"Even if someone rises from the dead"

I have long registered my dismay over the popularity of the "I died, went to Heaven, and God sent me back" books. First of all there is no biblical category for this. "It is appointed unto man once to die and then face the judgment." Folks, "clinically dead" is the not the same thing as "dead dead." What is more, these testimonies tend to go off into flights of fancy. For instance, the Burpos would have us believe that we will have wings in Heaven. Also, they undermine the sufficiency of Scripture. I have had brothers and sisters in Christ tell me, "I always believed in Heaven but now (after reading one of these books) I really believe."

These books are defended on the basis of the fact that these testimonies generate faith in unbelievers. Of course this is precisely what Jesus said would not happen (Luke 16). One more concern I have is the profit motive. Some of these books have generated enormous amounts of wealth for the writers. As a result numerous spin offs are produced which seems highly opportunistic.

Now, a movie of Heaven Is For Real is coming up and millions of evangelicals will flock to the screen. Another loss for biblical discernment.

Nancy Guthrie has written a helpful piece on this phenomena.

She writes:

The question really isn't about whether or not a 4-year-old's description of heaven lines up with what the Scriptures teach. The question is whether or not we really believe that God in his Word "has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence (2 Peter 1:3). Admittedly the Bible does not provide as much detail about what awaits us beyond this life as some of us might like. It does tell us four significant things:
1. We will be with Christ (Luke 23:42-43, Phil 1:21-23).
2. It will be far better than life on this earth (Phil 1:21-23).
3. We will be away from the body (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).

4. Our spirits will be made perfect—completely cleansed of sin (Hebrews 12:22-23).
Since we know that to be at home with the Lord is to be away from the body, when one of these books describes physical bodies in heaven that are healed and whole, we know instantly that it is not a genuine account of the current realities of heaven. One day the physical bodies of those who are united to Christ will be healed and whole like the body of the risen Christ (1 Corinthians 15:22-23; 1 John 3:2). But that will not be until the day Christ returns and makes all things new. Right now "we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body (Philippians 3:20-21).

Until then, we do not need the testimony of an impressionable 4-year-old boy, a neurosurgeon, spine surgeon, sports writer, or even a pastor to know that heaven is real. We have everything we need in the Bible. Its testimony is enough to generate genuine faith in Christ, as well as a greater longing for unending life in his presence.

Read the whole post HERE.