Heaven is For Real - Book 20

So, I'm a little behind in my weekly reading of books. Ok, maybe 15 books behind. I blame that on my current attempt to read Foundation by Asimov. It's taking forever.. not because I'm uninterested. According to my kindle, I'm at 86% of 3332, which means a good hour and I could be done. However, I've been reading it in 2% increments before bed for what seems like an eternity, and I don't foresee an available hour anytime soon.

Anyway, a friend loaned me Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo, which did not take forever and was in paperback, so I didn't really feel like I was abandoning Mr. Asimov.

(Image via www.heavenisforreal.net)

It tells the fantastic story of a little boy who did not clinically die, but had an out-of-body experience wherein he goes to heaven, meets Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit, John the Baptist and Gabriel, sees family members and comes back to earth to tell about it. The boy was about four and, over the course of several months, told the whole story to his father, a pastor.

Whether the story is completely accurate or not, I'm happy that it opens a conversation for some people to talk about God or to think about God who wouldn't have before. I doubt that the Burpos wrote this expecting everyone to believe the story or to assume their beliefs upon reading it. Clearly their lives have been impacted, and I think the value in publishing the story comes from the conversations it sparks.