My new children's book Heaven on Earth: When God Makes Everything New, which I wrote with my friend Lisa Tawn Bergren, released this summer, and it’s been fun to see the readers’ responses to it. Though I’ve written several other children’s books (Heaven for Kids, Tell Me About Heaven, and Wait Until Then) what makes Heaven on Earth unique is that it’s geared for a younger audience—children ages 3-7. The beautiful illustrations by James Bernardin make it especially appealing to young readers (and older ones too!).
My friend Cliff Lea, who pastors First Baptist Church in Leesburg, Florida, shared this on X:
I gave your new children’s book a grandkid and uncle test run last night. It is outstanding. And I highly recommend to all.
A reader left this comment on my Facebook page:
I know it was written for kids, but I ordered a copy for myself! It is beautifully written and offers a lot of comfort.
Another left this review on Amazon:
I wish I could give this book 10 stars! The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and life-like and will capture the imagination of both children and adults. This wonderful book thoughtfully and biblically addresses the question so many children and adults ask: “What will heaven be like?” It offers comfort, reassurance, and hope while helping children look forward to the promises God has given us about eternity with Him. This is the kind of book families will want to read together again and again and keep as a treasured part of their home library. A must-have book for every family!
My friend Jim sent me this:
Just finished reading your book to two of my grandchildren. They listened intently all the way to the end and really liked it. It will be read to many other grandchildren soon. Thank you for the gift of such a great book with a relevant message.
I firmly believe that we can’t expect our children to be excited about Heaven—or to stay excited about it when they grow up—if we don’t share the biblical truth with them.
Ironically, some of the best portrayals I’ve seen of the eternal Heaven actually are in children’s books. Why? Because they depict earthly scenes, with animals and people playing, and joyful activities. The books for adults, on the other hand, often try to be philosophical, profound, ethereal, and otherworldly. But that kind of Heaven is precisely what the Bible doesn’t portray as the place where we’ll live forever.
If we do not grasp the biblical doctrine of the New Earth, we will never understand what the Bible actually promises us about the eternal Heaven. It will be a forever embodied, resurrected earth, a global Eden, filled with what Eden was full of, including rivers and trees and fruit and embodied animals and human beings. Colossians 1:20 is one of multiple passages that speak of the world to come, where God's promise is “through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
Sometimes Deuteronomy 29:29 is used to derail discussions about envisioning and anticipating Heaven: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God” (Deuteronomy 29:29). Heaven is regarded as a “secret thing.” But the rest of the verse—again, rarely quoted—completes the thought: “But the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.”
We should accept that many things about Heaven are secret and that God has countless surprises in store for us. But as for the things God has revealed to us about Heaven, these things belong to us and to our children. It’s critically important that we study and understand them.
“Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). This is a direct command to set our hearts on Heaven. And to make sure we don’t miss the importance of a Heaven-centered life, the next verse says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” God commands us to set our hearts and minds on Heaven.
May we and our children can learn to envision the promised Heaven on Earth in a biblical and compelling way!
