The Return

Review: Picturing Heaven: 40 Hope-filled Devotions with Coloring Pages Randy Alcorn, Illustrated by Lizzie Preston Tyndale House Publishers 2017 Alcorn writes in the introduction that the value of this book is perhaps that “Coloring the imagery---the trees, lakes, animals, and people enjoying a redeemed creation---will help you develop a vital view of the magnificent New Earth God is preparing for us!   As you ponder these pictures and participate in the art, you’ll more fully appreciate Christ’s promise---not of a ghostly existence, but of resurrected bodies and minds in a fantastically beautiful resurrected universe ruled by Jesus, the King of Kings, our Savior and Lord.” (9)   Indeed, the time spent thinking on all that will not be a wasted time.    Short devotional readings drawn from several of Alcorn’s previous works are accompanied on the facing page by the illustrations by Lizzie Preston.   They are printed on a good qualit...

Review: The Satisfied Soul: Showing the Supremacy of God in All of Life John Piper Multnomah 2017 Seems like there’s been several of the more mature leaders of the Christian faith who have assembled some of their work into volumes like this one.   Not a bad thing.   For those who don’t know them already it’s a great introduction to what the author has spent his life teaching.   For those that are acquainted, these works are like paging through a scrapbook. Either way, they continue to speak.  This book draws together a wide range of meditations or teaching points.   I have sampled several throughout the book and find them to be more instruction than meditation.   The meditation happens after the reader finishes the reading.   A quick look at the table of contents gives the reader a sense of the variety of areas Piper has included.   There’s also a subject, a scripture, and a person index included for the reader’s...

Review: Today’s Moment of Truth: Devotions to Deepen Your Faith in Christ Lee Strobel and Mike Mittelberg Zondervan 2016 Strobel and Mittleberg have written a devotional different from most I’ve seen.   That in itself is welcome news to some of us.   They don’t tell you what to think, but help you to think.    Each day starts with a short Scripture verse or passage followed by some discussion related to that verse that illustrates an application in a person’s life.   That’s pretty standard form for devotional writing, but let me show you how this is different.   The devotional reading, I have before me at the moment carries the title Is it wrong to be right? (168).   The verse comes from John 8, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”   Have you discovered where he’s going with it yet?   The first paragraph opens with this.   “You Christians act like you’re right and everyone else is wrong.” (168)....