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Boy Says He Has Been to Heaven, Where Everyone Has Wings
Filed under: In The News, Religion & Spirituality
Todd and Sonja Burpo may have believed an angel was looking over their 4-year-old son, who survived a life-threatening burst appendix.
Colton Burpo, now 11, says it's true.
"A few angels, they came, picked me up and I was looking right at Jesus," Colton, from the small town of Imperial, Neb., tells "Today."
After 17 days in the hospital, the boy started to talk about things he could not have known about, "Today" reports, including a miscarriage suffered by his mother, prayers his father made during Colton's surgery and meeting "Pop," his great-grandfather.
"I was just sitting by the Holy Spirit, and then this guy comes up to me and says, 'are you Todd's son?' I said yes. He says, 'Well, I'm his grandfather," Colton tells "Today." "... Pop, he was very big, huge wings, he had curly hair, big smile and he was really nice."
The experience led Todd Burpo, a pastor, to write the New York Times best-selling nonfiction book "Heaven is for Real."
"He could tell me where I was while he was in surgery," Todd Burpo tells "Today." "The surgeons couldn't tell me that. The nurses couldn't. My wife couldn't tell me where I was praying but he could tell me."
Sonja Burpo says her son told her angels sang to him.
"There's a lot of colors, there are a lot of people and a lot of animals," Colton says, describing Heaven.
He also says everyone in Heaven has wings -- his were a bit smaller than other's, and that no one there is old.
"I like that part," Todd Burpo says.
Todd Burpo says Colton's story has inspired so many people because of "hope, healing -- they know what they have to look forward to," he tells "Today."
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 24)
3-21-2011 @ 2:05PM
Slayer said...Wow, what an incredible load of poo!
Reply
3-21-2011 @ 2:10PM
Kris said...Jesus Christ, our Savior and Holy Spirit, is no load of poo and you better accept him in your heart if you ever want to go to heaven. Many don't believe in the power of Jesus but Jesus is as real as Johnny Appleseed
3-21-2011 @ 2:15PM
ruben said...wow! what an incredibly useless comment! ever heard of the old saying, "...don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all"?
3-21-2011 @ 2:27PM
Al Schrader said...I read the entire Holy Bible twelve times. It took me 5 years.
I was dead (not near dead, really dead) in 1978 and the ER people brought me back. There is no fairytale. You don't see or do anything. It's not hot or cold or dark or light or anything. You are just dead. God gives you the amount of time from when you are born until you die. It's his priceless gift to you. Don't waste it. Don't fret every day on what your problems are or what you could have had or done. Desires, problems, pain or pleasure is what life is. I've been to where none of this exists, it was horrible. You can trust me, I'll never lie to you. Give thanks to God as often as you can...Alfred-
3-21-2011 @ 2:42PM
Joe said...Al, did it ever cross your mind that the reason why you didn't see anyhting while you were dead was because you weren't supposed to maybe? Maybe you were just on youre way to the "other place" (hope not) There's plenty of "maybes" that could explain why you didn't feel or see anything in the time you were dead but one thing I would NOT do is believe there is no heaven or hell. Way to many people who have died just like you did say otherwise, they experianced plenty of different things, some people very good and some bad. Just becuase you felt nothing sure doesn't men there isn't anything waiting on you sir.
3-21-2011 @ 2:51PM
bugaloosnana said...To Al Schrader-----So you've read the Bible, many times it seems, how commendable. You did not mention whether you had ever accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior. Surely in your many perusals of the Bibles pages, you ran across many passages such as John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Simply reading the Bible, or trying to be a "good" person is not enough. We are born into a world of sin, we are imperfect beings. It takes nothing less than believing with all your heart that Jesus died for you, His blood is the only ticket to Heaven. That is why He made the ultimate sacrifice for us.
3-21-2011 @ 3:31PM
Paula said...You don't really have to worry about it sounds like you won't be seeing the same thing!
3-21-2011 @ 3:47PM
johndlldn6 said...You need professional help. This is a little boy who a family almost lost their little boy who was in surgery. You made a cruel comment. ( what a load of poo.... well your comment was too! ) Don't judge too quickly, the man upstairs don't like that. But you have a blessed day anyways. Maybe one day you will decide to pick a bible up and maybe then you will read it. I know I read mine. I pray so hard you do read the bible. I know, I will just pray for you!
3-21-2011 @ 4:26PM
Teresa said...To anyone who says this is crazy, it isn't.
Al Schrader- Are you sure you went to heaven in your experience? Some have been to hell in their experiences of this sort, and to be honest, yours sounds more like that than like heaven. Reading the Bible does not get a person into heaven. Only a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ does.
3-21-2011 @ 5:38PM
betty said...Hope the christians here are "real" cause they are not going to like my comment. I am a christian, and while I agree with most everything said , there is one statement that many make with out stopping to think about what they are saying... in fact that statement will almost always indicate a specific denomination... LOL. however somewhat incorrect.
Before I quote that statement... First I ask... (same question Nichademous asked..) What must I do to be saved?
The answer of course was...." [The jailer] "brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:30-31)
No where does the scriptures say... "you must have Jesus in your heart" or the "accept Jesus into your heart"
I've met many who quote this and insist that is what was said...but "Look it up for yourself". you won't find that.
It is a nice "saying" though...
3-21-2011 @ 5:41PM
Lucy said...I agree... about this being a load of crap anyway. And to all the bible bangers replying to Al, the burden of proof is on you. Don't say things like "there are plenty of reasons why you /didn't/ see heaven!" Religious people are the ones that have something to prove. Until then, people shouldn't believe these ridiculous 'ideas'. Russell's teapot.. look into it. If someone were to claim there's a teapot orbiting the sun, you wouldn't believe them just because you couldn't prove them wrong.
3-21-2011 @ 6:19PM
Kynda said...Betty said -
The answer of course was...." [The jailer] "brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:30-31)
No where does the scriptures say... "you must have Jesus in your heart" or the "accept Jesus into your heart"
I've met many who quote this and insist that is what was said...but "Look it up for yourself". you won't find that.
It is a nice "saying" though...
Betty, wouldn't you agree that Lucifer, aka, Satan Believes in Jesus? I mean surely he must, after all, He is the one that kicked Lucifer out of heaven to begin with! I kinda don't think we'll be seeing Lucifer in Heaven... just sayin'
3-21-2011 @ 7:12PM
Kplan said...100% agreed. This young boy's "heaven" experience is very clearly things he's picked up and heard in conversations his parents have had with each other, friends, and so forth over the intervening years.
If you have kids in your life, you know full well how precocious they can be at 11 and how easy it is to underestimate them.
What the boy says IS indeed a load of poo. That should in NO way imply that ANYone's religious beliefs are a load of poo. I don't believe that's what this person was saying. And if you do, then perhaps you're the one with the problem.
3-22-2011 @ 3:36PM
Nikki said...to Betty...
I'm going to have to agree with Kynda. The Bible says that the devils believe in God and tremble. It's more than just believing. It's accepting Him as your Saviour, and if you've done that, Christ will live in your heart. How can you say you're a Christian, and imply you do not have Him in your heart?
3-21-2011 @ 8:18PM
neversayjoel said...I've got to agree this is a load of poo. Theres no scientific evidence that heaven is real. Going off of what someone said does not make it true. Theres no one alive that can say jesus is real, who knows maybe some old guy wrote a book and called it the bible just for some entertainment. If God was real why would this world be like it is; meaning sex offenders, murders, world disasters like 9-11 or the tsunami in japan, or hurricane katrina? you people are sitting here reading some book believeing that this god is holy and heaven is all rainbows and angels and everything is all fine but theres no proof. guess we'll just have to wait
3-21-2011 @ 10:55PM
vivian tozzi said..."It is better to be silent & be thought a fool,than to speak & remove all doubt!"
3-21-2011 @ 9:06PM
Ann said...BETTY -
Ephesians 3:16-19 ~ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you , being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Note: "that Christ may dwell in your hearts"
3-21-2011 @ 9:18PM
Lem said...I'm a Christian, and Betty is correct. It's too bad so many don't know what they're talking about, and just repeat what they hear. Heaven's much more amazing, and God is much more loving of ALL of His children that many would have us believe.
3-22-2011 @ 8:59PM
listerli said...your good too Ruben, as was slayer's comment. To many of you, the Bible does say at ECC. 9:5 ''the living are conscious they will die; but as for the dead are conscious of nothing at all" & 10
Psalm 146:4 "His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground, & all his thoughts do perish", I'm just sayin'
3-22-2011 @ 12:22AM
thatarnieguy said...Kris, so let me get this straight. If Hitler accepted Jesus moments before killing himself, he gets to go to heaven, but none of the 6 million Jews he killed does?