Heaven is For Real – This Story is Not
Heaven is for Real – This Story is Definitely Not
Today I will give a review of “Heaven is for Real – A little boys astounding story of his trip to heaven and back”. I went to a local Christian book store called CUM Books stores here in South Africa to find hundreds of copies of this book stacked under the ‘Best Selling’ section. I picked one up and thought to myself, “Satan’s smart, he is now using little kids to sell his story.”
To give a brief summary of the story, little Colton aged 4, complains of stomach pains and runs a high fever. His parents, Todd and Sonja Burpo take him to a hospital where the doctor fails to diagnose the problem. The little boy is now deteriorating to such an extent that they remove him out of the hospital and take him to another one where he is diagnosed for a burst appendix. Rushed into surgery, little Colton while on the surgery table experiences something many people never do. He apparently goes to Heaven and meets Jesus. After he is home he starts to recount his story to his parents, as best as a 4 year old can, of his trip to Heaven and back.
There have been many books written by many people on their supposed trips of Heaven where they meet a ‘Jesus’ type person. One being Choo Thomas’ “Heaven is so Real” and then Don Piper’s “90 Minutes in Heaven”, who just happens to endorse Heaven is For Real. In the front of the book on the ‘Praise for Heaven is For Real’ pages, there are praises from 12 different people telling you why you should by this book, all reasoning as to why Colton’s story is just as good as that of the bible, and why you should “allow a little child to lead you.” — Don Piper, Speaker and Author, 90 Minutes in Heaven
Todd Burpo is a pastor at a Wesleyan church. This helps to cement the trap. First we the reader would surmise that a 4 year old child would never lie like (Alex Malarkey “The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven”), and to top things off the father of the child is a pastor – Satan would never go after a 4 year old child of a pastor, would he? Especially if the pastor is biblical sound in his doctrine, or is he? Throughout the book Heaven is for Real Todd Burpo points to scripture to try and back up his sons ‘visions’ but with terrible inaccuracy. For anyone not knowing scripture, they would agree with Todd, being non the wiser. After all he is a pastor, he should not be telling untruths to his church, let alone the whole world.
Heaven is for Real and it’s problematic areas:
I am now going to take you through the book Heaven is for Real, looking at all the problematic areas. We are going to deal with this book biblically which includes being logical. God gave us a brain to use – let’s use it.
False visions from Colton:
1) On page xix of Heaven is for Real,when Colton first tells his parents about his trip to Heaven he states that the angels sang to him. He says, “Dad, Jesus had the angels sing to me because I was so scared. They made me feel better” ..at the time… “I was sitting on Jesus lap”. Now Colton was scared because he was having surgery. Immediately we have a problem with this statement. If you are sitting on Jesus Christ’s lap, surely you will not be scared? But yet Colton is scared and this Jesus figure has to get the angels to sing to him in order to make him feel better. The bible tells us:
John 14:27 “27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
2) Colton tells his father about Jesus’ horse, he says; “Hey dad, did you know Jesus has a horse?”….”Yeah a rainbow horse, I got to pet him. There’s lots of colors”. pg. 63
In Heaven is for Real, Jesus has a horse that resembles that of a My Little Pony? And we as Christians are supposed to believe this? Rainbows are also very significant in New Age teaching.–(This we will discuss in more detail later). Todd tries to justify his son’s vision by telling us about scripture of “the rainbow colours described in the book of Revelation” pg. 66
3) Colton also tells his father that this Jesus figure had a crown; “Yeah a crown, and it had this… this diamond thing in the middle of it and it was kind of pink…” pg.66
In Heaven is for Real, it would appear that the Jesus of Colton’s vision not only has a My Litte Pony but appears ‘plastic’ as well. A pink like stone in his crown? Who are we kidding here! The Jesus that appeared to Colton certainly does not look anything Jesus Christ the Son of God as spoken about in the book of Revelation – visions given to John. Now this vision we can believe because it’s in the bible:
Revelation 1:12-16 “I turned to see whose voice it was that was speaking to me and when I had turned I saw seven golden lamp stands, and among these lampstands I saw someone ‘like a Son of Man’. He was dressed in a long robe with a golden girdle around his breast; his head and his hair were white as snow-white wool, his eyes blazed like fire, and his feet shone as the finest bronze glows in the furnace. His voice had the sound of a great waterfall, and I saw that in his right hand he held seven stars. A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth, and his face was ablaze like the sun at its height.“
The Purple Sash
4) Colton also says his Jesus wore white with a purple sash in his book Heaven is for Real he says, “Jesus was the only one in heaven who had purple on, Dad Did you know that? pg 65
Todd then tries to confuse the reader of Heaven is for Real by saying the following, “In scripture, purple is the color of kings. A verse from the gospel of Mark flashed through my mind: “His clothes became dassling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them” pg 65.
If we look at this scripture what Todd is referring too, it says nothing of purple. This is when Jesus was transfigured (Mark 9:3). The only time Jesus had purple on was just before he was going to be crucified. Note, he was being clothed as a human King – Jesus Christ is now King of all Kings. He is not Colton’s description of a Jesus figure, which is more like a fairy-tale Jesus.
Mark 15:17 “And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head”
Mark 15:20 “And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.”
Later on in the article we will have a look at what Colton’s Jesus actually looks like – yes we have a picture.
5) Something that stuns Colton’s father into submission is the fact that Colton’s Jesus showed him his hands and feet and Colton says, “Jesus has markers” pg 65
Todd does not understand that this Jesus in Heaven is for Real is not the real Jesus Christ of the Bible; a vision and the reality of Jesus Christ really returning to earth are completely two different things. Yes when Jesus Christ returns we will see the marks of where he was nailed to the cross, but this vision of Colton’s is a vision and another Jesus. Satan can mimic anything he wants too.
6) Todd asks Colton what everyone looks like in heaven and Colton replies, “Everybody’s got wings.” pg 72 informing his father that everyone sort of looks like angels.
This is absolutely incorrect. We know from scripture that we will most probably look the same as we did on earth, but we will be perfect in every sense of the word. We also know from scripture that the resurrection of believers’ physical bodies has yet to take place, anyone who dies and is destined for Heaven, their form now in Heaven must lack physical attributes. Just to note: Some people were raised from the dead and transformed at the time of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Matthew 27:52 says that their “bodies…were raised.” But do they have wings? No they do not. Philippians 3:21 says that Jesus “will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body.” Does Jesus have wings? No he does not. We are made in the image of God according to Genesis 1:27, does God have wings? No He does not. Is Colton’s Jesus pulling this child’s leg and everyone else who believes him? Yes he is.
7) Another strange addition to our bodies in Heaven is for Real is that in heaven is a halo. Colton tells his father that, “All people have a light above their head”. pg 73 To try and persuade the reader that dear little Colton is telling the truth Todd goes on to tell us about angels in the bible and “when angels show up, they’re sometimes dazzlingly bright, blinding almost”. pg 73 He also tells us about Stephen who’s “face became as bright as an angel’s” pg 73 not long after he was stoned to death.
Hmm, and what has that got to do with people in heaven having “lights about their heads?” Nothing. Again Todd’s examples from scripture to try prove his point are ridiculous to say the least. Interestingly enough Todd does say that he actually can’t “…remember angels having lights over their heads specifically-or halos, as some would call them.” pg 74 But never the less chooses to believe his sons story as being true and goes on to tell the rest of the world a lie.
8) In Heaven is for Real, Colton meets his grandfather and his little sister in heaven. It would appear that everyone goes to Heaven because his little sister tells Colton that she can’t wait to meet her parents (Todd and Sonja) one day in heaven. What would happen if either Todd or Sonja were to reject the Gospel? Would the little sister’s hope be crushed?
Colton’s little long lost sister tells him that God (who is called Jesus’ dad) – adopts all babies that have died. Now this story of God adopting children will pull at the heartstrings of a billion mothers who have lost children through miscarriage and other tragedies. The pain of losing a child is unlike anything a parent should face. But now we have the story Heaven is for Real by the Burpo’s, tapping into the heartache of millions of women (like it did with Sonja Burpo) and blinding them into believing that the vision Colton experienced was true; that he was indeed in Heaven and that the Jesus he met was indeed the true Biblical Jesus, when we know, based on all the evidence that Colton’s experience was demonic.
Who’s on the left side?
9) Colton explains to his father that Jesus sits on the right hand side of his ‘dad’. Todd then asks who sits on the left side and Colton replies, “Oh, that’s easy, Dad, That’s where the angel Gabriel is, He is really nice”. pg 101 This is another lie. No where in the bible does it tell us who sits on the left side of God because there is no left side, only a right side.
“In (Ephesians 1:19-21) here we see God exalting Jesus above all others by seating Him at the right hand of the Father.”
“The term “God’s right hand” in prophecy also refers to the Messiah to whom is given the power and authority to subdue His enemies (Psalm 110:1; Psalm 118:16)”
The fact that Jesus Christ is at the “right hand of God” was a sign to the disciples that Jesus had indeed gone to heaven. In John 16:7-15, Jesus told the disciples that He had to go away and He would send the Holy Spirit. So the coming of the Holy Spirit in the upper room on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13) was positive proof that Jesus was indeed in heaven seated at the right hand of God. This is confirmed in Romans 8:34 where the Apostle Paul writes that Christ is sitting at God’s right hand making intercession for us.
Therefore, what we can say that “God’s right hand” refers to the Messiah, the LORD Jesus Christ and He is of equal position, honor, power and authority with God (John 1:1-5). The fact that Christ is “sitting” refers to the fact that His work of redemption is done and when the fullness of the gentiles is brought in (Romans 11:25), Christ’s enemies will be made His footstool as the end of the age comes, all prophecy is completed, and time is no more.” –http://www.gotquestions.org/right-hand-God.html
The Holy Spirit
10) But it get’s worse, Colton tells his father that he sat with the Holy Spirit and it was kinda hard to describe him, other than “he’s kinda blue”. Colton was sitting by the Holy Spirit (in Heaven) praying for his father because as Colton said to his dad, “You needed the Holy Spirit, so I prayed for you”. pg 102 This is a very telling statement. The bible tells us that when you become a Christian the Holy Spirit comes to abide in you.
John 14:16-18 16 “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you”
Romans 8:9-11 “9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 “16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
1 Corinthians 6:19 “19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”
Todd is supposed to be a Pastor, and Todd is a professing Christian yet according to Colton’s Jesus, he does not have the Holy Spirit in him. This means that the following verses and many more applies to Todd Burpo:
Matthew 7:21-23 “21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied [preached] in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!
11) To make matters even worse Colton says that the Holy Spirit shoots down power to his dad when he is preaching in church, “It’s the Holy Spirit, “I watched him, He showed me”… ” He shoots down power for you when you are talking in church.” pg 126 This is totally unscriptural. Because we have proved above that the Holy Spirit abides in born again believers here on earth. The Holy Spirit does not give you power either. This Holy Spirit that Colton speaks of is false, along with it’s Jesus.
John 16:7-15 “7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.“
Rainbows in Heaven is for Real
12) Colton becomes obsessed with rainbows. Even to the point that he prays for a rainbow and one supposedly appears in the sky the following day. Todd Burbo uses the one and only scripture of Revelation 4:3 to try and backup his sons visions. “And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.”
Because we know from everything else that we have read that there is something seriously demonic regarding Colton’s visions, therefore it’s only obvious to look at New Age teaching regarding Rainbows to see what they have to say. I did an article here on the 7 Colours of the Rainbow and the 7 Chakras, please read.
This is what New Ager’s have to say about the Rainbow:
“The experience of seeing the colours of the rainbow, when the sun is shining and it has been raining, is one we all can share. The experience often has a magical quality to it as though it is stirring some deep inner response. Such is the wonder of the light that forms the colours of the rainbow.The heavenly principle is to GIVE AS WE RECEIVE. We are not intended to absorb the light of the rainbow, enlightenment, joy and happiness, rather we are intended to transmit it; and in doing so to unfold its meaning for others, and for ourselves too.” —http://www.spiritualwisdom.org.uk/colours-of-the-rainbow.htm
“The rainbow represents the regenerate spiritual person – one who has lived out the path of enlightenment, whose potential has opened out like the lotus flower of the east, each stage represented by a new colour developing out of the one before.
The main seven colours symbolise wholeness or holiness. There are a variety of rainbows sometimes seen around those in the spiritual realms – the rainbow of the ‘aura’, as it is sometimes called, picturing the spiritual state of the person.
Yoga teaches that there are seven centers or chakras in the human body. These are spiritual centers – you will not find them described in a materialistic medical book.” — http://www.spiritualwisdom.org.uk/colours-of-the-rainbow2.htm
Akiane and Colton Burpo’s Christ
13) In the book, Heaven is for Real, The Burpo’s were themselves totally obsessed with finding out what Colton’s Jesus looked like “…as pastor, I wound up spending a lot of time at hospitals, in Christian bookstores, and at other churches–all places where there are lots of drawings and paintings of Christ….When we came across a picture of Jesus we’d ask Colton, “What about this one? Is that what Jesus looks like?’ pg 93. Finally Todd came across information of a girl by the the name of Akiane Kramarik who too had began having visions at the age of four. And as it turns out her descriptions of Heaven appear to be the same as Colton’s – so they say. Akiane is a Prodigy and paints the most beautiful paintings, “she states that God has given her the visions and abilities to create her artwork” –– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akiane_Kramarik. One of her paintings is that of the Christ of her visions, she calls him her ‘Prince of Peace’. Colton, turned to his dad when he saw Akiane’s Jesus and said, “Dad, that one’s right.” pg 145.
What does the bible tell us:
Exodus 20:4-5 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image-any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
That applies to images of Jesus too, be it statues, or any other religious paintings, even the movies. It leads to idolatry, breeds superstition and leads to occultism. If Jesus wanted us to know what he looked like there would be a full description of Him in the bible, but He has not because we are to believe by FAITH.
Corinthians 5:7 “7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
1 Peter 1:8 “8 whom having not seenyou love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory”
John 20:29 “29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Therefore all and I mean all representations of Jesus are false and have no backing by scripture.
Akiane is now 16 years old, this is what she has to say about Jesus,
“Jesus shared with us: ‘I am the way, the truth and the light. No one comes to my Father, but through me.’ I feel that he invited us to participate in the divinity. Each of us is one of kind [ sic ] original path to the way of truth and light, and without our individual love and effort we cannot understand and reach God” [Emphasis added] — http://akiane.com/blog/?tag=akiane.
She rejects Jesus as being the only way for mankind to be reconciled to God. She opposes what Jesus Christ taught in favor of Satan’s promise of divinity to Eve in Genesis:3:5. Akiane has clearly met another Jesus and if Colton’s Jesus looks the same as Akiane’s then we can be certain that Colton’s Jesus is anti-Christ too.
14) Besides all the other unbiblical nonsense that Colton saw in his ‘trip to Heaven’ that was penned down in his book Heaven is for Real, the one that will bring fear into people the most is the one where he speaks of the coming war. “There’s going to be a war, and it’s going to destroy this world. Jesus and the angels and the good people are going to fight against Satan and the monsters and the bad people. I saw it”. pg 136 Colton tells his father that he saw his father fighting in the war too, fighting for Jesus who wins the war in the end. The problem with this eschatological view (the study of the end times) is that it’s wrong. The Body of Christ (Church) are ‘raptured’ to Heaven before the Tribulation starts. The ‘church’ that remains is but the false church of the antiChrist – the Roman Catholic church who have it as their mission to take over Jerusalem for themselves. The time of the 7 year tribulation is for Israel – and everything will happen in Israel. God turns back to Israel as he seals 144,000 Jewish witness to do the preaching instead of gentiles along with the 2 witnesses mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Anyone who professes Jesus Christ as their saviour will be beheaded. The time of the Tribulation is for God’s Wrath upon the earth. God deals with mankind and the anti-Christ very severely – but will mankind repent? No. If Todd Burpo is still going to be on earth during the Tribulation according to Colton’s vision he has then missed the ‘Blessed Hope’. (Titus 2:13)
See all these articles on the rapture here: Rapture, Caught Up, The First Resurrection
Colton is the new Jesus.
15) Colton’s babysitter, Ali, one night hears Colton’s story regarding his sister in heaven and that he missed her terribly. Ali, shocked at his story ends up crying her heart out. She is deeply touched. Ali had grown up in a Christian home but had entertained doubts regarding her faith, for e.g., not knowing if all religions lead to the same God or not. “But Colton’s story about his sister strengthened her Christian faith” pg 130
So Colton’s story is more impressive than anything the Bible could offer. Even though the Bible is TRUE and Colton’s story is not. Satan loves to use emotions to tug at the heartstrings of unsuspecting victims. And he is bargaining on you not going to the Bible to check to see if what he is telling you is true or not. And the longer you refrain from testing these evil spirits, the deeper and deeper you are pulled into deception through more false teaching, until you are completely swallowed up with no where to go.
Paul’s Rapture, John’s Prophecies and Lazarus and the Rich Man:
16) On page 80 of Heaven is for Real, Todd tells us about the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 12 about a man he knew personally (obviously, Paul himself) who was caught up to Heaven. And Todd also tells us about the Apostle John who had an angel appear to him and he penned a number of prophecies and described Heaven in great detail. Todd then quotes scripture from the Book of Revelation
Revelation 4:1-3 “1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” 2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.”
Basically Todd is trying to convince the reader that Colton’s vision is equal to that of Paul and John, but if Todd was a genuine Christian Pastor he would know the following:
“If I told you that I had recently visited there and only communicated what I knew was recorded in the Bible about it, you couldn’t object to what I said on the basis of my being biblically inaccurate. Accuracy, however, is not the only criterion for biblical discernment. There are many other instructions and examples that we must take into consideration. For example, the Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12 of a “man in Christ” (no doubt Paul himself) who was caught up to Heaven. He didn’t know at the time whether it was an experience in which his spirit had left his body, or a vision while his spirit remained in his body. Nevertheless, he states that what he saw and heard in paradise was not lawful for a man to utter. Paul’s experience was followed by a humbling infirmity, which he states that God allowed him to suffer “lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations…“ (2 Corinthians:12:6-7)
That isn’t always the case in Scripture. The Apostle John obviously was given permission to declare what he witnessed in Heaven in the Book of Revelation. This would seemingly apply as well to the writer of the Book of Job.
But can we be sure that the visions and personal experiences of these writers are true? Absolutely–because their words are found in the Scriptures . Of the Word of God, the psalmist writes, “Thy word is true from the beginning…,” and Jesus said, “Thy word is truth” (Psalm:119:160; John:17:17). That is the ultimate verification that the experiences of those men of God indeed took place as they described. Furthermore, since the canon of Scripture was closed in the first century A.D., no one since that time can have his vision of-or his alleged visit to–Heaven validated in the same way.
Jesus gave us another insight to help our discernment when He told of Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man, who had died, was in a place where he was tormented and suffering remorse. Yet he begged Abraham to send someone to warn his brothers so that they would not end up with him in “this place of torment.” Abraham’s response was: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” And again, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead“ (Luke:16:19-31) [Emphasis added] — http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/search-the-scriptures-daily/read/articles/is-heaven-is-for-real-for-real-an-exercise-in-discernment-13365.html
Todd Burpo’s deceptive faith:
17) On page 62, Todd Burpo was still trying to come to terms with Colton’s story, he said, “If Colton really had a supernatural encounter, I certainly didn’t want to ask him leading questions. We had taught Colton about our faith all his life. But if he really had seen Jesus and the angels, I wanted to become the student, not the teacher!”
Todd himself would appear to be duped and does not approve in proper biblical testing as per 1 John 4:1-6. He instead says that we must “be willing to accept reality and to call things what they are even when it is hard”. pg 75 So even though Colton’s story might be a bit hard to swallow, just believe it with childlike faith.
Todd also wanted to become a student of a 4 year old child instead of taking instruction from Jesus Christ (The Word of God). Is a 4 year old child now more truthful than the Word of God? The Bible says:
2 Timothy 3:15-17 “17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”
Proverbs 30:5 (Amp) “5Every word of God is tried and purified; He is a shield to those who trust and take refuge in Him.”
18) On page 82 of Heaven is for Real, we are told that “Roman Catholics practice confession as a sacrament, sharing their sins and shortcomings with a priest. Protestants practice confession too, though a little less formally, often confiding in God without an intermediary.” When I started reading this book I kept my eyes peeled for the Roman Catholic connection and was not really surprised when it showed up.
1) Catholics practice confession, genuine Christians do no not practice confession. Christians ask Jesus Christ for forgiveness of their sin. 2) Confession and asking for forgiveness (repenting) is two different things. 3) The statement by Todd that he confides to “God without an intermediary” is very concerning for the bible says,
1 Tim 2:5 “5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus“
Todd prays to the Holy Spirit.
19) He says, “I breathed a ‘prayer of thanks’ to the Holy Spirit, who had clearly “shot down power,” giving me an answer for this grieving woman…” pg 146 Well we know that Todd lacks Jesus Christ as an intermediary, so he needs a new substitute; the holy spirit (lower case because it’s a false spirit)
No where in the bible are we told to pray to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will always point you to Jesus Christ the Son of God.
John 14:26 “26But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
John 16:14 “14 Jesus speaking of the Holy Spirit said, “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you“
The bible does tell us the following about the Holy Spirit regarding prayer:
Romans 8:26 “26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
Jude 1:20 “…build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.”
Scripture suggests that we pray “in the Holy Spirit”, which means we permit the Holy Spirit to guide our prayers and give us the right words to say, and during times when we don’t know what to say, the Holy Spirit automatically prays on our behalf with words that cannot be uttered, because He knows exactly what we need. This new idea that we pray to the Holy Spirit is a New Age concept – The false New Age holy spirit represents the 6th Chakra or the Third Eye.
When we pray, we can pray to God our Heavenly Father – Psalm 5:2 “Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray”. To the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray as to the Father because they are equal. Or you can pray to our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ – it does not matter, what ever makes you happy. Prayer to one member of the Trinity is prayer to all, because all three are One. Stephen, when he was being martyred, prayed – Acts 7:59 “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” . We are also to pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Paul said, that we are always give – Ephesians 5:20 “thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” . There is no fixed rule, to add a rule on how to address God is wrong.
Jesus Christ’s crucifixion
20) On page 149 in Heaven is for Real, Todd makes the most unbelievable statement regarding Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, he says, “The scripture says that as Jesus gave up his spirit, as he sagged there, lifeless on that Roman cross, God the Father turn his back. I am convinced that he did that because if he had kept on watching, he couldn’t have gone through with it” This kind of thinking is very similar to a man by the name of John Dominic Crossan’s (Jesus Seminar), who has had a great influence the Emergent church:
“If we are to believe that God deliberately sent his only son into the world to be brutally tortured and crucified, then I take that to be transcendental child abuse, and I will not have it.” — John Dominic Crossan, Speech at Duke University Conference on “Jesus in Context: Who Was He?”, February 19-21, 1998
For the undiscerning reader reading this book and does not understand the crucifixion, let me please explain so that you may know the truth and nothing but the truth, because you are not going to get it from Todd Burpo.
Isaiah 53:10 “10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. “
“And about the ninth hour Jesus “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46. This cry is a fulfillment of Psalm 22:1.
Isaiah 53:4-5 tells us that Jesus “bore our griefs and carried our sorrows; that he was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities; that the chastisement of our peace was laid upon him; that by his stripes we are healed” and Galatians 3:13 tells us “He redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us”.
In those awful moments on the cross, Jesus was expressing His feelings of abandonment as God placed the sins of the world on Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” and 1 John 2:2 “2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” – and because of that God had to “turn away” from Jesus. As Jesus was feeling that weight of sin, He was experiencing separation from God for the only time in all of eternity. Jesus became sin for us, so He felt the loneliness and abandonment that sin always produces, except that in His case, it was not His sin – it was ours.
But then Jesus cried out from the cross, when Jesus uttered those words, John 19:30 “It is Finished” He was declaring the debt by mankind (the debt of sin) owed to His Father was wiped away completely and forever.
The Catholic connection.
21) One of the biggest warning signs today for a genuine Christian is to note any Roman Catholic connection. Todd says on page 152 in Heaven is for Real, “A lot of our Catholic friends have asked whether Colton saw Mary, the mother of Jesus. The answer to that is also yes. He saw Mary kneeling before the throne of God and at times, standing besides Jesus. “She still loves him like a mom”. The Roman Catholic Church is spoken off in the book of Revelation as:
Revelation 17:4-6 “4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. 5 And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.”
The Catholic Mary (Queen of Heaven) is non other than a demonic goddess posing as Jesus’ mother. “The Queen of Heaven in the bible is a Babylonian goddess whom people worshiped. She has been incarnated to Roman Catholicism under the name ‘Mary’, Mary-Queen of Heaven. Many Catholics would deny that Mary worship is part of Catholicism but unfortunately this is not true as she holds a special place in the hearts of many.” — Please read more on Mary Queen of Heaven – Whore of Babylon
Jeremiah 7:18 (Amp) “18 The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger!
Conclusion:
As you can see from the heaps of evidence above that was taken directly from Heaven is for Real that the ‘altered states of consciousness’ that Colton experienced was not genuine. Why? Is is due to his fathers sin of following after false doctrines. Have the Burpo’s delved into things, i.e, contemplative spirituality, that they should have not been delving into. Is this story even a lie? What ever it is, one thing is very clear, the story is not true, and if you choose to follow after this false Jesus with a pink stone in his crown and a pink pony, you will be following after a New Age Jesus. The bible says:
2 Timothy 4:1-5 “1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
You are all a bunch of very very very sad people. Seems you have been led astray just as the people you criticize. Judging and saying mean things about a child nonetheless. You have all this so called evidence from the bible as if that is the only way Jesus will look in heaven. Don’t you know that the evidence you are referencing was written by a man’s experience? So then what is the difference between what this kid saw and what John or Paul saw? Why don’t you stop putting this kid on trial and focus on helping, loving and saving others that are in need. Seems like a much better use of your time than criticizing a child. As you said, you have never been to heaven so you don’t know what it looks like. To this kid it was real, who’s to say it wasn’t.
Susanlynn wrote,
You cannot help others to be saved when you dish up lies to them. It is the truth that sets people free, not lies.
Once God has given a revelation, as to the apostle John in the book of Revelation, there is no need to repeat that revelation. The only thing you need to do in order to know what heaven is like, is to read your Bible and in particular the book of Revelation. Extra biblical revelations cannot be trusted, especially when it comes from a child. Show me one incident in Scripture where a revelation was given to a child. There is none whatsoever.
Who would you rather obey – Jesus Christ or a child or a film on the revelation supposedly given to a child?
You wrote:
The only way to know for certain whether this kid is for real or not is to test everything he says against the written Word of God. We have shown you from the Bible that it isn’t. Once again, who are you going to believe – Jesus Christ or the kid?
As others have said previously, I don’t even know how to start. I stumbled upon your webpage as I was scouring the internet for a story illustration on criticism. That says something about your article.
You and many of those that have commented on here have clearly never sat down with the Burpo’s and talked with them personally about their story. In fact, it was down right shocking to me to read some of the comments almost dripping with hatred towards them. Wow – your Christian love is exemplary! I’m sure it is doing a lot to build the kingdom.
Well, I have sat down with the Burpo’s and heard their story. I do know them personally. The way you have characterized them as having some wicked agenda to twist Scripture is really just sad. The Burpo’s are simply an average American family whose son experienced something unexplainable.
Maybe it doesn’t fit into someone’s packaged theology. Many of the scriptures you cited you’ve twisted his comments to fit your viewpoint. I’m sorry, you will refuse to see it that way I’m sure, but it’s true.
The Burpos never set out to make money by telling this story. It was never their plan to be thrust out into the public eye in this way. Don’t you realize that the Thomas Nelson publishers did an extensive background check on this family before they pursued publishing their story?
I know I’m not going to change anyone’s mind here because most of you seem to be on a witch hunt against this family. I couldn’t believe the comment where you stated that Colton’s experience was demonic. Wow – yeah, many people back in the day would have said that about Martin Luther too. Just because we don’t understand something fully or it doesn’t fit into our understanding, does not make something demonic.
The fact is it’s pretty easy to stab someone in the eye on the internet where they have no chance of defending themselves. That sure takes courage!
I would advise you to seek the Lord about your attitude towards them and before you continue to spread your venom publicly against them in this manner, you consider attempting to sit down with Todd and Sonja and Colton and Cassie and Colby and hear their story straight from their mouths. Think about the hurtful comments you’ve slandered them with and whether you’ve honored God with your comments.
Well, I guess that’s all I will say. I’m sure you probably think I’m just one more duped person from their congregation or something. No, the fact is I’m a missionary. I’m a Bible believing follower of Jesus Christ. I have a solid, growing faith. I’m not interested in attacking people whose story doesn’t fit my experience. I’m more interested in exalting Jesus’s name and encouraging people to put their faith in Him alone for salvation (that Him includes all persons of the Trinity). I’m pretty sure that the Bible teaches us to not waste time in foolish arguments. I couldn’t sit by and say nothing though as I stumbled upon your words, since I know them personally. The Burpo’s too are interested in exalting Christ, not themselves, whether you choose to believe that or not.
Wendy wrote,
You may have sat down with the Burpo family to listen to their story but it is quite obvious that you never bothered to test their story against the Word of God. Even the Bereans in acts 17 who were unbelievers had more discernment because they “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” If exhortation, warning, cautioning were all associated with hatred, then Jesus must have been full of hatred because He warned, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” (Matthew 24:4). In fact, failure to warn your fellowman when you see him or her saying and believing things contrary to Scripture, is NOT love. It borders on hatred because you don’t care a hoot what happens to them on their path of deceit.
You wrote:
Are you saying because a child had this experience it exonerates him from a possibility to be demoniacally inspired? Well, helloho! There are only two possible scenarios – it is either the truth which comes from God or a lie that comes from Satan (John 8:44). To illustrate one example is sufficient to prove to you that it is NOT of God. Many people claim to have been to heaven and back. Some of them had written books. The odd thing about these books is that none of them agree. Everything they say can’t be true because some of the content in one book contradicts what’s written in others. How do we know who is giving us an accurate and truthful account? Colton’s story cannot possibly be true because his claim that he left his body and saw his mom and dad pray for him is not biblical. He said, “he said, “I went up out of my body and I was looking down and I could see the doctor working on my body.” The Bible clearly says that when the spirit vacates the body death immediately takes place. You may argue that that was exactly what happened to Colton. Nevertheless, there was no medical report of a clinical death during Colton’s surgery.
Moreover, Colton claims that everyone in heaven looks like an angel, each one sporting his own wings, accept of course Jesus, is impossible because the resurrection of the deceased saints who are now in heaven hadn’t taken place yet and therefore their form lacks physical attributes. As a matter of fact, the saints won’t look like angels at their resurrection. They will have a body similar to that of Jesus.
Consider how Colton’s father mentioned that “the Bible is largely silent” on a certain issue. It is also completely silent on the specific things that Colton has revealed. This raises the question as to why God would leave out something of value for us in His inerrant Word, which was given through His prophets “as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter:1:21)–only to reveal it later through a little boy (as well as many others who make similar claims). On the back cover of the book we read, ” Heaven Is for Real will forever change the way you think of eternity, offering the chance to see, and believe, like a child.”
You wrote,
The Bible never tells us to defend ourselves or one another when we are dealing with the truth and lies. It tells us to defend the doctrines of God that were once delivered to us by the apostles.
You wrote,
I can assure you that your status as a missionary does not safeguard you against deception. If it did Jesus would never have warned you with these words “”Take heed that no man deceive you.” (Matthew 24:4). To exalt Jesus the biblical way is to evaluate all things. If we don’t, the Bible says, we are like children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14). We are advised to be spiritually mature.
None of us here doubt the Burpo’s sincerity and and their love for Jesus. What we are doing is to be obedient to Jesus Christ and his Word to test everything in the light of Scripture.
Wendy,
Whether or not one sits down with the Burpo family or not, is not the point. I am almost certain they are very nice human beings and would not hurt a fly or have any ill intention. The account of this 4 year old’s visit to heaven is what is being refuted as the writer of this article has more than proven that all this “stuff” Colton saw is not even Biblical.
It’s not a witch hunt against the family, or saying the family is not good or whatnot. Don’t forget, Satan is SUBTLE. So he (Satan) can use what seems to be perfectly good/innocent situation to draw people away from Christ which is what his (Satan’s) goal is. Go back to the beginning of Genesis 3 and read how the serpent deceived Eve and told her the tree of knowledge of good and evil was ok to eat from it – it even says Eve look at the tree and saw that it looked good for food and ate of it. BUT, God FORBID man to eat from this tree! – Man’s fall was a result of the subtlety and deception of the devil.
There are many so-called Christians out there, I would say a ton of NOMINAL Christians. How many really study the Bible and know the truth such as the writer of this article? I do, and agree with everything that is said here, I felt very bothered in my conscience when I watched this movie last night and regretted even going to see it (I only went cuz I had 2 free movie tickets and there was nothing else playing). Most so-called Christians are wandering in the wilderness so when a story or a movie like this comes out, they flock to it and view it as a ‘sign’ from God in the hopes of knowing what the future holds. What did Jesus say in the gospels? Matthew 12:39 “But He answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.”
Anyway, I don’t need to go on and on and my intent is not to argue, it doesn’t help and just spreads death which is what Satan wants. He wants people to argue and be confused and not enjoy Christ as life and unfortunately he does a very good job of it. I implore you to go before the Lord and his Word and see what your spirit & conscience tell you. Rainbow ponies, people with swords, wings out of humans, etc have nothing to do with Christ and are not recorded anywhere in the Bible, just like how Catholics worship Mary (a sinner) and have made up confession booths and all sorts of other things that are not Biblical. They’ve created MIXTURE, mixing Biblical truths with human invention which the Lord hates.
Lastly, I don’t think the writer of this article was trying to “attack” this family as you say, rather, they are standing by the Word of God and making a stand for the truth and God’s Word (which is God Himself (John 1:1), of which this 4 year old’s dream/imagination of visiting heaven has little to no Biblical truths behind it…
absxyz
Hi, I agree with everything you said except this: “Anyway, I don’t need to go on and on and my intent is not to argue, it doesn’t help and just spreads death which is what Satan wants.” James wrote:
Contending for the faith is not arguing or spreading death. In fact, we are commanded to discern and warn those who have gone astray so that they may be saved from death to life.
Although I Myself, personally don’t believe every thing written in the book, I’d just want to point out, using the Scriptures some of the flaws of this article. And I CHALLENGE the author of the article to face his errors OR prove himself one of Satan’s minions. One of the things he wrote was: The Holy Spirit does not give you power either. This IS false. TRUTH, Yeshua Himself tells us: But you shall receive POWER, after the Holy Spirit has come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8) (2) does God have wings? No He does not. Again another LIE. Now, whether one understands these quoted passages literal OR symbolical, the FACT clearly tells us that God HAS and it’d only take a PHARISEE (who think they know BETTER than the written Word) to SAY God does NOT. May the LORD repay you for what You have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” (Ruth 2:12) How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of Your WINGS. (Psalms 36:7) To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave. Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in You my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of Your WINGS I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. (Psalms 57:1) He will cover you with His feathers,and under His WINGS you will find refuge;His faithfulness will be Your shield and rampart. (Psalms 91:4) The writer of this article should’ve AT LEAST pointed out that there are particular passages in the Bible saying GOD has Wings but are to be understood figuratively, — but, did he? So, since he didn’t, that would be the SAME as saying that Yeshua is NOT A Lamb (to be taken figuratively, of course) eventhough The Bible, (handed over from The East, btw NOT the West) says He is. (John 1:29 & Revelations 5:12 ) So then, since ALL Scripture are profitable for CORRECTION (2 Tim.3:16) … lets see how the author of this article REACTS. IF he justifies and defends his erroneous beliefs, that means he hates correction and WHOEVER hates correction … is STUPID. (Proverbs 12:1) And the same is true with Others. PERIOD.
Rai,
You should know there is a great difference between saying “Everybody’s got wings” (p. 72) and the biblical usage of a metaphor to describe God’s protective powers. The writer of this article understands figurative speech in the Bible perfectly well. But you don’t seem to understand the absolute statement “Everybody’s (including God) got wings.” God’s revelations to man in the Bible has always been 100% accurate. There is no room for error. One percent of error would make God a false prophet and what does the Bible say about false prophets? “But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.” (Deu 18:20). And yet you are quite prepared to defend the book when you yourself admit that you don’t agree with everything written in it. If the book is a revelation from God Himself, then it must be 100% accurate because God is not a liar. Is it 100% accurate? You are overhasty to correct the author of this article but not so keen to correct the author of the book who fails to portray heaven 100% accurately. The only reliable book that portrays heaven 100% is the Bible but you are not satisfied with God’s Word and must therefore also rely on a book which, as you said, is not altogether reliable. You are the one who needs correction, my friend.
Concerning the power of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 18 Jesus was speaking to the disciples BEFORE the Holy Spirit was poured out on them to give them power to be his witnesses. There is no need for the Holy Spirit to shoot down power from heaven upon every true child of God whenever he preaches or witnesses to others. The indwelling Spirit of God in each saint gives him or her the power and NOT a SHOT from heaven. The power comes form within where the Holy Spirit dwells in the innermost part of the saint and not from without through a miraculous shot from heaven. The devil works from without and infuses his power inwardly and not the Holy Spirit of God. He works from within outwardly, not the other way around. Colton’s rendering of the Holy Spirit shooting down power from heaven suggests that there are multitudes of his outpourings. That’s not true.
Come Again, Mr. Thomas? Well, let’s put it on the reverse. Since YOU don’t agree with the book, does that ALSO mean that you should DISAGREE with EVERYTHING the Author believes in- – INCLUDING GOD? See? Your big but NARROW mind seems to be telling Me (in an indirect way) that My statement isnt plausible since IF I believe in the book, I should (or at least) I’m forced to believe in ALL. You see the fault in your logic? You believe in the Bible, do you? Then WHY not believe ALL the versions including the “new-age” translations? And just because you’ve taken an excerpt from one Christian Page, that DOESN’T necessarily mean you adhere to ALL it’s beliefs. ← Well, haven’t you read that DISCLAIMER from others many times before? It’s quiet sad to know that sometimes a fish is caught in his own mouth and sadly, the proverb applies to you. So think before you respond lest you be exposed of your ignorance.
As for the “shooting” from The Spirit. Well, that’s a LITTLE child’s description. What do you expect from a FOUR -year old? Reason like a THEOLOGIAN? You know what? I believe you Self – righteous theologians just like the chief priests and Pharisees (Mt. 27:18) are just acting out of jealousy BECAUSE IT WASN’T YOUR KIDS whom The Lord chose to reveal Heaven OR if they had been, you’d FEEL the same way as Todd OR, on the negative side, they’ ll have to pass your DOGMATIC screening or else they may (and I hope not) get thrown out of your synagogues — excuse Me, houses, rather. Grow up little Thomas, don’t worry, there are more than 7 BILLION people on the planet and I’m pretty sure you can get some, if not MOST of them to BUY your book, instead of Todd’s. Ah, religion, politics and money — they just seem soo inseparable, aren’t they? Peace. 😀
And for the Mary thing. I’d be brief. As a NON- Catholic Christian, don’t we all respect Miriam (aka) Mary? Though we don’t worship Her like the Catholics since 1 Tim. 2:5 says there is One Mediator between GOD and man, The Man Christ, Jesus — we show Her an amount of respect for She is blessed among women (Lk.1:42) but it seems as IF Elizabeth knows how to respect her better than WE do, don’t she? Just where in the Book does it say, Mary commands us to pray the Rosary? Please tell Me. And WHY should we be surprised IF Todd’s Son saw Her in Heaven? Do we believe the REAL Mary is in Hell? We openly profess we although we DON’T worship Her, RESPECT Her. Now, what SORT of hypocritical and insincere statement is that, if we are so choleric in having Her Name mentioned in ANY others Heavenly Visions? It’s all about the REAL Mary and NOT the Pagan Worship of the Pagan Queen of Heaven! Am I smelling misogyny here? . At your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir . (Ps.45:9) –
Rai
That’s the very reason why God never used little four year olds as prophets in the Bible to describe what He and heaven looks like.
If you want to base your faith on what little four year old boy tells you he supposedly saw when he was supposedly in heaven, is your choice. By all means go ahead but don’t bother to write a comment here again. You are not welcome. I don’t like your attitude. Any comments you make again in this attitude will be summarily deleted.
Rai,
Open your eyes and read what the article said about Mary.
Mary still sees herself as Christ’s mom While Paul says we no longer know Jesus after the flesh? (2 Corinthians 5:16). Yes, the real biblical Mary (and not the Catholic Mary) is in heaven and she no longer knows Him after the flesh as her son. He is the Son of the living God and has always been so for all eternity past. I am not a misogynist who hates women but I do hate a demon who manifests itself in the form of Mother Mary (the Catholic Mary). If you are a real Christian you should hate and loath that demon as much as God hates it.
Psalm 45 is a royal Psalm and is merely a report of the counsel given to the bride before she was brought to the king’s palace in all her glory. In any case the bride in this Psalm is NOT a description of Mary standing next to Jesus. It depicts the Bride of Christ (all the believers) who are now being prepared for the Rapture and the subsequent royal wedding in heaven when Jesus comes to gather his Bride to Him.
Amber Evans,
Your comments won’t be placed until you have learned how to behave like a civilized Christian. You accuse us of taking Scripture out of context without explaining how we have taken it out of context. You have heard the word “context” somewhere but don’t seem to know what it means. Would you please put it into context for us?
This is really sad. You obviously have a vast knowledge of God’s Word. Yet you spend so much time and energy to tear apart what others are doing for good. If I wanted to I could pick apart with a fine comb your every word and I’m sure I could find verses that would appear to disagree with you in some way and try to discredit you with them. You are very negative and I believe a very paranoid and miserable person. From reading your comments I would guess that you probably don’t show a lot of outwardly manifested joy and you probably don’t smile that much either. You are a spiritual bully. You are honestly taking the words and visual interpretations of a four year old and ripping them to shreds as if you were speaking about a grown politician who was knowingly deceiving his constituents for his own personal gain. All you are accomplishing with your negativity is placing seeds of doubt in the hearts of other believers and causing them to question every other Christian that says anything at all about God or the Bible the way you do. You cause others to be as negative and miserable finger-pointers, critical of others every word and action as you also do. Your zeal is incredible but very much so displaced. You are one who has great knowledge yet lacking any wisdom to go with all of that knowledge. That is a dangerous combination and as you speak with such boldness about how subtle Satan is and how many ways he can use the unsuspecting to do his bidding; all the while Satan’s negative, nit-picking, defeatist influences are saturated all through every over-critical comment and judgement you write. I pray that if you really do love the Lord truly with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength, and your neighbor as yourself, that you will allow God to open your eyes and understanding to the truest interpretation of all of these verses that you know so well on the surface but lack the deeper meanings and the spirit in which they were written. Personally I doubt you even know what that really means. I’m guessing that you probably score very high on Intelligence tests and you probably have a couple of degrees to go with it. You are like one of the teachers of the law all too ready to stone to death the woman caught in adultery, and the Lord responded to them that whoever among them was without sin in their lives could be the first to cast a stone at her. They didn’t recognize the Messiah because they were blinded by their own ignorance to the Spirit of God’s Love because of the evil intention of their own hearts. They reaped too much joy and satisfaction from pointing out the faults of other by flaunting their vast knowledge of the Law. These were the ones who Jesus spent His own time and energy to tear apart publicly any chance he got the same way you are doing here to the account of a four year old boy. I ask you this question: If Jesus were here now would you recognize your Messiah? And who do you think He would take the time to scold because of their misuse of God’s Word and of their own power? Do you think He would come and stand with you and support what you are doing here? Or do you think that maybe you would be the one that would be corrected because your heart has been so corrupted? The fact that the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees din’t repent to Jesus on the spot for their evil hearts proves that they didn’t really even know God in the first place, they were a bunch of fakes, full of their own pride, right down to their bones. The fact that they were so knowledgeable didn’t help them, in fact it only made them more guilty because it revealed the extent of their hypocrisy. Maybe you will find your way to a spiritual adviser who has the knowledge and the wisdom to counsel you and help you overcome your issues of bitterness and anger that make you such a miserable person. As Christians we are supposed to stand apart from the world. Paul said he would rather be wronged than to take a brother to court for the world to see because that kind of division had no place among brothers. He also despised those who spent their time back-biting and finger pointing who were NOT acting in the Love of Christ. The attitudes of these people were like a cancer that spread and could destroy an entire congregation. When I read your article I don’t see anything that causes you to stand apart from the sinful world. I see a show-off and a know-it-all. I see lots of knowledge with no wisdom to go with it. I see others being roasted; needlessly put-down and their every word being picked apart. I don’t see encouraging words or positive responses in the spirit of love, instead I see negativity and harshness from someone who probably very rarely ever admits that they are ever wrong. Your words read more like a typical article that one might find in any secular magazine or hear on a gossip magazine tv show. The love of Christ isn’t shining brightly in your heart causing you to stand apart from the world, instead you act and sound just like those whose lives couldn’t be further from salvation. I don’t see a light to illuminate anybody’s path here, I just see darkness and dreariness that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. It’s all petty and very unbecoming of anyone claiming the cross of Christ as their salvation. I guess some people believe that once they’re covered by the forgiveness of God through repentance, that they can just do or say whatever they want and it doesn’t matter. Like I said, very sad.
Aaron,
Do you realize that you are doing exactly what you are accusing us of?
We actually encourage people to disprove our posts and comments from the Word of God. Please do so because it is the correct thing to do. Or can’t you find any verses to refute us?
Amal wrote:
Adrian wrote:
Yes, and Satan also does whatever he wants and speaks anyway he wants to anybody. That is why you must make 100% sure who is speaking.
God sent his Holy Spirit to speak whatever He is told to speak and NOT whatever He wants to anybody.
You seem to be one of those who just adore it when someone misleads you.
I for one have had a vision of the throne room of God and it does go along with the Bible!
As for Jesse Duplantis, people, who can say or not say if he went to heaven or not. How about this? When all were meant to go get to heaven are there, and you don’t see Jesse (that’s if any of you make it), then it may have been false, same with colton and his family. But either way it won’t really matter because we all will not remember any of this and we won’t need to, we will be content in heaven. The END!
Dora Crystal Solis,
I like the “Solis” in your name. It reminds me of “Sola Scriptura” which means the “written Word alone.” The Bible as we have it today is a closed cannon. In other words we no longer need to rely on visions and dreams to understand God’s revelations.
In the Old Testament God spoke through his prophets in different ways, for instance through dreams and visions but now He is speaking though his Son who is seated at the right hand of God. His sitting down at the right hand of God means that He has accomplished everything that is necessary for us to know and understand God’s revelation. And indeed, it was Jesus Himself who revealed to John in Revelation all that is necessary for us to know about heaven and hell. No one needs to receive visions, and dreams or even travel to heaven or hell to know what it looks like. God’s revelation in the Bible is sufficient. The main reason why people want to receive visions and dreams is becausde they are either too lazy to read the Bible or they don’t trust it as God’s Word. Peter, together with John and James, were given one of the most wonderful visions ever on the mount of transfiguration. Yet he wrote:
Amal wrote,
If any vision people receive today – including those children supposedly receive – is not in harmony with Paul’s vision of heaven then we must reject it outright.
Scarlette Nestor
And that is precisely why God never used a child in either the old or new testament to reveal to man his oracles and rather used adults.
Scarlette Nestor wrote:
You are accusing us of things you are doing yourself, and that is to take the things in the Bible out of context. The prophecy in Joel 2 was fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 2:17 ) when the Spirit of God was poured out on flesh. And by the way, even if it had referred to our times as well, Joel and Peter do not say that they will travel to heaven and hell and back to tell us what it’s like.
Scarlette Nestor also says:
REALLY??? Jesus Himself said:
The word for “know” in the Greek is “ginosko” and means to understand or have knowledge of someone or something.
Susie wrote:
Joe reposted what Suzie wrote (I don’t know whether Joe agrees with her).
Susie, you don’t believe in compromising the truth in the name of tolerance but you do like it when people misrepresent the truth in the Bible. How does that work for you? When you go on your knees tonight tell Jesus that you don’t agree with his admonishment that we should take heed that no one misleads us (Matthew 24:4).
How on earth are you going to present people with the truth without exposing the lie?
I am sure you will agree that the unfruitful works of the devil do not always look that bad and even may look good and scrumptious to eat. Have you forgotten what Paul wrote?
The reason why you and others are castigating the author of this article is because she dared to refute a little boy. Listen up, the child abuse in this instance does not come from the author who is trying to warn you against error. The child abuse comes from his parents and your side who willfully and maliciously refuse to correct him and to protect him against the wiles of the devil. In stead of helping him understand that his experience does not harmonize with God’s word, they willfully ignore God’s warnings not to be misled. Why? Well, of course to make a stack of money. TD Jakes, the producers of the movie “Heaven is for Real” and Colton’s parents are making a lot of money at the expense of their own son’s spiritual welfare. They are the ones who are abusing Colton, not us. What does the Bible say?
His own parents, TD Jakes and anyone else who believes what the book and the film purports to describe what heaven looks like are causing Colton to commit the sin of deception. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes when we meet up with Jesus Christ one day at his judgment seat.
Susie,
Ask yourself whether you are emanating God’s love when you go against and misrepresent God’s Word. You said:
This is horrendously contrary to what Jesus taught. He said:
Please note his words “as the Scripture has said.” You cannot claim to believe and be saved if you do not believe as the Scripture says.
Furthermore, Paul says in Ephesians there is only one Lord, one faith and one baptism (Eph 4:5). There is no such thing as different faiths in the Christian religion where one believes slightly different than the other. If the entire body of Christ does not believe exactly as Paul says in Ephesians then we have a problem. Therefore your accusation “Just another website filled with people who hate anyone who doesn’t believe exactly like they do” is absol;utely anti-biblical and anti-Christ.
How sad…I’m sorry for those of you who choose not to believe Don Piper, 90 minutes in heaven and Colton in Heaven is for Real. That little yellow book has opened doors for me to witness to many people. I have met and heard Don Piper in person…in an auditorium of several thousand people. When he spoke of heaven you could have heard a pin drop…no babies made a sound, no one coughed….no sound but his voice…it was awesome. Sometimes you just need to have faith that in these last days Jesus loves us and is giving us true gifts.
Melinda McCulley,
Why did God forbid Paul to say a single word of what he had seen and heard when he was in the Third Heaven?
Thank God, Paul obeyed Him and refused to tell anybody about his ecstatic experience in heaven. But wasn’t he being stupid? Think of it. He could have written a book and sold more than 4 to 6 millions copies (like Don Piper and Colton Burpo) and become very rich. Poor Paul, his obedience to God robbed him of thousands and maybe even millions of denarii.
I have always thought it was Christ’s suffering, death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead depicted in God’s Word that is supposed to give Christians a wonderful opportunity and open doors to witness to people. Now I hear it is the experience of a man who had written a little yellow book that has that capacity in stead of the Bible. I suppose you will also now say the following of the little yellow book.
A blogger advises Christians as follows:
you guys gotta be kidding. dont have better things to do than speak death and unrighteous judgements? I’m telling you … repent and be saved. you better be careful with all that blasphemy. hypocrites.
hadassa,
You must be one of those immature Christians who believes that your words have creative powers. You don’t seem to love Jesus because you refuse to obey Him who said:
J.
Venerate is another word for worship.
Verb 1. venerate – regard with feelings of respect and reverencevenerate – regard with feelings of respect and reverence; consider hallowed or exalted or be in awe of; “Fear God as your father”; “We venerate genius”
reverence, revere, fear
esteem, respect, value, prise, prize – regard highly; think much of; “I respect his judgement”; “We prize his creativity”
saint, enshrine – hold sacred
worship- show devotion to (a deity); “Many Hindus worship Shiva”
Very informative write-up with the exception of #14.
The idea of the church being removed from earth before Daniel’s 70th week is a myth. Nowhere in Scripture is the entire 7 years known as “the tribulation.” The blessed hope is not the rapture but the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ. And even according to those who believe in the pre-trib rapture, Christ does not appear at the rapture, it’s a secret event. In Scripture, He appears only when He returns near the end of the 7 years, after the Beginning of Sorrows, after the Great Tribulation, and before the wrath of God which are the 7 Trumpets and 7 Vials. And since Titus tells us to look for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, we are still here to see it (but of course we won’t be here for the wrath of God which immediately follows.