“I’ve been reading this book by someone who went to heaven and chatted with Jesus. It’s very fascinating,” shared a lady whom I had just met which accounts for my keeping my mouth shut but not necessarily my keyboard.

I will not judge the intent of the author as I neither know him nor his story and more importantly, I have not (and will not) read his book. But I have read the Bible and I know what it says about heaven and who has seen and not seen God.

Round-trip ticket to heaven? John 3:13 says “No one has ever gone to heaven and returned.” (NLT)

Seen God? John 1:18 says, “No one has seen God at any time.” (NASB)

Those two verses should put to rest any argument for the validity of such stories. The closest accounts we have of heaven are visions, not actual or near-death experiences, by: 

• Micaiah (I Kgs. 22:19)
• Ezekiel (Eze. 1:1)
• Isaiah (Isa. 6:1-4)
• Stephen (Acts 7:55)
• Paul (2 Cor. 12:1-4a)
• John (Rev. 4:1-11)

None died, went to heaven, and came back to earth.

As for those who died and were raised back to life, none made a career out of it. Lazarus, perhaps the most famous of all who “stinketh” and was resurrected, did not talk about his four days in Abraham’s bosom. Paul, the greatest apostle, wasn’t even sure how he saw heaven. In fact, he did not immediately take out his quill and write about it as soon as he “returned.” It took him fourteen years before he shared it. He did not devote an entire epistle about it; he did not even make it the highlight of his letter to the Corinthians. He did not go on to describe what heaven, God, or Jesus looked like, how he hanged out with the Holy Trinity, and what his special message to us earthlings is. He stuck to the gospel message that has been preached before him, that which he has been preaching, and has continued to preach. He added nothing else.

Although I have not read a single book of any of the heaven-and-back authors, interviews with them almost always include how they chatted with Jesus. This alone should be the reddest flag.

 Isaiah et al who saw glimpses of heaven never wrote how they had a chat with the Lord. In fact, they trembled and were so conscious of how unholy they were in the presence of the most holy God.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King,the Lord Almighty.” (Isa. 6:5, NIV)

“When I saw it (the glory of God), I fell facedown” (Eze. 1:28, NIV)

None of the contemporary authors ever described what John saw---how the angels were singing and praising God.

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." (Rev. 4:8, NIV)

John, Paul, and the rest never said they saw their friends and family; all they saw was the glory of God and their own unworthiness. This should render our question whether we will recognize each other in heaven moot. As much as it is exciting to be reunited with our loved ones, it is more exciting to see God. I venture that when we find ourselves in His presence, it will be the exponential case of being star struck where everything and everyone else will fade away as we bow down and sing praises together with the angels.

Remember, the Bible is our standard from which we measure everything else against. If the latter does not conform to what is stated in the Word, we must reject it and not help spread its false gospel. I Corinthians 4:6 warns us against going beyond what is written in Scriptures otherwise we invite danger (cf. Pro 30:6, Rev. 22:18). What has been revealed should be and is enough for us. Yes, we are all curious what heaven is like but we need to be more curious about God and our old dusty Bible is replete with information on who He is. After all, the Resident is more important than the residence.