Book Report: All Things New by John Eldredge

I was once told that there is no ocean in Heaven. 

I remember feeling like someone had just punched me in the gut. I couldn’t breathe.

They went on to tell me that everything I loved here on Earth wouldn’t matter because Heaven would be different and void of the things here on Earth.

This led to a very “religious” view of Heaven. I honestly believed that we must just sit back and sing to God all day. And it made me really not excited about this “Heaven.” And then I spiraled into a cycle of guilt, because clearly I’m not a good enough Christian if I don’t want to sit around singing hymns all day.

And it made me feel like everything I loved here was pointless, because why bother liking it here if it was just going to be ripped away from me too?

Can I ask you a question? (I asked myself this same one after reading this book.) What kind of god would create you with a desire for something here on Earth, if he never intended to delight in it with you in Heaven?

Before I talk about this book, I’m going to ask you to do something for me. Please, please take off your “Hat of Religion” and your “Badge of Theology” and instead don your heart of childlike wonder. Is it on? Are you ready?

All Things New: Heaven, Earth, and the Restoration of Everything You love by John Eldredge gave me back my childlike wonder and helped me see that all those times I suspected Heaven would be a certain way actually were little tastes of the Kingdom of Heaven right here on Earth.

I actually just turned the last page and finished the last paragraph 15 minutes before sitting down to write this. I kept the ringer off my phone and covered up all the tabs on my Internet browser because I had to write this unfiltered. I had to write this while in the wake of the glory that I was just experiencing as I accepted his challenge on the final two pages of his book. Tears were pouring down my cheeks and great, heaving sobs were coming out and I didn’t care.

Backstory time. I previously mentioned on Facebook that I had an experience with Jesus that I wasn’t ready to share, but that had changed me forever. I’m ready to share some of that.

I was at a worship service at a local church a few months ago. The atmosphere was thick…there isn’t a better way to describe that. If you didn’t know, I have been given the prophetic gifting. No, I can’t tell you what your future is. I’m not a psychic. But I can certainly call on Heaven to ask how God sees you in this moment. And I can see the Kingdom. But I have never seen it like this. I was walking around Heaven with Jesus. We were joking and laughing. (See why I needed you to don a childlike wonder? Because you might have instantly thought, “Jesus doesn’t joke or laugh. He’s serious. Rubbish.) Then He looked at me with a gleam in His eye and He said, “Are you ready to see your Mansion?”

I was not sure if I was fully ready, but I was more ready than I had been before, so I agreed. It was fantastic from the outside and I can’t fully describe that right now. But as we walked into the door of my Heavenly Home, I saw a grand foyer. It was just like the kind I have always loved with grand staircases and elaborate trim. Then I saw all these kids running around and laughing and I dared ask Him why they were there. I had to sit down when I received the answer.

“These babies are kiddos that went on before their parents. We created you to be a Heavenly Mom, so these babies live with you.”

If you know anything about my story or the journey we went through to become parents, you’ll get that. If not, I’ll share another time.

Then He asked me if I wanted to see my dining room. I have always wanted an elaborate dining room with the biggest table ever. We walked into my dining room and there was a grand table that must have been a mile long. I walked around it, touching the edges of it with my fingers and admiring the beauty and then I asked Him if I could sit down. He said, “No. It’s not time yet. But we eat at your house every week.”

Let the weight of that hit you like it did me. Heaven eats at my dining room table every week. Because Heaven knows how much I love hosting the ones I love. Heaven knows my heart here on Earth, and it is the SAME in Heaven. The way I am here, is just a reflection of who I am there.

He asked me if I was ready to see my kitchen, but by this point I was not ready so we walked out onto my huge wraparound porch. We sat in rocking chairs and watched the sun set over my lake. (Because I have a lake in my backyard.) And I rested there with Him until it was time to come back to Earth.

Why did I share this with you? Why was I so vulnerable to share what I saw (and see on a daily basis)? Because reading this book helped me to realize that it’s completely okay to see Heaven how I see it. It helped me to make the connection between what I see and what is. It helped me put everything here into perspective. It helped me to figure out how to “bridge the gap” between Heaven and Earth. It helped me realize that the view I had of Heaven before all of this was so totally off base. Heaven will not be a boring place. We’ll have roles we play and opportunities to do what we love right alongside Jesus. We don’t have to worry about the passing away of things here. There’s no need for an Earthly Bucket List because we’re not going to miss out on those things. We’ll get to experience them in their restored glory in the New Earth. My favorite childhood tree that I loved sitting and reading books in will sit outside my mansion. I actually sat there with Him while taking a break from the book. We watched the sunset and I felt a peace completely permeate my body here on Earth. It’s real, guys.

Yes, much of Heaven remains a mystery. Much of it we can’t explain, nor do we dare. But what about the parts we can? Should we ignore those? Throughout the majority of the book I was exclaiming, “Yes!” Because so many things he wrote, I had seen at one point or had been shown by revelation through vision and/or Scripture. I cried throughout this book because it was such a confirmation and even an exhortation for me. I cried through the parts about grieving for those we have lost. Not because the grief was too much to bear, but because throughout my grief I had lost sight of the fact that they are not really gone. They will be restored in the Great Restoration. As he says, “It’s as if they are away on a long a trip.” (Paraphrase.)

The treasures this book has given me are far too many to count or explain. But I can say this much: this is a book I’ll be reading on occasion. Because it is entirely possible to lose sight of what is the most important here on Earth, and while it will never replace the Bible, it is such a good companion. It’s like the abridged “between the lines” version of all the times Jesus mentions the Kingdom. It’s all the things I would imagine Jesus saying about Heaven if He would have been given more than roughly 1,200 pages.

I dare you to read this. I dare you to don your childlike wonder and see the Kingdom of Heaven like you never have before. I dare you to take his challenge on the final 2 pages. It might feel weird at first. I admit I felt like I had no right to think about those things. But by the end of the book, I was ready and confident to take the challenge. And I realized they were things I had been hoping all along.

Well done, John. Way to be brave and go against the grain of religious Christianity. I look forward to the day when you will teach me about the Great Heavenly Outdoors. I would love to see a moose with you!

Be brave.
~Nikki