Heaven is for Real, by Todd Burpo

Heaven is for Real, by Todd Burpo
#1 New York Times BESTSELLER – OVER THREE MILLION COPIES IN PRINT

A good friend gave me a copy of this book to read, this past week.  I started it last night and finished it this morning.  I believe, without a doubt, spiritually speaking, it is one of the most dangerous books being sold on the market today.  The entire book is built on the false premise that when you die, you go to Heaven.

First I do want to say that I believe this little boy encountered a supernatural experience.  But, not all “supernatural” experiences are from God.  There are two “Supernatural Forces” in the world, God and Satan.  And the Bible is very clear – Satan will try to make people think he is from God…

The Bible says,

“But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
2 Corinthians 11:14 (New Living Translation)

And he has a lot of power, he will perform miracles and will deceive many…

“For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great miraculous signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones.”
Matthew 24:24 (New Living Translation)

Points to Consider

1.  So…let’s get back to the book.  In a nutshell, the purpose of the book is to try to make people believe that Heaven is REAL, BECAUSE of this little boy, Colton -the story he tells of how he died and went to Heaven for three minutes while he was on the operating table.  (Chapter 14)  But, aside from comparing this information with the Bible, even comparing it with the facts stated in the book itself (pgs. 78, 79), the boy NEVER died.  He says, “Well, okay then, I died.  But just for a little bit.” (pg. 79), where as the Operative Report (pgs. 78, 79) show that he never died, even for one minute, let alone three.  I think that should be a red flag.

2.  OK, now let’s compare Colton’s story of what happened to him when he says he died, to what the Bible says happens to people when they die.  As Christians, what is our foundation?  The Bible, the Word of God, right?  So EVERYTHING we believe in regards to spiritual things, we should be able to prove from the Bible.  There are principles in the Bible that, as Christians who claim to believe in the Bible, we need to live by.  One really important one is this:  To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.  Isaiah 8:20 Webster  In other words, if someone is teaching something that does not line up with the Bible (the law and the testimony), then there is no light in them, they are filled with darkness.  Hmmm…makes me think of the verse we read earlier that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light but as Christians we KNOW there is NO LIGHT in Satan…he is filled with ONLY DARKNESS.  So…just because someone APPEARS to be full of light, doesn’t mean they REALLY are!  How will we know for sure?  By comparing what they say to what the Bible says.  If it matches up, that is great!  But if their testimony does not match the testimony of the Bible, then they are full of darkness.

Colton says that when he died for those three minutes on the operating table (remember, there is no clinical evidence that he ever died at all), that he went straight to Heaven and that he had conversations with Jesus and with his Grandpa.

The Bible says:

“The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing…”
Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 (New Living Translation)

So, the Bible says, “the dead know nothing”. Colton says that he got to meet his Grandpa, his big sister (his mother had a miscarriage before Colton was born, supposedly he knew nothing about his mother losing the baby –  and he says he got to meet his big sister), and that his Grandpa told him many things.  Colton’s account does not match up with what the Bible says happens when a person dies.  Another red flag….

Colton says, “When I was with Jesus, you were praying, and Mommy was talking on the phone.” (pg. 17).    When he died, he says he was able to see his mother talking on the phone in the hospital and he heard his father praying in the little room at the hospital.  The Bible says there is no “knowledge” in the grave….that is not the experience Colton claims…he “knew” about many things.

3.  On page 18 in the book, Colton says, “I went up out of my body and I was looking down and I could see the doctor working on my body….”  Let’s compare his testimony with what the Bible says happens when a person dies.

“Brothers and sisters, we want you to know what happens to those who die. We don’t want you to be sad, as other people are. They don’t have any hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again. When he returns, many who believe in him will have died already. We believe that God will bring them back with Jesus. That agrees with what the Lord has said. When the Lord comes, many of us will still be alive. We tell you that we will certainly not go up before those who have died. The Lord himself will come down from heaven. We will hear a loud command. We will hear the voice of the leader of the angels. We will hear a blast from God’s trumpet. Many who believe in Christ will have died already. They will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them. We will be taken up in the clouds. We will meet the Lord in the air. And we will be with him forever. So cheer each other up with these words of comfort.”  1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.  (New Living Translation)

So, the Bible says that when Jesus comes back to this earth, to take His followers to Heaven, that He will resurrect those who are Christians who have died, and TOGETHER, ALL the Christians will rise up to meet the Lord in the air.  No Christians go to Heaven before that time.  Here, the Bible reiterates the sequence of events:

“But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when He comes back. After that the end will come, when He will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power.”
1 Corinthians 15:23, 24 (New Living Translation)

 

DEATH is referred to as SLEEP in the Bible.

“After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”  Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.  So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.” John 11:11-14 (New Living Translation)

 So, what happens when a Christian dies?  He just goes to sleep….until Jesus comes and resurrects him at the end of the world.  Then, he will rise in the sky, ALONG WITH the Christians who didn’t die – those who are alive when Jesus comes, and TOGETHER they will all be taken to Heaven.  Christians do not go to Heaven when they die…Again, Colton’s testimony does not match up with the Word of God.

5.  Throughout the story, Colton seems to be a strong-willed, rather disobedient boy.  Racing ahead of his father one day as they were coming out of a store, his father hollered at him, afraid he would be run over in the traffic, and pointed to a rabbit lying dead on the street, he said to Colton:

“That’s a bunny who was trying to cross the street and didn’t make it,” I said. “That’s what can happen if you run out and a car doesn’t see you! You could not only get hurt; you could die!”

Colton looked up at me and grinned over his cone. “Oh, good!” he said. “That means I get to go back to heaven!” (pg. 99)

I don’t know what you think of that, but I think this is a good example of where this false belief that -when you die you go right to Heaven – takes people.  The terrorists all believe the same doctrine…that is why they are not afraid to blow themselves up, because they think they are going straight to Heaven.  Many people who commit suicide believe that, too.  They think that committing suicide will get them out of this world and into Heaven faster. When a friend’s mother died, her teenager son was so sad, he wanted to commit suicide, because he thought he would then go to Heaven and be with his grandmother.

As I said in the beginning, I do believe Colton had a supernatural experience….but I do not believe that it came from God.  All experiences from God will be confirmed by the truths taught in the Bible, God will never give us an experience that would contradict the truths He has already given us in His Word.