Great book i just started reading. I couldn't put it down the last two nights. If you like to read about Miracles and Angels this is one for you.:angel:
How do you know it's true? 2 Corinthians12:4 sums up the biblical position. I would be very skeptical about believing the claims of this book. If you want to gain insight into heaven/angels/miracles, I suggest to stick to the scriptures.
So these are reviews from the book, Heaven Is For Real, but parts of them will apply here...
If I wanted to disprove Colton�s experience on grounds of logic or consistency I might point in a couple of different directions. In the first place, Colton is a toddler who speaks like an adult. His verbatim quotes sound nothing like a 4-year old, and I think I can say this with some authority as the father of a 4-year old. I�d also point to the fact that dad routinely remembers circumstantial detail that there is very little chance he would remember 6 or 7 years after the fact, something that, at the very least, tells me that he is filling in details where he feels he needs to. But there are better grounds.
The better strategy, I think, is to look to the Bible.
I offer two ways of going about this. First, the Bible gives us no indication whatsoever that God will work in this way and that he will call one of us to heaven and then cause us to return. It is for man to die once and then the resurrection. To allow a man (or a boy) to experience heaven and then to bring him back would not be grace but cruelty. The only biblical example we have of a man being caught up to heaven is Paul and it�s very interesting that he was forbidden to tell anything about it. And the reason he even mentioned this experience was not to offer encouragement that heaven exists, but to serve as a part of his �gospel boasting.� He saw heaven and was told to say nothing about it. This was a unique experience in a unique time and for a unique reason.
The second ground refers to the reason each of these authors offers�that through their experience we now find confidence that what God says is true. This kind of proof is exactly the kind of proof we should not need and should not want. Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe. Don Piper insisted that he was called to be the Minister of Hope. If hope is to be found in any person, it will be found in the person of Christ. It is the Spirit working through the Word who will give us confidence in our faith. And what is faith? It is simply believing that what God says in his Word is true. We do not need tales of heaven or stories of those who claim to be there.
If you struggle believing what the Bible says, but learn to find security in the testimony of a toddler, well, I feel sorry for you. And I do not mean this in a condescending way. If God�s Word is not sufficient for you, if the testimony of his Spirit, given to believers, is not enough for you, you will not find any true hope in the unproven tales of a child. This hope may last for a moment, but it will not sustain you, it will not bless you, in those times when hope is waning and times are hard.
So reject this book. Do not read it. Do not believe it. And do not feel guilty doing so.
When a book becomes that popular, it should expect criticism�which Heaven Is For Real has gotten�in spades. But I am not really interested in criticizing the boy, the book, or even his experiences�whatever they were. People have been reporting near death experiences for as long as anybody can remember, and the subject has become fodder for academic research, beginning with psychiatrist Raymond Moody�s Life After Life, first published in 1975. What disturbs me are the reports I am hearing anecdotally from people about how Heaven Is For Real is regarded as �powerful evidence� for biblical Christianity. One of my friends called me this weekend to say that he received a copy of the book from his in-laws as a gift for Father�s Day as a way of helping him bolster his faith. His father-in-law has bought dozens and dozens of copies of the book and is using it as a kind of alternative apologetics book.
Aside from the fact that, as Bill Hybels once wisely pointed out, you don�t lead with your best �weird God story� when you�re trying to evangelize someone, I am more bothered by the high regard and sheer enthusiasm many well-intentioned lay evangelicals are affording to Todd Burpo�s book. Nor am I embarrassed by the discussion of evidence for the afterlife, having written about it previously, and commending Dinesh D�Souza�s fine book about the subject along the way. What bothers me about the reception of Heaven is a Real Place is what it says about the relatively low view of the sufficiency of Scripture among evangelicals today. In other words, it�s not good enough for us to hear about heaven from the holy apostles, Church Fathers, and trusted commentaries on Scripture. No, we need a little boy sitting on Jesus� lap to tell us that instead. Then we will believe it. And that phenomenon ultimately bodes ill for everyone who really does love the Bible: pastors, teachers, parents, and yes, even children.
I am not sure why people are so fascinated by these types of stories. In biblical Christianity, we await our coming King. We do not make trips to see Him and then return with stories that don't compare so well to scripture.
HoldingoutHope- This was a different book.lol Read this one and let me know your opinion.
I have taken a theology class were I studied about Miracles/Angels/etc.
I have had many experiences with death/children etc. I work with medically fragile children and I have experienced more than one instance of a child looking up at angels as described in this book. The boy who came back from heaven by Kevin & Alex Malarkey.
I had it with a girl that died and things happened around that time and after she passed that I KNOW was real.
My last recent case the mother of a child describe the hospital room when the girl was in a 32 min cardiac arrest. What she described was I believed was the work of God. The girl lived. This same child's brother seen her as they were traveling in route to the hospital. The child was at the hospital and not doing well at the time.
Have you ever herd of astral projection? I have other things that happen with this child. If you ever want to know you can message me.
People might not believe me but I was there.I think until you experience something of the sort its hard to believe.
Ive also experienced standing in a room of an adult patient that was dying and her describing men in white standing there.
I haven�t read this book you talk about but I will after I read 2 that I have at home. Than Ill give my opinion.
****To allow a man (or a boy) to experience heaven and then to bring him back would not be grace but cruelty.
What makes it cruel?
****The only biblical example we have of a man being caught up to heaven is Paul and it�s very interesting that he was forbidden to tell anything about it.
How do you know Lazarus wasn�t in heaven? (John 11:38) If he was dead for 4 days�?????
**** if you struggle believing what the Bible says,
I never said I was struggling with what the Bible says.
****If God�s Word is not sufficient for you,
NEVER said that either.
Nor did I say I need or read this book to bolster my faith or that it fascinates me to read these types of books.
I more read this book to see what a medically fragile child had experienced and if it was anything like the children I have taken care of. And it is similar!!!ok
Like I said when I read this book I will give my review on it.
"HoldingoutHope- This was a different book.lol Read this one and let me know your opinion."
As I stated in my post, yes it's a different book, but parts of the review are applicable. Thankfully, I can read from other faithful believers and know certain books NOT to read and that way I won't waste my time reading them. It's not accurate to say one must read a book before one can give an opinion.
"I had it with a girl that died and things happened around that time and after she passed that I KNOW was real."
The only way for you to know it was real is for you to have experienced those things as well. So no, you DO NOT KNOW it was real. But humor me for a minute and tell me HOW it is that you know it was real.
"My last recent case the mother of a child describe the hospital room when the girl was in a 32 min cardiac arrest. What she described was I believed was the work of God. The girl lived. This same child's brother seen her as they were traveling in route to the hospital. The child was at the hospital and not doing well at the time. "
How does this relate to going to heaven and back?
"People might not believe me but I was there.I think until you experience something of the sort its hard to believe."
I will believe scripture EVERY TIME over someone's experience.
"Ive also experienced standing in a room of an adult patient that was dying and her describing men in white standing there. "
These type of claims are not a new thing and are not at all limited to Christianity. How is this relevant to someone going to heaven and back?
"What makes it cruel?"
Believers await the kingdom...Why would God give it to someone for a few minutes and then bring them back and make them live on earth without his full presence?
"How do you know Lazarus wasn�t in heaven? (John 11:38) If he was dead for 4 days�?????"
We have no reason to believe he went...
"Nor did I say I need or read this book to bolster my faith or that it fascinates me to read these types of books."
It's not about why YOU read it. These books SHOULD NOT exist for the simple fact that it leads others astray. They then rest their hope in the promise of little boys who tell their stories. The gospel is the only message with the power to save. Now we have people thinking they believe and are going to heaven because they put faith in stories like these...
Oh Well personally for me I wouldn�t be giving my opinion unless I actually read the book.
***The only way for you to know it was real is for you to have experienced those things as well. So no, you DO NOT KNOW it was real. But humor me for a minute and tell me HOW it is that you know it was real.
Really there�s no humor in this story. I felt we weren�t alone in the room. Have you ever experienced anything with angels or spirits/demons etc??
***How does this relate to going to heaven and back?
It relates to the fact her brother seen her traveling outside the window of the car in route to the hospital. It relates to her spirit. Astral Projection. IF you read the part in the book the boy doing this you would know what I was talking about!
****These type of claims are not a new thing and are not at all limited to Christianity. How is this relevant to someone going to heaven and back?
I didn�t say it was a new thing! I said I experienced it . This relates to Angels which the book talks about.
****Believers await the kingdom...Why would God give it to someone for a few minutes and then bring them back and make them live on earth without his full presence?
I don�t know why it happens only God knows he is all-knowing I am not, neither are you!
*****We have no reason to believe he went...
So are you saying we don�t go anywhere when we die?
****These books SHOULD NOT exist for the simple fact that it leads others astray.
But they do and I read it. There are many other things that lead others astray�drugs, money, idols. I would be more concerned of those things then a book about a child that almost died from a car accident.
Astral projection??? Wheres that mentioned in the bible KindHeartedWoman? That sort of phenomena, if true, has more to do with demonic activity and new age practise than biblical christianity!!
And again I stress what the apostle Paul stated-he was not permitted to tell of the things he experienced. Therefore, why does anybody think they have the right to tell of their highly subjective experiences and whats more make big $$$ by doing so?
the silver cord that is thought to connect our spiritl to our body.
Ecclesiastes 12:6-7
Remember him-before the silver cord is severed,
or the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
or the wheel broken at the well,
and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
the silver cord that is thought to connect our spirit to our body.
The word astral projection is not in the Bible. I do believe it is connected with something evil.
So when I witnessed the child doing this many times or what i thought might be that. I asked a Christian friend of mine and he said I should pray over her. So I prayed over her. After that I never seen her do it again.
If feel I was brought into her life for a reason. I feel praying over her was it.
Well anyone has the right to publish a book. But let me say this even if they made 2 million off the book. The child's medical expenses were over that the first year after the accident. So they are not making money living the high life..believe me they seem more concerned of the things of God and their son!
