Booksneeze Review: Heaven is for Real

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This month I read, Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo.  This real-life book is mainly about Colton Burpo, a 3-year old boy who, during emergency appendectomy surgery, visited heaven.  I have to admit, I started reading this book as a HUGE skeptic.  I thought that this little boy just made up a story to tell to his preacher father about seeing Jesus in heaven.  However, after reading it, I truly believe that God gave him a glimpse of heaven.  Colton knew where his parents were during his surgery and what they were doing - facts that they had never told him.  He picked out his grandfather from a picture...a grandfather who had died long before Colton was born.  He had never seen a picture of this man, but he saw him in heaven and identified him on earth.  He also saw a little girl in heaven who told him she was his sister.  He had not been told as a 3-year old that his mother had miscarried a little girl before he was born.  But he woke up from that surgery knowing it.

Besides the obvious arguments for his story being the truth:  it was consistent over many years, he recognized people that he should have not known...an even greater argument exists.  Everything he said aligns with Scripture precisely.  I think if we ask the typical 3 year old what heaven will be like, there will be a lot of different answers.  But not many of them will align with Revelation prophecy of heaven or the pre-incarnate descriptions of Christ like the one found in the book of Daniel.

As I was reading the book I did have to wonder "Why him?"  Why did God choose to show heaven to a 3-year old preacher's kid from Nebraska?  I think there are 2 very good reasons.  First, the Bible clearly states that unless we have the faith of a child, we cannot enter heaven.  Colton believed everything he saw without questioning it.  He didn't scrutinize the Bible to find out if what he saw was real or a dream.  Jesus held him, the angels sang to him.  This is what he knew was true.  He just believed. 

As a family we have been listening to CS Lewis' audio book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (in preparation for the movie coming out in December).  We reached the end of the book this morning and a phrase spoken by Aslan, the lion, stuck in my mind.  It very clearly states the second reason I think God would show Colton and us a glimpse of heaven.  Anyone who is familiar with the books knows that Aslan symbolizes Christ.  CS Lewis often used Aslan's words to make Biblical points understood.  In the book Edmund asks Aslan if he is in their world too.  Aslan says "I am....But there I have another name.  You must learn to know me by that name.  This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there."  I feel that is why God showed Colton a glimpse of heaven.  That by seeing Him there, Colton and all of us, can know him better here.

In conclusion I was very impressed by this book.  It's easy to read and would only take you a day or two to finish it.  And, hopefully, by the end, you will be convinced like me.