Friends of yours watch Heaven Is For Real and ask you about it?

[DennisTate]

How should you react?

Back in 1988 I might have quoted about Satan appearing as a angel of light and then taken them to some verses in Ecclesiastes that at the time seemed pretty direct and straightforward to me.

I no longer think that way at all.

Now I am sure that three year old Colton Burpo is an extremely credible witness and that he had the same type of experience that the Apostle Paul reports in II Corinthians 12:2-4.

2Corinthians 12:1 - 4

¶
It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth ; such an one caught up to the third heaven

And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth ;

How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter."

 

[DennisTate]

Back in 1988 when I was a firm believer in the "soul sleep" doctrine I would have probably figured that what Colton saw must somehow fit with:
2Corinthians 11:14

"And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light."

My beliefs were so dogmatic because I took the following statements as the final word on the state of the dead:



Ecclesiastes 9:5

"For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten."

 

[DennisTate]

Now my opinion is that Heaven is for Real, both the book and the movie, is God intervening and taking the world closer to the time when:


Jeremiah 31:34

"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

What Colton saw during those few minutes in which he flatlined fits with:

Luke 23:43

And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

 

[Divide]

He's credible. When I watched the testimonial video about it, God quickened my spirit to let me know it was true. Also later when I watched the movie.

 

[YesMe]

Here's a story of mine, after an accident I had, miraculously with no injury, I tried to seek help at a bar, when I opened the front door, there was the waitress and 3 other men.She was without words, the terror could be read on my face, but these 3 other people, started to laught at me, when I turn my eyes to them, their faces were black and melting down ( take a look at the image below, it's very close to what I've seen, but this is far less creepy ).It was the devil, no doubt, the terror I felt was beyond words... so close I was to death, so close... By the way, the waitress was normal, just scared.God saved me from death two times, first time when I had the accident and then when I was face to face with the evil one.

This is real, it happened several years ago.This is my testimony, sorry for being a little offtopic, I just want to point that the supernatural world is very real.

 

[DennisTate]

He's credible. When I watched the testimonial video about it, God quickened my spirit to let me know it was true. Also later when I watched the movie.

I feel exactly the same way. I read the book before seeing the movie but I would highly recommend both book and movie to anybody that you know who is asking questions.

Colton himself is a man of relatively few word but what he says is with great conviction. I am so glad that his mom and dad took him seriously and searched the scriptures to find out if what he was reporting could be true..... and in my opinion they are correct that his testimony can reach many people and bring them to Messiah Yeshua - Jesus.

 

[DennisTate]

Here's a story of mine, after an accident I had, miraculously with no injury, I tried to seek help at a bar, when I opened the front door, there was the waitress and 3 other men.She was without words, the terror could be read on my face, but these 3 other people, started to laught at me, when I turn my eyes to them, their faces were black and melting down ( take a look at the image below, it's very close to what I've seen, but this is far less creepy ).It was the devil, no doubt, the terror I felt was beyond words... so close I was to death, so close... By the way, the waitress was normal, just scared.God saved me from death two times, first time when I had the accident and then when I was face to face with the evil one.

This is real, it happened several years ago.This is my testimony, sorry for being a little offtopic, I just want to point that the supernatural world is very real.

I agree.... former Atheist Howard Storm has a scary testimony that has already brought thousands of people to belief in God.

I read his book My Descent Into Death several years ago and in my opinion, like little Colton, Howard Storm Ph. D. is an exceptionally credible witness of both hell....... and heaven!

Reverend Howard Storm's Near-Death Experience

Before his near-death experience, Howard Storm atwww.howardstorm.com was a Professor of Art at Northern Kentucky University, was not a very pleasant man by his own admission. He was an avowed atheist and was hostile to every form of religion and those who practiced it. He often would use rage to control everyone around him and he didn’t find joy in anything. Anything that wasn’t seen, touched or felt, he had no faith in. He knew with certainty that the material world was the full extent of everything that was. He considered all belief systems associated with religion to be fantasies for people to deceive themselves with. Beyond what science said, there was nothing else. But then on June 1, 1985, at the age of 38, Howard Storm’s had a near-death experience due to a perforation of the stomach and his life was since forever changed. His near-death experience is one of the most profound, if not the most profound, afterlife experience I have ever documented. His life was so immensely changed after his near-death experience, he resigned as a professor and devoted his time attending the United Theological Seminary to become a United Church of Christ minister. Today, Howard Storm is presently happily married to his wife Marcia and is Pastor of the Covington United Church of Christ in Covington, Ohio.

 

[Divide]

I feel exactly the same way. I read the book before seeing the movie but I would highly recommend both book and movie to anybody that you know who is asking questions.

Colton himself is a man of relatively few word but what he says is with great conviction. I am so glad that his mom and dad took him seriously and searched the scriptures to find out if what he was reporting could be true..... and in my opinion they are correct that his testimony can reach many people and bring them to Messiah Yeshua - Jesus.

Yeah I started weeping during the movie when Colton recounted meeting his sister in heaven, who died in her mother's womb. Boy that must've knocked his mom for a loop to hear that.

 

[DennisTate]

This video has already been viewed by over two million people.

 

[DennisTate]

Yeah I started weeping during the movie when Colton recounted meeting his sister in heaven, who died in her mother's womb. Boy that must've knocked his mom for a loop to hear that.

Exactly...... I get the feeling if it were not for that detail about his miscarried sister, what Colton had told his mom and dad about the afterlife might never have became a book. That detail is what blew their minds and convinced them to write down what he was reporting.

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

.

 

[DennisTate]

It is interesting that Pastor Todd Burpo admits in this interview that although he believed in heaven..... he had serious doubts about near death experiences.

 

[DennisTate]

I'm wary of any near death experience reports. They are rarely consistent and having a brief death is a gold, platinum, and kryptonite opportunity to make up whatever you want and have people reward you for it with money and attention.

Paul saw Heaven and he was not allowed to describe it. Heaven itself was indescribable.

"I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell." ~ 2 Corinthians 12:1-4

"However, as it is written: "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" -- the things God has prepared for those who love him--" 1 Corinthians 2:9

My advice is that if they can describe Heaven and they're making money off of it, then avoid it at all costs.

Many near death experiencers are in a state of awe for about a decade over what they saw and felt while in the out of the body state.

I believe that what Paul considered "unlawful to be uttered" at the time that he wrote II Corinthians....... he had came to terms with and was beginning to explain much later on in his life when he wrote Romans, especially chapter 11.

For Pastor Todd Burpo to ignore what his son was telling him and his wife he would have had to deny the power of personal testimony to transform lives.

Revelation 12:11

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

Why do you think many influential people were plotting to put Lazarus to death?

Basically...... it could be because Lazarus had a personal testimony, after four days of being dead........ that was shaking the Roman Province of Judaea to its core.

John 12:10

But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also,"

 

[Divide]

I agree.... former Atheist Howard Storm has a scary testimony that has already brought thousands of people to belief in God.

I read his book My Descent Into Death several years ago and in my opinion, like little Colton, Howard Storm Ph. D. is an exceptionally credible witness of both hell....... and heaven!

Reverend Howard Storm's Near-Death Experience

Now that was awesome. A little scary in places, and extremely informative and edifying overall. It's also very true. God quickened my spirit big time as I read it.

 

[DennisTate]

Could this be very close to the ideas that Paul considered "unlawful to be uttered" at the time that he wrote II Corinthians 12?


Romans 11:1 (NKJV)

Romans 11:26

"And so all Israel will be saved,[fn] as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;

For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins"

.....

Rom 11:32

"For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all."

 

[Divide]

Exactly...... I get the feeling if it were not for that detail about his miscarried sister, what Colton had told his mom and dad about the afterlife might never have became a book. That detail is what blew their minds and convinced them to write down what he was reporting.

Yeah right. They never told him that she had had a miscarriage...why would they. People just don't do that.

 

[DennisTate]

Now that was awesome. A little scary in places, and extremely informative and edifying overall. It's also very true. God quickened my spirit big time as I read it.

Pastor Howard Storm was given visions of the future that fit so well with what was predicted in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the minor prophets that I was shocked.

It is all about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all flesh!

near-death.com/experiences/notable/howard-storm.html#a04

Howard Storm....."The image of the future that they gave me then, and it was their image, not one that I created, surprised me. My image had previously been sort of like Star Wars, where everything was space age, plastics, and technology.



The future that they showed me was almost no technology at all. What everybody, absolutely everybody, in this euphoric future spent most of their time doing was raising children. The chief concern of people was children, and everybody considered children to be the most precious commodity in the world.



And when a person became an adult, there was no sense of anxiety, nor hatred, nor competition.



There was this enormous sense of trust and mutual respect. If a person, in this view of the future, became disturbed, then the community of people all cared about the disturbed person falling away from the harmony of the group. Spiritually, through prayer and love, the others would elevate the afflicted person.



What people did with the rest of their time was that they gardened, with almost no physical effort. They showed me that plants, with prayer, would produce huge fruits and vegetables.



People, in unison, could control the climate of the planet through prayer. Everybody would work with mutual trust and the people would call the rain, when needed, and the sun to shine.



Animals lived with people, in harmony.

...
.....

Howard Storm's light being friends told him more about the new world to come. According to them, God wished to usher in the kingdom within the next two hundred years. In order to do so, God had rescinded some of the free will given to creatures, in favor of more divine control over human events. This new world order, according to Howard, will resemble some near-death descriptions of heaven. People will live in such peace and harmony and love that communication will be telepathic, travel instantaneous and the need for clothing and shelter eliminated. The lion will indeed lie down with the lamb.

 

[Divide]

Could this be very close to the ideas that Paul considered "unlawful to be uttered" at the time that he wrote II Corinthians 12?


Romans 11:1 (NKJV)

Romans 11:26

"And so all Israel will be saved,[fn] as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;

For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins"

.....

Rom 11:32

"For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all."

I don't think so. I studied that out before, and unlawful to be uttered really means unable to be articulated. As in, no words for it to be expressed.

 

[Divide]

Pastor Howard Storm was given visions of the future that fit so well with what was predicted in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the minor prophets that I was shocked.

It is all about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all flesh!

near-death.com/experiences/notable/howard-storm.html#a04

...
.....

Yeah that talk about being able to feel others emotions and stuff...I believe that I am (barely) starting to be able to do this. It seems to happen sometimes...it's not always welcome or even nice...but happens.

I am definitely changing over time. I see it and feel it.

 

[DennisTate]

Yeah that talk about being able to feel others emotions and stuff...I believe that I am (barely) starting to be able to do this. It seems to happen sometimes...it's not always welcome or even nice...but happens.

I am definitely changing over time. I see it and feel it.

My wife is a gifted Pentecostal from Ecuador who also has these gifts so I do have a clue about what you are talking about.

The Bride of Messiah is being raised up to a whole new level of love, wisdom and power.