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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
This short book is about a little boy's "near-death experience". It was sweet and encouraging to read about his descriptions of heaven. I loved the addition of photos. The one piece I felt was missing is some kind of follow up with the surgeon. Were there complications during surgery that were not reported in his medical files?
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Heaven Is for Real by Todd Burpo
I got this book from a friend, and it's been on my reading list since 2022, but I didn't get around to finish it. So I decided it's time to just started this very short book - a little over a 160 pages, or a little more than 4 hours if you listen to it.
Short synopsis: this book is about a little boy who was very sick and he had a near death experience, and then he lived to tell. While almost passing to the other side, he saw Jesus, he had conversations with Jesus and God and angels and his dead relatives, or his unborn sister, which his parents actually miscarriaged. If the whole story is true, it's a very interesting concept, however, I feel that it delves too much into the religious part of the whole experience and trying to get depict the fact that, in order to go to heaven, you have to believe in Jesus. It's also worth mentioning that the father of the this little boy is a christian pastor and his beliefs and his way of thinking might have influenced his son's mind to the point that he took a different approach on this experience. I don't know, and it's not very clear in a book, but this is my personal feeling. I also don't want to talk about religion and stir any controversy. I just wanna say that I don't know how I feel about that, but it's a concept that it provoked so much controversy throughout the history, and it's a concept that is still very disputable with many, many controversies about it.
Overall, of course being a nonfiction book, and being written by the father of this little kid, I can say this is not a literary masterpiece, but I have to give him credit for how well he wrote this book. I'm not talking about the structure, which is a little all over the place, and I'm not talking about the chronological illustration of the events, which I wasn't a big fan of either, but the way he actually uses English language to write the story. I have to say that this was way better written than most of the memoirs or autobiographies that I read so far. But I still don't know if I would recommend it. I mean, if you're into this kind of books, yes - I'm not. But, overall, if you want to see a different perspective to this whole subject of near-death experience, maybe you want to read it?
Happy reading, everyone! 😊
I got this book from a friend, and it's been on my reading list since 2022, but I didn't get around to finish it. So I decided it's time to just started this very short book - a little over a 160 pages, or a little more than 4 hours if you listen to it.
Short synopsis: this book is about a little boy who was very sick and he had a near death experience, and then he lived to tell. While almost passing to the other side, he saw Jesus, he had conversations with Jesus and God and angels and his dead relatives, or his unborn sister, which his parents actually miscarriaged. If the whole story is true, it's a very interesting concept, however, I feel that it delves too much into the religious part of the whole experience and trying to get depict the fact that, in order to go to heaven, you have to believe in Jesus. It's also worth mentioning that the father of the this little boy is a christian pastor and his beliefs and his way of thinking might have influenced his son's mind to the point that he took a different approach on this experience. I don't know, and it's not very clear in a book, but this is my personal feeling. I also don't want to talk about religion and stir any controversy. I just wanna say that I don't know how I feel about that, but it's a concept that it provoked so much controversy throughout the history, and it's a concept that is still very disputable with many, many controversies about it.
Overall, of course being a nonfiction book, and being written by the father of this little kid, I can say this is not a literary masterpiece, but I have to give him credit for how well he wrote this book. I'm not talking about the structure, which is a little all over the place, and I'm not talking about the chronological illustration of the events, which I wasn't a big fan of either, but the way he actually uses English language to write the story. I have to say that this was way better written than most of the memoirs or autobiographies that I read so far. But I still don't know if I would recommend it. I mean, if you're into this kind of books, yes - I'm not. But, overall, if you want to see a different perspective to this whole subject of near-death experience, maybe you want to read it?
Happy reading, everyone! 😊
i cried so much while reading this
if you're ever doubting your faith, READ THIS!!!
if you're ever doubting your faith, READ THIS!!!
I am not rating this but I will say that this is pure indoctrination in my opinion
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
In an effort to clear out some "to-reads" that I've had on my shelf since I joined goodreads years ago, I picked this low-hanging fruit from my library. Skinny, quick read; however, I was not prepared for the impact of my brain digesting this story. I guess my main thought going in was is this a credible story or not. And yes, for the most part, the fact that he recognized his grandfather, and he was able to relay odd details of the experience make it seem fairly credible. However, to my horror, the heaven that he seems to have visited is the Christian heaven I was brought up to believe in as a young girl attending a Lutheran K-8 for my formative years. There are people with wings. A triple throne where God the father, Jesus, and an amorphous blue blob, the Holy Spirit, reign. What will we be doing in heaven? Visiting with dead great grandparents, it seems. Unless you're a lucky enough kid to be doing schoolwork with Jesus! What do women do in heaven? Well, they can't fight in the great fight against Satan, to send him back to hell. They just have to watch the men fight with swords. Mary, mother of Jesus is described as kneeling at his feet. Or standing silently by his side. As far as diversity in heaven, a question is asked in the back about Jewish folks. The answer is NO, don't expect ANYONE who hasn't accepted the Christian Jesus to be there. So...a majority of the world's population, people from other countries and other religions are just...not there.
Another thing that really bothered me, as a scientist, is the animals. Sure, there are animals. A lion. A dog. And a horse with a rainbow mane. WHAT? So do animals go to heaven, or not? Are there wasps? Things that have gone extinct? What is the predator/ prey situation like? If one animal is there, I feel like they ALL should be there. Living in perfectly balanced, pristine ecosystems. I guess I would go there, despite other flawed situations, IF I could see a passenger pigeon migration. And sit in a cloud forest ecosystem circa 1900.
This book literally gave me an apocalypse nightmare. If this is heaven for everyone, no thanks. It felt like I was trapped in the 90s, in a white Christian male version of "perfection". I prefer my 7 year-old's afterlife ambition, which is to be come back as our family dog. Maybe, hopefully, what happens when you die is you go to wherever you believe you go. That is the only way I can digest the conundrum of what seems like a credible experience for this Christian pastor's child. Maybe he did actually go to "his" heaven. And maybe we will all get to go to our own heaven when we die. But I guess I have learned, I don't really want to go to anyone else's heaven.
Another thing that really bothered me, as a scientist, is the animals. Sure, there are animals. A lion. A dog. And a horse with a rainbow mane. WHAT? So do animals go to heaven, or not? Are there wasps? Things that have gone extinct? What is the predator/ prey situation like? If one animal is there, I feel like they ALL should be there. Living in perfectly balanced, pristine ecosystems. I guess I would go there, despite other flawed situations, IF I could see a passenger pigeon migration. And sit in a cloud forest ecosystem circa 1900.
This book literally gave me an apocalypse nightmare. If this is heaven for everyone, no thanks. It felt like I was trapped in the 90s, in a white Christian male version of "perfection". I prefer my 7 year-old's afterlife ambition, which is to be come back as our family dog. Maybe, hopefully, what happens when you die is you go to wherever you believe you go. That is the only way I can digest the conundrum of what seems like a credible experience for this Christian pastor's child. Maybe he did actually go to "his" heaven. And maybe we will all get to go to our own heaven when we die. But I guess I have learned, I don't really want to go to anyone else's heaven.
I read this book in one afternoon. I'm not sure if it will change what I believe or how I view my faith but it did leave some lasting impressions. I'm still absorbing some of the details and I want to read it again just so I am clear about what Colton says. It has made me both hopeful and skeptical at the same time. I know what my next pick for my book club will be! It certainly generates interesting discussion.
I picked this book up for a family member, but wanted to read it before sending it. When I finished it I didn't want to give up my copy, and bought 2 more to send to family members. A very comforting story.