A young boy emerges from life-saving surgery with remarkable stories of his visit to heaven.
Heaven Is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.
Colton said he met his miscarried sister whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how "reaaally big" God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit "shoots down power" from heaven to help us.
Told by the father but often in Colton's own words, the disarmingly simple message is heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children, and be ready there is a coming last battle.
I LOVED THIS BOOK! Honestly, sometimes these books end up being either preachy or corny. This one was neither. It was honest, real, and touching. I was fully expecting a dramatic grab-a-box-of-tissues kind of book, but it really wasn't like that. I honestly have a hard time putting my feelings about this book into words. It was just amazing. Nothing I write here could possibly do it justice.
Colton Burpo, 2 months shy of his 4th birthday, has to have an emergency appendectomy because his appendix exploded. His life is literally hanging by a thread as he goes into surgery and doctors don't give the Burpo family much hope that Colton will be ok. After a truly amazing turn of events, Colton makes a complete recovery slightly less than 3 weeks after his surgery. Six months later he starts talking about seeing Jesus in Heaven.
To be frank, it's not the details of Heaven, God, or Jesus that are so amazing. I think we all know that almost-4-year-olds aren't generally all that great at giving detailed descriptions, although some of his descriptions were very impressive. It was more the very matter-of-fact way he gave his details; His absolute steadfastness in his statements that are so compelling. The fact that some of the things he says so perfectly align with intricate Bible descriptions of God, Jesus and Heaven, to me, are evidence that he's seen something. And I believe he saw what he says he saw. But from a parents' perspective, to imagine having your child tell you he's seen Heaven, sat on Jesus' lap and had conversations with his sister that was miscarried - and that you didn't know was a girl... mind-blowing. Truly mind-blowing.
I also loved how the book was written. Very conversational and easy - almost as if you are sitting over coffee with your friend and they just start telling you this amazing experience they've had. You're completely in awe and just want to hear more. It had a lovely, enjoyable rhythm to the writing and I finished it in about 3.5 hours. I would HIGHLY recommend this book. I may even read through it again, I just loved it.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
I found myself amazed at the story of this little boy and his family, heartbroken at their struggles and intrigued by the proclamations and statements of this small child after an illness that nearly took his life. Having read other books about visits to and from Heaven by others, I anticipated it would be similar, yet this book is entirely different. Each claim little Clayton made his father (the author) could back up with scripture references upon investigation.
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