Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo, Sonja Burpo, Lynn Vincent, Colton Burpo Page B
Tags: Religión, General, Christian Theology, Inspirational, Christianity, Parapsychology, Body; Mind & Spirit, Christian Life, Religious aspects, heaven, Near-Death Experiences - Religious Aspects - Christianity, Near-Death Experience, Near-Death Experiences, Heaven - Christianity, Burpo; Colton, Eschatology
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while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.2
Some of those precious stones are of colors that are familiar to us: the rich violet of amethyst, the brilliant green of emerald, the translucent gold of topaz, the depthless black of onyx. Others are less common: chrysolite, which is light to olive green; jacinth, a transparent red. Beryl occurs in many colors, from light pink to deep green to aquamarine.
With its unfamiliar gemstones, Johns description is so exotic to us that we have to look up the minerals to find out what colors he was talking about; grown-up theologians want to be precise. But if a kid saw all those colors, he might sum them up in one simple word: rainbow.
So when, in the spring of 2004, the most brilliant rainbow wed ever seen appeared over Imperial, we called him outside to take a look.
Sonja was the first to see it. By then, she was just a few weeks pregnant with the baby we now considered definitively as our fourth child. It was a warm, sunny day, and shed gone to open the front door and let the freshness into the house. Hey, you guys, come see this! she called.
From the kitchen, I crossed the dining room to the front door and was astonished to see a rainbow so bright, so vivid, that it looked like an artists painting of the Perfect Rainbow. Or a kid with a brand-new box of crayons illustrating his science lesson: ROY G BIV. Every color sharply divided from the next, and the whole arc blazing against a perfectly blue sky.
Did it rain and I missed it? I asked Sonja.
She laughed. I dont think so.
Colton was down the hall in the playroom. Hey, Colton, I called. Come out and take a look at this.
He emerged from the playroom and joined us on the front stoop.
Look at that rainbow, Colton, Sonja said. There definitely should be a big pot of gold at the end of that thing.
Colton squinted, peering up at colors pouring across the sky.
Cool, he said with a nonchalant smile. I prayed for that yesterday.
Then he turned on his heel and went back to play.
Sonja and I looked at each other like, What just happened? And later we talked again about the pure-faith prayers of a child. Ask and it will be given to you, Jesus said. He put that instruction in the context of a child asking a father for a blessing.
Heaven is for real
Page: 38
Colton Burpo hadnt seen a rainbow in a while, so he asked his heavenly Father to send one. Faith like a child. Maybe, Sonja and I thought, we had a lot to learn from our son.
TWENTY DYING AND LIVING
The spring of 2004 marked a year since Coltons hospital stay. That year, Good Friday fell in April, and in just another month, Colton would be five years old. I always enjoyed Good Friday because Id do what I called a come-and-go family Communion. That meant that I would hang out at the church for a couple of hours, and families would come and take Communion together. I liked it for a couple of reasons. For one thing, it gave our church families a chance to spend some special time together during Holy Week. Also, it gave me a chance to ask individual families about their prayer needs and pray with the whole family right on the spot.
That morning, I needed to run some errands, so I put Cassie and Colton in my red Chevy truck and drove the few blocks into town. Still small enough to need a booster seat, Colton rode next to me, and Cassie sat by the window. As we drove down Broadway, the main street through town, I was mulling over my responsibilities for the day, thinking ahead to the family Communion service. Then I realized it was a religious holiday and I had a captive audience right there in the truck.
Hey, Colton, today is Good Friday, I
Some of those precious stones are of colors that are familiar to us: the rich violet of amethyst, the brilliant green of emerald, the translucent gold of topaz, the depthless black of onyx. Others are less common: chrysolite, which is light to olive green; jacinth, a transparent red. Beryl occurs in many colors, from light pink to deep green to aquamarine.
With its unfamiliar gemstones, Johns description is so exotic to us that we have to look up the minerals to find out what colors he was talking about; grown-up theologians want to be precise. But if a kid saw all those colors, he might sum them up in one simple word: rainbow.
So when, in the spring of 2004, the most brilliant rainbow wed ever seen appeared over Imperial, we called him outside to take a look.
Sonja was the first to see it. By then, she was just a few weeks pregnant with the baby we now considered definitively as our fourth child. It was a warm, sunny day, and shed gone to open the front door and let the freshness into the house. Hey, you guys, come see this! she called.
From the kitchen, I crossed the dining room to the front door and was astonished to see a rainbow so bright, so vivid, that it looked like an artists painting of the Perfect Rainbow. Or a kid with a brand-new box of crayons illustrating his science lesson: ROY G BIV. Every color sharply divided from the next, and the whole arc blazing against a perfectly blue sky.
Did it rain and I missed it? I asked Sonja.
She laughed. I dont think so.
Colton was down the hall in the playroom. Hey, Colton, I called. Come out and take a look at this.
He emerged from the playroom and joined us on the front stoop.
Look at that rainbow, Colton, Sonja said. There definitely should be a big pot of gold at the end of that thing.
Colton squinted, peering up at colors pouring across the sky.
Cool, he said with a nonchalant smile. I prayed for that yesterday.
Then he turned on his heel and went back to play.
Sonja and I looked at each other like, What just happened? And later we talked again about the pure-faith prayers of a child. Ask and it will be given to you, Jesus said. He put that instruction in the context of a child asking a father for a blessing.
Heaven is for real
Page: 38
Colton Burpo hadnt seen a rainbow in a while, so he asked his heavenly Father to send one. Faith like a child. Maybe, Sonja and I thought, we had a lot to learn from our son.
TWENTY DYING AND LIVING
The spring of 2004 marked a year since Coltons hospital stay. That year, Good Friday fell in April, and in just another month, Colton would be five years old. I always enjoyed Good Friday because Id do what I called a come-and-go family Communion. That meant that I would hang out at the church for a couple of hours, and families would come and take Communion together. I liked it for a couple of reasons. For one thing, it gave our church families a chance to spend some special time together during Holy Week. Also, it gave me a chance to ask individual families about their prayer needs and pray with the whole family right on the spot.
That morning, I needed to run some errands, so I put Cassie and Colton in my red Chevy truck and drove the few blocks into town. Still small enough to need a booster seat, Colton rode next to me, and Cassie sat by the window. As we drove down Broadway, the main street through town, I was mulling over my responsibilities for the day, thinking ahead to the family Communion service. Then I realized it was a religious holiday and I had a captive audience right there in the truck.
Hey, Colton, today is Good Friday, I
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