Receive To Heaven And Back: A Doctor's Extraordinary Account Of Her Death, Heaven, Angels, And Life Again: A True Story Presented By Mary C. Neal Script
story. To Heaven and Back is the story of one womans life of providential living,
To Heaven and Back tells the story of Dr, Mary Neal, an orthopedic surgeon, who drowned in a kayaking accident in the Chilean Andes, went to heaven and was revived by the efforts of her companions.
But it isnt just another Idiedandwenttoheaventhencameback book, although it certainly does tell the story of a woman who did exactly that.
Dr. Neal tells that story with clarity and in detail, But what sets the book apart is Dr, Neals life in Christ. Thats what inspired me.
It is the story of Gods interaction with Dr, Neal throughout the course of her life, Dr. Neal has the charism of discerning Divine Providence in the events of her life and the grace of accepting this Providence for what it is when she encounters it.
She is unembarrassed to share these experiences in an age when people who admit they see God at work in their lives are often the butt of jokes.
To Heaven and Back is an easy read, dealing with one womans life in Christ, It deals with life, love, grief, death and authentic living in an honest and unembarrassed Christian manner, These topics are at the core of the human experience, while most of the things we consider more important are far out on the periphery.
I think one reason why books that relate honest human experience in these areas often seem simple is that they are simple, but not in the sense that they are simplistic or shallow.
They are simple in the way that elegance is simple because it is true,
Im glad I read To Heaven and Back, It gave me a lot to think about in terms of my own walk with God, I recommend it.
Read this book on the plane to the MidWest in three hours, Easy to read, could not put it down, To Heaven and Back is "a doctor's extraordinary account of her death, Heaven, angels and life again" and is supposedly true is all aspects.
Allow me to preface this review by stating that this opinion is coming from a bornagain, fundamental, Biblebelieving Christian.
As such, I found this book very disturbing and feel that the best place for it is in
the garbage can.
I know that sounds harsh, but I feel this book contains several elements that could prove to be extremely hazardous to Christians and nonChristians alike.
Allow me to state a few examples:
, Ms. Neal gives readers the idea that a Christian following God's direction will not encounter troubles, In her words, "when you are doing God's will, everything seems to happen without much effort or many obstacles", Say what Read the Bible, and you'll discover the exact opposite is true, David was a man after God's own heart, and he faced obstacles, Job was a good man and full of integrity, yet he lost everything he held dear, Paul was the greatest missionary to have ever lived, yet he was imprisoned countless times, stoned, beaten, shipwrecked, and the list goes on.
Satan knows how to put obstacles in our path too, He doesn't want us serving the Lord, I fear after reading this, there will be Christians doubting their life's direction because they've run into an obstacle or two.
My dear Christian, if this is the case, please know that those obstacles are a pretty good sign that you are on the right track.
. Ms. Neal claims to have experienced salvation during her baptism, Salvation occurs when you accept Jesus Christ as Lord over your life, It has nothing to do with baptism except that baptism is an outward show of an inward change,
. Ms. Neal admits that she felt God was a "Sunday thing" and spent the majority of her early life ignoring Him, Yet every time she found herself in a difficult situation, she "remembered" to pray and God jumped in to meet her need exactly as she saw fit.
Again, I fear we have Christians reading this and wondering why God doesn't work that way for them, God doesn't work that way for anyone! God is not a genie in a lamp, He is not at our beck and call, We either have a relationship with Him or not, We can't ignore Him and then expect Him to jump every time we call,
. Ms. Neal uses quite an imagination in describing how children actually abide in Heaven before being sent to earth and that they remember Heaven when they're young.
So if that's the case, childlike faith isn't faith at all, It's just memories. Additionally, she tells of communicating with angels and of others who communicated with their dead loved ones, Okay, if you say so,
. Beyond that, there were events that were described that were beyond miraculous they were downright fictional, Please don't misunderstand me. I believe in miracles, and I believe God can do the impossible and unfathomable, However, for one person to have experienced so many HUGELY miraculous events is just very hard to believe,
. Last, but certainly not least, Jesus was hardly mentioned at all in the book, Yes, this woman went to Heaven, but yet angels and light and gardens get more mention than Jesus, And the few times she did mention Jesus, His name was used interchangeably with "the angel", Jesus is not an angel, He is the Son of God, Surely, a book about heaven should have more focus on Jesus and less on self, right
I hope that you understand why I'm so emphatic about my opinions on this book.
It is "feel good" fiction like this that is leading hordes of people away from true salvation and a true knowledge of Christ.
And as a Christian, I feel it is my responsibility to warn others of the dangers I see lurking in these areas.
I do so with love, for I want to do as God commanded and speak the truth in love, seasoned with grace.
And so, my friends, consider yourself warned!
I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah for the purpose of this review.
Obviously, I was not required to write a positive recommendation of this book, I think that Mary Neals book is important for people to read, Her incredible experience gives us hope regarding the purpose of our lives and the meaning of our deaths, She is a most admirable person and her book will be of interest and help to people who are interested in NDEs, what happens to us when we die, and how we should try to live our lives in preparation for this.
For these reasons, this book is invaluable,
There were a couple of things in Mary Neals books that bothered me from a psychological point of view though, and I will list them:
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Her willingness to leave her children including a½ year old and go to Costa Rica and engage in a dangerous activity like intense white water kayaking that includedfoot waterfalls in a isolated jungle area.
. She amp her husband choosing not to go to a hospital in Costa Rica to get stabilized before medical evacuation to the USA after her kayaking accident.
Their decision instead to check into a hotel for the first night and then to take commercial flights back to the US and then their decision not to go to a hospital in Salt Lake where they initially landed and to drive the six hour trip over the high altitude mountains into Jackson Hole.
This was also very risky behavior that again nearly resulted in her death from Acute Respiratory Distress and Pneumonia,
. The subsequent repetition of risky behavior by “catching air” while off trail skiing with her son and breaking her ankle again placing herself at risk trying to hike back through the snow, over mountains with a broken ankle.
. The description of herself as a fifteenyearold performing cesarean sections, and the missionaries she was with performing appendectomies in Mexico with no training, experience, and presumably no anesthesia or sterile fields.
This was probably quite illegal and again very risky, It was also inexplicable. Why, what, was going on here
, Her not taking her son to a therapist for evaluation when her told her as a young child that he would not live past eighteen because this was “not the plan,” and again years later when he asked her to take out life insurance for him and wanted her to tell him how to write a will prior to his final trip where he died.
I am deeply sorry for her and her familys tragic loss, I just didnt understand, was very confused about, what was going on in this boys mind, and I would have wanted an objective evaluation, a second opinion as it were.
How would this have not been helpful
These psychological concerns do not take away from the value of Mary Neals book, the validity of her incredible experience, the strength and courage she has shown in adversity, and the help she continues to provide to her patients and everyone who reads her book.
It also sparked curiosity in me to read more on the subject including Sam Parnia's excellent book, "What Happens When We die.
"
This is not a review, just bits I would like to remember later, However, it must be noted that I read this book in one sitting, Allpages of it. I have never done that before,
"Of note is that most theologians would agree that angels live among us according to God's will, not our own.
Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote in Systematic Theology Kregel,, 'One reason angels are rendered invisible to human sight may be that if they were seen, they would be worshiped.
Man, who is prone to idolatry as to worship the works of his own hands, would hardly be able to resist the worship of angels were they before his eyes.
'"
"Even the most terrible circumstances and events can stimulate great change in individuals and/or societies, Without observing cruelty, we would not be moved to compassion, Without personal trials, we would not develop patience or faithfulness, It is the recognition that our earthly concerns matter little when compared to life eternal that allows us to know joy in the midst of sorry and worry.
Have you ever really changed or experienced personal growth during times of comfort and complacency"
Psalm:
Jeremiah:
Psalm:
Romans:
Matthew:,:
Philippians:
Psalm:
Thessalonians:
There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us.
When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies, MLK Jr Within the last few years, I've greatly enjoyed reading a couple of books that recounted the testimonies of those who claim to have had experiences in heaven.
Don Piper's book Minutes in Heaven was amazing, and his continued testimony of how he has endured physical and emotional pain since his return is inspiring.
I had the pleasure of meeting him a couple of years ago, and I look forward to finishing his followup book of encouragements, Heaven is Real.
This past Christmas I also read the jawdropping story of Colton Burpo in Heaven is for Real, which has spent many weeks on the bestseller lists.
In both cases, I was awed, inspired and given so much hope from the experiences of these two individuals, As a Christian I do believe in heaven, but to hear direct testimony from these guys was just incredible, And while their stories are amazing, I felt comfortable believing in what they've been sharing with their audiences,
Recently I saw Dr, Mary Neal on a national news program sharing her own heavenly story as well, and my interest was piqued, I read her book To Heaven and Back, and while I found it interesting and at times amazing, I didn't feel as compelled to buy into everything that was shared in her story.
I believe that she's sharing from her heart, that she has good intentions and that she did have these experiences, I just felt that theologically there were some "red flags" in her story, I always try to apply what I know of God's word whenever I hear stories like hers, and for some reason, I felt that some of it just didn't line up.
I'm not trying to discount eyewitness accounts of miracles that most certainly occurred the day of Dr, Neal's accident. I do believe in miracles, both ancient and modern, and I do accept that many miraculous things have happened to Mary.
There were just some subsequent spiritual moments and revelations in her life that I cannot be certain were from the Lord.
For example, she believes that we existed before our birth here on earth, and that we have already seen the basic outline of how our lives are going to play out.
She also believes that very young children still hold the memories of their preearth lives, She states:
"In preparation for our journey to earth, we are able to make a basic outline for our life.
This is not to imply that we, the humans, are entirely in charge of our life's design, It is more like God creates it, then we review it and discuss it with our 'personal planning' angel, Within the algorithm are written branch points in our lives at which times we may exit, returning to God, or we may be redirected to a different task and goal.
"
I know that Dr, Neal is just writing from her heart, sharing what she has experienced and truly believes, I also know that there is much about the spirit world that we cannot begin to comprehend, sometimes making it very difficult to verify.
There are forces that can disguise themselves as angels of light, deceiving us into believing things that seem to be lovely and true, but in actuality go against what the Lord has told us in His word.
Unfortunately, I'm not enough a Biblical scholar to specifically refute the things that didn't sit well with me in this book.
Much of To Heaven and Back was encouraging and amazing, showing God's definite hand in the life of this intelligent, caring woman.
There were just enough doubtful elements that keep me from accepting the whole of the book, My recommendation would be to read her story with both an open mind and a skeptic's heart as well, There's much to learn from Dr, Mary Neal's testimony, but I would take care as you experience it for yourself, .