Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past couple of months, someone has likely told you about the most recent evangelical publishing phenomenon: "Heaven is for Real." Authored by Todd Burpo, a pastor from Nebraska, and writer Lynn Vincent, the book tells the story of a four-year old boy who claims to have been near death, gone to heaven, and come back to tell his story.
The boy, Colton, was rushed to the hospital with a burst appendix -- a scenario to which I can relate since I went to the hospital at age four under exactly the same circumstances. But while I woke up wanting to talk to my Grandpa Taylor about Evel Knievel, Colton came back saying that while he was in surgery, he went to heaven and had experiences with various biblical figures and yes, Jesus Himself.
Initially, Colton's stories about his time in heaven were met with caution by his parents, but the detail with which he described the events baffled Todd and Sonja, his father and mother. While Colton was only "there" in heaven for about three minutes, he purportedly: sat on Jesus' lap, heard about a coming battle with Satan at the end of the world, reported that Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father, realized that God is a Trinity of persons, and learned that no one grows old in heaven, among other things.
Thomas Nelson picked up the book produced from Colton's episodes. To say that it went gangbusters would be the publishing understatement of the decade. It had sold well over 1.5 million copies, prompting The New York Times to cover the story since the title had raced to the No. 1 position on its paperback nonfiction list. The phenomenon got so big it even caught the attention of Oprah. Boom
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