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.”
Tim Altmix,
a Post-Trib rapture (coinciding with the Second Advent of Christ prior to his millennial reign on earth) is a non sequitur. Who is going to be raptured after the 7 years tribulation period?
How do you reconcile the above with God’s promise in Revelation 3:10?
In any case, the Rapture which is assocaited mainly with the Gentiles (“until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in”) cannot possibly relate to the beginning, the middle or the end of the 7 years tribulation because it is mainly a Jewish event. That’s why Jeremiah calls it the time of Jacob’s trouble. (Jereemiah 30:7).
The fact that the Rapure is a secret does not mean that Christ will be absent when it accurs. It simply means that no one knows when it will occur.
How can you possibly say that Jesus won’t appear at one of the most important events in the entire history of mankind?
This is NOT the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the 7 years tribulation. It is the Pre-Trib Rapture. There are several disctinct differences between the Rapture and the Second Coming which I cannot discuss with you now.
The Rapture? Seriously? I think the only support for this hogwash is one line in the bible about being “…caught up in the air.” Beyond that? No real mention of anything like the Rapture. Why can’t other people make stuff up too?
Mike,
If you told me you were saved, I too probably would say “hogwash!” I am not saying that belief in the Rapture equals salvation. I am saying that no Christian in his right mind would call one of the most important doctrines in Scripture “hogwash.” Are you saved?
Okay, one thing that continues to bother me about these Near Death Experiences, is how these people claim to witness dead and deceased people. Does not the Bible say Necromancy is totally forbidden. This just appears to be yet another form of communicating with the dead. If looked into, the NDE is very occult based and not Biblical!
Humans wrote the Bible brother. They wrote in it this is the word of God and it was said in it that it had to be followed. You interpret it quite literally that hell is where you go if you do not believe it word for word. You have faith in it which is arbitrarily thrown on it because you grew up that way, and you have faith in the protestant guy who interpreted God’s word as so. Which is really just his opinion. I read a New Age book that stated that enlightened being from a distant star system inspired the book, and if you didn’t believe it you would struggle. Kind of similar if you replace “God” with “enlightened space being.” You would throw it into the fire. You just don’t want to think because you view it as dangerous. You avoid the truth because you are afraid of suffering and doubt. The Bible holds many truths though, at least for me. I am not saying faith is bad, you must have faith in something or you can slip into nihilism. You must have faith even in science and reason if you chose that route. You have found a way to avoid any view that challenges your own. You write what you believe is right, I write what I believe is right. So what I write is pointless to you probably. Anyone can argue any point of view. If you throw away logic for faith, you must also throw away conceptual discourse (thoughts) as they proceed from logical sequence. And if you mash logic with faith, they contradict often. The Bible often contradicts. But what I am saying is, God works in mysterious ways. And a lot of times I use my intuition as to what His will is. And my intuition says write this.
jackson m wrote:
You are on very shaky ground if you trust your intuition. let me tell you why.
What you write is not pointless because I think so. What you write is pointless and extremely foolish because God’s Word says so.
Your intuition is going to come to an end; God’s Word is eternal.
If I don’t follow my heart, how can I have faith? How can I love?
If someone who is not of your faith says, “I love you”, do you say in return , “Begone, Satan?”. As they are not basing their decisions using literal interpretation of scripture, they must be controlled by Satan and are trying to sway your opinion. Also, if you say, “I am hungry”, and the buddhist / muslim/ catholic next to you says, “you should eat”, would you question your decision to eat? Please tell me if I do not understand.
But honestly, if you feel spiritually fulfilled you need not listen to me. Just expect people to oppose you when you challenge their views.
I guess why this thread interested me is that I do have strange dreams / feelings / visions etc. I used to think this was mental illness, I would be paranoid about reality and what to believe. My doctor would give me anti psychotic medication and this would usually just make me feel worse. When I started to believe that I was not crazy, that these feelings were not just crap I had to deal with and they could have a positive outcome, I felt great. Because if you believe you are crazy, you must believe that everything you think and experience could also be crazy. Music was very powerful, ideas about God and spirituality made more sense. So I guess what I am saying is, if believing a vision you had opens you up to the idea that Jesus is real and that he really did die for our sins and saves you from suicidal ideation, I cannot see how Satan orchestrated this.
Jackson m
An unbeliever cannot express godly love. So when someone who is not of the Christian faith says to you “I love” you, he cannot love you for the sake of or in the Name of Jesus Christ. The love of a Christian has one thing in mind and that is to present the Gospel to as many people as he can so that they may be saved. Are you saved?
Jackson m
To follow Christ Jesus is what God has in mind for you and not to follow your heart which is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
Visions and dreams had there role to play in the Old Testement when the Bible was not yet completed. Now that we have the complete revelation of God within the confines of 66 books, we do not need visions and dreams. That’s why God says:
The Bible is God’s love letter to you so that you may know He loves you very much and does not want you to perish.
By not addressing all of my points, by not appealing to any sort of positive emotion, by telling me the only love there is is telling people they are damned if they do not follow you, you have, somehow, won this argument. Unless you lived back then and could read aramaic and hebrew, you must know that the Bible has been through translation, which does not preserve all of the intended meaning. The fact is, the early Christians did not write the Bible for many years and the stories passed through by word of mouth. But this could be Satan too. I will not be posting anything more. Yes, I do forfeit my two cents.
People who are not completely terrified of hell just have to realize that you are going to be an annoyance and a burden.
I do hope the best for you. Oh this has no meaning to you I forgot.
Jackson m
I too hope the very best for you which to me is that you come to Jesus Christ for your salvation.
Hi Thomas,
You said this :
“Now that we have the complete revelation of God within the confines of 66 books, we do not need visions and dreams ”
If that so, what about this verse :
Act 2:17
‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.’
Peter
You should learn to read your Bible in context. The disciples were accused of being drunk. Then Peter said “For these are not drunken, as ye suppose” . . . “THIS (the things that happened on the Day of Pentecost) is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: (Acts 2:17). In other words, it was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. What about verses 19 to 20. How does that fit in with verse 17?
Thomas :
So you’re saying that those verses ONLY fulfilled in the day of pentecost? So because it’s already fulfilled then there will be no repeat of God pour out His Spirit on all people that live in these modern day, thus there should be no one who receive dreams and visions. Is this your conclusion?
Peter,
The Spirit was poured out ONCE on the Day of Pentecost. He won’t be poured out again.
So because of that, there will be no one who receive dreams and visions again after Pentecost?
Peter,
Do you have a Bible? I assume you have one. Well, if you have one, why do you need to rely on dreams and visions for your faith and spiritual growth.
I asked you what about Acts 2 verses 19 and 20? Do they also belong to verse 17? You haven’t answered me.
Peter,
TBC wrote the following:
Thomas:
You said this :
“Well, if you have one, why do you need to rely on dreams and visions for your faith and spiritual growth. – ”
Can you show me when did I ever written that I rely on dreams and visions for my spiritual growth? I never wrote that I rely on dreams and visions for my spiritual growth. Aren’t you too hasty to make a conclusion? Aren’t you judging someone because of what he hasn’t written, but only because of your own conclusions?
I will answer your question after you answer mine. You also haven’t answered my question, your answer is somewhat vague, that’s why I want a clear answer.
Again I ask this :
1. So you’re saying that those verses ONLY fulfilled in the day of pentecost? So because it’s already fulfilled then there will be no repeat of God pour out His Spirit on all people that live in these modern day, thus there should be no one who receive dreams and visions. Is this your conclusion?
2. So because of that, there will be no one who receive dreams and visions again after Pentecost?
You can answer those 2 questions with Yes or No, and you can back up your Yes or No with your reasons. But I want your clear Yes/No about those questions.
Thanks
Peter wrote:
Well, if visions and dreams have no bearing on your spiritual growth what purpose do they serve, especially when everything you need to know for your spiritual growth is in the Bible?
I said that Joel 2 was fulfilled at Pentecost on the basis of Peter’s words in Acts 2: “For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But THIS is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; (Act 2:15-16).
Visions and dreams do occur. However, as I have indicated from TBC’s articles, they do not come from God. They cannot come from God because He says:
Everything the Son wants us to know is contained in the Bible. Why do you insist that the Spirit of God must again be poured out on all flesh? It is already a fait accompli.
Have you had any visions and dreams that enhance God’s Word or have revealed something to you that is not in the Bible?
Thomas :
Again, I never say that visions and dreams have no bearing over my spiritual growth. I simply said that I don’t rely on visions and dreams for my spiritual growth. These are different things.
So based on your opinion, you’re saying that Act 2:17 that says that :
1. God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh,
2. Young men shall see visions, old men shall dream dreams
are already fulfilled at the Day of Pentecost, and therefore wouldn’t happened again in these modern day. And also visions and dreams have ceased since we have the complete written Word of God in 66 books, am I correct?
If that’s what happened, then :
1. Why Peter saw vision in Act 10:9-16, Paul saw vision about Macedonian in Act 16:9, John saw visions at Patmos island, this events were happened far after the Pentecost.
2. Why the Bible says, “In the last days”, not “In the last day”. Why using plural and not singular? If Act 2:17 meant to be fulfilled only at the Day of Pentecost, the Bible should say, “In the last day”, since it was meant to be fulfilled ONLY at the Day of Pentecost. But the Bible says “In the last days”, so it must mean that there will be many days in which these events will take place. It isn’t meant to be limited to be happened only at the Day of Pentecost. It’s like a time span, from the Day of Pentecost until today, it can be included as “the last days”.
3. Are there any scriptures that says that visions and dreams will stop the day we got a complete written Word of God in 66 books? If there are none, aren’t you basing your opinion not on the scripture but based on your own conclusions?
As for the story that you quoted from TBC, I can say that it wasn’t from God because it contradicts the Bible. The bible clearly said that the dead cannot communicate with the living. But this doesn’t mean that we should generalize every dreams/visions not to be from God. We should look case by case and test it whether it contradicts the Bible or not.
Hebrew 1:1-2 that you quoted didn’t say that “God doesn’t speak to us by the prophets again but ONLY by His Son”. Those verses simply say that while in the past God spoke through the prophets, in these last days God has spoke to us through His Son. It can mean that God speak to us through the prophets AND through His Son too. So this verses can’t be used to judge that any visions/dreams are not from God.
And I had never have any visions and dreams. But I don’t hastily say that anyone who has visions/dreams are not from God.
Peter,
If visions and dreams do have a bearing on your spiritual growth, then by all means pursue visions and dreams. But then you will have to make a dicision. Are you going to rely on the Word of God which “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Pe 1:3), or are you going to rely on on visions and dreams instead?
When Peter received a vision from God the Bible had not been written in its entirety yet. Peter was still engrossed in Old Testament Jewish beliefs that they were superior to the Gentiles. God had to teach him a lesson. Don’t think that everything that is written in the Bible needs to be emulated or is an example of what Christians ought to do today. King David was a man after God’s own heart and committed adultery and murder. Are you going to emulate him because it is written in the Bible?
Paul was given a vision because he forgot his laptop at home and was unable to communicate with someone in Macedonia. John was given visions of the last days on the island of Patmos for the very same reason. What makes you think your visions and dreams are going to enhance John’s last days visions? I am being sarcastic because I am trying to get through to you but nothing seems to help. Everything God wanted to say in visions and dreams to Peter, Paul and John are now in the Bible and all you have to do is to read your Bible and to believe it. You seem to think that you must believe your visions and dreams as much as you do your Bible. That’s very dangerous, as Col;ton Burpo’s experience clearly demonstrates. Deborah, the author of the article, has meticulously shown you how many deceptive and unbiblical things are in his experience and still you prefer to listen to him and his parents instead of in God’s Word.
Look, I don’t have the time to answer all your accusations that TBC is wrong and that my interpretation of Hebrews is also wrong. But let me say something about your TBC attack. That’s precisely why people are forbidden to try and communicate with the dead because, as you said, the dead cannot communicate with the living, and because demons are masquerading as their family members they are in fact communicating with the devil and his demons. With a single stroke of the brush you have proved that Colton’s experience was not of God but of the devil and his demons.
You are lying to say you’ve never had a dream.
Thomas,
This is the same with my 3rd questions. Where in the Bible that says that vision must stop to exist the day this scripture written in entirety? If there are none, then how can you boldly say something like that? Also, how do you know that the Bible that we have now is complete? That it has been written in its entirety? Is it because of men’s council, or is it from the scripture?
Again, I think you love to believe that I had visions and dreams and believe them, when in fact I don’t. You also make a judgment that I prefer to listen to Colton and his parents, when in fact, I even haven’t read that book. How can you make that quick judgement? Is it because I don’t believe that visions and dreams are ceased today?
Because of that you make a far jump in your assumptions that I must be following Colton and his parents? Wow…you are too quick to make an assumptions and judgements
I also don’t accuse that TBC is wrong. I said the STORY, the experience of having someone who was already dead coming to you is the wrong one, not the TBC. What I’m trying to say is, you can’t make that one TBC’s article as a general reference to decide that dreams must be from devil. You need to test them first, see them case by case.
Okay, I got your point on this. But what I mean is not ordinary dreams, but dreams that I relied upon for my spiritual growth. I mean, come on, of course everybody ever have a dream when they sleep. But because we speak dreams in the context of dreams that making someone got a vision about the future, or dreams about spiritual being, etc..you know what I mean right? That kind of dreams I never have. That’s why how many times I said I don’t rely on dreams and visions, but again, I don’t hastily say that someone who got dreams or visions must be got it from the devil because visions and dreams must stop to exist.
If you don’t have the time now, take your time until you can reply me. The questions number 2 and 3 also still haven’t been answered too.
Peter wrote,
You are treading om dangerous ground to think the Bible is not complete. In fact, those who think the Bible is not complete are usually those who think visions and dreams are given to either enhance or to fill in the alleged gaps in the Bible.
You wrote:
To believe that visions and dreams have not ceased is just another way of saying Colton Burpo’s experience could have come from God.
If you cannot see that I have answered your questions then there is no point in continuing this discussion.
Well,
About the completion of the Bible.
The verses that you were quoted didn’t indicate any of that, they just simply said that the scripture is inspired by God, but nothing in it that say that the Bible that we have now is complete. Therefore I want to ask which sources that make you believe that the Bible that we have now is complete? Is it from the Bible or from men? If it’s from the Bible please show me. But, okay, if you can’t state the Bible verse, then let’s assume that the Bible that we have now is complete. But still there are these questions
I still can’t see your answer for my question number 2, and you still haven’t state which Bible verse say that visions and dreams must stop the day the scripture written completely. If you can’t show the Bible verses for this, how can you decide that visions and dreams have ceased to exist today, and why did you dare to judge other people who have different conclusion with yours a false teacher? If you still can’t show the bible verse for this, then of course, there’s no point in continuing this discussion
Peter,
What would you like to see added to the Bible to make it complete?
The very first verse in the Bible is ” In the beginning God . . .” and it ends with “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” (Rev 22:18-21).
What more do you want?
Peter wrote,
How dare I . . .? First of all I did not judge the person or persons. I judged their teaching – their doctrines.
How dare I . . .? Secondly God commands me to judge.
1 Corinthians 2:15 Amplified Bible (AMP)
How dare I . . .? And finally because Jesus commanded us to be vigilant.
And with that I close my case. You remind me of this: