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Friday, May 20, 2011

Review: Heaven is For Real

 So I had a delicious sweet potato biscuit recipe lined up for today's post, then I read this book and suddenly sweet potato biscuits seemed trivial. Sweet potato biscuits will debut next week, but let's talk about heaven now.

Just to testify to the goodness of the book, I started reading it at 6:00 p.m. yesterday and finished at 9:30, taking a break for dinner. And I'm a slow reader. That's how good it was. I couldn't put it down! 

If I give a summary of the book, I'll give away the whole book because I'm just too stinkin' excited about some of the details. The back of the book talks about Colton (the almost 4 year old who went to heaven during a life-threatening surgery) seeing his sister who had been miscarried before Colton was even born and meeting his great grandfather, Pop, who also died before Colton was born (try 30 years before he was born!). Colton also talks about Jesus, His Dad, and the Holy Spirit - who shoots down power from heaven to us. Crazy. Okay, so I didn't really give anything more away than what's on the back of the book, but seriously, there are so many more details Colton gives about heaven that are mind blowing and completely biblical. The best part of Colton's recollection of heaven is that its entirely innocent. He retells details about heaven the way any 4 year old would, making it simple but so incredibly beautiful.

Heaven is For Real just confirmed how capable young children are of understanding and grasping the Gospel. Colton gets the Gospel and is extremely concerned that people know Jesus so they can "be with his Dad." One of my biggest issues with the church and Christian parents is how children are often coddled and babied spiritually. Often times, kids are so much more ready to accept spiritual truths than parents or children's church workers give them credit for. Colton wasn't even 4 years old when he got to see heaven for real. The book discusses another 4 year old Lithuanian girl who receives visions of heaven - and her mom was an athiest! The little girl had never even heard of God. I accepted Jesus as my Savior when I was 4. Looking back now, that seems entirely crazy - I was a baby! But it was legit. Four years old is definitely not too young for a child to understand the Gospel.
Seeing young kids capable of grasping the Gospel makes me incredibly excited to get to be around children of all ages this summer and hopefully challenge them spiritually!

With every new chapter I read, I kept thinking of various people in my life who have to read this book. So, if you fall under any of these categories, you should definitely pick this book up today!
  • If you've ever had a miscarriage
  • If you work with kids in any capacity (children's ministers, nursery workers, etc.)
  • If you have kids or think you may some day be a parent
  • If you have a hard time visualizing what heaven is like and are just plain curious
  • If you've ever lost someone you love
  • If you're interested in the end times/Revelation
  • If you work with older people
  • If you love Jesus - the way Colton describes Jesus is so tender and loving, it's impossible that it doesn't not revitalize your love for Jesus and make you realize his crazy love for you
  • If you don't love Jesus and don't believe in Him - this book will at least give you some perspective of what Christians believe in terms of eternity   
  • If you love rainbows! (sounds weird, but you need to read it too!) 
Hopefully that covers everyone, because seriously everyone needs to read this book. Heaven is For Real is hands down the best non-fiction Christian book I've ever read. It's so simple and innocent and honestly, at parts, hilarious because it's all from the perspective of a 4 year old.

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