythingin heaven is quite bright

and quite beautiful.

The thing that struck me the most by them

was not only was the way the were dressed,

but how perfect they were.

How unblemished, how unspotted.

I think the only person inheaven with scars is Jesus.

I've heard it said

that the only thing inheaven that is manmade

are the scars of Jesus.

And so, these people,without spot or blemish,

they were perfect in every way,

and I had not seen them in many ways

like that here on earth.

Some of them were quite elderly,

some of them had been interrible accidents themselves,

so they were perfect inheaven, we'll be perfect.

- This is good news, Don. (laughs)

- Isn't it, I'm veryexcited about it. (laughs)

- When you were thereand you saw these people,

were you able to communicate with them,

and if you did, was it through words,

or how did you talk?

- There were words,

but there was a lot ofcommunication without words.

I just knew what theyhad to communicate to me,

and I think they knew how Ifelt as well without words,

but there were words.

My grandfather extended his hands to me,

which were missing fingers hereon earth but not in heaven,

and said welcome home Donny,

and he's the only one whocalled me that here on earth.

And so I knew where Iwas when I saw his face.

The last time I'd seenhim, he was in a casket--

- Oh my.- And he did not look good.

Now he's spectacularly beautiful,

he's reaching out to me with perfect hands

and saying welcome home Donny.

- The person you didn't see was Jesus--

- Yes.- Where was he?

- I think high and lifted upin the center of the city.

- So you only came to the gate, really.

- I was entering inside.

The wall is quite thick,

I was entering inside when I came back.

And yes, I could see brilliant light

in the center of the city highand lifted up with thrones,

and I know that's where Jesus was.

I was actually going to thatplace when I was prayed back,

because I just wanted to fall at his feet

and say thank you for letting me come.

- It must have been sodifficult to come back to pain

and 30 plus surgeries and justall kinds of rehabilitation.

This book that you've written,

People I Met At The Gates of Heaven,

obviously God's given this message to you,

what do you want peopleto take away from this?

- We're here to helpeveryone else get there.

- Yeah.

- I think that's why we're here.

I've noticed that mostof us, as believers,

when we give our lifeto Christ, we stay here.

We don't just rapture immediately,

and so the compelling reason for that is

we are here to help everyoneelse get there as we go.

The commission is not a suggestion,

it is as you go, preachand teach and baptize.

So, at the store, at the post office,

wherever we happen tobe, pray for sensitivity

that the Lord will help us understand

we're here to helpeveryone else get to there.

- Be bold. (laughs)

- Indeed, absolutely.

- Indeed, Don has more ofhis story and more answers

to some of the commonly asked questions

that he gets in his new book.

It's called People I MetAt The Gate of Heaven.

It's a fascinating read andit's in stores nationwide.

You can also hear more fromDon on our Facebook page,

just go to Facebook.com/700club.