Heaven is for real. For the first time I have seen the
movie. I must say that I thoroughly
enjoyed it. As it is with every
Christian movie, it does not come without controversy. The movie is based on a book by Wesleyan
minister Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent and was a NY Times best seller in
2010. During a near death experience,
Burpo’s four year old son claims to have visited heaven. Before I proceed any further, I must confess
that I have not read the book and many of my friends have claimed that the book
adds more element to the account that is not covered in the movie. As I watched the movie, I carefully treaded
with an open heart and open mind.
I am currently in a class called “Christian
Philosophy.” This week we have been dealing with the three tests for
truth. There is the correspondence test
for truth, in other words, do the truth claim correspond with the
evidence. The coherence test. To better understand this particular test is
prior to the movie did you already believe in visions of heaven “near death” death
experiences (there are countless stories of others), then the movie works for
you because it supports your claim. Then
there is the easy test for truth called the pragmatic test. Surely on some level we have all practiced
this. The pragmatic test for truth is
the acceptance of a claim not necessarily based on evidence but simply the
selectiveness of a claim based on what you want to believe. The danger is that we have the tendency of
ignoring other greater parts of Scripture.
John Wesley actually brings a fourth Christian authority for truth and
that is experience.
Whether one believes the claims of
the book or not, there is no doubt in my mind based on the Word of God that
Heaven is real. We have that assurance
in the promise of God’s inerrant and infallible Word. Now let’s look at Colton’s experience. Did it happen? The Bible tells us: Beloved, do not believe every
spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many
false prophets have gone out into the world. (1John 4:1). Is there any evidence of visions or dreams of
Heaven in the Bible? The entire book of
Revelation was written based on a vision and the fourth chapter and onward is
John recording what he saw in heaven. I
am not substantiating that what Colton saw was actual Heaven but simply remind
us to critically think based on what God’s word reveals to us about visions and
dreams. In the movie, Todd Burpo made a
statement in the pulpit concerning his son’s vision that if we catch it, we may
get a better understanding. In fact, I
made a claim (even before Todd’s claim) to my wife at the beginning of the
movie and admittedly got a funny look and I am sure others are doing the same
while reading this. God showed Colton
the Heaven He wanted Colton to see.
Therein lies the rub for some. I
do not believe that Colton saw the actual Heaven, the one we believe in the
Bible. However, I do believe that he had
a vision and in times of difficulties God allows us to have dreams and visions
to bring comfort in pain.
In the movie, we see the silhouette
of a figure, supposedly Jesus, who asks Colton if he knew who he was and Colton
responded yes. He then asked Colton if
he was scared and Colton said no. Did he
actually see Jesus? A part of me would
say no but that the image that he had of Jesus is consistent with what many
portray Jesus in their paintings and images (and movies). I do believe that Colton had a very real and
vivid vision or dream that brought him comfort during his painful and difficult
moment. After all, the vision of
Revelation came to John during a difficult and lonely moment as he was in exile
on the Isle of Patmos. While many is
fearful of the contents of Revelation, we must not shy ourselves from its subject
because John reveals the purpose of the book: Blessed is he who reads and those
who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in
it; for the time is near (Revelation 1:3). Genesis 28:12 records a dream that Jacob had
during his time of trouble as well and it was this dream that brought him
comfort. Is there any substantial
Biblical evidence that God does not do the same today?
In the early portion of this
article, I wrote of John Wesley’s claim that experience is a source of authority
in the quest for Christian truth. In
September of 1990, I had an appendectomy (in the movie, Colton suffered from a
ruptured appendix) while still living in North Carolina. It occurred on a Sunday and there is not much
I remember except sometime after the surgery, still under the effects of the
anesthesia, I groggily opened my eyes to see my parents, my pastor, my youth
leader and one other couple and another individual who seemed to tower behind
them. I know at this point there are
those who are rolling their eyes and claiming that I simply suffered from
hallucinations, an effect of anesthesia.
I must admit that sometimes I still have a hard time believing what I
saw and have wrestled with it for years.
Very, very few people know of this experience. During the overnight hours as I was in a room
by myself, I was undergoing intense pain as the pain medications had worn
off. I struggled to find the nurse call
button as my parents had gone home for the night. The very same individual came into the room,
smiled gently at me, touched me at my incisions and immediately the intense
pain subsided. That was the last I have
seen. Was it a dream? A vision?
Probably? Am I crazy? I would like to think that I am not. But during my moments of pain, a vision or
dream of some sort occurred that brought me comfort. It is for that reason that I can believe the
claims of “Heaven is for Real,” not in the sense that Colton saw a real Heaven
but that God showed him a Heaven the God wanted Colton to see to bring comfort
to Colton. By the way, I was in the
hospital for three days and on the last day I had asked around about the nurse
(angel) that I saw and each one had said there was no one that worked there
with that description.
What I am simply trying to
accomplish is not to actually discredit that this event happened. Nor am I trying to substantiate that Colton
saw Heaven. Through this, I am trying to
show a different perspective based on experience on how this was actually
possible. One of the most important
truths that we must not ignore in the movie is the substantial claim of God’s
love. I truly enjoyed the moment when
the pastor sat on the bench in the cemetery and was speaking with the grieving
mother who lost her soldier son. What a
tearfully touching moment as he painted a beautiful picture of God’s love.
