Life After Life: Exploring the Bible’s Wonderful Promises About Heaven and Eternity

For believers, “heaven is not just a future date with destiny but.... a present state of mind,” according to this energetic account from pastor De Courcy (Take Cover). The bulk of the book unpacks how “our heavenly destiny” can inspire readers to prioritize God in daily life and refrain from being swept up by earthly obsessions with money and power. Christians can also keep their “future physical resurrection” in mind with small, intentional acts of faith, like harnessing the “indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit” to inspire a “daily resurrection of hope and resolve.” Throughout, the author encourages Christians to use the promise of “eventual victory” to buoy them through hardships, as “when you know you’re destined to prevail, it is much easier to put your shoulder to the work and your hand to the plow.” While some readers might yearn for more robust scriptural analysis rather than the pages of colorful paraphrasing on which De Courcy relies, his message is unflinchingly positive and his descriptions vivid and enthusiastic (“The worship of God is the background music to Revelation, the soundtrack of heaven. Even though Revelation reverberates to the sound of warring armies... the predominant sound is that of saints singing and angels worshipping before the throne of God”). Christians seeking hope for the beyond will be uplifted. (Jan.)