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.”
Are you a member of Westborough?
Yeshua,
Westborough? No! Why?
It is amazing to me that you can feel you have the Spirit of Christ as you have such a condesending arrogant attitude. Definitly not the Spirit of Christ for sure. Even if this young man is deceived, which I am not saying he is, your spirit is not of Christ and your twisting of scripture to justify your believe is astounding. You portray a spirit of the Phaisees. Try the fruit of the Spirit, kindness, gentleness, longsuffering maybe a little selfcontol would help also.
Deborah (Discerning the World) wrote:
there in lies the problem with solo scriptura.
Wow, what a bunch of Pompous, opinionated, self righteous Bible parroting piss poor examples of so called Christians. You make the Pharisees look like Archangels. NONE of you have been to Heaven. NONE of you have seen JESUS face to face and certainly, none of you have a clue as to what really happened.
I read this book. I thought it was AWESOME. What Colton went thru would have put you all in the all too deserved cold grave. NO ONE is worshipping this ‘book’. NO ONE is worshipping Colton, his father or anyone for that matter.
The Bible is rife with stories where GOD uses the least to do his work. Colton is a very fine example. An extremely little child from NoWhere Nebraska. If but one (1) person is saved through this, then GOD’s will is done.
You limit GOD to a book. Do any of you ‘believe’ GOD is Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent and that NOTHING is impossible for GOD?
Colton’s experience is an Inspiration to me and obviously to many, many others as well. This experience and the likes of The Perfect Truth (whom you also tore a new one) only solidifies my Faith, Trust and Love for JESUS CHRIST. HE is the Light, the Way and the Truth. YOU are nothing!
I am sorry, but I will put my trust in the LORD to show me the way. It’s time you people get out of the African sun and see the REAL LIGHT of JESUS CHRIST!
Luke
You must be a Roman Catholic?
rog,
If you are prepared to vouch your faith on the experience of someone else, then you should ask yourself if you are truly saved. Your above statement alone is proof that the whole thing is NOT true. Faith is never based on experience or sight, let alone on the experience of someone else like a little boy.
I urge you to do the following.
loyed
Your statement “Even if this young man is deceived, which I am not saying he is,” shows that you are not too sure yourself. You are being disobedient to Jesus Christ who said:
Want to know what the true Spirit of Christ is? Sure you do.
You are deceived if you think that Satan’s deceptive strategies are the fruit of the Spirit. “Love” as you know, is one of the fruits of the Spirit. The fact that you do not mind whether Colton is deceived or not is definitely not the way to show forth love. When Jesus asked Peter “Do you love Me” He told him to “feed My sheep.” In other words, Peter had to give them the right spiritual food and NOT deceive them. He had to protect the lambs and the sheep against ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Well written. We are called to discern and the contextual scriptures are our guide. There are many places where we are warned of false Jesus’s etc. I find it sad that when you try and point out truth based on scriptures that you are somehow bashing a child. His parents are at fault. Just shows me how sadly ignorant people are
Dennis Thompson,
No one is bashing the child or his parents. We are merely evaluating what is said and claimed in the book against the Word of God, which is a command of God. (1 John 4:1)
Thomas Lessing (Watch and Pray / Waak en Bid) wrote:
NOwhere did I ever indicate my ‘faith’ was based on this child.
“Your above statement alone is proof that the whole thing is NOT true.”
NOT true of what?
You never answered my question: Do any of you ‘believe’ GOD is Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent and that NOTHING is impossible for GOD?
I truly don’t believe you do.
Not only are you ‘bashing’, but you are judging as well…
Dennis Thompson wrote:
Apparently you haven’t looked in the mirror.
You shit flinging Protestants with no real knowledge of scripture make me sick. You take Sacred Scripture and you twist it to make it seem to agree with your heretical teachings, and you’ve always done just that ever since Luther took seven books out of the Bible. Guess what the Catholic Church compiled and preserved the Bible for a millennia you insufferable twats. Also the rapture is a Protestant modern lie. Oh well, I don’t believe the kid really went to Heaven either but this article really was hysterical I couldn’t tell if it was real but I laughed my ass off hahahahaha
rog
Your exact words were, “Colton’s experience is an Inspiration to me and obviously to many, many others as well. This experience and the likes of The Perfect Truth (whom you also tore a new one) only solidifies my Faith, . . .” If your own or anyone else’s EXPERIENCE solidifies your faith, then you have a problem. Faith is the substance of things NOT SEEN (Hebrews 11:1), and yet you, contrary to what the Bible teaches, are prepared to have your faith solidified by what a child has allegedly seen in heaven. You don’t seem to know and understand what you yourself had written. You didn’t say your faith was built on the child. You said your faith was solidified (strengthened) by his experience.
Once again, you don’t seem to understand what you yourself had written. Your statement above “Colton’s experience is an Inspiration to me and obviously to many, many others as well. This experience and the likes of The Perfect Truth (whom you also tore a new one) only solidifies my Faith, . . .” proves beyond any doubt that it cannot be true because your statement and Colton’s alleged experienced contradicts the Bible in many ways.
Someone’s experience does not prove or disprove God’s omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence. I prefer to base my knowledge of God’s omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence on the Bible alone and NOT on anyone’s experience. You are the one who does not believe in God’s omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence because you do not rely non the Bible but someone’s else’s experience to solidify your faith in God’s omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence.
I suppose Paul was also a basher when he said:
The article proves beyond any doubt that there are many things Colton saw that are diametrically contrary to what the Bible teaches. Are you prepared to vouch your faith on the things he allegedly saw?
papist,
What you need is some real papist soap to wash out your filthy tongue and mouth.
Just want you to know, that many people have seen Jesus, and Many years ago, my mom who had never had a father, and Loved the Lord, praised and worshiped the Lord Jesus all the time, Said Jesus came into the room and sat her on his lap like a father would a small child, she went home to be with the Lord a couple of years ago,
about 6 months before she passed into heaven, She had a vision of heaven when she was going into her garden, IT was so very real that she stood by the gate for hours just in case he came back to call her home then.
When she went home, she had some of her vitals shut down, Her eyes had turned pretty yellow, that day, Her lower body had already become pretty cold.
Then all at once, Her whole body got really hot, and her eyes lit up, turned bright healthy Sparkling blue, she smiled, and the whites of her eyes turned bright healthy white. She went home then.
She was ready to meet the Lord Jesus. She looked forward to that day for many years. She had a radiant smile that lit up the room everywhere she went all of her life.
She brought love peace and joy into your room, life and home.
I know that is Gods Characater. Different people see Jesus in different ways, You see He is God, and HE is LOVE, and he brings life healing and Joy with him. He hates sin because Sin kills the people he loves and came to save. There are many many accounts of people going to heaven. Check out Ian MacCormicks story of when he was stung by box jellyfish 4 times in the Indian Islands. He started out thinking there were all kinds of gods, and through the experience he met the True God. I’ve met the man, God is Real, and Heaven is Real, and Sadly Hell is also very real.
Check out Helen Baxters account of seeing hell many times so she could tell the world that indeed it is very real.
Marie,
I can assure you that when Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, appears to you, you will fall down in awe on your face and worship Him. You will never sit on his lap. There is nothing in the Bible indicating that people ever sat on his lap. When Jesus appeared to John on the island of Patmos he fell down at his feet as if dead. (Rev 1:17). He didn’t rush up to Him to sit on his lap.
The reason why people believe that charlatans like Helen Baxter has gone to hell and back is because they refuse to believe the Bible. Jesus Christ preached more on hell than on anything else and still they do not believe Him. What makes you think they will believe a woman who supposedly went to hell and back to prove to them that hell is real? This is what the Bible says about hell.
Did you notice what Abraham said? He said that unbelievers on earth will not believe even though a man from the dead (hell) were to come and warn them about hell. Why? – because they do not believe what the Bible says about heaven and hell. They have the Bible at their disposal to read and study but they refuse to believe it. Helen Baxter is a sham. She’s making a helluva (excuse the pun) lot of money – not from unbelievers because they don’t read books like that. She’s pocketing the money of believers who just love to be misled because they do not read and study their Bibles. They are too lazy and rely on people like Helen Baxter to teach them.
I have 2 points that I would like to make clear.
1: Catholics do NOT worship Mary. We never have and never will. We honor her as the Mother of God. Is not Jesus our Brother? is not then Mary our (spiritual) Mother? What is the 4th Commandment? Honor thy Father and thy Mother. Jesus Honored his Parents and so should we. How is having a special place in your heart for the Mother of our Redeemer a bad thing? Do you not have a special place and love for your mom or dad? What about your siblings or spouse? Or your son or daughter? We can and should love and have special places in our hearts for our dear ones. Why then can’t we show love and respect for Jesus’ Mother? Please do not try and tell others what the Catholic Church (the One True Church established by Jesus Christ Himself) believes and teaches regarding Mary if you don’t really know or understand what it teaches.
2. How dare you call the Mother of God the Whore of Babylon!!! Do you think that is pleasing to Almighty God? Mary is the New Eve. She has done what all of us have failed to do. She is the only creature to have said Yes to God in all things!!! She is the Queen of Heaven and Earth!! To quote from Sacred Scriptures – “For behold from hence forth all generations shall call me blessed” – Luke Ch 1 Vr 48
We don’t worship her. We Love and Honor her as does Jesus Christ and we look to her as the perfect model of how to live for Christ and love Him.
May the Holy Spirit, the Spouse of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary open your minds and hearts so that all may come to the fullness of the Truth.
Peace and God Bless
Aaron wrote:
Show me a single verse in Scripture where we are told to pray to Mary. Neither Jesus nor his apostles and Paul advised anyone to pray to Mary. I am quite surprised to see that you call Jesus your Brother. Listen to what Jesus Himself said:
You are definitely NOT doing the will of the Father when you pray to Mary. So, you cannot call Jesus your Brother.
Why would you deliberately capitalize “Father” and “Mother” in those verses that tell us to “Honour thy father and mother?” You are deliberately twisting Scripture to fit your agenda. Honouring your earthly father and mother does not mean that you ought to pray TO them. Yes, you must pray FOR them but never TO them.
Yes Jesus honoured his earthly parents (there you go again, capitalizing “Parents”), but He never prayed to them. In fact, He once said:
Note that He spoke these words to Mary and Joseph and that He did not say “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s and Mother’s house?
No one said that you should not have a special place in you heart for your own blood family. Do you pray TO them?
Do you know what your own church teaches with regard to Mary? Here are some things your own church fathers said and some of the prayers the Catholic Church teaches you to pray to Mary.
Have you placed your eternal salvation in Mary’s hands and have you entrusted your soul to her? If you had, you can’t be saved because the Bible says there is only One Saviour.
You wrote:
If you don’t worship her, why then do you call her your Advocate?
This is pure blasphemy because Jesus Christ alone is our Advocate. Mary does not sit on God’s right hand as our Advocate.
Mary is not the only one who is called the blessed of God. All true believers are called his blessed people. Read Matthew 5. So what’s your point?
You look to Mary as your perfect (sinless) model? Really? Isn’t Jesus supposed to be our perfect (sinless) model?
God Himself calls the Mary of Catholicism a harlot.
Israel was severely punished and sent into captivity when they worshiped the so-called Queen of heaven.
I really think you should repent and start to believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You have been deceived by your church.
I was searching for some critical reviews of “Heaven is for Real” from a Catholic perspective and had the grave misfortune to stumble across this seething hotbed of hatred, heresy and foolishness. It should be obvious to anyone who looks at it seriously that the Catholic Faith is true. Period. You have rejected Christ in his one, holy, catholic and apostolic church, you have rejected him in the Eucharist, you have rejected him in his offer of reconcilliation through forgiveneness of sin by an apostle or one with apostolic authority, you have rejected the other members of the Body of Christ. The “tower of babel” which I see here reminds me of why Christ gave PETER AND THE APOSTLES AND THEIR LEGITIMATE SUCCESSORS the power to bind and loose, the power of the keys, and the power to forgive sin. The private revelations contained in this very questionable book “Heaven is for Real” are, in the eyes of the Church, just that — “private” and therefore suspect until vetted by the only body qualified to vet such revelations — the official Magisterium of the Catholic Church, with Her teaching authority. It is there for your protection as well, but you ignore her, as surely as you blaspheme the Holy Mother of God (“All generations will call me blessed,” remember that?), the members of the Church, and mock the unity which Our Lord wept and prayed for. You freely steal the Scripture which is nothing other than the Holy Text of the Catholic Church and freestyle with it, even though that Scripture EXPRESSLY FORBIDS private interpretation. Have at it, you writhing, seething, disobedient children of the evil one. Repent! Come into the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church NOW, and do everything for Her building up and sanctification. Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus.
John,
The tragedy is that you are worshiping and following another Jesus.
The true Jesus of the Bible said:
Hi Deborah. I agree with many points in your article. I would humbly posit, though, that your approach to those who have honest disagreement with you is one of scorn, rather than one of patience and a true desire to share God’s Word. I, for one, am saddened by those of your responses that are the online version of spitting through your teeth at someone. My 6year old son died last year, and the book brought me much comfort, but certainly the Word of God itself brought hope and comfort that is that much greater! I’m okay with the assumption that the book isn’t entirely true. Please don’t discount the value that we can find in these stories… If, as you said, it points us to the scriptures, is it completely without value? I grieve every day over the loss of my son; but I grieve with joy knowing that he is in the presence of our Lord and Savior. Just because I draw a small additional measure of comfort from this book does not mean that I am under a satanic influence or that I serve a “different” Jesus than the Jesus of the Bible.
Thank you for allowing us to comment
Diane,
Have you considered the fact that they are not in disagreement with Deborah but with God and his Word? Anything that is not in agreement with God’s Word is a lie and all lies come from Satan (John 8:44). Since when do you contend for his lies instead of for the Truth (Jude 1:3)?
I’m very sorry to hear that your son died. However, you should seek and find solace in God’s Word and not in the experience of another who allegedly went to heaven and back.
The Bible says that we should love Jesus Christ more than we do our own families. That means that we should always cling to Him and his Word and not allow ourselves to be misled, no matter how dearly we love our next of kin.
The Jesus Colton saw and on whose lap he allegedly sat is definitely not the Jesus of the Bible. Would you rather have your deceased son be with Colton’s Jesus?
Please bear in mind that not all the comments are written by Deborah. They are written by me, Thomas Lessing.
Since when do you contend for his lies instead of for the Truth (Jude 1:3)?
My goodness, I do not contend for lies. I do not believe in this book as I do in the Bible. God’s Word always, always reigns. Without question.
Perhaps God has put this book in our path so that we can have this very type of debate. Iron sharpens iron, and I definitely do not claim to grasp all of scripture. Reading this blog has indeed caused me to think more and search the Bible for understanding.
Maybe I can express it this way: My son was special needs with both physical and intellectual disabilities. When he passed away, a friend who is also a biblical counselor remarked: “just think how wonderful it is – he is running, playing and laughing with other children in heaven! “. Now, I don’t know that he is physically running and playing because he has not yet received his glorified body. However, imagining my son doing these things in the presence of The Lord is about as close as my feeble human imagination can get to thinking about how much joy awaits us in Heaven. No way can I comprehend the sheer majesty of it all – I acknowledge that. I’m not trying to promote lies, I’m trying to personally understand God’s promises in my own fallen state. I think the Burpos are doing the same thing.
“Show me a single verse in Scripture where we are told to pray to Mary?”
To answer that, read the last verse of the Gospel of St. John. “But there are also many other things that Jesus did; which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written”
There is a lot of stuff that wasn’t written down. That’s why we have Tradition. Not everything is in the Bible.
Here’s a couple of things to read
Read Mark 13:31 – heaven and earth will pass away, but Jesus’ Word will not pass away. But Jesus never says anything about His Word being entirely committed to a book. Also, it took 400 years to compile the Bible (by the Catholic Church), and another 1,000 years to invent the printing press. How was the Word of God communicated? Orally, by the bishops of the Catholic Church, with the guidance and protection of the Holy Spirit.
Read Mark 16:15 – Jesus commands the apostles to preach the Gospel to every creature. But Jesus did not want this preaching to stop after the apostles died, and yet the Bible was not compiled until four centuries later. The word of God was transferred orally.
Read Mark 3:14; 16:15 – Jesus commands the apostles to preach (not write) the gospel to the world. Jesus gives no commandment to the apostles to write, and gives them no indication that the oral apostolic word he commanded them to communicate would later die in the fourth century. If Jesus wanted Christianity to be limited to a book (which would be finalized four centuries later), wouldn’t He have said a word about it?
Read Luke 10:16 – He who hears you (not “who reads your writings”), hears me. The oral word passes from Jesus to the apostles to their successors by the gracious gifts of the Holy Spirit. This succession has been preserved in the Holy Catholic Church.
Read Luke 24:47 – Jesus explains that repentance and forgiveness of sins must be preached (not written) in Christ’s name to all nations. For Protestants to argue that the word of God is now limited to a book (subject to thousands of different interpretations) is to not only ignore Scripture, but introduce a radical theory about how God spreads His word which would have been unbelievable to the people at the time of Jesus.
And also regarding praying to Mary. Prayer is also speaking or talking. Praying does not necessarily mean “worship”. So when we pray “to” Mary we are talking to her and asking her to take our requests and petitions to God.
Have you ever asked someone to pray for you? Say a friend came up to you and said hey my mom is dying of cancer can you say a prayer for her during this hard time. Would tell your friend to have his mother pray to God herself?? I think not. If we can pray for others and ask them to pray for us then why can’t we ask the Mother of God pray for us? She’s in Heaven right there with God!! “Pray for us most holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ”
As you see, we are entrusting ourselves to Mary so that she may plead to God on our behalf.
As for calling Mary our advocate.
Here is the definition of advocate: a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy.
So like I said before, we are asking Mary to take our petitions to God and recommend us to Him. Nothing wrong with that. It’s up to God to decide what He wants to do after that. So why can’t He grant favors through his Saints. We don’t believe Mary – by her “own” power – can do anything.
Those Saints you quoted that talked about Mary. They are just basically saying that they trust Mary will take their cause and pray to God for their salvation and that they have hope that God will listen to Her. That is why She is our Hope. She is our Hope that God will hear our prayers and save us. “She” is not “doing” the saving. God is. Again just like asking someone for help. Nothing wrong with that. If you had to ask a King a favor and you asked the Kings Mother to ask the King for you, don’t you think the King would be more likely to hear your request if it was requested by His own Mother? I think so.
Here’s something interesting to read – From the earliest days of the Church, Mary has been known for her great intercessory power. In the 3rd century (before the Bible was put together), Saint Irenaeus of Lyons described Mary as an “advocate”. Why do we need an advocate? Scripture tells us that we are all sinners and, one day, we will be judged for our actions. (Jesus is the judge) Just as in a court of law it would be foolish to try to defend ourselves, we need someone to stand beside us and defend us, someone who understands intimately the ways of God. That someone is Mary.
You may bring up a point about how we’re not supposed to pray to the dead. But that is nonsense. Mary and the Saints are not dead. They are very much alive and in Heaven. As we see when Jesus on the mountain at his Transfiguration was plainly talking with Moses and Elias. There is a difference between trying to conjure up spirits and asking the living Mother of God a favor.
Also, you do know that the Catholic Church is the one who put the Bible together? Also, how do you know that your interpretation of the Bible is correct? Where does it say that in the Bible?
Jesus established only One Church. He says so. Matt 16: 18 – “And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
He did not say I will build my “Churches”
There can only be One True Church and that Church has the Power and Authority through the Holy Spirit to interpret the Sacred Scriptures. If everyone one could interpret how ever they thought best then there would be Chaos. (as you can see by the thousands of protestant religions)
If you truly want to follow all of the teaching of Christ can I ask you a question? Do you eat and drink Christ’s Body and Blood? You do know that he commands us to?
Read John Chapter 6
“Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day.”
“Many therefore of his disciples, hearing it, said: This saying is hard, and who can hear it?”
“After this many of his disciples went back; and walked no more with him. Then Jesus said to the twelve: Will you also go away? And Simon Peter answered him: Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have known, that thou art the Christ, the Son of God.”
We could go on and on but I will leave you with this final plead – please, again, for the love of God, do not call the The Blessed Virgin Mary those terrible things that you say that she is from Revelations. That, sadly, is your interpretation and an incorrect one at that.
Peace and God Bless.
– Aaron
Aaron wrote,
So it’s OK to assume that because John 21:25 alludes to the fact that prayers to Mary may include the many things He did not do, it’s OK to pray to Mary despite the clear warning in Jeremiah 7 and 44? The “He” in John 21 is, as you may have gathered, Jesus Christ who did the many things not mentioned in the Bible. If prayers to Mary was one of those omitted things, then He, Jesus Christ Himself must have prayed to Mary. That’s ludicrous, to say the least.
You wrote:
Rubbish! The Septuagint, a Latin translation of the Hebrew Bible (i.e. the Old Testament) was fully completed nearly two centuries BC. Guess what, the Old Testament, by way of prophecy, tells us just about everything about Jesus and the things He would do during his First Advent. In fact, the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. And that’s precisely why Paul referred to it so often. What does that tell you? It means that Paul could preach about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ ((the Gospel) while referring to the Old Testament. Therefore, the apostles and Paul did not need the concoction the RCC came up with centuries later (including the Apocrypha). They already had the complete Gospel of Jesus Christ written down for them in the Septuagint which appeared two centuries before the birth of Christ.
Mary was as much a sinner as Cain and Esau and therefore prayed as follows:
Be careful what you add and take away from Scripture. It is very dangerous. You cannot add to it whatever you wish, including prayers to Mary, just because John 21:25 says He did many more things that are not written in the Bible.
Diane wrote:
Well, if the Bible is your only Truth and not the book, why do you seek solace in the book?
You wrote:
Your friend is correct. Hold fast to his words for your consolation and not those of the Burpos.
I never said you are promoting lies. I asked you a question “Since when do you contend for his lies instead of for the Truth (Jude 1:3)?” Anyone who defends the Burpos’ book is contending for its lies. It’s as simple as that. Anyone who defends the book and tells others how wonderful the book is, is leading others into the same deception. That’s dangerous, to say the least. You will have to give an account to God one day.
We Catholics don’t worship Mary as a deity (God). We just venerate her.
Thomas Lessing . What you have said about our Blessed Mother is in fact incorrect and sacrilegious. You clearly have no knowledge of the Catholic Church, Our Lord and Savior, Our Blessed Mother, our beliefs and our faith. Your preconceived notions of our faith, is nowhere near the truth. Aaron is correct both in definitions and about Our Blessed Mother and I will try and elaborate on our Blessed mother.
What was the first miracle that Jesus ever did? Turning water into wine… Why did Jesus do this? John 2:3 “And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to him: They have no wine. 4 And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is that to me and to thee? My hour is not yet come. 5 His mother saith to the waiters: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye.
Let us first remove one of the biggest incorrect protestant teachings about Jesus and our Blessed Mother. Jesus refers to his mother as “woman.” Many Protestants say that Jesus called his mother this to make it clear she is no better than any other woman. This idea translates to Jesus essentially putting his mother down. This is easily proven incorrect and even by using protestant teachings. Let me ask this question. Has Jesus ever sinned…? No, for he was perfect. Putting his mother down would be a sin against the 4th commandment: Honor thy Father and Mother. If Jesus didn’t sin, then calling her woman must have had more meaning. In the garden Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: She shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. “
Mary is the woman that God is refereeing to and who Jesus is calling. Why, because through her seed we are saved and through this victory the serpents head was crushed. Also, Jesus is perfect in every way, not only did he not know sin he could not come from sin which also meant that his mother had to be free from sin. That is why God put enmities between her seed and the seed she bore, Jesus. For he is perfect!
Second. Jesus clearly states, “My hour has not yet come.” What does this mean? Simply put, it isn’t time for Jesus to begin his miracles. Yet, Jesus performs the miracle at his mother’s request. Why…? Because he loves her! And this also proves how powerful our Blessed Mother is when she is the one asking. Remember Aarons definition of praying.
It is a shame that you are blind to the goodness of our Blessed mother. Even the angel that visited Mary knelt before her. “Hail full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among woman,” he said. Hail is what is said to Kings and Queens before kneeling. And, Mary was not yet with child. Why would an Angel kneel to a woman that you described to be so horrible? This shows your lack of knowledge and your lack of love of Christ by disgracing his mother. Jesus thought highly of his mother and he loved us so much that he gave us a great and powerful gift on the cross. Woman, behold thy son and to the disciple: Behold thy Mother. Even dying for our sins and redeeming those that wish to have it, he gave us another gift. He gave man (human race) the one thing he love more than anything, his mother.
You disgrace God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, when you speak so disgracefully of our Blessed Mother. “Mary was as much a sinner as Cain.” Please stop with your incorrect and delusional translations. Luke 1:41 Elizabeth filled with the Holy Ghost: “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come.” It is clear that Mary is more than any normal woman and the mother of John knew this and was so filled with the Holy Ghost. Who are you to deny the Holy Ghost?
Joey J
As a devout Roman Catholic it is quite obvious that you would use the corrupt Douay-Rheims Bible translation that says Mary crushed the serpent’s (Satan’s) head. This is blasphemy because it suggests that Mary was crucified for our sins and not Jesus who crushed the serpent’s head on the cross.
You wrote:
Jesus, on the other hand said:
Jesus seems to have been more concerned about his saints doing the will of his Father thatn with his mother. In fact Matthew 12 confirms this:
Like Aaron you have been deceived by your church.