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Burpo, Todd, and Lynn Vincent. Heaven Is for Real : a Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back. Thomas Nelson, 2011.

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Colton wants to get a sticker, but he has to hold a tarantula to get it. At first, he was afraid so he didn't do it at first. When they were about to leave the Crawl-A-See-Um he got his final chance to get a sticker, and he took it.

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Colton gets really sick that causes him to vomit every half hour for 2 days straight so they took him to the doctor. The doctor diagnosed him, but doesn't know what it is.

"Are you sure it's not appendicitis?' I asked the doctor. 'There's a family history.' Again he said no. 'That's not what the blood tests show.' 'Then what is it?' 'I'm not sure,' he said (24)."

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Colton gets taken to  the Great Plains Regional Medical Center where he later finds out that he has a ruptured appendix. So, they take him in for surgery. It was a scary time for his parents as the doctors didn't believe that he would make it, but a miracle happened and their little boy was alright.

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Don would not be alive today were if not for the angels that visited him as he lay hovering between life and death on his hospital bed and then later inside his own home, according to God Reports.

After picking up his wife Kathleen at the airport, Don felt the same chest pain he felt a day earlier. His wife convinced him to drive to the hospital immediately.

There, Kathleen received the bad news. "Your husband is dying," the doctor told her, adding that he had seven collapsed arteries around his heart as seen in the angiogram test.

Moments later, Don complained of excruciating chest pain. "It was like an elephant standing on my chest," he recalls. "The pressure was unbelievable, and then I was out, gone." It was just the start of a massive heart attack.

Kathleen prayed with all her might as surgeons performed five bypasses on Don, an operation that lasted eight hours.

The stress was too much for Don and his heart beat and brain waves flat-lined. Miraculously, when the surgeons gave his heart an electrical shock, his heart began beating again and his brain wave activity resumed.

He was then wheeled to the ICU to await his recovery. It was there that Kathleen saw a "female Asian doctor" who took Don's chart and told Kathleen to list down her instructions.

As she walked out of the room, a nurse walked in. Don asked for the name of the lady Asian doctor who just walked out of the door

The nurse's reply stunned both Don and Kathleen. "We don't have any Asian female doctors in this hospital. Nobody walked out the door."

Kathleen and Don believe their mystery nurse was actually an angel. They followed her instructions on his medication, which quickly led to Don's amazing recovery. He was subsequently discharged from the hospital.

At home, two days later while Don was lying on the couch, he was again visited by another angel.

"Standing above me was a bright flame of fire," he says. "It started to move away from me. As it was moving, I could hear wings whooshing, like helicopter wings. It moved across the back of the room, moved up and out the window. I was petrified."

Two days later a friend from church dropped by. "Two nights ago God told me to bring this to you," she said. She handed Kathleen a small jewellery box.

On top of it was inscribed: "I have sent my angel ahead of you to guard you on the path to the place I have prepared for you."

Don and Kathleen then realised that what they saw in the hospital and in their own home were angels sent by God to bring His healing power to Don.

Still in awe, Don says he's ever grateful to God for his miraculous recovery.

"Every single day is a gift. I am willing to do what he wants me to now," he says.

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Heart attack sufferer \'visited\' by angels at his hospital bed and home, delivering God\'s healing power

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Don would not be alive today were if not for the angels that visited him as he lay hovering between life and death on his hospital bed and then later inside his own home, according to God Reports. After picking up his wife Kathleen at the airport, Don felt the same chest pain he felt a day earlier.

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After the whole surgery incident, Colton started to say things with child innocence. An example is when he tells his dad that he almost died or that Jesus used the doctor to fix him.

"He stood at the end of the counter with his hands on his hips. 'Dad, Jesus used Dr. O'Holleran to fix me,' he said, standing at the end of the counter with his hands on his hips. 'You need to pay him.' Then he turned around and marched out (54)."

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4 months later,  Colton  described scenes that he had seen, outside of his body, to his parents who now realized something extraordinary things had happened to Colton when he went into surgery. He goes on about meeting John the Baptist and mentioning how colorful heaven was. He also met Jesus and described, in his 3 year old  sentences, what Jesus looked like.

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Todd was trying to figure out what to ask Colton about when it comes to the topic of heaven. He decided to ask him what he did which he replied with homework meaning that Jesus was teaching him. He also goes on how there were many children and that people all had wings in heaven.

"But all I could think to ask was: 'So what did the kids look like? What do people look like in heaven?' 'Everybody's got wings,' Colton said. Wings, huh? 'Did you have wings?' I asked. 'Yeah, but mine weren't very big (72)."

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Colton met his great grandfather and told his parents and grandmother about his experience in heaven with him. He also happened to reveal more information, that he shouldn't have known about since it happened way before he was born such as when he mentioned why his dad (Todd) chose to be a pastor for his career.

"Then Mom asked Colton an odd question. 'Did Jesus say anything about your dad becoming a pastor?' Just as I was wondering privately why in the world something like my vocation would even come up, Colton surprised me when he nodded enthusiastically. 'Oh yes! Jesus said he went to Daddy and told him He wanted Daddy to be a pastor and Daddy said yes, and Jesus was really happy.' I just about fell out of my chair. That was true, and I vividly remember the night it happened (90-91)."

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One of his other experiences was that he met his sister who was miscarried, in heaven and told his parents about her and how she is waiting for them. It really shocked both Todd and Sonja, but it also healed their pain of loss from losing their child as they now knew she's alright.

"In that moment, she later told me, she was trying to stay calm, but she was overwhelmed. Our baby... was-is!-a girl, she thought (95)," and "Our baby is okay,' she whispered. 'Our baby is okay.' From that moment on, the wound from one of the most painful episodes in our lives, losing a child we had wanted very much, began to heal (96)."

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Colton describes the throne room of God. He says that Jesus is on the right side and Gabriel the angel is on the left.

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Colton talks a lot about how Jesus really loves the children. This teaches his parents that everybody should also love the children as much as Jesus does. He also prayed for a rainbow and the next day there was one. Child-like faith, prayer, and having trust in the Lord shows the power He has.

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Colton's child-like innocence of understanding scares his parents. This is because he would run out on the street without looking when he runs to the car. He doesn't fear death, since he knows that he will go to heaven, so to teach him the lesson of not running across the street is by saying that the parents supposed to die first not the kids.

"How do you scare some sense into a child who doesn't fear death? Finally I bent down on one knee and looked at my little boy. 'You're missing the point,' I said. 'This time, I get to heaven first. I'm the dad; you're the kid. Parents go first (114)!"

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One of Todd's friend's dad is dying. As they visit the family to give some comfort, Colton reassures the dad saying that he will be alright and that the first person he will see is Jesus.

"As we watched, Colton reached up and grabbed Harold's hand. It was an E. F. Hutton moment. Everyone watched intently, listening. Colton peered earnestly up into Harold's face and said, 'It's going to be okay. The first person you're going to see is Jesus (119)."

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Colton tells his dad that in heaven, no one is old. Pop comes back into the conversation and he was given a picture of a younger version of pop and he recognized him.

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There's a new addition to the family; Colby Burpo. Colton tells his dad, after he had preached, that God shoots down "power" so that Todd knows what to preach about.

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Cassie and Colton has a babysitter named Ali who is an 8th grader. One night, Colton was missing his sister in Heaven and it impacted Ali's life as a Christian by clearing away the doubt of knowing whether or not a religion is different from another when Colton told her about his sister in heaven.

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Colton describes how all the angels in heaven carry swords and how he had one but Jesus didn't let him keep it.

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After mentioning angels having swords in heaven, Todd asks Colton if he had seen Satan which he said yes. Todd asks what Satan looks like, but Colton wouldn't answer as it was not a pleasant memory for him.

"Hey Colton, ' I said. 'Did you see Satan?' 'Yeah I did,' he said solemnly. 'What did he look like?' At this, Colton's body went rigid, he grimaced, and his eyes narrowed to a squint (134)."

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Colton describes the war between the angels and demons and saw that his dad was fighting among the angels. He also states that he saw Jesus win and throw Satan into hell.

"Yeah, Dad, but it's okay,' he said reassuringly. 'Jesus wins. He throws Satan into hell. I saw it (138)."

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Every now and then, Todd would question whether a certain painting of Jesus they come across looks like Jesus that he saw in heaven, but would decline that it wasn't right. One day though, a painting done by another child that had a similar experience captured the right looks. It is called "Prince of Peace" by Akiane Kramarik.

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Inspired by God. Reflected in the Shroud of Turin. Confirmed by Colton Burpo in Heaven is for Real. Painted by a child prodigy, Akiane Kramarik

"Prince of Peace, the Resurrection Painting" is the first in a series of inspirational paintings of Jesus by American artist Akiane Kramarik, who created this masterful portrait of Jesus at age 8.

Thanks to her extraordinary story and talent, for over a decade Akiane, has been invited to share her experiences and paintings globally. Now a young adult, Akiane describes herself as a Visionary Journalist. She loves to travel and has visited over 30 countries around the world. Today, Akiane and her family live in Australia, where they explore the beauty and culture of the Land Down Under.

Akiane says: "If I have been gifted by God - it is for one reason and one reason only - to help others."

Art & SoulWorks is pleased to present high-quality prints and reproductions of Akiane Kramarik's masterful "Prince of Peace" portrait of Jesus and more art by Akiane. We pray you will be blessed and inspired as you enjoy the divine and mysterious as seen through the eyes and paintings of this child prodigy.

Learn about Akiane Kramarik's story.

Akiane's life began in an unusual way; she was delivered in an underwater birth in a shack on the edge of a cornfield near Chicago on July 9, 1994. Her mother, Forelli, a teacher from Lithuania and her father, Mark, a cook from Chicago, were young and struggling parents with 3 children.

They were experiencing tremendous financial hardships in their rural Illinois home. The family had no close friends, no relatives, no television or radio. Their life was quite simple: long walks in nature, open conversations, and home-schooling with hands-on exploration of nature and knowledge in a very nurturing environment. Akiane's parents were loving, idealistic, and, poor. One parent was an atheist, the other agnostic. Spiritual matters were never discussed. Even giving thanks at the table and bedtime prayer was not part of this family's life!

"To an atheist, Jesus is a nightmare..."

Naturally, Akiane's family was mystified when, at age 4, she began describing her visions of God, Jesus, Angels, and Heaven. Before converting to Christianity, Akiane's mother has said in interviews that "to an atheist, Jesus is a nightmare!" Gradually, Akiane's days became consumed with painting and writing. At the same time, Akiane's mother recorded journal after journal of Akiane's experiences.

Soon Akiane's pencil and charcoal sketches filled the house. By age 6, Akiane was painting in acrylics, then oils. At age 7, she suddenly began writing extraordinary poetry. At age 8, this young prodigy, equipped with her visions and paintbrush - and a ladder! - completed the 4-foot-tall oil painting, her portrait of Jesus, titled "Prince of Peace." This was Akiane's first masterpiece, painted in only 40 hours when only 8 years old.

Little Girl Paints Jesus - A Story Told Around the World

Prince of Peace gained global attention as "the child prodigy who painted the portrait of Jesus" began making regular appearances on prime-time. TV and radio shows included TBN, The Hour of Power, World News Tonight, Good Morning America, Glen Beck Show/CNN, The View, Fox News, Montel Williams Show, Oprah, Late Show and CNN. By age 9 Akiane Kramarik had completed "Father Forgive Them" a painting showing Jesus lifting up the world in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane - that year Akiane was inducted into the Children's Hall of Fame. By age 11 she had painted several pictures of Jesus from birth to His Resurrection. Read more in the Akiane Kramarik's biography, titled Akiane: Her Life, Her Art, Her Poetry.

Scholars around the world have marveled at the similarities between "Prince of Peace" and the crucified face seen in the Shroud of Turin, which is believed by millions to be the burial cloth of Jesus. In fact, Akiane Kramarik's portrait of Jesus is now believed by many to represent the Real Face of Jesus. Here, you can see 4 images beginning with the face seen in the Shroud of Turin, with progressive degrees of transparency, ending with "Prince of Peace" as painted by Akiane. It's easy to understand why so many people around the world believe Akiane's "Prince of Peace" portrait of Jesus represents the Real Face of Jesus. We believe this is His-Story in the making!

But wait! God was not finished!

In her teenage years, Akiane's heavenly visions were becoming less frequent. Yet she continued to rise every morning at 3:00 to paint - intuitively recognizing that God was asking her to develop a deeper faith and to wait on Him.

Simultaneously another story is developing as 4-year-old Colton Burpo undergoes emergency surgery for a burst appendix.

After Colton's recovery, he identified Akiane's "Prince of Peace" portrait as the image of Jesus - Jesus was with Colton in heaven during his operation. Over several years, young Colton revealed many more details of his experience to his friends and family. Eventually, a book is written, becoming a best-seller. Tucked deep inside the pages of the book, along with other pictures of people Colton saw in a while in Heaven, there was a small picture of "Prince of Peace."

Colton had identified "Prince of Peace" as the Real Face of Jesus. It was as though God passed the torch to the Burpo family to continue to share Jesus the "Prince of Peace" image with the world. Colton and Akiane met for the first time on the Katie Couric Show.

The Heaven is for Real miracle. First, the book...

The demand for information about "Prince of Peace," heaven, and the "little Lithuanian girl" who painted Jesus increased dramatically with the release of the Heaven is For Real non-fiction book written by Colton's father, Todd Burpo.

Through what many call a miracle in publishing, Heaven is for Real - A Little Boy's Astounding Trip to Heaven and Back immediately rose to the top of the New York Times #1 bestseller list and is now available in 40 languages.

Then the Heaven is for Real movie...

Recently, T.D. Jakes and Sony Pictures produced the movie Heaven is for Real, which featured Akiane's "Prince of Peace" painting of Jesus. God continues to reveal Jesus to the world through "Prince of Peace" in ways only He could imagine. Despite the diabolical interference created by a similar book by Alex Malarkey - who recently recanted his story as lie - the truth is that in Heaven is for Real, Colton Burpo truly went to heaven and met Jesus. Colton identified - and substantiated - "Prince of Peace" as the image that many now recognize as the the Real Face of Jesus.

It's all about Jesus.

God blessed us when He gifted Akiane with the mission of revealing Christ's face to the world. And He created a renewed surge of international interest with the Heaven is for Real book and movie. God continues to orchestrate top media throughout the world as people earnestly seek what many have identified as the Real Face of Jesus.

In Philippians 1:6 we read: "be confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Art & SoulWorks is humbled to be part of His much bigger plan.

You said seek my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. Psalm 27:8

Click Picture Above to view all 12 monthly images

Art-SoulWorks.com

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Akiane Kramairk Jesus Painting ~ Past, Present & Future

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"Prince of Peace, the Resurrection Painting" is the first in a series of inspirational paintings of Jesus by American artist Akiane Kramarik, who created this masterful portrait of Jesus at age 8. Thanks to her extraordinary story and talent, for over a decade Akiane, has been invited to share her experiences and paintings globally.

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Colton's story with visiting his sister in heaven had impact on the people that were at the church service that one day in 2007. One day, this lady asked Todd if Colton knew if her baby was in heaven. Todd answered by asking her if she believes that God loves him, in turn she answers yes, which then leads to if He loves Todd He also loves her too, which reassures her.

"Well, if you believe God loves you as much as He loves me, and you believe He loves your living son as much as as He loves my living son, don't you believe He loves your unborn child as much as He loves mine?' Suddenly, the woman stopped trembling and smiled (146)."

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"Miracles happen everyday, change your perception of what a miracle is and you'll see them all around you." -- Jon Bon Jovi
If rock stars can believe in miracles, so can you.

Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks on the inside -- the heart of the matter.

We should change our perception so we acknowledge miracles.

It's a common problem in the media. Some news organizations distance themselves from any reference to God, Jesus, or miracles, even when it's germane to the story.

Such is the case with Morgan Lake whose car plunged 40 feet off Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Bridge into the water below. Incredibly, Morgan managed to survive the horrifying ordeal. Many news outlets have reported her dramatic escape from death after her car but her mother explained to me, when I met both of them Tuesday, that some of those stations and networks deleted Morgan's words of gratitude to God.

During my interview with Morgan, she emphasized that she wanted the whole story told. She wanted me to let you know how God's supernatural power gave her superhuman strength to break free from a watery grave. So, here's the rest of the story.

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Morgan Lake of Dunkirk, Maryland is a vibrant and enthusiastic young woman. The 22-year-old college student is majoring in communications. She dreams of becoming a Sports anchor or host of a television show. Morgan also teaches gymnastics and cheerleading to young girls.

Morgan is the kind of young woman that makes people feel good about life. She always seeks to provide people with encouragement and inspiration.

That's how Morgan lives, loving God and loving people.

On Friday, July 18 at 8 p.m., Morgan was enjoying one of her best days ever. Everything was just going her way.

It is a day that she will never forget.

Early evening along the Chesapeake Bay can be a wonderful time of day, especially when the sun is just beginning to set; it's simply beautiful.

As Morgan was driving across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, she was feeling the euphoria of having one of those spectacular moments in time. Then suddenly...calamity struck.

It all happened in an instant, in a blink of an eye, but it felt like an eternity.

Morgan had slowed her car to a stop on the bridge for a toll. In her rear view mirror, as she blinked her eyes, she could see a large tractor trailer truck approaching.

As she blinked her eyes again as the truck showed no sign of slowing down. After the third blink of her eyes...Bam!

Morgan heard the thunderous crashing as the truck rammed into the rear of her car. The momentum of the truck began pushing Morgan's car forward. She could see the jersey wall and the water below.

Her mind was frantically racing with thoughts and prayers for her car to stop on the bridge. Please, don't go over this bridge into the water, she thought. Morgan felt helpless and she reasoned in her mind, "this is it! I'm going to die!"

There was no way of escape. Morgan's car was jerked like a rollercoaster. Her greatest fear soon became a reality.

After being pushed along, on the top of the barrier between the bridge and the water, Morgan's car was now plunging into the treacherous waters below. As the car quickly submerged beneath the water's surface, fear and panic gripped Morgan.

Her seatbelt was locked and would not open, her arms were now flailing about, and her mouth and body were filling up with water.

Morgan says; "I started to feel the drowning sensation. I didn't like how it felt." With that, she felt a rush of hope as she told herself; "I'm not going out this way -- I'm not dying."

Then suddenly... fortune struck.

Morgan says in that moment of defying death she reached out to God. And she claims God turned her situation around; "I just felt as if God touched my shoulder and pushed me back against my car into my seat to relax me."

Morgan says that divine intervention allowed her to unlock her seat belt and then pull herself out of the driver side window, swim to the surface, then swimming to shore where help arrived.

Morgan's story is being told all around the world. It is being described as a modern day miracle.

Morgan explained to me that she knows some people don't believe in God. But now, she says; "They can look at me. They can look at the video of the bridge and my car being pulled from the water."

Morgan adds; "As long as you have God with you, he will be there to support you through everything; even going over a bridge."

In this age of cynicism and abandonment of faith, Morgan's story is a dramatic reminder that God is real. Miracles happen every day; they're just not reported.

If you doubt it, just take a look in the mirror. You're a miracle, a work of art, and a masterpiece of God-your creator.

Morgan's family is strong on faith, hope and love. One of the family's favorite scriptures that applies to Morgan's near death experience is taken from the book of Numbers, chapter 14-verse 17; "Now may the Lord's strength be displayed, just as you have declared."

Morgan, keep declaring it!

Some people find it easy to give up or quit when they face difficult situations. Morgan's story is an example about overcoming tremendous adversity through faith in God.

Your frightening ordeal may not be a bridge over troubled waters. But suddenly, you could be going through something that causes you to fear or to doubt. It could be unemployment, foreclosure, bankruptcy, sickness, or more.

Just know that while we all experience setbacks, God suddenly shows up to turn our setbacks into setups for a comeback.

So, follow Morgan's example; starve your fear and feed your faith. Your soul will be greatly satisfied in knowing that something good is going to happen to you. Live your life expecting miracles. Change your perception; they're all around you.

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Morgan Lake's story dramatic reminder that God is real, miracles happen

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"Miracles happen everyday, change your perception of what a miracle is and you'll see them all around you." -- Jon Bon Jovi If rock stars can believe in miracles, so can you. Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks on the inside -- the heart of the matter.

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After all the events, everybody kept on telling Todd that he should make a book about all that had happened, and so he did.

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Riff

Credit... Tom Gauld

At 3 years 10 months, Colton Burpo was a sunny child, a preacher's son certain of his faith and his eternal fate. Then his appendix burst, and as doctors failed to figure out what was wrong with him, he lay in a hospital bed until his father, Todd, saw "the shadow of death" cross his face. "I recognized it instantly," Todd, a pastor, recalls. With Colton's face "covered in death," Todd and his wife, Sonja, took the boy to another hospital, where he was wheeled into surgery. "He's not in good shape," the surgeon said. As Colton screamed for his father, Todd fled, locked himself in a room and railed at God.

Less than two hours later, Colton was awake, still shouting for his father. "Daddy, you know I almost died," he said. But only over the months following his recovery did his parents hear his whole story: that while in surgery, he went to heaven and met Jesus, who assigned him homework; he also encountered angels, a rainbow-hued horse, John the Baptist, God the father, the Holy Spirit, a sister his mother miscarried (unknown to Colton) before he was born and his great-grandfather, Pop, as a young man. Everyone in heaven had wings; Colton's were smaller than most. He learned that the righteous, including his father, would fight in a coming last battle.

Many people, even religious people, would have dismissed this story as the medication-induced hallucinations of a severely ill toddler. The Burpos made it into a book.

" Heaven Is for Real" was published in late 2010, became a word-of-mouth best seller and has spent 59 (nonconsecutive) weeks as the No. 1 nonfiction paperback on The New York Times's best-seller list. Recently the publisher, Thomas Nelson, spun off a children's picture book, now also a best seller, with illustrations verified by Colton. And sometime in 2014, courtesy of DeVon Franklin, vice president of production at Columbia Pictures, who considers his faith "a professional asset," a movie version should be released in theaters.

Colton, now 12, is an ardent spokesman for the story and its franchise, which he has promoted in a slick trailer and on various talk shows with his parents, including " Today " and "Fox and Friends." But it was Todd who wrote the book (with Lynn Vincent, Sarah Palin's ghostwriter). And it is a not-quite-4-year-old's story they're all selling.

In the end, Colton said, Jesus returned him to earth as a concession to Todd's supplications. "We knew he wasn't making it up," Todd writes, because "he was able to tell us what we were doing in another part of the hospital. . . . Not even Sonja had seen me in that little room, having my meltdown with God."

Colton's awareness of his parents' whereabouts is just one of many details that authenticate his story, according to Todd. Had Colton not gone to heaven, how would he have been able to recognize a photo of Pop, at 29, that he'd never seen? How would he know that angels had halos and that Jesus wore purple and had "markers," which turned out to be marks, on his hands and feet? Why would Colton weep so copiously to a baby sitter about the sister he missed if he had not known this miscarried child intimately in some other world?

The visions children have in near-death situations often have a great deal to do with what they already believe. Culture to culture, these experiences involve bright light, celestial figures and a sense of watching your own body from above and sometimes all three. According to Kevin Nelson, a neuroscientist and the author of "The Spiritual Doorway in the Brain," adults often have a sense of looking back over a life; young children, lacking that perspective, tend to report "castles and rainbows, often populated with pets, wizards, guardian angels, and like adults, they see relatives and religious figures, too." It's hard to convey to anyone who grew up without the idea of God just how fully the language, stories and "logic" of the Bible can dominate a young mind, even - perhaps especially - the mind of a toddler.

To some degree, I speak from experience. When I was not quite 4 - about the same age as Colton Burpo - my own newly born-again parents sat me down to impart the good news about Jesus, the son of God, who was born in a manger surrounded by sheep and donkeys and ended up being nailed to a cross on a hill and dying there. On the third day, he rose from the grave (you could tell it was he from the nail holes), and he did all of this to pay for my sins. If I accepted him into my heart, I would be rewarded with everlasting life in heaven. Otherwise, I would burn eternally with the Devil in hell. So we needed, urgently, to pray.

"Right now?" I said, or something like that. I remember not feeling 100 percent ready to ask this undead man, with his holey extremities, to dwell inside me.

"Well, yes," I recall my mother saying. "Unless you'd like to spend eternity in the lake of fire, crying out for a drink of water."

My father laid his hand on my shoulder. "We don't want that, do we?"

"Daddy and I would hear you from our mansion up in heaven," my mother said. "But we wouldn't be able to help."

So I repeated after them, inviting Jesus into my bosom. And then, for years afterward, I lay awake half the night, fearful of my own heartbeat, worried about what the savior might be doing in there. I was filled with doubt, which was a sin, and anxious enough about eternal damnation to endlessly beg the Lord's forgiveness for doubting. Unlike the kids I met at church, I obsessed over the fiery pits of hell, not the pearly gates of heaven.

Todd Burpo, by his own description, is "not a holy-rolling, fire-and-brimstone guy by any stretch but not a soft-spoken minister in vestments, performing liturgical readings, either; I'm a storyteller." Throughout the book, he maintains this everybody's-welcome-in-my-big-tent, I'm-as-bowled-over-by-this-tale-as-you-are tone. Beneath the regular-guy varnish, though, lie some troubling evangelical tropes and veiled judgment.

Remembering the way he watched his church "gather around us in the eye of the storm," he wonders about nonbelievers. "In times of crisis, where does their support come from?" After the operation, as the family faced down $23,000 in medical bills, Colton, "hands on hips," emerged as the voice of wisdom: " 'Dad, Jesus used Dr. O'Holleran to help fix me. You need to pay him.' "

"Even weirder," Todd says, "was what happened next": their extended and spiritual family came through, almost to the penny, with the money to cover the bills. The implicit message is: Never mind health-insurance reform and other things of this world; just give all your cares to Jesus! Not long after his celestial journey, Colton interrupted one of Todd's funeral services, pointing at the coffin, nearly shouting: "Did that man have Jesus?! . . . He had to! He had to! . . . He can't get into heaven if he didn't have Jesus in his heart!" The success of "Heaven Is for Real" has as much to do with the undercurrent of blame in these asides as it does with the feel-good, I-met-Jesus story. In the Middle Ages, Christians' near-death narratives explicitly involved harsh judgment and infernal torment. All of that awaits the ungodly in Colton's "nonfiction" story too. You just don't notice it at first, what with Jesus, his rainbow steed and the seraphim.

If my parents had maintained a unified catechism, I might have wound up more like Colton. But my mother started speaking in tongues and casting out demons and then founded her own church, and my father, a more mainline evangelical, eventually divorced her, denouncing her as a fanatic. This schism began to underscore for me the arbitrariness of religious conviction, but even so, I loved my mother with a ferocious intensity and wanted her to be right. I wanted to see what she saw. She was visited by angels. Why wasn't I? Because I doubted, she said. Because I failed to "walk by faith and not by sight."

Uncertainty about connections between the brain and the spirit world stretches back millenniums, perhaps to the beginning of human evolution, but almost certainly to prehistoric societies, which used a primitive kind of surgery to open the skull. Contemporary neurologists have sophisticated ways to explain away the uncanny. Kevin Nelson, who's far more sympathetic than most to religious experience, posits that the "light that beckons toward eternity" results from a defect in the switch regulating consciousness, which is "more apt to get stuck between the REM state and waking" in people who've had near-death experiences.

These explanations, however respectful, won't persuade a believer that her visions are imaginary, just as "Heaven Is for Real" will never convert an atheist. Whichever side of this divide you sit on, you're unlikely to seek rapprochement with the other. In our à la carte media world, most of us seek only to reinforce what we already think, and it's zealots who drive the discourse. Pat Robertson depicts natural disasters as God's punishment for homosexuality; Richard Dawkins seems almost reasonable by comparison, arguing that religion begets persecution, that teaching children to believe in God is abuse and that science is the only principled way to order existence. Yet as Marilynne Robinson has observed, Hitler embarked upon the Holocaust in the name of science; the fact that eugenics was bad science doesn't negate that fact. No matter how much we learn, the vision science offers - of ourselves and of the universe - will always be incomplete and consequently imperfect. Stories of gods, angels and rainbow horses will persist in the gaps.

As for me, in matters of the soul, I'm a devout agnostic. What astounds me, what has always astounded me, is not that so many people are so certain of their beliefs but that they excoriate people who don't share them. As a child, I repented for my doubt. Now I embrace it. Religious dogma is not verifiable; science is fallible. Uncertainty is the only belief system I feel sure of.

Reading about Colton's meeting with Jesus, I kept thinking of my grandmother. At her funeral, my stepfather, a onetime preacher, related a dream she told him six or eight months before. Though a lifelong atheist, she dreamed she died and went to heaven. She was shown to a mansion with ornate and gilded doors. Beyond them, she knew without looking, lay more rooms than she could count. This would be her eternal resting place.

"Were you excited?" he asked her. (Maybe this was it - maybe she would finally accept Jesus as her personal savior and lord!) "Wasn't it great to see your reward?"

"Hell, no," Granny said. "Who's going to dust those goddamned doors?"

No sooner had these words left my stepdad's mouth and a laugh started to rise under the funeral tent than a strong wind came and blew the flowers off the coffin. The wreath slammed to the ground. And then it started to rain.

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My Son Went to Heaven, and All I Got Was a No. 1 Best Seller

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Riff At 3 years 10 months, Colton Burpo was a sunny child, a preacher's son certain of his faith and his eternal fate. Then his appendix burst, and as doctors failed to figure out what was wrong with him, he lay in a hospital bed until his father, Todd, saw "the shadow of death" cross his face.

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Joe's Story: Three Miracles Restored My Faith - Stories of God's Grace

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Joe Minarik, who is 62 years old, grew up in New Jersey. When he was 18, he and his friends met an angel who saved their lives. But after Joe's beloved grandfather died, Joe lost faith in God.