Live From Heaven

By Stephen Hilsman

Everyone has a story to tell, especially the deceased. Live from Heaven features a unique spin on story-telling that's never been seen or heard of before. When a former news reporter wakes up in Heaven, he realizes that he is surrounded by millions of souls that all have an important lesson to teach and a story to tell. As he crosses paths with some of them along the way, he discovers a new calling that is so much more important than reporting the news on earth: interviewing the spirits of the men and women who have given themselves to the Lord and found paradise among the clouds. As he begins his journey, he gets to hear stories of tragedy and death, love and loss, devotion and friendship that teach him some lessons about life that are meant for the ears of the living to hear. Filled with eight heartwarming and touching stories about the importance of turning to God, Live from Heaven is a must-read for anyone and everyone looking to be lifted up spiritually and emotionally in their faith.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781641148320

Book preview

Meet the Reporter

I don’t remember much about the day I died. I’m not sure if it was painful or peaceful or how fast it came, but I do know that it happened. One moment, I was sleeping in my bed; and the next, I woke up outside the gates of heaven. I thought at first that it had to have been a dream, but when I stood before the king of all kings seated on his throne, I knew where I was and how I got there. Once I saw the river of gold and the golden wings of the angels floating above my head, I knew that I had made it to paradise. I must have done something right in my life to make it to the kingdom of angels, and even though I left behind a wife and children, I know that they will be here someday to join me.

My life started off as one filled with skepticism and an unbreakable unbelief in all things otherworldly and beyond comprehension. I grew up in a family that never taught me about what happens after death, so I never even thought to ask any questions about anything related to that topic. I continued to live my life completely unaware of the true meaning of life and the importance of God, until I met the girl of my dreams, Alaina Royle. That’s when my life changed forever.

I first met Alaina during my junior year of high school. She was the new girl in school and was sitting alone at the lunch table when I decided to get up from the table I was at and go sit with her. She was reading this very thick, leather-bound book that was so worn and torn that it looked like it went through the paper shredder or something.

What’s that book you’re reading? I asked when I first saw it.

Those were my first words to her.

This is the Holy Bible, she replied with a smile that lit up the room, it’s the word of God.

She seemed surprised when I told her I had never heard of it before and she immediately began trying to explain why it is the most important book that can ever be read. I, of course, didn’t understand how important it actually was and had no real intention of finding out. That’s when she decided to make things a little interesting.

What if you and I make a little bet? she asked as she slid the book closer to me.

What kind of bet? I asked with deep interest.

I will bet you fifty dollars that you can’t finish one chapter of this book by the end of the week.

That was it. It all started with a bet, and I was hooked. I had no idea at the time that what I was about to read would change my life. I couldn’t believe that she hadn’t asked me to leave her table the moment I sat down next to her, but I was glad that I did. It was like it was meant to be.

You drive a hard bargain. I replied. You’re on. I’ll take that bet, missy.

Just so you don’t try to cheat, I’ll decide which chapter you will read, she said as she began to flip through the pages for several minutes before finding and marking the chapter she chose for me. It was the first chapter of John.

For the rest of that week I spent every free moment I had reading that chapter, and when Friday finally came I realized something: I hadn’t finished the chapter after all. As I was reading, I had a lot of questions that needed answered that forced me to look elsewhere in the book, which kept me away from what I was actually supposed to be reading. This, I found later, was part of Alaina’s plan from the beginning. She knew that I would have questions and would have to read other pages to find the answers. My first time reading the Bible started because of a bet, but thirty years down the road, I had chosen to study it and turn my life around. I guess that’s why I made it here today. If I had never ignored my friends’ comments and sat with Alaina that day, I may never have touched a Bible or skimmed its pages.

Many years later, after graduating from college and getting married to Alaina, who became the love of my life following high school, I got a job as a news reporter in Los Angeles and started my career from there. I had interviewed and reported about so many different people and events and heard so many stories that gave me a look into the lives of others, and I quickly became one of the best reporters out there. I had found a way to use my God-given talents to report important news to the world, and now I feel I can do the same, even from up here in heaven. That is why I decided to talk to people living in heaven and get the inside scoop on how they got here and how they started out. Reporting live from heaven, this is Elias Forest.

1

The Sudden Scorch

Heaven is filled with millions and millions of angels and spirits that spread as far as the eye can see, and maybe farther still. I know just from seeing them here that they all have some kind of story that lead them here and caused them to turn their lives around. I met a man recently that was willing to tell me his story; a story of loss and tragedy that lead him to find Jesus and follow a new path in his life. His name was Dave.

It’s been about thirteen years since it happened, I believe, Dave told me as he began his tale that day. My family and I lived in a small decaying house in a suburban town in Colorado. We weren’t exactly a rich family, so my wife and I both had to work two jobs in order to keep up with our finances. We knew it would cost a lot of money to have our house renovated, so we never got around to it. That is why I always had this strange feeling that one day something was going to happen to the house because of the condition it was in, but I didn’t know what exactly would happen if anything.

Did something happen? I asked.

We had just gotten back from celebrating a victory for my daughter’s soccer team. It was probably around ten o’clock at night when we got home and we all were tired and went straight to bed. Erika, my daughter, woke us up later that night terrified out of her mind that something was happening downstairs. We at first thought she was just having a nightmare and told her to return to her room, but then I smelled something that caught me off guard.

What was it?

I couldn’t tell right away, but it smelled like smoke. When I followed the scent downstairs, all I could see was an orange glow beaming through the house and a smoke as black as the night sky beginning to blow its way around. ‘The house is on fire!’ I screamed from downstairs. My first instinct was to try putting it out myself, but the smoke was so numbing and so dark that I couldn’t even see my own hand in front of me and I failed to find the room the fire was actually coming from.

It must have been hard to navigate your own hallways. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have been like for you.

It was unbelievable. Within seconds, the whole bottom floor of the house was being eaten by a devilish swarm of black smoke that would not cease on its own. The only phone we had was hanging on the wall in our kitchen, which looked more like a black abyss than a place to prepare meals anymore. I knew then that the only option was to get my family out of there and let our only home disintegrate into a pile of smoldering ashes and debris, but that was harder than I thought it was going to be.

Did you manage to find the staircase and make your way to your wife and daughter? I asked as I started to feel his pain.

"As I struggled to move around the house while shielding myself from the smoke, I could hear my wife, Lisa, screaming