Relevant: The Armageddon Plan
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/03/the-armageddon-plan/302902/
I read that era to try to figure it out last year or so. I wasn't there, but the links still work.
Seems to me he picked up his phone and found Jesus. He stayed around a little while with a better attitude, and then disappeared
…as I recall it.