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| ISBN: 9781400204311 |
I typically don't read "theological" books unless
I am fairly certain the author's beliefs are at least somewhat close to mine. I don't mean Christian vs Buddhism or
something else so diametrically different.
I mean Christian as in rather conservative Baptist. I'm still a KJV
preferred translation Bible reader myself. So being given the opportunity to
read Steve Sjogren's Heaven's Lessons
I almost said, "No. Not this lady!" But then, I thought,
"I've never read anyone's perspective on a near-death-experience. Let's
give it a try."
Steve Sjogren doesn't go into a lot on his NDE in Heaven's Lessons as I presumed he
would. Rather he addresses that in a
previous book. In Heaven's Lessons he is sharing 10 lessons he believes he has
learned from God (or what he believes God has shown him as a result of the
NDE). I see these as his way of
realizing that he came so close to "permanently" dying that he is
going to live his life according to revelation from God for the remainder of
life he has left to live. And he seems to be doing this in his personal,
family, and church ministry life.
Sjogren is sharing each of these 10 lessons and how they
have impacted his life and his personal and church ministry for God. Steve is pastor of a large non-conventional
church that focuses on servanthood as a means of reaching the lost, unloved,
unwanted humanity and bringing them to God.
Personally, I don't see anything wrong with this focus on
servanthood and kindness to mankind.
However, I also believe that Christians are to preach the Gospel of
Jesus Christ and not a gospel of kindness or gospel of servanthood. When the two are combined with the Biblical
preaching of the Word of God holding the prevalent position and servanthood and
kindness an off-shoot of the saved reaching the unsaved, then it can work.
In Sjogrens book he does share how his "accident"
occurred during routine gallbladder surgery when things went very wrong and
very much damage was done. He ended up dead for around 6 or 7 minutes and during that time was floating
above the operating table and recalled later the episode even to conversation being
carried on during that period. The
accident and experience left his body damaged and in need of repeated surgeries
to repair the damage. It also required
years of recuperation and therapy.
The lessons in Heavens
Lessons are good for anyone to learn and they are not new for
Christians. They are, though, often overlooked
in importance.
- God is BIG
- God Especially Enjoys Irregular People
- Don't Fear Death (really good reading)
- Quit Quitting
- Face Your Fear (another good read)
- Be Thankful
Thanks for this review. I wasn't even interested in this book because Steve was my preacher way back then (not to mention my beliefs have changed) and so I have heard the story and spent many Sundays watching him wobble around on his cane preaching. After reading your review, I realized I don't actually remember much about his experience so I am thinking I should pick this book up and refresh my memory. FYI: I found your site on bookcrash, I just did a review of Eradicate, not near your quality as I am still developing my review skills :) I will keep reading your blog for inspiration!
ReplyDeleteNiki Smith- Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. I was not really looking forward to reviewing Steve's book, but felt I should do so anyway. Please give me your link to Eradicate. I would love to read your review. I was much impressed by that book and I follow the author on Facebook. Thank you, too, for sharing how you found Chat With Vera. I often wonder how folks end up here - but am so appreciative of their visiting each and every time. And your encouraging comment was a blessing to me today. :)
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