Presby-Musings

Last week I went to see Heaven Is For Real , the newest faith-based film that has been marketed heavily to churches, and church-going folk.  It rounds out a spring filled with similar kinds of movies like  God's Not Dead  and of course  The Son of God.   If you notice I left off Noah , you are very perceptive.  While it's based on the Old Testament Flood account, Noah  doesn't really fall in to the same category as the three aforementioned films.   And it stunk up the screen, so there's that.   So here's the thing, I was prepared not to really like Heaven Is For Real, which is based on the New York Times bestselling book of the same name.  The film loosely follows the story line of the book, which was a true story of the Burpo family and their son Colton who had a near-death experience and saw heaven, met dead family members and talked with Jesus.   I've seen too many Christian-marketed movies to know that my ex...

I have been in his brightest shining heaven and seen such things that no man, once returned from there, has wit or skill to tell about.           - Dante from  Paradiso "Peter," said Lucy, "where is this, do you suppose?" "I don't know," said the High King.  "It reminds me of somewhere, but I can't give it a name.  Could it be somewhere we once stayed for a holiday when we were very, very small?"          - C.S. Lewis from The Last Battle What is Heaven like?  What can we learn from visions of Heaven that will give us a renewed sense of purpose here on earth?  How can we defy that old saying, Christians are so heavenly minded, "they are no earthly good?" A Spirit-filled vision of Heaven should give us hope for the future, and a purpose for the present.  When we go to the Bible we find some interesting visions of Heaven... In Isaiah 2:2-4 we have this description of Heaven from the prop...

As part of my research on Heaven these past couple of weeks, I have had the chance to read more than my fair share of books on the subject. Here is a short list of the more "popular" books about Heaven with brief reviews of each: Heaven Is For Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story Of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent. [Thomas Nelson, 2010] This New York Times Bestseller became a phenomenon, selling millions of copies and garnering a great deal of attention.  The book recounts the experiences of young Colton Burpo, who "died" and went to heaven during a severe illness.  Later, he began to relate his memories of the event to his parents, who were astounded by what they believed to be unexplainable details in his stories.  This is an easy read that could be finished in an afternoon.  I have to admit, I was slightly underwhelmed by this book.  I expected a great deal more out of it than I received, to be honest.  I can definit...

What is Heaven like? Is it where God lives?  A city of gold with pearly gates?  Is it full of angels with wings, strumming harps? Or is it just a state of being in perfect peace---one with the universe, some might say. Is it where "good" people go to spend eternity after they die? Does anyone really know? Well, some people actually claim that they do.  According to a Gallup pole at least 8 million people in America alone have had near-death experiences, nearly all of whom emerged from them with an unshakable belief in the afterlife. Once when I was visiting an elderly lady at her home she leaned over and in a conspiratorial whisper she told me, "I have seen Heaven."  Of course I immediately asked her "What's it like?"  She went on to describe an unbelievable journey from a bed in a hospital room through the air and to a beautiful garden filled with light.  I can still see her face as she described it. Even the most skeptical people hav...