Interesting Quote

"It surprises me how disinterested we are today about things like physics, space, the universe and philosophy of our existence, our purpose, our final destination. Its a crazy world out there. Be curious."

- Stephen Hawking

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
.

Heaven is for Real: Colton Burpo's Story

I recently finished the book Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo.  This book is only about 150 pages, so it is a relatively quick read.  But I have to be honest - it was quite engaging.  In the pages of this book Todd lays out the true story of his son Colton's trip to Heaven.  When Colton was close to 4 years old, he suffered from a mis-diagnosed appendicitis.  5 days later, by the time the Burpos took Colton to a hospital to find out that his appendix had ruptured, it was almost too late.  In fact at one point the author relates that the nurses in the hospital were instructed not to give the Burpo family any encouragement, because Colton would most likely be dead from organ poisoning in a matter of days. 

Can you imagine this?  One day your 4-year-old is healthy and active.  The next day he is on death's doorstep.  Unfortunately many people can imagine this and have experienced something similar.  In this case, however, things took a turn for the better.  After the Burpos invited around 80 people to gather and pray for recovery, Colton rebounded quickly.  Todd writes that those same nurses would stream constantly after he had recovered just to witness what they knew was a miracle. 

Then things get interesting.  Throughout the course of the next year, Colton begins relating details to his parents about what he had witnessed when he was close to death.  He talked about sitting in Jesus' lap.  He discussed seeing people in white robes with red and blue sashes across their chest.  Colton met Todd's father "Pop", who had died before Colton was even born.  Apparently in Heaven everyone is young and beautiful.  There are fantastic color palettes there, thousands more colors than exist on earth.  And then there was what would become Colton's catch-phrase during those post-hospital months: "Jesus loves the children."  Todd even writes of one instance where they were attending a funeral for an acquaintance, and Colton happened to see the casket.  He exclaimed, "Daddy, did that man have Jesus in his heart?  You can't get into Heaven if you don't have Jesus in your heart!"  Not your typical topics of conversation for a 4-year-old.

The Burpos have been a beacon of hope to many people, and also subject to criticism by others.  This is normal of course.  You cannot write a book about Jesus and please everyone.  But the strange thing is that some of the criticism is from other Christian groups.  One group argues that you ought not mistake the truth of Scripture for a supernatural "experience."  Now this is a strange argument really.  After all, if the Bible is true - shouldn't we see some experiential evidence?   At any rate, I applaud the Burpos' courage.  If your 4-year-old started talking about meeting Jesus, would you tell anyone?  As Todd wrote several times in the book: it was a gift from God.  The more time that passed, the more wrapping paper would come off. 

Nothing in Heaven is for Real appeared to contradict anything Biblical, at least in my eyes.  The author was careful to research everything his son was telling him, and he provides chapter and verse for Biblical verification throughout the book.  I am recommending this book.  I think it will enhance what we already think we know about Heaven.  It also makes me wonder how many of us are holding on to incredible stories about God that we may choose not to talk about in mixed company.  Do you and I have "gifts from God that need to be unwrapped?"  I have included a link below to a video detailing the Burpos' experience.  Take a look and see for yourself!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhT36Dizo2s


.