Saturday, January 30, 2016

Review: The Heaven Promise: Engaging the Bible's Truth About Life to Come

The Heaven Promise: Engaging the Bible's Truth About Life to Come The Heaven Promise: Engaging the Bible's Truth About Life to Come by Scot McKnight
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoy Scot McKnight's work, even if I come across things on which we don't see exactly eye-to-eye. Any chance I get to read his work (books, blogs, etc.) I typically jump at the chance. Additionally, even though a book on Heaven can often times prove to be a little 'oxymoronic' (I find it a little funny that people can write lengthy books on the subject of Heaven... since they haven't been there and are all going off of the same text [the Bible]). Ironically enough, McKnight touches on this very thing. This being said, one of the most refreshing aspects of this book (as is the case with much of his writings), is that McKnight grounds all of his conclusions on Scripture, and doesn't go beyond what we're given in the Bible.

In his book, McKnight centers the entire book around the fact that Heaven is more than just a place that we allow our imaginations to go wild about, it's a promise made, kept, and protected by God Himself! Using this fact as the foundation, he then proceeds to look at and exegete many of the primary texts within the Bible that people like to use to support their own views and promote their own ideas regarding the afterlife. Even in the final section of the book when he takes a look specifically at hot questions that people ask and have debated regarding Heaven. While there were times you can find yourself wishing McKnight would answer more directly about his conclusions and/or personal opinion, he does an adequate job or presenting various positions, and how they stack up against the Biblical evidence. Sometimes, and he admits this, he will never outright say his position explicitly, but rather simply hint at what he thinks might be the truth. He avoids making an 'absolute' claim because there's not enough evidence in Scripture to explicitly answer the question (these questions are always secondary).

Overall, I would THOROUGHLY recommend this book! It's a welcomed edition the current available literature regarding Heaven and life after death (and if I do say so myself, probably a better overall read than most of the others because of how much he grounds his processes and conclusions in Scripture). Even if you end up reading this book and disagree with McKnight and his conclusions, you'll find that he presents his conclusions in a logical and respectful way that helps you understand another perspective on the issue.


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Wednesday, January 27, 2016

New Semester (Spring 2016)

Hey guys! Sorry I'm not very good at blogging. As I am trying to become more disciplined in areas of my life, this is one of the things that has continually come to mind, so I'm making myself do it, haha.

I just finished a new newsletter, so you should be getting it shortly via email (if you haven't gotten it already). I just wanted to reiterate how excited I am about this new semester! One of the biggest reasons I know that I'm more excited about this semester than some in the past, is because after working on a good chunk of lessons, graphics, and the like over Christmas break, my computer deleted it all when I got back to the office this month. Now normally that would make me dread the work/events ahead because I would have to redo EVERYTHING. However, even though it is a pain at times to redo the work I already did, I find it enjoyable and exciting because I'm doing what I enjoy. More than that I'm doing what I'm called to do. It's so encouraging when you feel a confirmation on what you're doing and you're actually excited to do it (even if at times you have more work to do than you would normally). I don't know if I'm making much sense, but since this is a blog and I'm trying to get back into the practice and discipline of writing, you're just going to have to deal with it, haha. =)