Lord Foulgrin's Letters by Randy Alcorn

In the style of C.S. Lewis' "Screw Tape Letters" Randy Alcorn stimulates our thinking with this fictional tale about the reality of the spiritual battles that rage every moment. The story draws you in and opens your eyes to the world that Satan, demons, and angels operate in. Your thinking will be stimulated as you get a glimpse into some of the schemes of Satan and how he seeks to distract, destroy, and dishonor God's children.

In this story, Alcorn brings us into the life of Jordon Fletcher and his family. They are lost and far from God and each other. Jordon had reached the pinnacle of success after working for many years to achieve his dreams. Earning power, success, and the dream house he always wanted, he realized that they did not bring him happiness. As he pondered life he sensed that there is something more. This caused the demon Lord Foulgrin to begin a campaign to distract Jordon from contemplating God. Lord Foulgrin writes letters to his demon underlings of praise, rebuke, and strategy as they try to keep Jordon from reading the bible, having a relationship with a Christian who is trying to share the gospel with him, and trying to temp Jordon to have an extra marital affair with his secretary. This book is good for helping you to be aware of the reality that is hard at work behind the scenes.

"Heaven" by Randy Alcorn

Randy Alcorn explores what heaven will be like as he takes us through Scripture to see what God has revealed about the future home of those who place their faith in Jesus Christ. He uses great illustrations to help us picture and long for heaven. Some of the questions that he wrestles with include: Will we have bodies in heaven or will we live as spirit? Will there be marriage in heaven? Will there be animals in heaven? What will we do in heaven, will it get boring? And many other questions. Randy Alcorn points out that few books on theology go in to depth in their study of our eternal home. He also notes how seldom pastors preach on heaven. At times he shares his speculations as he draws from what the Old and New Testaments say about heaven. He also does a great job of putting together familiar passages and helps us to see how they fit together and give us glimpses of heaven. In addition to this, Alcorn dispels a lot of wrong thinking about heaven that has infected our thinking today.

I started reading this book to my wife and older two sons last year. At first, my 10 year old son Christian was struggling with it, but as I explained the concepts and we got further in the book, he started to look forward to our reading time. As a result of this book, all of us are now looking more forward to heaven then we ever have before. Chrisian even said after we finished the book that, "Before we read the book, I wanted to go to heaven because I was afraid of hell. Now I want to go because it sounds exciting." I, too, am excited about our real home and can't wait to live in my redeemed body on a redeemed heaven and earth with God. "Heaven" is one of the best books I have ever read and I highly recommend it to all.