Heaven Is for Real Page #4

I know that.

Nothing but clumsy,

inaccurate advice available here.

I've been expecting to

see you a little sooner.

- What do you mean?

- Well, I'm your banker.

I didn't come here for a loan.

Not the bank's money,

just from a friend to a friend.

Let me help you out, okay?

Nobody would have to know.

I'd know.

I never wanted to be the guy

who stands up there in the pulpit

asking people to give to charity

when all he does is take it.

It's not charity.

It's a loan from a friend to a friend.

I know you need the help.

It's what real people do.

I don't.

Well, then you didn't come here

for smart advice.

I don't think the church has kept

your salary in line with

the new members that you've brought in.

I think you deserve a raise.

Let me talk to the board,

see what I can do.

I didn't come here for a raise, either.

All right. Good. I didn't want to ask them.

What can I do for you?

It's Colton.

He's been talking about this...

We ask these kids to believe this stuff

and I don't even know

if I believe it myself, Jay.

What?

Colton is what I'm trying to tell you about.

He's been saying things I don't understand.

He's talking about these conversations

in heaven.

I used to go out with a flight attendant

whose son had extensive conversations

with Barney the dinosaur.

- Do you know how irritating Barney is?

- Yeah.

- He's purple.

- Exactly, exactly.

The Bible tells us to believe his children.

What my child's telling me

will get me laughed out of this town.

That's what I'm saying.

I don't know what to preach.

I don't have anything to say.

Just speak from the heart, Todd,

like you always do.

What about fear do we struggle with?

Is it confusion?

Is it doubt? Is it questions?

I got questions.

We all do. Maybe we ought to just...

Maybe we ought to try that today.

Just see if

Do you want to try questions?

- Hey, Todd.

- Yeah?

- My family and I prayed for you a lot.

- Thank you. Thank you, Michael.

We're just wondering, how bad was it?

"How bad?" it was awful.

I mean, a lot of us heard that

Colton died during the operation

and prayers brought him back to life.

No, he didn't die on the operating table.

He, you know, came mighty close,

but I think it was the doctors,

through God and all of your prayers,

that kept him alive

and so thank you all for that.

- So, how did you handle it?

- Not well.

But the important thing is that

the Burpos faced a significant challenge

and they came through it. Amen.

Amen.

That's the thing, though.

Thank you for that, Jay,

but I don't know that I did come through.

Colton's experience makes me wonder.

About what, exactly, Todd?

He's just been telling us about

his experiences, talking

about them.

When he was in the operation,

Colton visited heaven.

But you said he didn't die.

He didn't, but he saw heaven.

- He saw Jesus and angels and...

- But how?

I don't know.

- Reverend Burpo.

- Todd.

Todd. Some of the hospital staff have said,

off the record,

that your son was not expected to survive

and used the word "miracle".

- How would you explain that?

- I haven't even tried to do that.

Can you try?

If he didn't die, how could he see heaven?

I don't know, but he did.

Do you believe he was in heaven?

I know he saw something.

It sure sounded like heaven.

Good Lord,

what's happened to our preacher?

Well, I thought that went well, huh?

Nice view.

I love being up so high.

Colton! Hey!

I thought I asked you

to stop playing with that!

- I'm sorry, Dad!

- I told him not to, Dad!

Half the church wants to stop feeling

and start thinking.

And the other half,

they want the exact opposite.

This is Todd.

Yeah.

Let me call you back.

That was the newspaper.

They want to do an article about heaven.

And?

And they want to interview Colton.

And you think that's a good idea?

So, Colton, a lot of people

were praying for you.

I guess.

Well, that must feel good.

Come over here, buddy.

You're being interviewed.

Thank you.

You were very sick.

What did it feel like to die?

- I didn't die.

- But you went to heaven?

That's a little off-topic.

It's beautiful.

You saw heaven?

What does it look like?

Like here, but even more beautiful.

And you saw Jesus?

Yeah.

He's very nice. I sat on his lap.

He has markers.

Markers?

Yeah. Right here and right here

and right here and right here.

Can I go swing on the swing some more?

Yeah.

So, Jesus has a horse?

There are lots of animals in heaven.

They don't believe me, do they?

Some people might be afraid to believe.

- What are they afraid of?

- I don't know.

Maybe they're afraid

that there's no heaven.

Or maybe they're afraid that there is.

You believe me, Daddy, don't you?

I believe God loves you. And so do I.

Can I get your picture?

- What's that?

- Can I take your picture?

Yeah.

And...

Thank you.

- Hello?

- Oh, hi, Jay. Have you seen this?

Yeah, I read it a couple of times.

It's quite an article.

I love Todd, but I love our church, too.

And I really can't stand to see it

turn into some kind of circus.

- Why don't we get together?

- Yeah, I think that's a good idea.

- Okay, thank you.

- Okay.

- Bye-bye.

- All right, bye-bye.

No, that's okay.

Actually, I'm going to get out of here.

No, no. It's on me, buddy.

- What do you mean?

- It's on me.

- No. No. No. No. I got this.

- No. It's on me.

Sonja gives Rosa clothes for Miguelito

whenever Colton outgrows anything.

And she gave Lucia a baby dress that

an angel would wear.

- A pink dress?

- Yeah, beautiful.

So, please, give me the

gift of giving back.

Okay. Thanks a lot.

- All right.

- Bye. Bye, sweetie.

Say bye. bye.

Hey. Hey, Burpo.

Hey, next time there's a fire,

maybe you should tell Jesus that

instead of walking on the water,

he could just dump it all on your fire.

Right?

Come on. You gotta see the humor in it.

Kayla, pass it to me.

Come on. Yeah.

Hey, Cassie, did your brother

really sit on Jesus' lap?

Did he ask for a new bicycle

or a magic DOW?

Hello. This is Todd.

Yeah.

Well, I'm surprised to hear that.

Can you hold on?

Honey, did you punch

a kid in the nose today?

With your fist?

In the nose?

Yep.

But not one kid. Two.

What was the reason, honey?

She hits good when she wants to.

I'm sorry. Can I call you right back?

No, honey. I think we should

talk about this right now.

If you punched somebody,

there must have been a good reason for it.

They were making fun of Colton.

They made fun about him

sitting on Jesus' lap.

Honey, you know you should have

turned the other cheek, though, right?

I did turn his other cheek. When I hit him.

Is Cassie going to get a spanking?

Heck, no.

I'm just going to teach her to hit

without hurting her knuckles.

Hey-

Are you having trouble sleeping?

No. Are you?

Yeah.

It's pretty cool what

Cassie did today, huh?

Yeah. It's pretty cool.

Do you want to talk?

Sure.

Great. I like our talks.

Can we talk about heaven?

What would you like to know?

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