The Promise of Heaven

We can be confident that after we leave this world, we inhabit a new location, a wonderful place that Jesus is preparing for us.  Here's the reminder from John 14:
1"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.2In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promises...

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In Philippians 3, we encounter a passage that can remind us of our ultimate home and where God will take us after we leave this earth:
20For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,21who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

It never happened.

That's what Alex Malarkey has said.  Maybe you've read his book, The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven. Those that obtained a copy last month purchased the last printing of the book, because its publisher has now pulled it. Tyndale House Publishers announced in a Jan. 14 statement that it would "immediately put the book and all ancillary products into out-of-print status" and allow retailers to return their remaining inventory, according to a report on the Baptist Press website, which also reports that LifeWay Christian Stores will no longer carry it.

The article says that Alex wrote an open letter to book retailers saying that, "I did not die. I did not go to Heaven," adding, "I said I went to heaven because I thought it would get me attention. When I made the claims that I did, I had never read the Bible. People have profited from lies, and continue to. They should read the Bible, which is enough. The Bible is the only source of truth. Anything written by man cannot be infallible."

Here's the backstory: according to Baptist Press, in 2004, Alex Malarkey spent two months in a coma and was paralyzed from the neck down following a car accident. When he awoke, he reported experiencing a vision of heaven that included being guided by angels and meeting Jesus.

The piece references the British newspaper The Guardian, which reported that Kevin Malarkey said he "felt no urge" to share his son's story for five years, but he retained an agent and secured a book deal with Tyndale in 2009.  Kevin Malarkey is the sole owner of the copyright, according to information posted in the United States Copyright Office's public catalog.

The article also points out that Alex's mother Beth Malarkey -- who Christianity Today reported is separated from Kevin -- has been writing on her blog since at least 2011 that the book contains inaccuracies, according to the The Guardian.  Beth said she and Alex have not received any proceeds from the book's sale, according to CT.

Last June, the Southern Baptist Convention adopted a resolution that touted "the sufficiency of Scripture regarding the afterlife" and warned Christians not to allow "the numerous books and movies purporting to explain or describe the afterlife experience" to "become their source and basis for an understanding of the afterlife."

The resolution affirmed "the sufficiency of biblical revelation over subjective experiential explanations to guide one's understanding of the truth about heaven and hell."

Chris Osborne, a Texas pastor who was a member of the committee that drafted that resolution, is quoted as saying, "Anytime you step away from the clear, revelatory, propositional statements of Scripture into your own experience, then you open yourself to every kind of weird existential idea out there." He added, "We want people bound to truth, not to what they feel or what they think they saw or what they experience."

So what do we make of all this?  I will say that on my radio program, I have interviewed Don Piper, author of 90 Minutes in Heaven and Todd Burpo, whose son Colton's story is the basis of Heaven is for Real.   That film is currently the #5 film in the Christian genre, according to Box Office Mojo.  A movie version of Don Piper's book is currently in the works.  Baptist Press reported that Kevin Malarkey had movie rights to his book.

I think there are at least couple of takeaways.  For one thing, these books and movies, and other depictions of the afterlife can help people to consider that heaven is a real place.  Whether or not you believe Burpo's or Piper's story, a person can be motivated to search the Scriptures and learn more about what the Bible says about the place Jesus has prepared for us.  We do not have to have an supernatural experience or transport to believe in the validity and sufficiency of Scripture regarding heaven.

And, I think that we can explore the concept that God's truth trumps experience.  Certainly in the general sense, we will have experiences in our own lives.  But, no matter what our experiences, or our emotions may tell us, we have to make sure that what we profess lines up with Scripture.  We may claim to have a Word from God, but we have to discern if it is the Holy Spirit who is actually doing the speaking.  We may purport to have an experience from God, but we must think about whether God is glorified or our experience our ourselves become the focus of our attention.  I think that experiences, or moments, with the Savior, are a wonderful part of our Christian walk, but our personal experience can never lure us away from growing in our faith, rooted in God's Word.