Heaven's Lessons by Steve Sjogren

  Heaven's Lessons by Steve Sjogren is about the author's "Near Death Experience" that resulted from a relatively simple operation that went wrong and the lessons he learned from it which he passes on to his readers. 

When I first began reading "Heaven's Lessons", I wondered what was I letting myself in for and I wasn't sure I would be able to finish the book.  In the very first chapter entitled, "We Live In A Spiritual World", he starts out writing about the gal bladder surgery and the complications of it which caused his heart to stop for seven minutes at which time he experienced his Near Death Experience or NDE for short. The book isn't focused on the NDE but rather the lessons he learned. What really had me wondering was some of the statements he made in the chapter when he talked about the spiritual world we live in. He mentions doing what he called, "biblical dream interpretations", saying, "God goes out of his way to connect with people, including giving them dreams about Jesus". He, then, goes on to say how there is a dark side and how he has "expelled demons out of dozens of people".  Several things he mentioned in the chapter had me wondering, what sort of guy is he?  He tells of another incident in which he was led to ask a shopper at a Best Buy store if he could pray for him and how God said he would give him one of His prayers to pray.  When the shopper gave him permission to pray for him, the author said when he took hold of his arm, he had a mental picture that told him the shopper was a medical student in class and even what he was wearing. I won't go into all of the parts I read that led me to have questions about the author. Those interested can read it for themselves.

Once I got past the rest of the first chapter, and some of the next, it was more believable, more in line with Biblical Christianity.  The remaining chapters deal with facing our fears and getting over them, why we, as Christians, needn't fear death, how God heals gradually, about perservering in the Christian life, being thankful, etc.

The author writes well so it is an interesting read but because of the initial problems I had with some of what he said, I don't know that I can really recommend the book. This is a book that the reader must judge for themselves.

I received this book free from the Thomas Nelson Publisher's Booksneeze  review program in exchange for my thoughts. The words are my own.

Six Hours One Friday by Max Lucado

"Six Hours One Friday" by Max Lucado, one of the most loved Christian Authors tells the Biblical account of Christ's crucifiction when He voluntarily gave His life to pay the penalty for our sins in our place.  Most, if not all, who read this book have read or heard about the crucifiction several times but Max tells the story beautifully, in a way that makes it really real and he makes you, the reader, feel as if he is carrying on a conversation with you. He makes plain the love Christ has for us as well as the agony and torture He experienced in dying in such a horrible way.  Max has you see what Christ did for sinners in a fresh, new way.

I highly recommend "Six Hours One Friday" to everyone. It isn't a long read-just 214 pages-and each of the 19 chapters is a good length-not too short or too long. The chapters are divided under three "Anchor Points"-- "My Life Is Not Futile", "My Failures Our Not Fatal", and "My Death Is Not Final".  Also included is a Study Guide in the back of the book that covers each chapter.

I received a free copy of "Six Hours One Friday" from Thomas Nelson Publisher's Booksneeze review program in exchange for an honest review. The words are my own.