True Story Heaven Is For Real Movie Opens Just In Time For Easter

If you don’t feel like going to church this Easter, why not go to the movies instead?

BLASPHEMY, I know, but hear me out. Heaven Is for Real is a true-story, feel-good movie based on a Christian book of the same name that opens in theaters April 16, 2014.

The movie is described as:

The true story of a four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who experienced heaven during emergency surgery. He talked about looking down to see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn’t know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.

In heaven, Colton met his miscarried sister whom no one ever had told him about and his great-grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born. He shared impossible-to-know details about each. Colton went on to describe the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how ”reaaally big” God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit ”shoots down power” from heaven to help us.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always loved spiritual accounts like this. If what the author claims is true, it is pretty hard to dispute that the little boy actually encountered God as he met his miscarried sister he never knew about and brought back unknowable details from heaven. These kinds of stories send shivers down my spine””in a good way. (Frivolous side note: The movie stars Greg Kinnear, and Greg Kinnear is hot.)

I believe in God and heaven, but there is something about the simplicity of this story that reminds me of how good life can be. I know, I know, terrible things happen in the world all the time, and it’s easy to get depressed every time you connect to the Internet.

But I think we can all admit deep down that we have some kind of fear, anxiety, or even questions about what will happen after we die. It’s up to every person to decide what they believe, but this little boy’s experience comforts me. Whether you believe Biblical text or not, it’s nice to be reminded that there is more out there than what we see and experience each day.

I wish my kids were old enough to see and understand this movie in the theater because I appreciate an interesting message like this in a family-friendly film. I can’t vouch for the religious agenda, or lack thereof, in the movie, but the topic of heaven and the afterlife stirs an important conversation for families everywhere.

(Image: IMDB)