In Heaven is for Real, pastor Todd Burpo relates the story of how, following a severe illness, his young son Colton claimed that he’d visited heaven and met Jesus. Here’s a timeline of the main events in Colton’s story:
February 27th: Shortly before a planned family trip to Colorado, Colton—then aged 3 years and 10 months—becomes sick. A local doctor diagnoses him with stomach flu.
February 28th: Colton recovers enough to make the trip to Colorado.
March 1st to 2nd: Colton’s illness returns. He begins to vomit frequently and complains of pain in his abdomen. A family friend suggests that Colton may have appendicitis.
March 3rd to 4th: Todd and his wife, Sonja, decide to take Colton home to Imperial, Nebraska, and check him into a hospital there. An X-ray reveals multiple masses in Colton’s abdomen. The doctors are unsure what’s causing the masses but, based on Colton’s blood tests, don’t believe it’s appendicitis. Colton’s condition worsens as he fails to respond to any treatment.
March 5th: Todd and Sonja become frustrated with the doctors’ lack of progress and decide to transfer Colton to Great Plains Regional Medical Center in North Platte, Nebraska. The doctors there quickly establish that Colton has a ruptured appendix, leaving toxins leaking into his body.
Colton undergoes emergency surgery to remove the toxins and save his life. During the surgery, Sonja sits in the hospital waiting room, calling friends and family to update them on her son’s condition. Meanwhile, Todd finds a quiet room and prays.
March 6th to 12th: Colton recovers from his surgery.
March 13th: It appears that Colton is well enough to be discharged. However, at the last minute, the doctors discover that Colton has developed new areas of infection in his abdomen. Not only does Colton have to remain in hospital, but he has to undergo surgery again.
March 14th to 16th: In the wake of Colton’s second surgery, his bowels stop functioning: He can’t pass any gas or feces.
March 17th: The doctors at Great Plains conclude there’s nothing more they can do for Colton. They suggest transferring him to a specialist children’s hospital in Denver. However, before the transfer can take place, a freak snowstorm hits North Platte, trapping the Burpos there.
Back in Imperial, Todd’s congregation comes together to pray. They ask God to either make the snowstorm pass or make Colton’s constipation pass. Within an hour, Colton’s condition begins to improve. By that evening, his constipation has cleared.
March 18th: Colton is practically back to his usual self, astounding his doctors.
March 19th: Colton is finally discharged.
July 3rd: The Burpos are on a road trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, when they drive past the turn to Great Plains Regional Medical Center. Sonja asks Colton if he remembers the hospital. Colton replies that he does: It’s the place where the angels sang to him.
Todd and Sonja are stunned: Colton has never mentioned angels singing to him before. They stop the car and question Colton about the experience. Colton reveals that while he was having his first operation, he met not only angels, but also Jesus. He adds that he’d been with Jesus and the angels while Sonja had been on the phone in the hospital waiting room, and while Todd had been praying alone in a room.
The Burpos wonder how Colton had known what his parents were doing during the operation, and question whether the experience Colton is describing was a dream or real.
Around July 10th: Todd questions Colton further about his experience. Colton explains that he met Jesus and the angels while visiting heaven. He gives a description of Jesus that matches both passages in the Bible and the depiction of Jesus on crucifixes—but Todd notes that Colton hasn’t encountered crucifixes or those sections of the Bible yet. He begins to contemplate the idea that his son is describing a real experience.
Later that week, both Todd and Sonja ask Colton questions about heaven. He states that:
Todd believes that much of what Colton is describing matches the descriptions of Jesus and heaven in the Bible, again strengthening his belief that Colton is telling the truth.
August: Colton reveals that while in heaven, he met Todd’s late grandfather, Pop, and says he was very nice. He also states that Jesus had described reaching out to Todd and telling him to be a pastor. Todd is astounded, as this matches his experience of deciding to become a pastor: He’d felt that someone or something had been calling him to do so, and now knew that it was Jesus.
October: Colton tells his parents that while he was in heaven, he met his sister who’d passed away in the womb. Todd and Sonja are shocked, since they did suffer a miscarriage before Colton’s birth, but had never told him about it. It comforts them to know that one day, they’ll reunite with their late daughter in heaven.
December: Todd asks Colton whether he saw God’s throne while in heaven. Colton confirms that he did, and that it was huge. He states that Jesus also had a throne, on the right-hand side of God’s. This makes sense to Todd, as it matches the description of the heavenly thrones in the Bible.
By this point, Todd almost entirely believes that Colton went to heaven. However, he wants to give Colton one last test to check he’s telling the truth. So, Todd asks 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 passes the test, telling his father that it never gets dark in heaven because God and Jesus create its light.
Late April 2004: Colton gets in trouble for running out into the parking lot at a fast-food restaurant. Todd warns Colton that if he’s not careful, he’ll get hit by a car and killed. Colton responds that this would be a good thing since he’d get to go back to heaven.
Fall 2004: One night, Sonja encourages Colton to pray for Todd to get lots of study time in preparation for his sermon that Sunday. In response, Colton states that in the past, he’d seen Jesus “shoot power down” to Todd when he spoke in church. When Todd asks Colton what this “power” is, Colton replies that it’s the Holy Spirit.
2005: Colton tells his babysitter, Ali, about his experience in heaven. He also tells her that he misses his late sister. Subsequently, Ali tells the Burpos that not only did she believe Colton, but that hearing about his experience strengthened her Christian faith.
Early 2006: Colton reveals that people have swords in heaven to protect them from Satan, who isn’t yet stuck in hell. He also states that he saw Satan while in heaven, but refuses to describe him or talk about him any further.
Later in 2006: Out of nowhere, Colton warns his father that a holy war is coming. He says that while in heaven, he foresaw a battle in which Jesus and his supporters (including Todd) fought Satan and his monsters. He states that this battle will eventually bring about the end of the world, although the forces of good will ultimately prevail. Todd realizes that Colton is describing the battle of Armageddon.
January 2007: Todd speaks about Colton’s experience publicly for the first time, during a church service in Sioux Falls.
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.
The months leading up to February 2003 had been difficult for Nebraskan pastor and father-of-two Todd Burpo. He’d experienced a number of health issues, including a badly broken leg, kidney stones, and a breast cancer scare. While unwell, he’d been unable to continue his work as a garage door installer, leaving the Burpo family’s finances precarious.
Todd thought a family trip would be just the thing to lift everyone’s spirits. So when, in late February, he was invited to Greeley, Colorado for a church board meeting, he decided to bring his wife, Sonja, and kids, Cassie (aged 6) and Colton (aged 3 years, 10 months), along too.
Todd left for Colorado first, expecting the rest of his family to join him in a few days. However, on February 27th, just before Sonja and the kids were due to set off, Colton got sick with stomach pains, a fever, and chills. A local doctor diagnosed him with stomach flu. Todd worried that the trip might be off, but, by the next day, Colton had seemingly recovered. Sonja called Todd to let him know that she and the kids were on their way to Colorado.
The beginning of the trip passed without incident. The family visited an insect zoo, and Colton seemed to be his usual rambunctious self. But, on the evening of March 1st, Colton’s illness returned. He began to vomit frequently and complained of pain in his abdomen.
At first, the family continued to believe that Colton’s illness was something contagious like stomach flu, since Cassie had become unwell too. However, while Cassie quickly recovered from her sickness, Colton steadily got worse. He couldn’t stop vomiting and was clearly in considerable pain. A family friend of the Burpos suggested that Colton may be suffering from appendicitis.
On March 3rd, the Burpos decided to return to their hometown of Imperial, Nebraska, to check Colton into the local hospital. Once they arrived, it quickly became apparent that Colton was very unwell: An X-ray revealed masses in his abdomen. The doctor wasn’t sure what was causing the masses, but, based on evidence from Colton’s blood tests, he didn’t believe it was appendicitis.
Over the next 24 hours, doctors ran test after test on Colton, but couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. Meanwhile, Colton’s condition declined further and further as he failed to respond to any treatment.
Eventually, the Burpos became frustrated with the doctors’ lack of progress. On March 5th, they decided to transfer Colton to Great Plains Regional Medical Center in North Platte, Nebraska, hoping to receive better treatment there.
Shortly after the Burpos arrived at Great Plains, a CT scan confirmed that Colton did have appendicitis after all. Even worse, his appendix had ruptured, leaving toxins leaking into his body. Colton required emergency surgery to remove the toxins and save his life.
Before Colton went into surgery, Todd asked the lead doctor for a prognosis. The doctor didn’t give any assurances that Colton would survive, merely saying that the medical team would know more about his condition when they began the surgery. (Later, Todd learned that none of the medical staff had expected Colton to live.)
While the Burpos waited for news on Colton’s surgery, Sonja sat in the hospital waiting room, calling friends and family to update them on her son’s condition. Meanwhile, Todd found a quiet room in which he could be alone with his feelings. He felt guilty: Was Colton going to die because his parents had been too slow to seek adequate medical care for him? Shouldn’t Todd have realized that Colton was suffering from appendicitis sooner?
In addition, Todd felt extremely angry at God. Why was God testing him—a pastor, no less—again, after all of the trials and tribulations of the past few months? Was God really going to allow his son to die?
After an agonizing hours-long wait, the Burpos eventually learned that Colton had made it through the surgery. However, he was still very sick: Infection remained in many of his internal organs. For some days after the surgery, Colton continued to vomit regularly. Twice a day, he had pus pumped from his body.
As the days passed, Colton’s condition improved little by little. On March 13th, it seemed like he was finally well enough to be discharged. Todd and Sonja began to prepare to return home. However, at the last minute, the doctors discovered that Colton had developed new areas of infection in his abdomen. Not only would he have to remain in hospital, but he would have to undergo surgery again.
At first, it appeared that the second surgery had been successful. However, it soon became clear that Colton’s bowels had stopped functioning: He couldn’t pass any gas or feces. Days dragged on with no change in his condition, and Colton’s constipation became increasingly painful.
By March 17th, the doctors at Great Plains believed that there was nothing more they could do for Colton. They suggested transferring him to a specialist children’s hospital in Denver. However, before the transfer could take place, a freak snowstorm hit North Platte. This trapped the Burpos in the hospital, with no hope of a transfer taking place that day.
Back in Imperial, Todd’s congregation came together to pray. They—along with Todd, from afar—asked God to either make the snowstorm pass, thus making the transfer possible, or make Colton’s constipation pass, thus making the transfer unnecessary. (Todd couldn’t help but wonder if a congregation had ever prayed for a bowel movement before.)
Within an hour, Colton’s condition miraculously began to improve. He was suddenly able to pass gas again, and by that evening, his constipation had cleared. The next day, he was practically back to his usual self: He was full of energy and playing with his toys as if nothing was wrong.
The doctors were astounded by Colton’s sudden improvement and skeptical of whether it would last. However, after monitoring Colton for another day-and-a-half, they became confident that he had recovered: CT scans revealed no further obstructions in his abdomen. On March 19th, 16 days after Colton was first admitted to hospital, the Burpos were finally able to return home.
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:
Incident #1: Around a week after Colton’s discharge, the bills for his hospital stay began to arrive. The Burpos were in financial trouble even before Colton got sick, so there was no way they’d cover all the bills due that month.
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 needed to pay the hospital doctor since Jesus “used” him to make Colton better.
Incident #2: 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’d done was wrong. Colton stated that Jesus himself had instructed him to be kind to people.
Incident #3: 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 “had Jesus in his heart.” When Colton learned that the man might not have been Christian, he became distraught, claiming that this meant the man wouldn’t be able to go to heaven. On the day of the funeral, Colton had to be removed from the church because he wouldn’t stop shouting about whether or not the dead man had “known Jesus.”
These three incidents confused Todd. Why was Colton acting as if he’d spoken to Jesus personally? Why was Colton suddenly so obsessed with whether people went to heaven or not? However, Todd didn’t give too much thought to these issues—he figured that Colton must have just heard about Jesus, his teachings, and heaven at Sunday school.
(Shortform note: The information in this section was originally part of the book’s prologue. We’ve moved it here to keep the sequence of events chronological.)
In early July 2003, the Burpos took a trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to visit Sonja’s brother and newborn nephew. It was the first trip the family had taken since the one that ended in Colton’s hospitalization, and they hoped that this one would be somewhat less eventful.
During the journey, the Burpos drove past the turn to Great Plains Regional Medical Center. Sonja decided to ask Colton—now aged 4—if he remembered the hospital. Colton replied that he did: It was the place where the angels had sung to him.
Todd and Sonja were stunned by this revelation. Colton had never mentioned angels singing to him before. They decided to press the issue further, so Todd pulled into the parking lot of a nearby Arby’s restaurant and turned off the car’s engine.
After a few minutes of gentle questioning, Colton revealed that:
Astonished by the idea that Colton had met Jesus, Todd pressed Colton further and asked where he’d been when he’d met the son of God. Colton replied that it had been during his first operation at Great Plains. He’d been with Jesus and the angels while Sonja had been on the phone in the waiting room, and while Todd had been praying alone in a room.
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?
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, Colton blurted out that Jesus owned a rainbow-colored horse. Finally, he stated that 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.
Next, Todd decided to question Colton on Jesus's appearance. Colton responded that:
Todd realized that the description of Jesus that his son had given 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.
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, although he admitted, with some annoyance, that his wings had been very small. 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.
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.
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. Notably, he described:
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.
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 decades 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.
Todd was blown away by this latest revelation, which seemed to confirm that we’re reunited with our late relatives in the afterlife. He wanted to assess whether Colton’s claim was true or not, so he asked Colton what Pop had looked like. Colton was evasive, only stating that Pop had large wings and was wearing white with a blue “stripe” across his body (which, again, Todd presumed to be a sash).
Some months after Colton first mentioned seeing Pop, Todd once again contemplated what Pop had looked like in heaven. Had Pop been old—as Todd remembered him—or his younger self? Todd decided to approach Colton to find out the answer to this question. Colton responded that Pop had been his younger self because nobody was old in heaven.
Interestingly, 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 must have met the “younger” Pop.
The day after Colton revealed that he met Pop, Todd’s mother visited the family. After hearing about Colton’s most recent revelations, she asked her grandson whether Jesus had mentioned how Todd became a pastor. Colton responded that Jesus had: 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. When he was 13 years old, he’d attended a youth camp and listened to a pastor speak about how God calls people to do his work. The pastor had mentioned that God could call kids, too—and at that moment, Todd had felt someone or something telling him that he should be a pastor. He’d known in his heart that this was God or Jesus calling him, and Colton had just confirmed that.
One evening 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.
The Burpos were shocked because Colton was right: 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.
Around two years after Colton first spoke of his late sister, he brought her up again—this time, to his babysitter, Ali. Ali told Todd and Sonja that Colton had spent a lot of their evening together crying and saying that he missed his dead sister. In the process, he’d told Ali all about his trip to heaven.
Subsequently, Ali revealed to Todd and Sonja that not only did she believe Colton’s story, but hearing him speak of heaven and his late sister had strengthened her Christian faith. Whenever she had doubts about God, she remembered how sincere Colton was when he talked about his experiences, and knew that the Christian path was the true one.
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.
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.
One evening in early 2006, the Burpo family watched the recent movie adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe together. The film included a long medieval-style battle sequence, featuring warriors wielding swords. Colton loved this type of fantasy action, particularly when good triumphed over evil.
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.
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.
Todd was confused and 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.
From 2003 to 2004, Colton shared various other miscellaneous details about heaven, Jesus, and the afterlife:
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 Todd and the rest of the Burpo family:
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.
Heaven is for Real drew widespread media attention following its publication. The book debuted at number 3 in the New York Times’s non-fiction bestseller list, and many readers hailed it as faith-affirming.
However, Colton’s narrative has been met with some skepticism. For instance, some critics have questioned how Colton could have visited the afterlife when there's no medical evidence that he died during his two surgeries.
Criticism of the book intensified in 2015 when a teenager who'd made claims similar to Colton's admitted that he'd lied. In the wake of this scandal, Colton—then aged around 16—posted a statement on his website, acknowledging that some people doubted he was telling the truth. However, he stands by his narrative.
Heaven is for Real depicts one boy’s apparent trip to the afterlife. Reflect on the narrative and what it means to you.
Before you read this summary, did you believe in the concept of an afterlife? Why or why not?
How does your belief about whether there’s an afterlife affect how you live your day-to-day life?
Did any aspects of Colton Burpo’s story change your perspective on the existence of an afterlife? Why or why not?
Overall, do you believe that Colton Burpo visited heaven? Why or why not? (If not, what other explanations could there be for his experience?)