What is True?

"And he will delight in the fear of the Lord, and he will not judge by what his eyes see, nor make a decision by what his ears hear." Isaiah 11:3

I have been bothered lately about what is truth and what is not. Those that know me know that I like to keep most things in black and white. Things are either good or evil, they are either of God or not. I have a great godly friend who thinks the opposite. He is a lot better at peace keeping, trying to lovingly explain the subtle complexities of a situation and seeing how another can come to the opposite conclusion. I sometimes wish I were more like that but then again, I can't let something go until I feel confident that the issue is laid to rest.

Some items are red flags to me right away. I sometimes feel an immediate reaction - this is not right. That is how I felt about "Heaven is For Real." I cannot understand at all how Bible believing Christians can believe that God in Heaven allows humans  a little trip to heaven to see what it is like. Their visions often contradicting what is in the Bible. Why would he do that? Is He hoping to "convince" someone that they surely need to believe in Him or they might miss out on heaven or to comfort that race of humans that heaven is waiting for all when we get to the end of this life? God surely wouldn't want to scare anyone with things like judgement after death. This story is not new. Repeated many times throughout history.

Dr. Eben Alexander wrote "Proof of Heaven". He was the darling of interview shows. He even offered his comfort to the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre on Fox and Friends. He now sells meditation advice online for $60 each. He believes in reincarnation. His story very similar to the child in "Heaven is for Real." 

Am I accusing Colton Burpo of lying for profit? Heavens no! I have no doubt that this child believes he saw the things he says. Could he have been prompted? Could he have had a vision that is not of God? Could his father be a crook, lying for money? I cannot rule any of these things out. I just don't see this account of heaven as profitable for anyone who believes them. If I already believe what the Bible says about the afterlife, why do I prefer to believe a young boy and his father? Why isn't God's word enough?