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Heaven, a Death-Row Prisoner, and the Wonder of God’s Grace

Heaven, a Death-Row Prisoner, and the Wonder of God’s Grace

Last updated on: October 30, 2025 at 8:28 am by Randy Alcorn

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Heaven, a Death-Row Prisoner, and the Wonder of God’s Grace 2025-10-13T08:31:54-08:00 Randy Alcorn

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Years ago in the Midwest, a woman was looking for a way to reach out. She made contact with a death-row prison ministry, and began writing to a man named Durlyn who’d been convicted of horrible crimes.

For years she witnessed to this man, but never met him until sixteen years went by, and Durlyn’s execution was scheduled—for November 19, 1997. She felt it was time then for her and her husband to make the ten-hour drive to meet him.

Their visit was powerful. Durlyn told them that when he first received her letters, he was determined to remain a hardened criminal. But God used her diligence and love, along with other Christians He brought into his life, to soften Durlyn’s heart and draw him to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

She’d sent him a copy of my novel Dominion. In his thank-you letter to her he’d written, “Once it gets to the part about the Lord and Heaven and what all takes place, your mind just opens up. Being at home with God and His angels, that’s a lot to think about.”

Durlyn told her he stopped reading Dominion when he got to the part about God showing one of the characters around in Heaven and telling her, “This is all yours.” Durlyn wanted to save this last part of the book to read the day before he was executed. In so many ways, he said, the book seemed to have been written just for him.

She contacted me to ask if I would write Durlyn a letter. This is what I wrote:

Dear Durlyn,

I’m glad our Lord has spoken to you through Dominion, and above all I’m delighted you’ve come to know Jesus.

None of us deserves God’s grace—if we deserved it, we wouldn’t need it. Despite our complete unworthiness, He offers us the gift of eternal life, based on His death for our sins on the cross. It’s an awesome thing to realize God has seen us at our worst and still loves us.

No matter what sins we’ve committed, Durlyn, I know that if we’ve both repented and accepted Christ’s gift of eternal life, we are brothers and will see each other again on the other side. I look forward to meeting you there.

I have a request for you. My mother, a devoted follower of Christ, died sixteen years ago. My father was very hostile to the gospel. After years of saying “no” to God he accepted Christ as his Savior five years ago, at the age of 84. Dad died in February, at 89, and my family and I were with him when he made the exodus from this world to the next. In fact, Dad’s birthday — his 90th—is November 19th.

So, Durlyn, since you’re scheduled to die that day, I’d like to ask you to give my Mom and Dad a hug for me, and say Happy Birthday to Dad. I suspect they’re seeing a lot of what’s going on here, but please tell them I love them and can’t wait to see them again.

And when you talk with our Lord, even though He knows this and everything else, tell Him how much I love and how much I look forward to seeing Him face to face. I tell Him that myself, but if you wouldn’t mind passing on the message, I’d appreciate it.

I’ve marked my calendar and will be praying for you between now and the 19th. I look forward to meeting you, brother. It won’t be long before we’re both living in the world for which we were made.

Your friend,

Randy Alcorn

Yes, Durlyn, you were right—for those of us still waiting to join you there, our future in Heaven offers so much to think about. How thankful I am to God for what He’s already revealed to us about it.

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October 27, 2025

For Those Who Love Jesus, Death Is a Temporary Separation

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