"Heaven is for Real"

[missmuffet]

nothing wrong with having concerns. just remember that for satan to be able to transform himself into an angel of light, there has to be an angel of light for him to know what to transform himself into. anything that satan can do, God can do, and does, and does better. test the spirits, don't just assume you know what the spirit is.

In 2 Corinthians that says "Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" means that Satan capitalizes on our love of the light to deceive.Most people are not drawn to darkness but to light.Therefore Satan appears as a creature of light to draw us to himself.I do not think you are giving Satan enough credit.Remember he was one of the most intelligent angels in heaven at one time.He is very intelligent.And very,very dangerous.

[Guest LadyC]

yes, satan does appear as an angel of light. but does that mean that God is not the true source of light? if you don't test the spirits, how do you know what is the true source and what is the immitation? 

 

trust me, i give satan credit where it is due, and i've had plenty of dealings with him. i can tell you stories that go back as far as my childhood, and i can tell you stories of how he started messing with my oldest daughter when she was barely 2 years old... and a quarter century later, he's still messing with her head and her heart.

 

but i kinda think you may not be giving God enough credit. you're automatically assuming that something MUST be from satan because you can't imagine God being able to do something. and yet the bible is full of examples of where God revealed Himself, and heaven, to people through visions. God doesn't just stop doing something that He has always done. people stop believing that He still does them! 

 

that doesn't mean i advocate always assuming something is from God. to the contrary, i think we need to proceed with caution and concern. that's why i said what i said, that there is nothing wrong with having concerns. and that's why i suggest always testing the spirits to know whether something is from God or from satan. but never just assume whether something is from God or from satan. that's where the danger lies.

[gamnot]

I believe that the increase in movies about God and spiritual matters is a compensatory reaction against the reductionist tendencies of our time. Reductionism is destructive against the natural rhythm of life. Christianity is in accord with that natural rhythm. The new increase in spiritual matters can be more or less on target. It can mean the advent of a demonic spirit just as well as a righteous spirit.

 

For the most part, I avoid jumping on any the various bandwagons coming down the road and I simply do not form an opinion or if I do I don't say much about it.

[Guest LadyC]

you said a mouthful there!

 

(i may have to re-read it a couple of times to understand what you said though!)

[Guest DRS81]

It doesn't sound Christian to me. It's based on a NDE (near-death-experience). From Wikipedia:

 

Heaven Is for Real is the story of a four-year-old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who says he experienced Heaven during emergency surgery. He talked about looking down to see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn’t know what to believe. In Heaven, Colton says he met his miscarried sister whom no one had ever told him about and his great-grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born. He shared supposedly impossible-to-know details about each. Colton went on to describe the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how “reaaally big” God and His chair are, and how the Holy Spirit “shoots down power” from heaven to help people.

 

and how the Holy Spirit “shoots down power” from heaven to help people? Wha??

[missmuffet]

yes, satan does appear as an angel of light. but does that mean that God is not the true source of light? if you don't test the spirits, how do you know what is the true source and what is the immitation? 

 

trust me, i give satan credit where it is due, and i've had plenty of dealings with him. i can tell you stories that go back as far as my childhood, and i can tell you stories of how he started messing with my oldest daughter when she was barely 2 years old... and a quarter century later, he's still messing with her head and her heart.

 

but i kinda think you may not be giving God enough credit. you're automatically assuming that something MUST be from satan because you can't imagine God being able to do something. and yet the bible is full of examples of where God revealed Himself, and heaven, to people through visions. God doesn't just stop doing something that He has always done. people stop believing that He still does them! 

 

that doesn't mean i advocate always assuming something is from God. to the contrary, i think we need to proceed with caution and concern. that's why i said what i said, that there is nothing wrong with having concerns. and that's why i suggest always testing the spirits to know whether something is from God or from satan. but never just assume whether something is from God or from satan. that's where the danger lies.

Satan certainly wants you to think that everything he presents is from God.He has sure fooled alot of people.

[Guest LadyC]

yes, he has. 

 

likewise, he wants us to believe that nothing that God presents is from God. he's fooled a lot of people that way, too.

[missmuffet]

yes, he has. 

 

likewise, he wants us to believe that nothing that God presents is from God. he's fooled a lot of people that way, too.

People are curious about heaven.That is only a natural human curiosity.The unknown is scary for everyone including Christians.We are anxious to get a glimpse of our eternal home.Satan knows that.He wants to give a person a taste of what he wants people to see.

[OneLight]

It is interesting to hear people take on NDE's. I for one question any extra-biblical information given by anyone, not just NDE's testimonies. All we can do is hold up what is said to scripture to see if it is true or not.

One question that arose is whether or not people sleep or are present with Christ when they die. I choose to believe what is stated in 2 Corinthians 5:1-8

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Further scripture is easily seen in Revelation 6:9-11

When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

If the dead sleep, who is under the alter John mentions?

As for visions, I have had a vision before about standing before His throne and Jesus telling me "I AM ALIVE". Can I prove it? No. Did it happen? Yes!

Did everything that this child saw really happen and is from God. Honestly, I don't know and I am not going to stand in judgment of this child. Nor will I suggest that Satan is deceiving him. Like I said, I can't prove what I experienced to anyone, and some have scoffed at it, but it was real and His Spirit witnessed with my spirit of the truth in what I saw and heard.

[Guest LadyC]

bopeep, i seriously doubt that a four year old child would be so anxious and curious to see a glimpse of heaven. so is it your unwavering opinion that this child was being deceived and that his vision was from satan?

 

one light, again, thank you for your imput. i'm listening, even if nobody else is!!