Book Review: Heaven Is For Real For Kids

Heaven Is For Real For Kids is by Colton Burpo, as told to his parents Todd and Sonja Burpo.  It is an account of Colton's trip to heaven when he was four years old.

This Summer I read Heaven Is For Real (the adult version) aloud to the family.  The kids LOVED it.  We laughed.  We cried.  We had many great discussion about death and heaven.  It was so timely because in the Spring my great-grandmother passed away and in June my grandfather passed away.  Right after that my grandmother went into Hospice care.  She passed away in September.  So, death and heaven is a regular topic of conversation around here lately--a rather heavy subject for little children.

We all enjoyed the regular Heaven Is For Real so much that I was actually hesitant to even order to kids' version.  I'm not one to think that kids need a dumbed-down version of most literature.  However, the kids and I were delighted with this book.  In fact, the little ones (the six year old, the four year old, and the two year old) have been reading it often for their daily devotional time.  The big kids (the ten year old, the nine year old, and the seven year old) enjoy reading it to the little ones, too.  The pictures are beautiful and engaging.  I think it's been comforting to them when they are missing their grandparents.  The book has all the innocence and beauty of the regular version without changing any of Colton Burpo's vision of heaven.

However, I don't think that this book for kids replaces the regular version.  I am glad that my kids have experienced both.  I would encourage parents to read the regular to their children and have the picture book available for discussions and devotional time.  They are a good set when used together.  I wouldn't use this separate from the other.

I'm so glad that I ordered it and it is now a permanent part of our Peace Retreat.

(I received a copy of this book for free from Thomas Nelson's BookSneeze Program.  I was not paid for my review.)

Book Review: Close Enough To Hear God Breathe

In Close Enough To Hear God Breathe (The Great Story of Divine Intimacy), by Greg Paul strives to bring to light to grand meta-narrative of the Bible through the narrative of his own life.  He takes the reader through four movements seen in the Bible and in each person's life:  Creation, The Fall, Redemption and Consummation.

In doing so, he shares many  stories from his childhood through the present-time.  Some of the stories are deeply personal and he shares them with a raw authenticity that was refreshing.  So many devotional books become preachy or overly sentimental, however, Paul seems to have avoided these errors and has kept it real.  In doing so he doesn't try to concretely explain all of God's ways, but leaves room for God's mystery.  I liked how each chapter began with Scripture which theme is weaved throughout that chapter.  Passages you may have glossed over in the past seemed to take on fresh relevance as the reader sees his or her own experiences in the light of the bigger story.

This book is an easy read, but not shallow.  It's one that I can see coming back to for refreshing from time-to-time.

(I received a complimentary copy of this book from BookSneeze/Thomas Nelson and was not paid for my review.)

A Book Review: With by Skye Jethani

Skye Jethani is the editor of Leadership Journal, a publication of Christianity Today. In this book, With, he examines religious life through five different prepositions: Life Under God, Life Over God, Life From God, Life For God and Life With God. For at least half the book he makes the case for why the first four prepositions fall short of God's intention for His people. The second half he sets out to describe what life WITH God looks like.

Now, I cut my teeth on Christian non-fiction.  Been reading this genre since I was a preteen!  I've read more than my fair share of teachy-preachy-self-help-spirituality-type books. However, in recent years the majority of my Christian reading has been theologically academic.  While my husband was in Fuller Seminary I voluntarily read most of the books he was assigned and (not quite so) voluntarily proofread and edited all his papers. When I read all the endorsements and praise for this book on the back cover and first few pages I noted that most of the reviews were by those in theologically academic fields--universities, seminaries and such. So, I was bracing myself for a theological read. However, I soon felt like I was reading someone's sermon notes. The tone of the first half of the book can seem not just preachy, but a bit high-handed even. (Which I don't necessarily mind, but wasn't expecting from this author.) I disliked the way he easily pigeon-holed various prominent Christian and religious leaders into the four prepositions--using excerpts from interviews or perceptions of people and basically saying, "This person is wrong in the way they relate to God because they are using the under posture."  I, however, feel that most people represent a mix of several or even all five prepositions and no one movement or denominations has a corner on THE WAY to relate to and with God.  I, also, felt there was a lot of name dropping throughout.  He rarely clarified for those not theological educated who he was quoting by saying "Historian so-and-so" or "Christian mystic so-and-so." Instead he just says, "N.T. Wright says...."  And for someone unfamiliar, I would think that would be annoying.  "Oh yeah, well, who is that anyway?!"

So, half-way through the book I was ready to give it a negative review. However, the second half of the book, when the author turns his attention AWAY from telling the readers why other ways are wrong and starts to instead share inspirational stories and Scriptures on what communion with God looks like, I found myself profoundly touched. There were sections I wanted to read aloud to my husband and children. And parts I'd like to go back and re-read. If the whole book took the gracious tone of the second half I would not hesitate for a moment to put it on the family's must read list!

There are discussion questions at the end that would make this a great book for use with your small group at church or on campus.

Perhaps my favorite part of the book is not actually a main part of the book at all, but the Appendix A.  The author gives some very valuable tools to aid those seeking greater communion with God.  He pulls on church tradition and contemplative practices to offer some recommendations for encountering God in an active prayer life.  I'm looking forward to using some of these recommendations in my own prayer life and with my children.

From a technical aspect, a few typos and grammatical errors were disappointing to see in a book such as this. And I felt the little drawings and doodles the author makes to illustrate his points were sometimes a little confusing and distracting. That could just be that I'm not "that type" of learner. So, we'll let that slide.

If you are looking for a academically theological read or if you are looking for an inspirational read to fuel the flames of your communion with God, you may be equally delighted or disappointed with this book.

(I received the book With free from Thomas Nelson's BookSneeze program for my review. I was not paid to write this review.)