Is "Heaven is for Real" for Real?

Awhile back I linked to a review of "Heaven is for Real" by Tim Challies. While I think Challies' critique is legitimate (and humorous) he was objectively mean in his tone. I found THIS REVIEW, by Rob Moll, much more balanced and helpful. It expresses concern for books of this type without ever surrendering to mean cynicism. 
I'd recommend reading the whole review but here is a summary of the points he makes:
1. Near Death Experiences Often Allow People to Persist in Unbelief
He cites one example of a man that died, saw a vision of heaven and reasoned that since he saw heaven while not believing in Jesus he could probably go on not believing. 


2. People from alternate religions often report blissful near death experiences and seeing their own god/gods rather than Jesus.
His point here is that we may want to reserve our judgment on the validity of these visions when many from other faiths have them as well.


3. Jesus doesn't seem to approve of trying to demonstrate that Heaven is real by using testimonies of the dead or nearly dead (Luke 16:31; 2 Corinthians 12:3-4; John 20:29).


4. Our yearning to live with God in the present life is just as important as our yearning to live with God in the future life.
He concludes, "I wish that our yearning for life with God were not so easily satisfied by reading these stories of near-death experiences. I wish that Christians more and more sought not to witness the wings of the angels but to be in the spirit-on the Lord's Day and every other day of the week."

For more of our thoughts on what to make of current "Heaven" literature check out these previous entries and reviews:
90 Minutes in Heaven: A Review of Don Piper's Message
90 Minutes in Heaven: Objections Answered
"Heaven is for Real" - But Not Because Colton Burpo Says So