Heaven Is For Real: Colton Burpo Proves Christianity, My Little Pony And Sarah Palin Are Right
HAVE you seen Heaven Is For Real, the film about the boy who “had a trip to Heaven”.
Sony Pictures acquired had actioned its rights on the book Heaven Is For Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip To Heaven And Back, written by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent:
Burpo is a small town Nebraska pastor whose four-year old son, Colton, nearly died during an emergency appendectomy operation. As he recovered, Colton began telling his family that he went to Heaven, actually looking down at the doctors operating on him and his family praying in the waiting room. And he slowly began telling them details about his miscarried sister, and his long-dead grandfather, none of which he should have known about. He then revealed to his family what it was like during his visit in Heaven, before he was sent back to his family. He’s now 11.
Colton says he saw the throne room where God the Father sits with Jesus and Gabriel on either side, met John the Baptist, saw various winged creatures, and had a chance to pet Jesus’ “rainbow horse”.
But it’s not only ponies. There are apocalyptic elements:
“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…. in heaven, the women and the children got to stand back and watch… But the men, they had to fight. And Dad. I watched you. You have to fight too.”
Todd will fight with “a sword or a bow and arrow”.
Colton Burpo was four when he made his trip that proved Christianity:
While in heaven Colton says he saw many things and met many people including pop, his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born. But Colton says he didn’t look like the photo in his house. A picture sent months later by his grandma was more like the man he met, a young man without glasses. And perhaps the most shocking part of Colton’s story. “He came to his mom and said mom I have 2 sisters,” said [has father] Todd Burpo.
But he only has one sister. “You had a baby die in your tummy didn’t you?” said Todd Burpo.
His parents never told him about the miscarriage.
Over time this young man’s visions became more real. From his description of Jesus to his talks with God, even a description of Armageddon.
Barthes notes:
It’s interesting to note that Burpo’s ghostwriter, Lynn Vincent, has also ghosted volumes for Sarah Palin and for Gen William “Jerry” Boykin (according to an article in Newsweek, Vincent complained that having worked on Going Rogue had led some reviewers to take Heaven is for Real less seriously).
A December 2010 piece in the Imperial Republican, the Coltons’ local newspaper, has some background:
In an interview this week, Todd Burpo said he has no doubt his son made the heavenly visit.
While Todd, pastor of Imperial’s Crossroads Wesleyan Church, says he and wife Sonja originally weren’t sure about it, he is now.
“I am 100% convinced he was in heaven,” he said.
…He believes God had a part in the encouragement they had from a pastor friend to write the book. That friend, Phil McCallum, made some introductions and introduced them to the right people, Todd said.
It eventually led to the book deal with Thomas Nelson of Nashville, a 200-year-old company that publishes a lot of Christian books.
He worked with author Lynn Vincent, who most recently collaborated with Sarah Palin on her book, “Going Rogue: An American Life.”
Recently, Fox’s Sean Hannity interviewed Todd and Colton Burpo:
Posted: 17th, April 2014 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
