For those of you who are standing in the long lines waiting to watch what some claim may be the movie “blockbusters” of the year, spoiler alert…Heaven IS for real AND God is NOT dead.

I don’t need to watch a movie for two hours to tell me the obvious.  I’m a Christian, so I know for a fact that Heaven is indeed real.  Scripture confirms its existence.  It appears from the very first verse in Genesis- “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”- to the last reference found at the end of Revelation- “He showed me the great city… descending out of heaven from God” (Revelation 21:10 NKJV). In fact,  there are Bible verses about heaven in fifty-four of the sixty-six books in the Bible.

I do not need a little boy with an amazing “near-death” experience to confirm for me that there is indeed a heaven.  I’m a believer already.  However, it is interesting how many who may have been skeptical about heaven’s existence will see this film or read the book by Todd Burpo and suddenly believe in the afterlife…and that’s okay…but make sure that the belief is founded on the biblical truth that glorifies a heavenly Father who loved us all so much that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.  (John 3:16).  That’s the fundamental truth in believing in heaven, not the accounts of ordinary people who have had miraculous “there-and-back” experiences.  It may encourage us to hear these stories, (I personally really enjoyed the book)  but I don’t need their eye-witness accounts to know that heaven is real.  The Bible is all the proof I need of heaven!

I also believe whole-heartedly that God is not dead.  I believe in the resurrected Saviour.  “You don’t have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?”  John 11:25-26  (The Message)

“Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin’s every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.”  Romans 6:6-11.

I find it interesting that people want proof of heaven and of God’s existence but refuse to go to the source of that proof: The Bible.  They would rather get second-hand accounts and watch feel-good movies.  It’s okay if it is the conversation starter that leads to a heartfelt quest for the Truth but if it ends immediately after the last kernel of popcorn is eaten, then the quest has failed…miserably!

If you are a Christian, who may want to use these books and movies for evangelistic purposes or otherwise, by all means, go see the movies; review them, discuss them, but be wary of using them primarily to discuss theological truths …that’s what the Bible is for!

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