By Published On: January 22nd, 2019Categories: Encouragement, Leader Blog, ResourcesComments Off on

Here are resource recommendations for reading on heaven from one of our elder, Stu Bulman.  Stu is leading our 10:45 class on “the Hope of Heaven” on Sunday mornings.

Randy Alcorn “Heaven”

While this book has been on my shelf for 6 years, early last year I picked up this book to learn more about our eternal destiny. I was so surprised, challenged and deeply encouraged by what I read that it became my focused study for the year.  This book challenged some of my long-held assumptions about heaven and made me hungry for more!  Scripture instructs us to set our heart and minds on heaven to fuel godly living and stimulate our hope in heaven’s glory! (Col 3:1-4) Alcorn teaches with clarity and humility.  This book has significantly changed my day to day joy and enhanced my passion to invest now for an eternal gain!  Every beautiful sunset, every spectacular view or delicious food or pleasant friendship serves as a signpost to fuel my expectations of what is to come. Get this book and study it carefully.  Don’t leave this treasure on the shelf!  I believe you will be richly rewarded from it.

Note that there are several Alcorn resources with similar titles which are subsets of this book.  He also has an audible edition, but it is significantly abridged.  The full version is available on Amazon for $14.89

Joni Eareckson Tada “Heaven”

I have great respect for Joni.  For one who is acquainted with suffering (her own and as her life’s mission many others experiences as well), I expected that she would have significant insights on heaven. The first half of her book seemed similar to Alcorn’s.  However, the second half is very rewarding.  Her passion for Jesus and her pursuit of heavenly gain will encourage you.  While we may not understand the “whys” behind much of our suffering here, Joni will help you with an understanding of the potential gain that you could enjoy for eternity!  The “Worth it!” component of this book is huge!  Finish the Alcorn book, but don’t stop there.  Get this one to grasp the impact of your daily choices toward eternity!

DesiringGod.org blogs

One more resource for you is the Desiring God website —  Get Piper’s (and via him others like Jonathan Edwards) study of the scriptures on heaven. You can type in their search bar and you’ll find lots of encouragement and challenging teaching on topics related to Heaven.