By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
IMPERIAL, NEBRASKA (ANS) -- When doctors inexplicably missed four-year-old Colton Burpo’s burst appendix, and the resulting infection nearly took his life, his father railed at God as Colton’s life seemed to be slip away.
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Colton at about four-years-old |
Pastor Todd Burpo found a small room in the hospital after Colton was taken into surgery, and he unloaded some raw emotions toward heaven.
“Where are you God? Is this how you treat your pastors? Is it worth it to even serve you?” he shouted, as recounted in the New York Times bestseller “Heaven is for Real.”
After Colton’s surgery and a time in ICU, the fair-haired boy made a remarkable recovery. It wasn’t until four months later on a family car ride to South Dakota that Colton’s parents realized something very unusual happened to Colton as doctors fought to save his life.
Colton shared with his astonished parents that he left his body in the hospital and visited heaven, where he sat on Jesus’ lap and met departed family members, along with other remarkable details.
He watched his father praying for his life in the small room, a fact that even Todd’s wife, Sonya, didn’t know. Todd had confessed and repented of his “raw” attitude toward God in the hospital, but the realization that his son sat on Jesus’ lap in the midst of his anger melted his heart.
“I screamed at God when he was holding my kid and it was wrong,” he admits. “When I knew God had forgiven me for that, I knew it was okay to share it with other people.”
Colton told his parents one of the favorite places in heaven was the throne room of God – with God seated on a huge throne, and Jesus enthroned on His right and the angel Gabriel on the Father’s left. “People ask Colton, ‘What does God’s face look like?’”
Mark Ellis is a senior correspondent for ASSIST News Service and the founder ofwww.Godreports.com. He is available to speak to groups about the plight of the church in restricted countries, to share stories and testimonies from the mission field, and to preach the gospel. mark@Godreports.com |
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