(Or, the alternate title to this post is):

Book Review -- Heaven by Randy Alcorn (Click on the title name to be taken directly to Amazon... the reviews there are incredible.)



So why am I writing about this book when I should be telling part 2 of my story? Because the two are tied together. I guess I'm being honest when I say that this book changed my life. It truly did. Back a month or so ago I began praying so hard to God to give me an answer, or show me a sign. Should we sell, or shouldn't we? Do we do it, or not? It plagued me every day. I never "saw" that sign. But one day when I was in the Christian Family Bookstore, I saw this book and thought, "Oh, cool! I need something new to read. I love Heaven, and I have a coupon. I think I'll get this." And so I started reading it, and it was fabulous and wonderful and beautiful. It was uplifting and positive.

But then...

I began reading deeper into the book, and realized that this was the answer God was giving me. For those of you out there who are skeptics, let's pretend that it wasn't a "sign." But the words in this book opened up my mind in such a way that it didn't matter to me anymore whether we sold our condo and bought a house. Honestly, after reading this, I could care less if we EVER sold our condo and bought a house. Why?

Well, according to this book (and he uses a massive amount of scripture to back up his interpretations), Heaven works like this: When you die, those that believe in God and Christ will go to Heaven. Those that don't, go to Hell. But then, after the second coming of Christ, all of God's believers will get a new resurrection body and will live on the "New Earth." This New Earth will be perfect and wonderful and beautiful -- no pain, no suffering, no pollution, no hatred, no ugliness, no jealousy, no sickness. And God will live with us down here on earth. And we'll have lives. Wonderful lives. With jobs that we love. And we'll have homes that we love. And lots of friends. And lots of rest and fun and relaxation. It will truly be Utopia. Paradise.

And for those who don't believe in God/Christ with all of their hearts, minds and souls, they will go to hell.

So let's step aside for a moment before I dig into that. Remember, this IS one man's interpretation of the Bible scriptures. Interpretations can be hard to grasp, because they are someone's point of view about what was said and written. If I threw out the words "I hate" to all of you and asked you to interpret it, I would get a lot of answers. Some might get angry with me, because they are strong words. Therefore you might interpret that I am a person of hate. But what if I was going to say "I hate" is a phrase I don't use ever? Totally different interpretation, right? Or "I hate people" is much different than saying, "I hate broccoli."

On the other hand, this man doesn't have only two words to work with. He has the whole Bible. A lot of what he quotes comes right out and verifies what he has interpreted. I pulled out my Bible and cross-referenced some things, and he was dead-on. When I finished reading this book, I said to myself, "For accuracy, I'm going to assume that not everything in this book is 100% true. But, I will concede that at least 75% of it is true." Which still leaves a lot of truth.

So what does the book say? It says that after the second coming of Christ, even though we who believe in God already have our ticket to paradise, we still will be judged. Everyone will stand before God for judgment. We will be judged on our acts: of goodness and of sin. Therefore, a woman who did not believe in God but who was good and kind and compassionate will not get the same type of punishment in Hell that an murderer or rapist gets. Conversely, a person who believed in God and yet sinned their entire life, living selfishly and not helping others in need will not get the same type of reward as one who believed in God and also worked hard to help the needy, spread His word, go to church and live compassionately.

In this book, questions -- even the silliest ones -- are answered methodically, intellectually and backed by Scripture. Questions like, "Will we have real bodies?" or "Will we eat and sleep?" Or "Will we know each other?" are all answered in this book. Mostly, his writings are about the "New Earth" -- because that is where all of Christ's believers will spend eternity after the Day of Judgment, The Tribulation period and the Thousand Year Reign of Christ. Each and every one of us will get a new body -- one that is perfect. (Yay! No cellulite!) And will live, work and play here on Earth. But it will be SO much different than it is now.

Imagine a day where you get up in the morning and the sun is shining. Birds are singing. The air is clear. You look great, you feel fabulous. You go to a job that you love -- one that you've always wanted to do. For me, maybe I sit at the table and write. Or maybe I'm a photographer. Or maybe I own a plant-nursery or spice shop. Something fun that I very much enjoy. I see friends throughout my day... I have perfect meals and food. I can create. I can enjoy. I have pets. I can go to the city of New Jerusalem and meet up with everyone and see/talk to God. No more will I be burdened with traffic or ugly commutes or snarly hair or no time to enjoy.

This book also states that we will have homes. Each of us will have our own home -- exactly the way we'd like it to be. For those who love living in the big excitement of a city, they can have a big, airy loft "downtown." For those (like me) who love the country, we can have a perfect house out on the outskirts of town.

As I was reading this book, I envisioned my Thomas Kinkade calendar at work. Even long before I became a Christian -- for many years now -- I have absolutely loved Thomas Kincaide. I would always look at his paintings and wonder, "Where did he come up with that? Nothing like that exists. It's SO beautiful... so perfect. I've never even seen anything like that, yet he paints those cottages and houses as if real people live there."



Now I realize that he is painting exactly what we should envision on the New Earth. One day, one of those perfect, colorful cottages will be my home. I can pick it out to be whatever I want. I can have it decorated any way that I want. Money will not be an issue... luxury will not be a sin. If I want to re-decorate it every week, then that will be just fine. I can have dogs, I can have an herb-garden, I can have flowers galore. Every single thing that I have always dreamed about really can and will come true on the New Earth. I believe this with all of my heart.

And that motivates me even more. I want to stay here in this condo now, so that I can better use my money for the poor, and for the church. Without having yard work to do now, I can spend more time writing about God, and helping others find their way to Christ. I can use my time, money and effort to please God, and to do His works. I want this ultimate reward in Heaven. Life on earth is hard. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes you get burned out. Sometimes (a lot of times) you ache for more. THIS, my friends, is the "more."

I know, I know... I can just hear the atheists out there saying to me, "Wait. If you are doing all this for reward, then that's shallow. You're not doing it out of the good of your heart. I do it for altruistic reasons. But YOU do it to get reward. That's wrong."

No it's not. When I give, or write, or spend time in church, or help with various ministries, it DOES feel good. There is definitely altruism there. But what's wrong with looking forward to the reward that my Father is offering? HE is offering it -- it comes from Him. Not from humans. By scoffing at it and refusing to believe in it, I am dishonoring God. If you're a parent and you've got a grand reward planned -- a trip to Disney World -- if your child gets all "A's" in school, how would you feel if after the school year is done, your child says he doesn't want that reward? That he doesn't need it, and he thinks it's wrong? After all that time planning... after anticipating the great time you'll have together... after looking forward to seeing his face full of awe when you first get there... wouldn't you be SO crushed? Wouldn't that be pretty darn ungrateful and rude of your child? Don't you WANT your child to look forward to this reward, and to work harder for the excitement of that reward? Inside, you'll know that your son got something out of all that work -- a good education. And you are happy to reward him.

It's the same thing with God. He knows I love Him. He knows I work hard for Him. He knows that my heart longs for a home of my own, with a life where I can relax and play and enjoy. He knows that the summer goes by so fast and I hardly have time to appreciate it, because I work so much. But I keep going, because I know that someday, I WILL have all of that. None of this here makes any difference -- it's temporary. I would much rather give it all up here in order to have it for all of eternity in a perfect place.

Christians might say to me, "We shouldn't think about or discuss Heaven. It's too mysterious and amazing for us to understand. We should read and study other things instead." As the author of this book states, why shouldn't we? Judgment day, Heaven, the New Earth, reward, everlasting life... all of that is mentioned SO many times in the Bible. God WANTS us to study and know that. And look forward to it. It never says anywhere, "Read and study and love the Bible, but not the fun parts about Heaven. Skip over those." That is where we will ultimately end up. Why not study it? Why not look forward to it? If you were going on a major vacation, or if you were being transfered to another country, does it makes sense that you will do absolutely no reading about it? That you won't study a thing or even look forward to it? Heck no! That's part of the fun! The anticipation is a good thing. The reading up on it and studying it helps you to ensure that you make the most out of that experience, right? It's perfectly okay! It's in the Bible, so it MUST be okay.

Go get that book. Whether you believe in God or not. Whether you're a Christian or not. Read the reviews on Amazon. Form your own opinions. Buy a Thomas Kinkade calendar and look at it every day. Pick out your own home. Imagine your own perfect life. God is preparing that for us. Based on our likes, wants and needs, He will prepare us a perfect house in His kingdom.

We ALL can have this. It's SO easy to get the ticket to this Utopia. All you have to do is get down on your knees and say, "I believe." Tell God that you know He's real. Tell Him that you believe that He sent His son down on earth to die for our sins. Tell Him that you're still a little shaky about things, and you're feeling awkward, and ask Him to open your heart and eyes. Then go read Matthew in the Bible. And read this book again.

And you'll get it. I WANT you to get it. Because it would be SO cool to have all of my friends and family there on that perfect earth with me.

In honor of Good Friday -- God Bless!