Randy Alcorn - Heaven for Kids

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Heaven for Kids

Copyright 2006 by Eternal Perspective Ministries. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph by Andersen Ross/Getty Images. All rights reserved.

Handwriting copyright 2006 by Adrianna Nuez. All rights reserved.

Designed by Jacqueline L. Nuez

Edited by Betty Free Swanberg

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. www.zondervan.com.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NKJV is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible , English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Alcorn, Randy C.

Heaven for kids / Randy Alcorn ; based on Randy Alcorns book Heaven ; adapted for kids by Randy Alcorn ; with Linda Washington.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-4143-1040-4 (sc : alk. paper)

1. HeavenChristianityJuvenile literature. I. Washington, Linda M. II. Title.

BT846.3.A433 2006

236.24dc22 2006011261

To Alexis Greenley, Spencer Greenley,

Mckinzie Bowles, Zachary Bowles,

and

Logan Noren,

the precious children of our nieces and nephews

Joe and Chris Greenley,

Grant and Denise Bowles,

and

Brad and LaVon Noren

Acknowledgments

I want to thank the following people for their significant contributions to this book:

Linda Washington, for taking my book Heaven, selecting the parts that seemed most suitable for kids, and jazzing them up. This gave me a big head start in undertaking my revisions.

Betty Swanberg, for her skilled, thoughtful, and helpful editing, and for being so easy to work with.

Karen Watson and Jan Axford, for also being a pleasure to work with, and for doing their jobs at Tyndale House so well.

Elizabeth Gosnell, for her diligence in the unsung labors of copyediting.

Tiffany Pate, Amy Campbell, and Angie Obrist, for looking this over in its early form and offering the invaluable perspectives of moms involved in their childrens educations.

Doreen Button and Tim Newcomb, for reading through every line and suggesting further revisions.

Bonnie Hiestand, for tirelessly typing in many of my changes.

Kathy Norquist, for helping clean up the manuscript before submission.

Sarah Ballenger, for researching several important items for me.

Linda Jeffries and Janet Albers, for their great work at EPM, which frees me to write books.

Nanci, my awesome wife, who brings such joy and encouragement to every aspect of my life.

Jesus, the One whom Heaven and the New Earth will be all about. It will be so wonderful, Lord, precisely because you are so wonderful. Thank you for offering Heaven to people like me... and every kid and adult who reads this book!

Note to the Reader

How many times have you thought about Heaven in the last week? Have you brought up the subject or asked anyone a question about Heaven? Unless a person or a pet close to you has died (or is dying), the topic of Heaven may not have crossed your mind. Still, since you have this book in your hand, youre already beginning to think about Heaven. Good for you!

This book has questions many people have asked about life after death. As you read it, you might find some of the questions youve asked. Youll probably also find some questions youve never thought about asking. But I think youll find most of them very interesting. Ive tried to base my answers to these questions on what God tells us about Heaven in the Bible. (There are a lot of wrong ideas about Heaven, but we can always depend on what the Bible has to say.) At the beginning of each chapter, youll find two quotesone from the Bible and one from The Chronicles of Narniathat will start you thinking about the ideas in the chapter.

But now its time to turn the page and take a look at the first question and answer. You may want to read just one at a time, or you may read several in one sitting. Youll probably want to look up some of the Bible verses too. You and your family could do that together. Its always fun to talk with your friends about the things youre reading, so you could bring up what youre learning with them.

Enjoy exploring life in Heaven. After all, its a place where you can live forever somedaya place without fear, anger, sadness, or sickness. And its not just a place without bad stuff. Its a place full of great stuff: beauty, joy, fun, lots of activity, and rest when you need it. Well have endless adventures together with Jesus and each other. Its a place where you can live with the wonderful and fascinating God who created you. And its a place where you can hang out with all sorts of kind and interesting people who will be your friends forever.

Cool!

Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this book!

Why Should We Look Forward to Heaven?

We are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.

PHILIPPIANS 3:20

[Jewel the Unicorn] cried: I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this.... Come further up, come further in!

C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle

Do I really need to think about Heaven?

Suppose your dad or mom told you that you were moving to a new place. Whats the first thing youd do? Ask questions, right? Youd want to know the who , what , when , where , and why about the place where you were going to live.

Now pretend youre part of a NASA team preparing for a five-year mission to Mars. After a period of heavy-duty training, the launch date finally arrives. As the rocket lifts off, one of the other astronauts says to you, What do you know about Mars?

Imagine shrugging your shoulders and saying, Nothing. We never talked about it. I guess well find out when we get there. Think that would happen? Not likely, right? Part of your training would have prepared you for where you would be living for the next five years. You would have talked about Mars 24/7, wouldnt you? After all, thats where you were headed!