Heaven is for Real
discussion
Not so amazed
message 1:
by
Lucy
(new)
-
rated it 1 star
Sep 15, 2011 07:57AM
Am I the only one who thought this book was less than amazing? I loved the book, Embraced by the Light, so it's not that I don't belive in the afterlife or near death experiences. This book just seemed to me to be an attempt to take a few explainable comments (4 year olds are very perceptive, have big ears, and remember everything) and stretch them into a money making book.
reply
|
flag
I agree, I find it hard to believe that the son of a pastor would not have had access to most of the information he was coming out with.Even if no-one had explicitly mentioned some aspects of the bible to him, it is likely that he could have overheard people around him mention them.
Kimberly LoVe wrote: "Zoe wrote: "I agree, I find it hard to believe that the son of a pastor would not have had access to most of the information he was coming out with.Even if no-one had explicitly mentioned some aspe..."Well like the original poster said "4 year olds are very perceptive, have big ears and remember everything". Being surrounded by highly religious individuals since he was born makes the idea that he had nothing to base it on very dubious to me.
I can relate to the comments of everyone because those same thoughts were floating about my mind as I was reading. I never would have entertained the thought of giving this book my attention if not for the passionate recommendation of a friend. That much said, I thought this was the imagination of a child from his experience of being a child of a minister. The father tells the story from that same vantage point, which gives him a measure of credibility. But the watershed revelation that turned me from a skeptic into a full believer was when Colton asked his mother about his sister, his other sister, the girl who was miscarried - and of whom his parents never told him word one of before he brings the issue up.
Lucy I agree that the words of the young boy were sort of directed toward the dad's belief system. Dr. Raymond Moody's books on the subject are far less partial. I was hoping this little guy's experiences would be related "as they happened".
Kimberly I'm not sure how obvious anything is when it comes to near death experiences but I'm glad there's an audience out there for this point of view.
I agree. While it's a great story, I wasn't "wowed" like I thought I would be.
I don't believe this was a story intent on the wow factor. If anyone is familiar with the mid-western states (I live in the adjoining state to Nebraska, where this story took place) there isn't a lot of wow happening. This is, in essence, the story of a father and his young son, and - if you are willing to accept it - God stepping into their lives to say, 'I'm here. I'm paying attention. Your prayers were heard.' It falls into the same style of story as 'Bella', which simply tells of two people, walking about New York City one day, helping each other deal with the rigors of this life.
I love this book so much!!! It totally touched me. When I got this I was sick with the stomach bug so I was afraid that it m be a busted appendix! Ha ha
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and thought everyone should read it. This is a lot of wisdom coming from a four-year old boy. I don't care what household he grew up in: be it christian, muslim, hindu, or otherwise. God, our heavenly Father, is constantly watching over every person on this earth. I believe he wants all of us to know what is on the other side. There is only a thin veil separating this life from the next. If you ask me, it was awe inspiring to know we have so much to look forward to and good will win over the bad in the end. Doesn't that give you a sense of security and love from above? I am so grateful to have run across this book.
I really enjoyed this book for the general uplifting feeling it gave me. I dont know if Im a believer 100% on everything considering the dad was a Pastor. I would think as a Pastor the little boy wouldve heard a great deal, and as a mom of a 7 year old, I know my son has mentioned things I was unaware he heard...both good and bad lol.
How would he have known that his mother had a little girl who had died he must have gone to heaven. I loved this book.
I first was not into it but my grandma read it to me and I fell in Love with the character. I met him in walmart in north platte last summer. He is my age!!! I enjoyed it and if i had the chance I would date him forever.
I think the war is near too. You know Heaven and Hell.
I love it, thought it was really cute. Especially all the animals and swords in heaven. Little boy stuff.Q: I'm trying to remember, did the little boy tell his father anything that changed the father's beliefs about Heaven?
I loved it and loved the fact that it was a four year olds perspective of heaven
Wendall Paul wrote: "But the watershed revelation that turned me from a skeptic into a full believer was when Colton asked his mother about his sister, his other sister, the girl who was miscarried - and of whom his parents never told him word one of before he brings the issue up...."Like someone else said 4 yr olds hear everything & retain more than people give them credit for, do you really think they never talked about it amongst themselves?
I don't discredit near death experiences, nor would I ever be so bold as to say that God, in His divine power, could not show Himself in some great way such as a vision of sorts. I do however, lean to the belief that such experiences are just that - visions or dreams made manifest by the power and presence of God. This book is like so many before it. In fact it reminds me a lot of the book '90 Minutes in Heaven' written about a person in the Houston area. Both of these books came to us from church members who were amazed by them and fully accepting of the fact that these individuals went to heaven. However, as I said I am skeptical of such accounts as it seems that entering heaven then returning to earth would not line up with scripture. Nor would seeing earth and those on it from heaven. As the story in the bible indicates those in hell could look up up those in heaven could not look down nor could they leave. If there are no tears in heaven, no pain or sorrow then there could be no good-byes. I do however, strongly believe that Colton being raised in a religious home and being brought up in the scriptures probably had a relationship with Christ. This foundation would explain his comments about heaven and as for the knowledge of things and people that he did not know this could have been revealed in vision or dream. I was most disapointed in this book because it was a preachers child and preacher that wrote it - and I now question his understanding of scripture and theology. I tend to agree that this was a money making thing rather than an edification or teaching thing. We have a lady in our homeschool group who's child was pronounced dead after drowning, but a few minutes later awoke. He was very young and gives account of angels coming to comfort and calm him. He too talks of the fact that he saw family members who had passed on before. However, he says he was not in heaven but that he knows God was taking care of him. To this day he still says that God sends angels to tell him things and show him things. (They did not write a book, but the testify of God's great intervention and presence at a very terrible moment in their lives.)
Well the Colten is 11 right now. he might be a little older that me but I dont know. I know I an 11. How old are you Kimber.
i absolutley love this book, but i kinda got bored throuth the end of the book.
I love it too. you know he is realy cute right now
its really a amazing story
Lucy wrote: "Am I the only one who thought this book was less than amazing? I loved the book, Embraced by the Light, so it's not that I don't belive in the afterlife or near death experiences. This book just ..."Lucy, I agree, I thought it was way less than amazing. I found it a terribly written, boring story and finally gave up reading about halfway through (which I never do).
Kimber, I don't know what else to say, other than I was so bored and annoyed with the book I could hardly pick it up. It was a chore trying to slog through it, and I finally abandoned it. And I found the writing terrible. I don't discredit the near death experience aspect, but it seemed to me the dad was trying too hard to stretch it into a book when there really wasn't that much of a story to tell.
Perhaps I would've enjoyed it more as a short story than a full-length book. But short stories don't make piles of money, which is why I think it was stretched into a book. And why I found myself increasingly aggravated while trying to read it.
Very difficult to believe. 4-year-olds are sponges, and there is no doubt he absorbed and overheard the information for a lot of his claims (namely, the knowledge of his sister). And, as the kid made further claims, he undoubtedly received approval from his parents, prompting him to make further observations about heaven. Dad, trusting his son's word and emotionally moved by the trauma and subsequent miraculous recovery (both his own and his son's), writes a book about the whole experience. A little boost from a highly conservative region (try to imagine this story generating buzz if written from a guy in California), and voila.Meanwhile, the whole thing is extra-biblical in nature, if that argument isn't enough.
I don't care what you other people think about it! The book is AMAZING and TRUE!!! Love the book,you need to have faith like a child.Shows the true meaning of family and loving God.
I don't think we're meant to just take this book as PROOF that Heaven is real. You have to have faith in something before it is real...this doesn't just apply to Heaven. I think that's what this family wanted to tell us. And having a mind like a child helps when you gain faith in something. Children are open minded. They make difficult things simple, and they love much easier. What is so bad about us all behaving this way?
I don't know what is wrong with you people because this is such a touching story so all i can say is that your amazing buds are off or what but I completely agree with Steph!!!! Read it again people!!!
I am such a SUCKER for near-death experiences (I even ghost wrote a book about them once and conducted interviews with people who'd had NDE's--totally fascinating!!), so I was touched by this book, and of course, I want to believe! But part of me is worried that the parents could be over-exposing their little boy (to the point of booking him on TV). And another part of me is concerned by how "scripted" a lot of the child's experience sounded (according to doctrine). Don't get me wrong--there are many fresh details that make the book compelling! But of all the people I interviewed who had NDE's, none of them sounded this religious (even if they were ordinarily dogmatic people). I hope the boy is being allowed to process his experiences in his own way : )
Kimber~!! wrote: "Zoe wrote: "I agree, I find it hard to believe that the son of a pastor would not have had access to most of the information he was coming out with.Even if no-one had explicitly mentioned some aspe..."I totally agrre this book made me cry it was so good, i mean how is a lottle boy gonna make all that up and know abput his mothers miscarriage unless he reallly did go to heaven, this book is amazing and beautiful, it will always be one one of my favorites!
P.s. sorry for all the typos, im doing this on my nook....
I didn't read all the comments, but I have to add that Colton was explaining things he saw and heard that lined up with specific scripture. For him to say one or two things that he may've 'picked up' from his dad is one thing, but he was constantly lining up with passages and psalms.
How would the kid acually know his uncle and his sister. you dought the power of the lord because he is watching u. u need to believe.
This book isn't about near death excpirences or after life. It is about a little boy who was lucky enpugh to experence heaven. He saw things that he hadn't learned. He belived in the LORD and went to heaven. It is about Jesus, God, Heaven.
I think if you are not finding him believable, you were doubting him before you picked up the book. It seems the stuff the kid brings up would not have been pulled from the stories told around him. Do people who have miscarried bring it up a lot? No, so the likelihood he heard if from them is very small. I do understand you may not have been wowed, he did not write with a dramatic flair, he shared the facts sort of chronologically and that doesn't build up a wow, the story however was a wow. One wow was how did the doctors keep trying to do in this little boy by misdiagnosing him? Several times. Anyway I liked the book and probably had a preconceived like of it coming in that wasn't changed by reading it.
I absolutley loved this book
But after about half through the book I got bored a bit
Bradley wrote: "I think if you are not finding him believable, you were doubting him before you picked up the book. It seems the stuff the kid brings up would not have been pulled from the stories told around him..."No, actually I wasn't doubting him when I picked up the book or I wouldn't have bothered to read it at all. Also you don't have mention something frequently for a child to pick up on it, takes only once when you think they are not listening.
I liked this book. Skeptics, you don't have to believe every word of it but at least take a moment to consider it. If the words of an innocent 4 year old can make you question the existance of God or his divine power then the book has done it's job. I'm sure the father did not set out to make big bucks. He believes in a Holy Loving Heavenly Father who wants a relationship with every created human on this planet. God is too big to grasp and totally understand but one day you WILL have the chance to directly question Him.
i luved this book its my favorite religion book ever
I for one found this book to be absolutely enlightening and incredible....I mean sure, maybe the parents stretched some of what their son said but I fully believe that what their son experienced is real becuase when i was younger, I got the Flu really badly and the doctors told my mother that I wasnt going to make it because of the effect the disease had on my asthma. I was there for 7 days and nights and didnt have any improvment...then my mother had to leave me there alone for awhile to go home and check on my family and I was terrified...then out of the corner of my eye I saw someone come in but when i looked, no one was there...I felt a warm hand press against my forehead and I fell asleep. The next morning, the diagnosis changed from 'not gonna make it' to 'if she hadnt had the flu shot she wouldnthave made it.' I got better within a day and was sent home!sorry that this is long but I AM A CHRISTIAN AND FULLY BELIEVE IN GOD AND AM PROUD!!!!!
I wanted to clarify here, while I can't speak for anyone else, I myself never said that I didn't believe in God or Heaven just that this book didn't impress me at all.
Lucy wrote: "Am I the only one who thought this book was less than amazing? I agree with you. The idea is great, but I think the Dad used this experience, and I'm cynical enough that I don't think the book was written strictly, or even mostly, to spread their beliefs. I believe there's a life afterwards. When my Dad was in a nursing home, he looked up once, and asked "Do you see the angel?"..my sister and I were both in the room. I believe that he saw an angel...but I wouldn't try to get a book out of that.
I think it was an interesting perspective, and have no doubt the family and little boy believe the story. I believe in near death experiences, as some of the other posts have indicated, but found nothing to support the belief that Colton was in heaven. I agree the little one might have heard more then his father believed, and that might have contributed to his 'experience'. Having said that, I did find the story touching and heart warming. It made me wish I could believe in something so strongly...
I have to say, I was not impressed with this book. I was raised a Catholic and still am. It's not the religous part of this book that got me, it was the parents and their selfishness. From the very beginning it was all about them and their "support" group. This book made me sick to my stomach that after the little boy is obviously very sick they keep putting getting him help off. Then when they finally get help, he's on the verge of death, gets misdiagnosed. I felt this little boy deserved to have the full attention and support of both his parents but they were to concerned with taking their vacation and getting home to their "support" group. If you ask my opinion the parents wer'ent the ones who needed the support the child did. I was apprehensive about reading this book to begin with because I was told it wasn't very good, but I decided to give it a go. I sadly wish I never would have read it. I feel for that little boy who had to go through that horrible experience but I feel even worse that he has those 2 people for parents. Their the most selfish, uninvolved, cold hearted people I've ever read about. I'm sorry if this offends some people. It's just my opinion about the book.
i loved this book, thought it was amazing and it says in the book that he couldn't have known because he was 4.if he was 4 he couldnt have known because no one had taught it to him.
i believe he really did, how else could he have known that he had a sister who died in his mothers stomach!
how could everyone think like this! it has soooooooo much evidence in this book to prove that he really did go to heaven. dont belive if you want, but i beleive and it is possible. how could he have known that his dad was in the closet talking with god while he was under going surgery, he was asleep, and his father told NO ONE what he was doing.dont believe if you want but you should believe. its sad if you dont believe because then you dont have much faith.
This book was recommended by a friend, and on reading the cover, I decided to read it. I must admit that disappointed me that it took the author more than 10 pages to admit he was a pastor and the boy was his son. I find it very hard to believe that a child who attends Sunday Schooland lives in a religious home where his bed-time stories are bible stories would not heard the stories he proceeded to tell about his trip to heaven. The child is a delight but I believe the author was deceitful in not revealing himself to be a Wesleylan pastor.
all discussions on this book
|
post a new topic
