Is Heaven for real?

When it comes to current movies, I am a day late and a 3 steps behind. But that's OK. It's one thing in this life that I don't mind being a bit out of date.

Recently I watched the movie "Heaven is for Real" and it caused a bit of concern for me, not because it discusses things about heaven that cannot be verified in the Bible such as whether Jesus has a horse, but it's explanation about how we get to heaven. This movie seems to spend more time dealing with the father's lack of faith than what a 4 year old saw on his trip to Heaven. <rant>Once again Hollywood portrays this pastor (the father) as a wishy-washy in his beliefs.</rant>

Why the fuss? There are 2 scenes where the qualifications to enter Heaven are discussed. The first is between the father Todd and a lady in the church, Nancy. Nancy is bitter about her son's death.

"Do you think—I have to ask—do you think my son went to heaven?"

"Do you love your son?" Todd replies. 

"Of course," she says.

"Do you think I love mine?" he asks. 

"I know you do," she replies.

"Do you think I love my son more than you love yours?" 

"No."

"Do you think God loves my son more than He loves yours?" 

The second troubling scene comes at the end where the father, Todd is preaching a sermon with the intent to explain Colton's trip to Heaven:

"So now we've got a question: Was Colton in heaven? Yes. He was in the heaven that God showed him. Is heaven real, 'cause if heaven is for real, we'd all lead different lives, wouldn't we? Would we? Really? Haven't we already seen heaven? In the first cry of a baby? The courage of a friend, the hands of a nurse or a doctor, the love of a mother or father? Haven't we already had a glimpse of heaven and so often chosen the hell of hate and fear? Is heaven for real? Every single one of you has asked that question. All of us have. And for me the answer, it's yes."

Todd also preaches, "I see it, so I believe it. What we believe changes what we perceive, and I believe that God, He's love. Ten thousand times I've been here, and I've talked about 'On earth as it is in heaven.' And I don't know that I ever listened to that. And my son, he saw something, he saw heaven. He'll tell you all about Jesus. How 'bout that name, Jesus? Ooh. Jesus. Creates so much hope in so many of you. So much distrust in so many others. That's OK. I believe God asked me to be a pastor. Did he insist on my vision being the same as yours, or yours? Of course not. Did he make me one of those heroes like the lion and the bear and the unicorn I preached about? No. That's what I wanted. God had a different plan. God crushed my pride, opened my heart to love. And all I have to do, the one thing this love requires, is that I let others know they're not alone."

So, is Heaven for real? Yes, it is. So is hell. How do we enter Heaven? Do we all go?

The fact of the matter is, none of us have been good enough to go to Heaven... If you don't believe me, start with the 10 commandments. Have you been able to keep ALL of them? Jesus even upped the ante on several when he tells us that hating our brother = killing and lust = adultery. My guess is that 100% of the people who can read this have broken most of the 10 commandments. What does this mean for me, and you? It means one thing, if God is just (and He is), He can't let you into Heaven, you need to be punished.

UNLESS, someone takes your punishment. But who would do that? Jesus did. He took mine and your punishment that we rightfully deserved so that we could be righteous before God. That way God judges us according to how Jesus lived and not me. In John 3:15, Jesus says we need to believe this we are still condemned. This is not the kind of belief that only gives lip service but truly becomes a way of living life.

Wait a minute...so why do you need to get there your way? Fortunately it's not my way but it's what Jesus said in John 14:6. There is only 1 way to Heaven, and it's through Jesus. This doesn't have to be offensive. It's actually quite simplistic (perhaps that's the problem). We don't need to be rich, high caste, or perform great deeds. The Gospel is open to all nationalities and socioeconomic statuses. But it [entrance to Heaven] can only be through Jesus.

My concern to my fellow followers of Jesus, do you recommend this movie as good, clean and family friendly? This movie doesn't point people to Christ but rather away. It says, Jesus doesn't really matter, we all get there somehow...that's not true! That would be nice but it's not true. If you want a good review see the Plugged In review here.

PS. I have several reservations about calling it clean and family friendly, but that wasn't the point of this post.