{"id":30150,"date":"2021-03-27T12:30:18","date_gmt":"2021-03-27T16:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=30150"},"modified":"2021-03-28T20:36:08","modified_gmt":"2021-03-29T00:36:08","slug":"what-heaven-will-be-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-heaven-will-be-like\/","title":{"rendered":"What Heaven Will Be Like: Colton Burpo’s Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What will Heaven be like according to Colton Burpo? Is it how the Bible describes it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’ve ever wondered what Heaven will be like, Colton Burpo describes it in detail in Heaven Is for Real<\/em>. Colton’s father, Pastor Todd Burpo<\/a>, said that three-year-old Colton somehow knew details about Heaven<\/a> from the Bible that he had never told him about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading for the answer to “what will Heaven be like?” as told by Colton Burpo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Colton’s Heaven<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In July 2003, three-year-old Colton Burpo had a near-death experience with a case of misdiagnosed appendicitis<\/a>. He underwent two surgeries and the doctors didn’t know if he would survive. Against all odds, Colton made a miraculous recovery. He also learned what Heaven will be like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost as soon as the Burpos returned home from the hospital, Todd and Sonja noticed that their son seemed to have a new-found preoccupation with Jesus. Three notable incidents attracted their attention:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incident #1:<\/strong> Around a week after Colton\u2019s discharge, the bills for his hospital stay began to arrive. The Burpos were in financial trouble even before<\/em> Colton got sick, so there was no way they\u2019d cover all the bills due that month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Todd and Sonja discussed which bills to pay and which to defer, Todd stated that they should prioritize paying their tithes: Doing so was a way to thank God for saving their son. They could pay the hospital bills later. However, Colton apparently disagreed. He piped up that the family <\/strong>needed <\/em><\/strong>to pay the hospital doctor since Jesus \u201cused\u201d him to make Colton better. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incident #2: <\/strong>Shortly after the tithes incident, Colton got into trouble at a playdate because he refused to share toys with his friend. When Todd sat Colton down to discuss what had happened, he found that Colton already knew that what he\u2019d done was wrong. Colton stated that Jesus himself had instructed him to be kind to people.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incident #3:<\/strong> A couple of weeks later, Todd was preparing to minister at a funeral. When Colton heard about this, he questioned Todd about whether the dead man \u201chad Jesus in his heart.\u201d When Colton learned that the man might not <\/em>have been Christian, he became distraught, claiming that this meant the man wouldn\u2019t be able to find out what Heaven will be like. On the day of the funeral, Colton had to be removed from the church because he wouldn\u2019t stop shouting about whether or not the dead man had \u201cknown Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These three incidents confused Todd. Why was Colton acting as if he\u2019d spoken to Jesus personally? <\/strong>Why was Colton suddenly so obsessed with whether people went to heaven or not? <\/strong>However, Todd didn\u2019t give too much thought to these issues\u2014he figured that Colton must have just heard about Jesus, his teachings, and heaven at Sunday school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Heaven Will Be Like<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In early July 2003, the Burpos took a trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to visit Sonja\u2019s brother and newborn nephew. It was the first trip the family had taken since the one that ended in Colton\u2019s hospitalization, and they hoped that this one would be somewhat less eventful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the journey, the Burpos drove past the turn to Great Plains Regional Medical Center. Sonja decided to ask Colton\u2014now aged 4\u2014if he remembered the hospital. Colton replied that he did: It was the place where the angels had sung to him. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Todd and Sonja were stunned by this revelation. Colton had never mentioned angels singing<\/a> to him before. They decided to press the issue further, so Todd pulled into the parking lot of a nearby Arby\u2019s restaurant and turned off the car\u2019s engine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a few minutes of gentle questioning, Colton revealed that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n