# Heaven is for Real



## StriperAddict (Sep 7, 2011)

What a great story of a little boy and his journey to heaven...

Linky



> *A young boy emerges from life-saving surgery with remarkable stories of his visit to heaven.*



 I read the whole book in a night, it was that good.  I'd recommend it to anyone.

Anyone else read it?


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## formula1 (Sep 7, 2011)

*Re:*

I have read it. I enjoyed it very much as well.  I was especially intrigued with the him seeing the unborn sister in heaven and the grandfather(I think) at a very young age that he never knew.  I don't know of to many 4 year olds that could make that up!


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## crbrumbelow (Sep 7, 2011)

Read it three times in a week.  I loved it when he saw the picture of Jesus the girl painted.


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## StriperAddict (Sep 7, 2011)

One of my favorite parts was when he was calling out to his Dad in the hospital.  His Dad later learned that his son saw him praying, and Jesus said his prayers were answered.  
And the neat thing about Dad's prayer 'moment', was that it was an angry vent to heaven about what was going on with his son.  The Lord still bent down to hear.  It's wonderful to consider that even when we are at our worst, God still is near.


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## jonkayak (Sep 9, 2011)

crbrumbelow said:


> Read it three times in a week.  I loved it when he saw the picture of Jesus the girl painted.



Great book and an easy read! Everyone should read it.


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## thedeacon (Sep 9, 2011)

downloading it now.


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## CAL (Sep 10, 2011)

formula1 said:


> I have read it. I enjoyed it very much as well.  I was especially intrigued with the him seeing the unborn sister in heaven and the grandfather(I think) at a very young age that he never knew.  I don't know of to many 4 year olds that could make that up!



I agree.I don't know of ANY four year olds that could make up a story like that.Awesome read.


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## EGlock86 (Sep 11, 2011)

Great book


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## 1gr8bldr (Sep 11, 2011)

CAL said:


> I agree.I don't know of ANY four year olds that could make up a story like that.Awesome read.


Somebody has to be a skeptic, may as well be me. I have not read it.  Even if it were true, he would not have a mind capable of retaining and conveying all of this. At that age, you want to play, not write a book. I expect that he had much coaching by his father. Literly putting words in his mouth for him. I saw the story recently when it was on TV. He seemed convincining enough, but I suspect he believed what his father had told him to believe. But who knows, could be true.


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## StriperAddict (Mar 13, 2012)

thedeacon said:


> downloading it now.


 
Where was the download from? Author's home page? 
Just curious, thanks.


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## Artfuldodger (Mar 13, 2012)

I found a sight with a host of others that went to Heaven temporarily when they died and came back. Some went to He11 and back too.
http://www.testimoniesofheavenandhell.com/tag/people-who-went-to-heaven-and-came-back/


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## gacowboy (Mar 13, 2012)

Great book! When you start it you can't put it down.


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## Artfuldodger (Mar 13, 2012)

I'm not sure how I feel about the concept of dying, going to Heaven & He11, coming back to enter your dead body, and regaining life.
I need to research this more to see if it's biblical. I do know the Bible mentions spirits. There are accounts of  live people that have gone to Heaven or Abraham's Bosom and returned to Earth.


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## Ronnie T (Mar 13, 2012)

Artfuldodger said:


> I'm not sure how I feel about the concept of dying, going to Heaven & He11, coming back to enter your dead body, and regaining life.
> I need to research this more to see if it's biblical. I do know the Bible mentions spirits. There are accounts of  live people that have gone to Heaven or Abraham's Bosom and returned to Earth.




Me too.
It could be a powerfully spiritual revelation.
Or it could just be a good book.
I don't know.


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## ryanh487 (Mar 13, 2012)

The Bible says that the punishment of the wicked and the reward of the righteous are reserved for the LAST DAY when Christ returns, and that the dead sleep and know nothing. Allowing a person to die and go to heaven, only to be revived, would be the most terrible, unloving thing God could ever do. If we died and went straight to heaven, Jesus wouldn't have raised anyone from the dead--he would have assured the family that they were better off. If Lazarus had been in heaven for those few days he was in the tomb, there would have been accounts of Lazarus' time there. Note also that when Jesus told Mary and Martha they would see him again they said "yes Lord we know, at the resurrection on the last day". Jesus always referred to the dead as "sleeping".  The Bible assures us that God alone is immortal, and we are corruptable until we are ressurected at the last trump and changed in the "twinkling of an eye" to uncorruptable, or immortal. Now why in the world would we go to heaven and receive new bodies, only to have our old bodies resurrected and changed, and then receive the reward that we already got when we died?

Visions or dreams of heaven are nothing more than that, our imagination at work or hallucinations due to the brain firing off nerve signals as it dies. This concept is VITALLY important to understand because Satan is an angel of light, NOT some creepy red goat man with a pitchfork. He was below only Christ in the kingdom of heaven before his fall, and it was with words of deception he took 1/3 of the angels with him. If he can use "grandma" or other apparitions in the guise of trusted, dead relatives and friends to bring messages to us, he will. We are told in scripture that our Bibles our the best defense against his deceit, and it is important to know them well.


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## Artfuldodger (Mar 14, 2012)

I too believe in soul sleep. That's why i'm having a hard time with this. I don't see the point in raising people from the dead if they are already in Heaven or He11. At the very least it would be easier to believe they are somewhere in between. To be absent of the body is to be with God. That makes me think your soul must stay in your dead body until Jesus come back to resurrect you.


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## mtnwoman (Mar 14, 2012)

Artfuldodger said:


> I too believe in soul sleep. That's why i'm having a hard time with this. I don't see the point in raising people from the dead if they are already in Heaven or He11. At the very least it would be easier to believe they are somewhere in between. To be absent of the body is to be with God. That makes me think your soul must stay in your dead body until Jesus come back to resurrect you.



I too, think soul sleep could be what it is. Our body is dead, our soul is sleeping and possibly our spirit is in heaven with the Lord. When our spirits connect with our bodies and soul at the rapture we are glorified as Christ was....whatcha think?


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## Artfuldodger (Mar 14, 2012)

mtnwoman said:


> I too, think soul sleep could be what it is. Our body is dead, our soul is sleeping and possibly our spirit is in heaven with the Lord. When our spirits connect with our bodies and soul at the rapture we are glorified as Christ was....whatcha think?


I'll have to think on that one for awhile. Man having a trinity of sorts, body, spirit, and soul.


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## StriperAddict (Mar 14, 2012)

Artfuldodger said:


> I'll have to think on that one for awhile. Man having a trinity of sorts, body, spirit, and soul.


 
It's worth a study, especially in Romans ch's 6, 7 & 8.  It is foundational when it comes to our identity in Christ.


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## ryanh487 (Mar 14, 2012)

In Genesis, it says that God breathed the breath of life (or spirit) into the body of man and he became a living soul--man does not HAVE a soul, he IS a soul. The word "soul" is the same word for "being". "Soul" was often used as a poetic or emphatic way of expressing the pronoun "I". We see in the Bible that the spirit (alternate word for breath) of life of ALL things returns to God from whom it came, and the body returns to dust from whence it came.  The idea of a separate, eternal soul is known as plutonic duality, and is a pagan idea brought into the church when roman pagans began practicing Christianity because of politics.


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## Artfuldodger (Mar 14, 2012)

Jesus is in Heaven right now in a renewed body. Why would we get to go to Heaven without a body if he didn't? What would be the point of returning to Earth for a renewed body if you were getting along just fine floating around heaven?


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## ryanh487 (Mar 14, 2012)

Artfuldodger said:


> Jesus is in Heaven right now in a renewed body. Why would we get to go to Heaven without a body if he didn't? What would be the point of returning to Earth for a renewed body if you were getting along just fine floating around heaven?



Exactly! Everyone who is in heaven right now--Enoch, Elijah, Moses (according to the book of Jude) and Jesus were all taken to heaven in body. Jesus was also called the "first fruits" of the resurrection--Jesus' resurrection and ascension to heaven is exactly like ours will be.


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## StriperAddict (Mar 15, 2012)

Artfuldodger said:


> Jesus is in Heaven right now in a renewed body. Why would we get to go to Heaven without a body if he didn't? What would be the point of returning to Earth for a renewed body if you were getting along just fine floating around heaven?


 
Then are you suggesting that the time period Lazuras was dead (before he was raised by Jesus) that he simply didn't exist?  Where was his spirit/soul?  
To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. This verse answers the question, IMO. Lazarus was with God in soul/spirit before his body was called back to life by Christ.  The same could apply to the young boy in the story.


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## Artfuldodger (Mar 15, 2012)

Yes his soul was sleeping. If he had been to Heaven he would have told everyone about it when he came back.
The subject of 2 Cor.5:1-8 is not about dying and immediately being in the presence of the Lord. It is
about a desire to be clothed with the spiritual body at Christ's coming. If you read the verses preceding verse 8, you will see the subject concerns resurrection and a longing not to suffer the naked state,
but to be clothed in the glorious resurrection body at His coming, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor. 15:52)  It has to do with 
resurrection and a desire to escape the naked state (death) at His coming.


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## Artfuldodger (Mar 15, 2012)

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. What about the people that go straight to He11. They would be absent from the body and not present with the Lord. 
Depending on what you believe, ie your soul goes to somewhere when you die, soul sleep until the ressurection, or somewhere in between, there is a parallel between the two journeys of good & bad. Paradise/Sheol/Hadees, different judgements, layers of Heaven/He11, etc. No matter how you look at , you will eventually end up in Heaven or He11 with a glorified body. This is going to be a real body just like Jesus had when he ascended into Heaven. He is in it right now unless he parked it for his trip back to Earth.


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## Ronnie T (Mar 16, 2012)

When did the kingdom of heaven come into existence?
During life of Moses?  During Jesus' life?  At Jesus' death?, etc.
.


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## mtnwoman (Mar 16, 2012)

StriperAddict said:


> One of my favorite parts was when he was calling out to his Dad in the hospital.  His Dad later learned that his son saw him praying, and Jesus said his prayers were answered.
> And the neat thing about Dad's prayer 'moment', was that it was an angry vent to heaven about what was going on with his son.  The Lord still bent down to hear.  It's wonderful to consider that even when we are at our worst, God still is near.



OFF TOpic ALerT.....I still have your book, sugar, I have to confess I haven't read it yet. I will. It's safe, but if you need it back let me know.


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## mtnwoman (Mar 16, 2012)

Ronnie T said:


> When did the kingdom of heaven come into existence?
> During life of Moses?  During Jesus' life?  At Jesus' death?, etc.
> .



Well it actually came to pass at Jesus' death? But also it was 'created' before the foundation of the earth, not yet manifest but still predestined/promised


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## Artfuldodger (Mar 16, 2012)

We'll work till Jesus comes and we'll be gathered home.


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## StriperAddict (Mar 16, 2012)

Artfuldodger said:


> To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. What about the people that go straight to He11. They would be absent from the body and not present with the Lord.
> Correct. That is the place of thier unredeemed soul and spirit.
> 
> 
> ...


 
I am sooo looking forward to the day....   !!


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## StriperAddict (Mar 16, 2012)

mtnwoman said:


> Well it actually came to pass at Jesus' death? But also it was 'created' before the foundation of the earth, not yet manifest but still predestined/promised


 
Perfectly said. 

If I tried to answer, ya'll'd be bored with my 'book'... 



mtnwoman said:


> OFF TOpic ALerT.....I still have your book, sugar, I have to confess I haven't read it yet. I will. It's safe, but if you need it back let me know.


 
No worries girl.  I usually get 2 books when it's a great inspiring read. You go tear'r up at your own pace! And if ya pass it back to me as we're headin up to glory, it's all good, really!   

   As to "sugar", why thank you! You up'n bless'd my sox off! I love you dearly and can say that w/o the trappings of the world around it.  Me 'n wifey pooh will be overjoyed to see you on this side of the rapture Lord willin'.     



Ok, ok... the rest of ya'll, I won't leave U out... _I love you too_!!!  !!!


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## Artfuldodger (Mar 16, 2012)

I haven't read his book but I did read an article where he was describing Heaven. It sounds more realistic the way he describes it.
I don't remember the exact article but found these things he describes about Heaven:
8. Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2, KFV). He didn’t say, “I go to an indescribable realm devoid of physical properties, where your disembodied spirit will float around, and which is nothing at all like what you’ve ever thought of as home.”

If that were the case, he might just as well have said nothing. But he didn’t say nothing—he said something. He told us of an actual place he was preparing. He also told us why—”And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3) 
13. Apparently it’s within the vast and beautiful New Jerusalem we’ll find the personal dwelling places Jesus has prepared for us (John 14:2; Luke 16:9; Revelation 21:2). Like the current earthly Jerusalem, the city will be a melting pot of ethnic diversity, with those of “every nation, tribe, people and language” (Revelation 7:9; see 5:9). But unlike today’s Jerusalem, all these people will be united by their common worship of King Jesus. [Page 30]

14. The city’s gates are said to be always open, and people will travel in and out, some bringing glorious items into the city (Revelation 21:24; 22:14). This outside travel suggests the city is not the whole of Heaven, but merely its center. The gates that are opposite each other will be fifteen hundred miles apart, allowing access from every direction (Luke 13:29). Even the inside will be a huge area to investigate. The gates will lead out to an entire planet, the New Earth, and a cosmos with vast realms to explore. [Pages 30-31]

15. Many assume Heaven will be unlike earth. But why do we think this? God designed earth for human beings. And nearly every description of Heaven includes references to earthly things—eating, music, animals, water, trees, fruits, and a city with gates and streets. [Page 31]
22. Christ ate food in his resurrection body, and both he and we will eat and drink in Heaven (Luke 14:15; 22:18). Most of us like to eat and drink. Every reference to sitting at a table and having a banquet in Heaven should forever free us from the myth of floating around like ghosts (Isaiah 25:6).

These excerpts are from his book "In Light of Eternity".


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