ottawa1 wrote on Jun 28^th, 2012 at 1:06pm:


Hey Ottawa..I'm going to consolidate my neutral forces with yours...But I really think we are going to be totally screwed here! After all, the military might of the conservative Christians always wins! As a major, sometimes tattooed, saying of the US Marines, "Kill them all, and let God sort them out!" ...   

I read some more of “Heaven is for real.” To be honest, I feel as if I would have to shrink down my intelligence in order to take it completely seriously.  If Colton did in fact have the experience described (there are lots of hoaxers out there from the people behind Amityville horror to Carlos Castaneda) , it seems as if he was provided with information that is either intended for people who just won’t question anything the Bible has to say, his father, or both.

From page 57:

“Well, 0 buddy, a funeral happens when someone dies. A man here in town died, and his family is coming to the church to say good-bye to him.”

Instantly, Colton’s demeanor changed. His face fell into serious lines, and he stared fiercely into my eyes. “Did that man have Jesus in his heart?”

My son was asking me whether the man who had died was a Christian who had accepted Christ as his Savior. But his intensity caught me off guard. “I’m not sure, Colton,” I said. “I didn’t know him very well.”

Colton’s face bunched up in a terrible twist of worry. “He had to have Jesus in his heart! He had to know Jesus or he can’t get into heaven!”

From pages 58-59, after looking into the deceased man’s casket:

Suddenly Colton’s face gathered into that same knot of intense concern. He slammed his fists on his thighs, then pointed one finger at that casket and said in a near shout, “Did that man have Jesus?!”
….
“He had to! He had to!” Colton went on. “He can’t get into heaven if he didn’t have Jesus in his heart!”

Going by the above, it seems to me that Colton did express the “You better accept Jesus or else” viewpoint.  For the reasons I stated earlier on this thread, I don’t believe this is the best way to represent Jesus. Perhaps there are people who see things in black and white terms that benefit from such speak, but I believe that eventually such a viewpoint needs to be transcended.  Such a viewpoint tends to connect Jesus with fear, and a lot of well meaning  and very sensible people find this repelling.

Colton said that Jesus has markers (crucifixion marks), all people in heaven have wings, God sat at a throne, Jesus sat on God’s right and Gabriel on God’s left.  I find it hard to believe that such things should be considered literally.  Certainly such beings have a nature that is far beyond something akin to a physical body. If Colton did in fact experience things in such a way, as I stated on earlier posts, perhaps he was provided with such viewpoints because the beings who met with him understood that his pastor father wouldn’t be open to hearing about experiences that were non-Biblical in nature.

When it comes to Colton’s father believing in such a way, when Colton spoke of seeing rainbow colors, his father related this to the book of Revelations (page 66). It seems to me that he might’ve gone a bit too far when he tried to connect the dots in such a way.

Todd Burpo spoke publicly about Colton's NDE in Mountainview Wesleyan Church in Colorado Springs.  His host e-mailed Todd about a CNN interview of Akiane Kramarik (Age 12), a Lithuanian-American girl living in Idaho, about her visions of heaven which began at age 4, visions that inspired her to paint what she saw at age 6.  Akiane is a child prodigy, whose paintings are good enough to be hung in art galleries.  Her mother was an atheist; so God was never discussed in the home.  The family never watched TV and Akiane never attended preschool.  So her Mom was gradually convinced that Akiane's visions were real and that God was real.  Akiane is now both a self-taught painter and a self-taught piano composer.

1. Akiane: “There are hundreds of millions of colors we don't know yet.”  This parallels Colton's obsession with rainbows inspired by his experience of diverse colors in this pattern in heaven. 

2. Akiane's portrait of Jesus at age 8 can be seen on her website: "Striking greenish-blue eyes under thick, dark brows with half the face in shadow, his hair shorter than most artists paint it.”  Check the top picture in "Gallery" and enlarge twice.

www.akiane.com/home

3. Colton had said: “And His eyes, O Dad, His eyes are so pretty.”  Over several months, Todd had shown Colton dozens of pictures of Jesus and asked the same question.  Colton had always rejected these portraits.
To Colton (now 7): “Take a look at this (Akiane's).  What's wrong with  this one?”  “Nothing.”  Todd repeats the question.  “Dad, that one's right.”

Don

   I read that entire book.  My sense is that Colton did have some nonphysical oriented experiences and communicated with Jesus, but that he has been definitely influenced by his father, or rather the book is definitely influenced by the father.  To what extent, i don't know. 

   Re: Akiane's portrait of Jesus and Colton's support of her painting, i can't say that i agree fully.  I've seen Yeshua somewhat clearly a couple of times.  Once in a dream, once in meditation.

  I also find it interesting that 4 very different and unrelated sources all agree about an aspect of his looks.  I once read an NDE from a Jewish woman with no prior interest in or liking of "Jesus" who met Yeshua and perceived him and his physical looks in a very vivid way.  She said that he had reddish tinted or colored hair. 

  In two readings by Edgar Cayce, it was mentioned that Yeshua had noticeably reddish colored hair.  In one specifically, it said that his hair was much like King Davids had been, a mix of light brown, red and golden.  Since he lived in an intensely sunny climate, somewhat near the equator, the Sun would have brought out the red and golden highlights.

   In one reading, it mentioned he had heavy, piercing blue or steel gray colored eyes. 

   For some years, until a mysterious break no one seems to know much about, Bob Monroe and Joe McMoneagle the former gov. remote viewer were friends.  Bob had an envelope with a target inside.  He asked Joe to remote view the target, which unbeknownst to Joe until partway in the session was Jesus (he pretty quickly picked up it was Jesus and at the end of the session Bob handed him the envelope which said Jesus and early Christianity i believe). He also noted reddish colored hair in relation to Jesus. 

   In the Dead Sea Scrolls, in one of the prophecies of the coming Messiah that is not contained within traditional texts, it was mentioned that he would have reddish hair.  Cayce gave his readings well before these were even discovered. 

   My dream and the meditation confirmed that his hair is noticeably reddish and his eyes are a very intense and beautiful lightish gray blue green, with more emphasis on gray and blue on average (some eyes, especially light eyes like mine, can subtly change hues depending on light, what colors they are wearing, etc).

   I had another dream which seemed to confirm this indirectly also.  In the dream, i was teaching a class (i'm not a teacher inphysical, but i have worked with students). A young woman, raised her hand and said, "Mr. (my last name), you're like Christ."  In the dream, i first felt uncomfortable with that comparison, and i said the students name and said something like, "thank you, i know you mean well, but i dont' think i should be compared to him" and i was being sincere when i said that.

  After i said that, silence for a bit, and then she raised her hand again, and then immediately said, "but your eyes are even like his."  I thought about it for a moment, and i realized she spoke the truth and so didn't correct her this time. 

  At the end of the class, a student whom i had worked with inphysical and with whom i had a really good rapport and good influence on (he had some anger issues, having a disability, being black and having grown up in a poor and rough area but was otherwise a mature and helpful type overall) came up to me with a big grin on his face and high fived me.  The feeling was very positive.  End of dream. 

  Re: my eyes, i have somewhat unusual colored eyes (also quite light gray blue, with a hint of green) and intensity.  A number of people have commented on their beauty and/or intensity/piercing quality.  Even at least one straight guy that i remember.   

  I don't know if the dream was referring more to the actual color, or more to the "vibe", or both in the comparison to Yeshua. 


  So, yes, based on a combination of a different outer sources agreeing, and some internal guidance, i don't think Akiane's painting is very accurate.  Somewhat, but not very.  Course, most people think that Jesus looked like a typical Palestinian or Hebrew type, short, dark, etc.  I use to think that myself, but he had unusual beginnings and there are even today light colored eyed and skin'd Middle Easterners, and may have been more then from the Celtic mixing that was probably more prevalent during those times.  (quite the adventurous explorers and wanderers were the Celts, heck red and golden haired mummies have been found deep in China).

  Re: Colton's account, i did find it interesting that Colton says that Jesus told him about a war that is coming wherein Jesus, the Angels, and the good people would have to fight the bad people, the monsters, and Satan.  When Todd asks him about the "monsters", i think he replied something like, *you know, dragons". 

    I have wondered if that is referring to something i use to be quite skeptical of, but am now very open minded because of some internal guidance and synchronicity, the negative E.T.'s that are Reptilian in appearance.  Dragons is a great metaphor or symbol for them.  Evil Reptilian looking E.T.'s that fly around in ships that can shoot destructive fires.

  But then again, Dragons is a somewhat commonly mentioned Biblical symbol too, so maybe Colton was just being influenced by that?

   

Justin, the Dead Sea scrolls never say Jesus or the Messiah had red hair.  Do you have a source?

Berserk2 wrote on Jan 16^th, 2013 at 7:47pm:


   Hi Don,

   Here is a link to google books to a book on the Dead Sea Scrolls:
http://books.google.com/books?id=218JbeU2POgC&pg=PA539&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=...

  Look at section 133, "The Birth of the Chosen One".  The authors of the book write, "The 'Chosen one' can be recognized by certain telltale physical traits." 

In the actual script itself, "...Red will be [his] hair..." 

  I guess there is some debate on whether or not this coming chosen one is also "the Messiah", but it certainly sounds like it to me, and again matches with those 3 other unrelated psychically derived sources.  Red hair IS distinctive because it's genetically the rarest hair color.

  As should be apparent, it's a prophecy and not inphysical observation of Yeshua. 

If a person is receiving energy from a purely loving source, the physical appearance of the source is so unimportant.  I recall having an experience long ago which I interpreted as one with whom we call Jesus, in a meditation. What I experienced was sooooooo completely unrelated to his appearance physically. If someone wants to connect with such a spirit, that spirit will assume the shape which meets the person's need. That's it.

Additionally, I received healing from someone a few years back, maybe 5 years ago. A friend insisted on taking me to this man, and I knew nothing about what he practiced. It was a little weird. But, I have to say, it was real, it took me into a completely other realm -- a high state of meditation. Although I was quite personally disturbed that day by my own issues before having my own private time with the healer, his healing was incredible. It reminded me of what matters most, and I was truly transported. Not that he could "save" me, or anything like that. But sometimes it helps to be reminded of what is possible. That, in itself, is a kind of miracle.