PDF Summary:Heaven Is For Real, by Todd Burpo

In July 2003, 4-year-old Colton Burpo made a remarkable claim: that, during a period of serious illness earlier that year, he’d visited heaven and met Jesus. In the months and years that followed, Colton revealed more and more details about his heavenly experience, claiming that he’d seen God’s throne, met his late relatives, and foreseen the battle of Armageddon.

Penned by Colton’s father, pastor Todd Burpo, Heaven Is for Real is an account of Colton’s illness and subsequent revelations. It explores not only Colton’s experiences, but also Todd’s journey to casting aside his doubts and accepting that his son had truly visited heaven.

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In the wake of this revelation, Todd had more questions than answers. How had Colton known what his parents were doing during the operation? Todd and Sonja hadn’t told him—had someone else? Most importantly, was the experience Colton described a dream, or had Jesus and the angels really visited him?

Todd Questions Colton Further

Once the Burpos had returned home from their trip, Todd decided to ask Colton more about his experience with Jesus and the angels. He started with an open question: What else happened when Colton was with Jesus?

First, Colton revealed that he’d met not only Jesus, but also Jesus’s cousin. Jesus told Colton that his cousin had baptized him. (Colton said that he didn’t know the cousin’s name, but Todd identified him as John the Baptist.) Then, he said there had been lots of colors in the place he’d been. Todd asked where exactly that place was. Colton responded that it was heaven. This information floored Todd. Until then, he’d assumed that if Colton’s experience was real, it had been an example of divine visitation: Jesus and the angels appearing to someone on Earth. However, it now seemed that Colton had traveled to heaven.

Jesus’s Appearance

Next, Todd decided to question Colton on Jesus's appearance. Colton responded that:

• Jesus had brown hair, a beard, and “pretty eyes.”
• Jesus had been wearing white, with a purple line across his clothing (which Todd presumed to be a sash).
• Jesus had been wearing a golden crown with a pink jewel in the center.
• Jesus had what Colton called red “markers” on the palms of his hands and the bottoms of his feet. Todd interpreted these markers to be the wounds from Christ’s crucifixion.

Todd realized that Colton’s description of Jesus matched those in the Bible books of Daniel and Revelation. Likewise, Jesus’s apparent wounds reflected those presented in images of the crucifixion. However, Colton hadn’t been introduced to those Bible passages yet, nor had he been shown a picture of the crucifixion. How did he know all of these details? Todd began to seriously contemplate the idea that his son was describing a real experience.

More Details About Heaven

Later that week, Todd decided to question Colton again—this time, with Sonja there, too. He began by asking Colton what he’d done in heaven. Colton responded that he’d done “homework,” and that Jesus had acted as his teacher. Moreover, there had been many other children in his heavenly “class.” (Note: At the time, Colton was able to name many of the children he met in heaven. However, by the time Todd started to write about Colton’s experience, they’d both forgotten the children’s names.)

Next, Todd asked what the people in heaven had looked like. Colton stated that almost everyone had wings that they used to fly around. The only exception to this rule was Jesus, who didn’t have wings but could still fly. Specifically, he could move up and down in the air like an elevator. In Todd’s eyes, this matched the biblical description of Jesus flying up to heaven during the Ascension. Colton also stated that everyone in heaven had lights shining above their heads. Todd inferred that Colton was describing halos, which, he conceded, aren’t mentioned in the Bible. However, the Bible does mention dazzling light surrounding angels, so Todd believed Colton’s description wasn’t completely implausible.

Finally, Todd wanted to know how much time Colton had spent in Heaven. Colton responded that he’d been there for a mere three minutes. Todd was baffled: Could so much really have happened to Colton in three minutes? However, he then remembered that Colton couldn’t tell the time yet, so what he thought of as “three minutes” may have been much longer. Likewise, the Bible implies that time doesn’t necessarily work the same way in Heaven as it does on Earth: Three “Earth” minutes may have felt like hours in Heaven.

Todd’s Doubt: Did Colton “Die”?

During this conversation with Colton, Todd contemplated a doubt he’d been having about his son’s claims. Todd believed that only people who’ve died could go to heaven. But according to Colton’s medical records, he hadn’t clinically “died” during either of his surgeries—so how could he have made it to heaven? Was this proof that Colton’s experience was a dream, rather than a real event?

Todd questioned Colton about this issue, and Colton was adamant that he had died—just for a short while. However, Todd felt that Colton said that because he thought it was what should have happened, not necessarily because it was the truth. Colton had learned that only dead people made it to heaven, so he assumed that he had died, even though he hadn’t. Todd’s doubts remained. Then, Todd remembered various sections of the Bible in which people went to heaven when alive. Most notably, in the book of Revelation, the apostle John described visiting heaven during a period of exile. Perhaps Colton could have visited heaven while alive after all.

Colton Reveals More About His Heavenly Experience

In the months and years following Colton’s initial revelations about his trip to heaven, the young boy slowly revealed more information about his experience. In August 2003, Colton and Todd were on a road trip to a nearby town when Colton suddenly asked whether Todd had a grandfather named “Pop.” Todd replied that he did—Pop had been his maternal grandfather. He’d passed away in a car accident when Todd was a small child. When Colton responded by saying that Pop was very nice. This struck Todd as unusual: How did Colton know that Pop was nice? Why was he speaking as if he knew him, when Pop had died long before Colton’s birth?

Todd quickly concluded that Colton must have met Pop while in heaven and asked his son whether this was the case. Colton responded that it was, and that while speaking to Pop, he’d learned that Todd and Pop had been close—which was true. Later, when Todd asked Colton whether Pop had appeared young or old, Colton responded that Pop had been his younger self because nobody was old in heaven. When shown a picture of Pop as an older man, Colton didn’t recognize him. However, when shown a photo of Pop as a younger man, he recognized him immediately. Todd saw this as proof that Colton had met the “younger” Pop.

The next day, Colton said that Jesus had told him how Todd became a pastor: He’d described reaching out to Todd and telling him that it was his purpose to become a pastor. When Todd had agreed, Jesus had been thrilled. Todd was astounded: The event that Colton was describing had happened, and Todd remembered it in detail—although he’d never told Colton about it.

Additionally, in October 2003, Colton stated out of the blue that he had two sisters: Cassie, and another. At first, Colton’s parents thought he might be confused: Perhaps he’d started to see his cousin, Traci, as a sister-like figure? However, Colton dismissed this notion. He insisted that he had a second sister—one who’d died in the womb. Indeed, Sonja had suffered a miscarriage before Colton’s birth. However, they’d never mentioned this to Colton. When they asked him who’d told him about it, he replied that his late sister herself had: He’d met her in heaven.

When pressed for details, Colton revealed that a young girl had run up to him while he was in heaven and started hugging him. She’d said she was his sister and that God himself had adopted her. Todd and Sonja asked what the little girl’s name was. Colton replied that she didn’t have one, since she’d died before her parents had named her. This was true: The Burpos hadn’t even found out the baby’s sex before she’d passed away, let alone had the chance to name her.

Until this point, both Todd and Sonja had struggled with the grief of losing their unborn child. However, now, they felt reassured. Thanks to Colton, they knew that one day, they’d reunite with their daughter in heaven.

Colton Describes God’s and Jesus’s Thrones

One night in December 2003, Todd was preparing to read Colton a bedtime Bible story: specifically, a story about King Solomon. While reading the book, Todd noticed an illustration of King Solomon sitting on his throne. This got him thinking about God’s throne, as described in the book of Revelation. He wondered if Colton had seen the throne while in heaven; so, he asked him about it.

At first, Colton was confused: He didn’t know what a throne was. However, once Todd had explained the concept, Colton confirmed that he’d seen God’s throne multiple times, and said that it was huge. He also noted that Jesus had a throne next to God’s. The Bible describes Jesus’s throne as being on God’s right side. Todd wanted to know if this was true, but Colton didn’t know left from right yet. So, Todd asked Colton to imagine that his father was God’s throne and to point to the side that Jesus’s throne was on. Colton pointed to Todd’s right side.

Colton then stated that the angel Gabriel sat on God’s other side and that he himself had sat on a smaller chair, next to God the Holy Spirit. He said that he’d sat and prayed with the Holy Spirit because he knew that his family needed the Holy Spirit’s support during that stressful time.

Todd’s Final Test for Colton

By this point, Todd almost entirely believed that Colton had gone to heaven, since most of the things he'd described matched the Bible's teachings. However, he wanted to give Colton one last test to check he was telling the truth. So, Todd asked Colton what he did when it got dark in heaven, knowing full well that, according to the Bible, heaven is actually bathed in perpetual light.

Colton passed the test. He told his father that it never gets dark in heaven because God and Jesus create its light. To Todd’s knowledge, nobody had told Colton that: He must have learned it from first-hand experience. Todd let go of his last doubts and decided to believe Colton.

Colton Refuses to Talk About Satan

One evening in early 2006, the Burpo family watched the recent movie adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe together. After the film had finished, Sonja joked to Colton that heaven was lacking in one respect: Unlike Narnia’s inhabitants, the people there didn’t have swords. To the family’s surprise, Colton indignantly replied that there were swords in heaven. Sonja asked why the residents of heaven needed swords, and Colton replied that it was to keep Satan away since he wasn’t yet stuck in hell. In Todd’s eyes, the idea of Satan not being in hell matched sections of the Bible that described a battle against “dark forces” taking place on Earth.

Until this point, Colton hadn’t mentioned Satan when discussing his heavenly experience, so Todd decided to gather more information. He asked if Colton had seen Satan while in heaven, and Colton replied that he had. However, when Todd pressed Colton further—asking what Satan looked like—Colton became very upset and wouldn’t answer. Furthermore, he wouldn’t speak about his heavenly experiences at all for the rest of the day. When Todd and Sonja asked Colton about Satan on subsequent occasions, he always had the same reaction.

Colton Describes the Battle of Armageddon

A few months after Colton’s revelation about swords in heaven, Todd and Colton were on another road trip, traveling home from a nearby city. Suddenly, Colton asked Todd if he was aware that a war was coming. Confused, Todd asked Colton for more details about this war. Colton explained that in the future, there would be a war pitting Jesus and his supporters against Satan and his monsters. This war would bring about the end of the world.

While in heaven, Colton had seen a glimpse of this future war. The men in heaven had joined the battle—including Todd—and had fought monsters such as dragons using swords and bows. Meanwhile, the women and children had watched from the sidelines. Ultimately, Jesus and the forces of good had prevailed. After hearing this description, Todd realized that Colton was referring to the battle of Armageddon, as discussed in the book of Revelation. He was struck not only by the fact that Colton had seen the battle take place, but also by the knowledge that he—Todd—would have to participate. The idea of fighting made Todd somewhat nervous. However, he ultimately decided that if Jesus needed him to fight, he would.

The Burpos Share Their Story

On January 28th, 2007, Todd publicly spoke about Colton’s experience for the first time while giving a sermon at a Colorado Springs church. The sermon’s theme was people without faith. Todd described how his faith had wavered when Colton was sick, but it had grown again when he heard about Colton’s heavenly experiences. Sharing Colton’s experience with the world had—and continues to have—numerous consequences for the Burpo family:

• People now approach Todd with difficult questions about the afterlife. For instance, one woman asked him whether Colton had seen her stillborn child in heaven. Todd did his best to reassure the woman by telling her that since his miscarried daughter was in heaven, there was every reason to believe her late child was, too.
• People frequently ask Todd: Why Colton? Why did Jesus choose him to have this experience over other sick children? Todd still isn’t sure. Maybe it was to help him and Sonja come to terms with their miscarriage or help Todd’s family grieve Pop?
• People share stories about other heavenly experiences with the Burpos. For instance, shortly after Todd’s first sermon about Colton, a congregation member sent the family a link to a news story about a 12-year-old girl from Idaho who’d been having visions of heaven for eight years. The girl had painted a picture of Jesus based on her visions. When shown the portrait, Colton stated that it was an accurate depiction.
• The Burpos have to relive the traumatic experience of their son’s illness each time they tell his story. Doing so often brings them to tears. However, they still consider telling Colton’s story worth it, since it brings hope to others—for instance, by reassuring them that there is an afterlife.

At the time Todd finished writing Heaven Is for Real, Colton was about to turn 11. He hadn’t experienced any more major health struggles and hadn’t revisited heaven. However, he remembered his first trip in great detail, and he was still adamant that heaven is for real.