Jesus did raise people from the dead (Matthew 9:18-26; Luke 7:11-17; John 11), and some were even raised during His death (Matthew 27:50-53). Additionally, Peter and Paul raised some back to life (Acts 9:36-42; Acts 20:7-12). However, there are no biblical examples of a person dying and returning with lengthy stories of an afterlife experience. Moreover, only two “visions” of heaven are given in the New Testament, which are Paul’s and John’s. In Paul’s case, he could not identify if what he experienced was an in-person visit or a vision (2 Corinthians 12), and in John’s case, the visions were so important and sacred that he warned if anyone were to add or take away from the book of prophecy, “God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book" (Revelation 22:18-19). In both Paul’s and John’s experiences, they were shown things they were told not to tell, which is contrary to the type of instructions we hear from many modern-day heavenly experiences (Revelation 10).
In recent years books such as 90 Minutes in Heaven (Don Piper, 2004), 23 Minutes in Hell (Bill Wiese, 2006), and Heaven is for Real (Todd Burpo, 2010) have become highly popular, selling millions of copies of books through offering readers extended accounts of time in heaven or hell in an out-of-body experience. Are these kinds of books biblically accurate?
Taking the above biblical passages into account, it appears possible that a believer could have a "vision" of heaven and that God could even raise a person from the dead. However, these two events are not recorded in the Bible as taking place at the same time in the same person. No such accounts are given of a person visiting hell and returning to life, though John gives descriptions of future judgment in his vision in Revelation.
Believers should view today's afterlife accounts with great caution. While it is possible God gives someone a vision of heaven, there are no accounts of a person literally going to heaven and returning (except Jesus, of course). Further, those who had these visions in the New Testament were very careful to give God glory and to use the event to encourage believers. In all cases, today's claims of afterlife stories have no way to be verified and at most, "maybe" happened. Therefore, any such accounts must be carefully evaluated and seen at most as only a possible vision rather than a true visit to heaven. As 1 Thessalonians 5:21 warns, "test everything; hold fast what is good."
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