Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back Paperback – Unknown format, October 31, 2010

Here a minister co-authors a book about what happened to his four year old son when the boy was laying on the operating table. This minister leads a small Nebraska Methodist church located in a town that is 60 miles from the nearest Walmart store. He supports himself and his family by installing garage doors and earning a meager salary from his church congregation.As I read this book, I began to see the same pattern of issues that is present in the book PROOF OF HEAVEN. Here we see a minister whose personal life and relationships with others is convincing proof that what he writes is the absolute truth. His wife, a good Christian woman, who is for all practical purposes as important to his congregation as he is, was a full party to the events reported in this book. Whatever their son Colton told his farther, he simultaneously told his mother. And occasionally, he also made comments about what happened to him in the presence of others whose reputability cannot reasonably be questioned. And this minister's close friends include more than a few other ministers who are also leading Christian churches in western Nebraska and other nearby states. So as I read about these events, I was assured that they actually had happened, but I also observed that they seemed to be somewhat ridiculous. For example, Colton's great grandfather, who resided in heaven, had wings - wings much larger than Colton's wings. But, many of the things that he told his parents were, besides being, at times, ridiculous, also were often amazing. Colton clearly knew things he could not reasonably be expected to know. Things his mother and father had never told him: for example, they had once lost a child to a miscarriage; a little girl. Colton knew this fact and met her in heaven. Another example is that he could recognize his great grandfather by being shown a picture of him when he was in his late twenties; but he could not recognize his great grandfather when he was shown a picture of him as an elderly person.Colton met God and the Holy Spirit. They were two separate beings. He had no trouble getting personal time with God. Colton said Satan was still alive and well and would someday have one last fight with the souls of heaven.Now if I were to spend enough time I could list dozens of things said in this book that do not agree with my own spiritual beliefs. I will cite only a couple of them. I believe in original sin, therefore, children have sin, but Colton was easily able to enter into heaven. In my opinion, no one can enter into heaven who has any sins in his soul. Even Jesus remains outside of heaven, until the end of this age (in my opinion), because He is carrying sins of the cross. And the book I mentioned above, PROOF OF HEAVEN, presents a full-grown man who enters heaven numerous times. Again, I envision him as not able to enter into the real heaven until the end of this age when his soul will be sinless. But are we to question his honesty? Are we to question Colton's honesty, or his minster father's honesty, or his Christian mother's honesty?And there are other accounts like these, although not always so well known to the public. They are recounted in magazine articles and books that often don't make the best sellers list. There are so many of them that it is hard for us to reject them all as bogus. Quite the contrary, we are looking, in my analysis, at a phenomena of a psychic nature that is somehow often connected with our own human spiritual evolution, and our own spiritual faith. HEAVEN IS FOR REAL is heartwarming. I do not take every word literally, but I would say that we can see clearly in the case of this book that psychic things have taken place inside of the realms of a Christian family that are below the level of absolute spiritual revelation but are far above the level of day dreams, or night dreams. Something happened to this young boy; something that was good. He knew things he should not have known. Hopefully, as millions of Christians read books like this one and as the years pass we will have men/women arise among us who will be able to make sense out of this increasingly common thing, which I think of as spiritual/ psychic phenomena.I will also mention that I recently downloaded (free) a book that is pure interpretation of New Testament Bible scriptures. The author points out such obvious facts as that no one can go to heaven before Jesus goes to heaven and that will only happen when the end of this age arrives. We all want to think that we will be in heaven in the next few years while those behind us are still struggling with the challenges of life. Not so according to this book. Thus it contradicts HEAVEN IS FOR REAL. The circular I received gives Sunday Sept 22 and Sunday Sept 29 as the next two days that it can be downloaded free. Otherwise it is expensive. I would balance a book like HEAVEN IS FOR REAL by reading this book, it is called HEAVEN IS IN YOUR FUTURE, author David Arthur DuRocher. It will make you feel good. You will come away convinced that everybody goes to heaven (in the end). That message is not found in HEAVEN IS FOR REAL. According to the beliefs of Colton's father, many will go to hell.I am now reading THE ZEALOT by Reza Aslan. It is a New York Times best seller. The author is a gifted writer and historian. He gives us a Jesus who is a historical figure, not a spiritual figure. Before you read this book, I strongly suggest building your spiritual fortress by reading HEAVEN IS IN YOUR FUTURE, and possibly some other books written by strong believers in the divine nature of Jesus. But, does that mean I don't like THE ZEALOT? No! I think it is going to turn out to be the best book I have ever read about the history of the middle east in the years when the New Testament was written. I will write a review about it when I am finished reading it. God speed.....

A friend told me about the book. At first I couldn't remember the name if it, but I kept googling it until I found it! I'm so glad I did as this reinforced all my thoughts about heaven! I'm glad I've lived my life loving God, trying to set the example for my family with my actions!

Title: Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back *****Author: Todd BurpoPublished: Thomas Nelson, 2010Version read: Kindle 3.1Through the Eyes of a ChildTodd Burpo is a Wesleyan pastor and business owner who wears several other hats, not the least of which is the one he wears in this story as the father of Cassie and Colton Burpo (Colby came along later). The story is primarily about Colton's illness due to a ruptured appendix; about his out-of-body experience, which he confirmed by stating where in the hospital he saw his dad, where in the hospital he saw his mom, and what each of them was doing--all while he was in surgery; and about his time in heaven. Colton did not come out of surgery talking about heaven, but over a period of at least a couple of years, as he remembered things, he mentioned them to his parents.Keep in mind that Colton was not yet four years old, when his appendix ruptured and continuing spreading poison into his body for five days, before his parents could get a good diagnosis. By that time, Colton had the look of death about him, a look his pastor-dad had seen on many elderly people, as their lives on this earth were coming to an end. Doctors had to operate twice to get him cleaned out.Later, when Colton began talking about sitting on Jesus' lap and began describing Jesus and his clothes (or, for King James readers, raiment), his dad thought, Wow. Our Sunday School teachers are really doing a good job! But as Colton's revelations of his time in heaven began to include other people he met--Jesus' cousin (John, of course), a great-grandfather who had died long before Colton was born, and a sister who had died in utero (also before Colton was born)--his parents knew they were receiving a gift of monumental proportions.Other descriptions included angels and what they wore; seeing the Holy Spirit ("He's kinda blue"); seeing angels wielding their swords--yes, swords, in heaven--in the ongoing battle with Satan and all his fallen angels; and seeing the very throne of God. Much that not-yet 4-year-old Colton described we can read in scripture, which the author cited in Notes at the back of the book.I found real comfort--not pablum, not an opiate, but comfort in much of what Colton experienced, with one exception: Satan--the fact that he continues to fight to dominate heaven, and Colton's reaction when his dad asked what Satan looked like.Heaven Is for Real moved me, deeply moved me. For at least two weeks, if I wasn't concentrating on something else, I was thinking about Colton's trip to heaven. But--having been cautioned (albeit unnecessarily) by a wonderful and loving friend--I will point out that Heaven . . . tells of one little boy's experience. I think it gives us some insights, but it comes with no claim to being the Complete Traveler's Guide . . . or The Idiot's Guide to Heaven, or Heaven for Dummies.The fact that Colton was a little kid at the time of his illness and experience in heaven does not, in my mind, render his revelations suspect. Some readers might say, "He was only a little boy!" "Kids are fanciful, and his dad's a pastor; he probably knew more than most kids would know about heaven!" No. Read the book. And while you're into reading, check out what Jesus said about children, including the need for all of us to "become like little children" (Matthew 18:1-6).In the Revelation of the apostle John we read the descriptions of heaven, of animals, of swords and dragons, of angels and their apparel, of the King of Kings and His white horse, and scholars great and mediocre scratch their heads and look for deeper meaning, for symbolism, for whatever they can make of such things. We tend to think John was being metaphoric or hyperbolic, or maybe he was hallucinating. Or we believe, but we try to make sense of it, rather than take it at face value.Two thousand years later, we have a little book about heaven as seen through the eyes of a little boy, while he was there. And, gee golly whiz, it tells of the same things, describing some of the same colors, animals, and other beings as we read in scripture. Accept it on its face and take whatever comfort and insights the story holds for you, or reject it on whatever grounds you choose.