"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.