I have discovered over the years, that life can be challenging. God desires to sustain us as we look for "splashes of His grace" every day. My desire is that through posts, or book reviews, you may find something that points you to the grace of God, and that He ultimately will make a difference in your life.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

Heaven is for Real is the story of  Colton Burpo's "visit to heaven" during an emergency appendectomy when he was about 4 years old. Todd Burpo, his father, who was pastoring a church in Imperial, Nebraska slowly discovered Colton's story through casual conversations that revealed information that a boy his age wouldn't naturally have known. The process took place over a couple of years and as they shared parts of Colton's story with friends, family, and churches, they were encouraged to write a book about it.

I found Colton's story fascinating. We often talk about heaven and believe we will go there after we die if we have trusted in Jesus as our Savior, but if we are honest, not many of us can say with certainty what it will be like. Scripture speaks about heaven, but sometimes even Scripture can seem veiled.  There is no way to know for sure if Colton actually visited heaven, but his account made me hope that his experience was fairly accurate. His description of Jesus and His love for children made me smile.

The Deluxe Edition, which I received to review, also contains a center section with color picutures of Colton and his family. It was nice to be able to put a face to the names mentioned in the book.  Also included in this edition was a series of questions at the end of the book in a section titled, "Reflecting on Heaven," which could stimulate further thoughts about heaven.

Overall, I found this book to be an interesting and fairly quick read.  It definitely makes you think about heaven in a more personal way.  I personally believe heaven is real and only time will tell if Colton's description of heaven is accurate!

I received a complementary copy of this book through the BookSneeze blogger program in exchange for my unbiased review.