Heaven is for Real

I enjoyed this, although it was not very well written and could have benefitted from another round of editing. The father's story was focused on more than I expected at first, and at times I felt it was more of a family story than the boy's story. But it was very sweet, and I would definitely recommend it.

I do not believe in God. This book did not change my mind. If anything, it only cemented the idea in me that people who do believe so strongly are completely unaware of the the realities around them.

I do not understand why the beginning of the book dealt with Todd Burpo's many ailments. It literally had nothing to do with the story and just made this somewhat short book feel hundreds of pages longer than it should have, but I kept going for surely there was a point to it. (There wasn't)

Where the book completely lost me is when the parents decide to make a three hour drive to their tiny town in Nebraska with a child who has been throwing up every half hour for at least 12 hours instead of taking him to a major metropolitan hospital. Because, why would they want good care for their child? God will heal him, right? Their cavalier attitude about their son's condition just kind of bothered me. They take him to this hometown hospital where the doctors completely miss a common and obvious diagnosis. Friends encourage them to take Colton to Colorado's Children's Hospital, but they don't want to go too far from their congregation. It's more important to them to be close to people who will pray from them instead of doctors who can heal them.

Over YEARS Colton starts revealing bits of how he went to heaven (despite never have clinically died) and saw his great-grandfather and dead sister as well as Jesus and other important religious figures. He describes what Jesus was wearing (white with a purple sash) and what he looked like (dark hair and a beard and really pretty eyes) and how he had marks on his hands. And somehow this is all stuff that a preacher's son wouldn't have known. How? The kid got bible stories as bedtime stories and went to Sunday school every Sunday. Added to that, the father would quiz them about things like ‘What is Good Friday?'

The thing is, everything this kid describes heaven to be is everything that every person imagines heaven to be. While I believe he thinks he went to heaven, I certainly don't believe any miracles happened here.

This has to be one of the most disappointing books I have read in a long time. Firstly, I did not enjoy the writing style as it failed to really engage me at any time. Secondly, and most importantly for me, I found Todd Burpo's reaction (especially being a pastor) to the whole experience to be totally implausible. There were so many examples of this throughout the book but one near the end that struck me was that he didn't think people would be interested in reading about a boy who experienced Heaven and is able to recount the experienced ?!?! Given his own experience as a pastor, his own keen interest to learn more and the number of people who came to ask questions and learn more after hearing about his son why would he think people wouldn't want to read about?

I really wanted to like this book. It was interesting and I think it's great that a book was written about this experience. Overall I feel comfortable with the reinforcement that there is a heaven and a Savior. This read for most Christians. I am a Christian but some of the doctrine reviewed doesn't align 100% with my beliefs so, I got frustrated and almost quit reading it a few times. I decided I should be more tolerant and try to understand the ideas of others and I feel I got something out of it.

Thought it would be hokey but I loved it. A quick and inspirational read.

Absolutely loved this book! It totally changed how I view heaven!!

I'd really like to believe this story, I really would. Unfortunately, I will always have that sneaking doubt that it isn't true. I just don't know how to react; I enjoyed the experience of reading the book. Did it change my life? No, only Jesus and his Word can do that for me. If true, this is an awesome testimony.