Forever: Why You Can't Live Without It

by Paul David Tripp

Pastor, professor, and gifted communicator Paul David Tripp shows how Western culture has lost the sense and promise of eternal life and how adjusting our perspective to focus on eternity can produce greater joy and peace in the present.

Genres: Christian Living, Christian, Nonfiction, Christianity, Faith, Theology, Christian Non Fiction

231 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 20, 2011

About the author

Paul was born in Toledo, Ohio to Bob and Fae Tripp on November 12, 1950. Paul spent all of his growing years in Toledo until his college years when his parents moved to Southern California.
At Columbia Bible College from 1968-1972, (now Columbia International University) Paul majored in Bible and Christian Education. Although he had planned to be there for only two years and then to study journalism, Paul more and more felt like there was so much of the theology of Scripture that he did not understand, so he decided to go to seminary. Paul met Luella Jackson at College and they married in 1971. In 1971, Paul took his first pastoral position and has had a heart for the local church ever since. After college, Paul completed his Master of Divinity degree at the Reformed Episcopal Seminary (now known as Philadelphia Theological Seminary) in Philadelphia (1972-1975). It was during these days that Paul’s commitment to ministry solidified. After seminary, Paul was involved in planting a church in Scranton, Pennsylvania (1977-1987) where he also founded a Christian School. During the years in Scranton, Paul became involved in music, traveling with a band and writing worship songs. In Scranton, Paul became interested in biblical counseling and decided to enroll in the D.Min program in Biblical Counseling at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. Paul then became a faculty member of the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF) and a lecturer in biblical counseling at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. Paul has also served as Visiting Professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
In 2009, Paul joined the faculty of Redeemer Seminary (daughter school of Westminster) in Dallas, Texas as Professor of Pastoral Life and Care.[1]
Beginning in June, 2006, Paul became the President of Paul Tripp Ministries, a non-profit organization, whose mission statement is "Connecting the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life." In addition to his current role as President of Paul Tripp Ministries, on January 1, 2007, Paul also became part of the pastoral staff at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, PA where he preached every Sunday evening and lead the Ministry to Center City through March, 2011 when he resigned due to the expanding time commitments needed at Paul Tripp Ministries.
Paul, Luella, and their four children moved to Philadelphia in 1987 and have lived there ever since. Paul is a prolific author and has written twelve books on Christian living which are sold internationally. Luella manages a large commercial art gallery in the city and Paul is very dedicated to painting as an avocation.[2] Paul’s driving passion is to help people understand how the gospel of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ really does speak with practical hope into all the things they will face in this broken world. Paul is a pastor with a pastor’s heart, a gifted speaker, his journey taking him all over the world, an author of numerous books on practical Christian living, and a man who is hopelessly in love with Luella.

Reviews

[Sharon Weinschreider · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and the basic principles: this life is not all there is, and God is working for our inner, forever good; and we need an eternal perspective so we can be working with Him for our forever good, and His glory. The chapters then apply these principles to different areas of our lives following a pattern of story of a person who’s struggling in this area of their life, and the application of the principles in this area generally, and for that person. It gets repetitive and could have been shortened significantly.

[Rachel {bibliopals} · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book, I just don't enjoy Tripp's tendency to repeat/belabor his points.
I did enjoy the premise of the book, but think it could have been more concise.

[Jeanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is more of guide on how to live your life with forever in mind. Forever with raising your children, forever thru suffering, forever thru your relationships, forever with real joy, forever with your job. When you live with forever in mind, it changes everything. Tripp uses his own personal journey experience in understanding how forever in suffering and relationships can transform you. Since he is a counselor, he uses the experiences of others that he has helped. God has placed Forever inside each one of us and since distress is sometimes a hunger of what will be, we can make the wrong choices without forever in mind. It then becomes a matter of who we are and not what we believe. God always responds to us with forever in mind. Without forever in mind, we can have a distorted view of our lives now. Addiction and disappointment is when we do not have that correct view. Addiction can be broken with forever in mind and disappointment can be used as opportunities. I found this book very helpful and very God-centered. If I had one complaint, it would be that more scripture would have been used.

[Randy Alcorn]

Paul David Tripp is one of the wisest and most quotable writers anywhere. In Forever, he brilliantly addresses our crying need for an eternal perspective. This book is superbly written and breathtakingly on target. I found myself exclaiming “yes” over and over, about every other page. Read this book, and live what this book teaches, for God’s glory and for your good—and that of everyone you influence.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The theological content and sentiment in this book are wonderful. I’m giving it a lower rating because the book could have been 80-100 pages. It was quite repetitive and had too many anecdotes for my taste.

[Saloma · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the last page:
“Look around. Take time to stop and think. Life really can’t work and doesn’t make sense without eternity. When you look back on life from eternity, you begin to understand what you desperately need and what God is doing. The result is a way of living that is different than you have ever known and a rest of heart that is more steadfast than you have ever experienced.”

My thoughts: You should read this book! 😁

[Seth Spearman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. I read it along with my community group and we discussed each chapter.

I am a fan of Paul David Tripp. He has written great books on counseling and parenting (like Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands and Age of Opportunity). I find his writing is not very stylistically interesting (hence the 4 stars) but his books have lots of interesting anecdotes and practical application which makes up for it.

The narrative of the book is very helpful and important and, mostly, truthful, even for the sincerest of Christians. Paul reminds us that we all have "Eternity Amnesia" (I love that turn of phrase) which basically means that in the mundane-ness of our everyday lives we forget that that our turn on the earth is temporary...that we are all just pilgrims and strangers here and that we have souls that will never die (to borrow from a famous catechism).

And Paul reminds us of the tragic consequences of that through the expounding of biblical truth and lots and lots of anecdotal story-telling.

My favorite chapter was by far the one on Relationships (Chapter 9). It connected with me and reflected much of my own thinking as I watched some of those close to me unravel their own relationships.

Relationships are killed by...

Unrealistic Expectations.
Looking to our loves one to give what is impossible.
Not realizing you are a broken person living among broken people.

Successful relationships require...

A deep reservoir of patience and grace toward one another.
An inexplicable capacity for forgiveness (the 7 x 70 kind that is rooted in the understanding that we have been forgiven much in the Gospel).
A determination to never settle into patterns of indifference and complacence.
A disposition of humility and brokenness.
Being patient with the other person but never with yourself.
Persevering through the hard times.
A willingness to quietly embrace your suffering.

One part of the book I didn't enjoy is that it began to be repetitive. The book is structed to discuss eternity as it relates to... (relationships, parenting, work etc) and there is a lot of repetition. It begins to feel like deja vu after a while.

The book is definitely worth reading though. And if you can ever HEAR Paul David Tripp at a conference...he is one of the best presenters I have ever heard.

Seth

[Lee Button · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most Christians live on earth as if it were a destination. Earth is preparation for our destination. When we develop that mindset our lives will reflect an understanding of why we need Forever. Tripp has done a masterful job of showing how each part of our lives must be lived, and will be lived better, with eternity in view.

[Andrea G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, helping believers gain the proper perspective on the life we’re living now! Eternity must be at the forefront of our minds and should radically change the way we live in relationship with others, parent, work, etc. It’s one I’ll go back to regularly!

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay this book was super good!! I've been feeling like I need a more eternal perspective, and this book was amazing at cultivating that mindset!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book at the Liberate Conference in Ft. Lauderdale. (the bookstore at the conference had me drooling all over the place!) Having gone through loss, Heaven and forever is suddenly a big topic of interest for me so the book and it's description really grabbed my attention.

The book is about forever - eternity - and how our view of it impacts our lives. Most notably that we don't even think about it at all in our day to day existence. We have, as the author frequently states, "eternity amnesia". The book describes our neglect of eternity and how that neglect shapes the way we think and how we live. It was very eye-opening for me. I had no idea how vast and deep a difference having and living with a right perspective of eternity makes on your everyday life. We generally acknowledge that our understanding of forever affects our view of death and loss, but how many of us really think that it also affects our frustrations, broken relationships, or our sense of identity?

Starting from a biblical foundation and understanding of eternity, Mr. Tripp takes us on a spiritual journey to flesh out all the ways forever shapes our lives. We come to see how much we struggle when we live only with the here and now in view, and then see how much life and freedom there is in viewing life from Heaven's vantage point. This book is deeply practical because it digs down into your heart, to the beliefs that root your life and your thoughts. By focusing on the heart, you get to the heart of the problem and not just the affects of the problem. I found this book to be immensely encouraging, comforting, and challenging. I absolutely loved it and wrote down lots of quotes that really touched my heart. I rarely ever re-read books because I have so many new books to delve into, but this most certainly is a book that I want to read again. It has a message I desperately needed to hear and one I definitely need to keep hearing as I fight the constant battle of living for forever against the here and now of a broken world.

To close, I wanted to post a few of my favorites quotes from the book - this is just a sampling of the wonderful teaching in the book!

"Many of us treat the here and now as a destination. Whatever our confessional theology says about eternity, at the functional level we live as if this is all there is. We live with a destination mentality instead of a preparation mentality." (p. 34)

"As we begin to realize that in this broken world we cannot look for reliable hope horizontally, we are at the edge of what we were designed to do: hope in God. And as we begin to place our hope in God, we get connected to the promise of eternity, where all that is broken will be fixed and made new again. And as we do this, we look at life in a radically new way. We no longer ask the broken people, places, and things to be the source of our hope. We know they can't be, because they are broken and in need of renewal just like we are." (p.100)

"When you look back on life from eternity, you begin to understand what you desperately need and what God is doing. The result is a way of living that is different than you have ever known and a rest of heart that is more steadfast than you have ever experienced." (p.204)

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best books I've read! Really it changes your perspective about this life, our families, our friends, our jobs, our purpose, our hardships...I read this book slowly because it was a lot to absorb, but it's one I will re-read.

[Richard Cobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I have looked back at my ratings, I see that I have given quite a few 5 stars. I really have enjoyed those books and would highly recommend those books. They are excellent

But this is a different kind of book. This is a book that I would say is every bit of 5 stars that I can give it. It is a foundational book to the Christian life and I wish every Christian would read. I have read (and loved) several books by Paul Tripp, but this is the one I would put at the top of the list.

It may be because I am a thinker and tend to get more emotionally invested in books than others normally do, but I would say this book gets to the root of our entire lives. Sure, there are a lot of things that then need to be fleshed out, but all that ails us can be traced back to our view of eternity and how often (or little) we spend thinking of it. Does it give definition to our lives or do we think of it as dessert at the end of a long meal (something to look forward to, but not of my consequence here and now)? I have read a ton of books over the years, but this one stands out.

5 Stars

"When we live with forever in view and when we look at life from the vantage point of the whole story, we will experience a joy that is so resilient, so sturdy, that it does not evaporate in the face of hardship."

[Tammi Gidlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really plowing through this book early in the year and the just read the last 2 chapters over the last week. Sadly, because I prefer fiction books to nonfiction, theology or Christian living books (ouch), I tend to move more slowly when reading these genres.
I like Tripp’s writing style and I have similar doctrinal beliefs so I was definitely on board with this book. He uses examples from his own life and from the lives of others that made It more personal and practical. Here’s a long quote (actually from 2 different paragraphs spliced together) from the last chapter of the book which provides a nice summary:
“Unwavering joy that does not melt in the face of difficulty is found only in knowing God and in resting I his plan for his world. True joy looks up to God and beyond eternity and rests in the certainty of God’s power and his plan, even though things at the moment may be confounding and hard......This joy takes us beyond our flawed definitions of the good life. It invites us to join the chorus of creation and the angels from the other side. This joy gives us reason to be thankful even when we are disappointed and life is hard. It spreads its wings beyond our assessment of and interaction with the moment. This joy gives us rest even when life is confusing and God is a bit mysterious.”

[Kev Willoughby · Rating 5 out of 5]

In “Forever,” Paul David Tripp teaches that much of our frustration in life is a result of losing sight of Eternity. However, when we view our circumstances through the lens of forever, it brings the present into a more accurate focus.

In one of my favorite parts of the book, the author revisits how Joseph handled adversity. We take his story for granted because we already know how it ends, but he certainly didn’t know that when he was in the midst of the lowest points in his life! As it was happening to him in present tense, no one (his father, his brothers, or himself) had a correct perspective or view of the future as he was being sold into slavery. His father thought he was dead. He wasn't. His brothers thought they would never have to see him again. They were wrong. Joseph thought he'd never be reunited with them or his dad and that his dreams would never come true.

Yet none of them were right about what the future would hold. When we go through heartaches in this life, we can’t readily see how the story will end either. I love that this book teaches us that when adversity happens, we have an opportunity to trust God through His promises about forever. Keeping our sights set on forever and not losing our perspective helps us realize that Romans 8:28 never expires!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought-provoking case for how living with eternity in view can transform all aspects of your life. I liked that he included concrete examples without getting too formulaic. Sometimes a bit repetitive, but Tripp drives his point home well. This would make a really good group discussion book.

[Cassidy Brammer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to give this book 1 star because I feel very called out and convicted but I must admit...this book is phenomenal and has given me much to think about:)

[Daneeka Cathey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book certainly is written with solid theology, hope for the weary, and encouragement for those who struggle with keeping eternity in view. However, for some reason, this book was hard for me to get into and I found my mind wandering frequently. I will probably re-read in the future, and take a break from Paul Tripp for now.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

My full review is available at Blogging Theologically:

How often do you really think about eternity? While I hope that many of us would answer “quite regularly,” the way we live would certainly suggest that whatever thought we do give to eternity doesn’t really impact our lives. Why is this? Why have we forgotten this fundamental reality of the Christian faith? In his latest book, Forever: Why You Can’t Live Without It, Paul David Tripp argues that we may have succumbed to what he describes as “eternity amnesia,” and in this book’s 14 chapters, he seeks to remind us why we can’t ignore “forever.”

[Treyyyy · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5

Forever was a good book. The first half of the book explained Tripp's idea of Forever, and the last half was application.

It was really helpful to change your focus from your current situation (good or bad) and to eternity.

The reason I'm not giving it four to five stars isn't because of the content but because of the way it was written. I think Tripp over-explained the idea of Forever. Though, there's a very good chance I'm just oblivious to the bigger idea of Forever Tripp has. I think the first part could have been condensed to 50-65 pages and the rest could be more application. But that's just me.

I read this book with one of my pastor's and I know he loved it, so this is defiantly a good book, just not my favorite style.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

As mentioned in an update, I found this book had insightful bits that I will try to apply to my life. The author is intuitive with himself and those around him, and especially with God, and I appreciate these qualities in his writing-that is to say, I trust what he has to say, which I don't always digest Christian writers. Some viewpoints seem to contradict what my Eastern Orthodox faith says; regardless, I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone from any walk of life. Superb.

One star off for the contradictions as previously mentioned, for the lack of capitalizing "He" when referring to God (a grammatical error), and for bits of redundancy throughout.

[Joshua Spotts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forever, Paul Tripp’s latest book examining eternity, covers a vast range of topics. The design of the front cover is as eye catching as the content, both implying we cannot live without eternity. Tripp declares that “we have forever inside of us.” He says that this longing for eternity causes us to be dissatisfied with the broken world we live in. His self-proclaimed purpose of the book is to look at life from “the perspective of eternity.”

Read the rest of the review here: http://www.christianbookpreviews.com/...

[PMiddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is hard to review. What I love about this book, I love with 5 stars. However, I found the writing to get redundant quite often. Tripp is great on God's Sovereignty, but then reneges it all by saying God had a plan "B". GOD NEVER HAD A PLAN B. Therefore, 3 stars. Paul David Tripp

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Viewing life as a part of an eternal plan and everlasting story changes everything. It is so refreshing to place all events, circumstances, and daily life into proper perspective. Knowing that I can rest in Gods sovereign love and the security of His omniscience gives me peace. Thankful for this read.

[Stan Crader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readers will get a new sense of joy and how to capture it. Readers will gain a new sense of perspective which casts meaningful things in a more permanent light while making clear how material things are necessary for the present but unimportant in the bigger picture. The examples are not done with excellent writing but the explanations and thoughts provided in them are great.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think I even finished this. It was just ok. I have a tough time with the idea of eternity and forever, so it was a tough one for me. If you're curious about the subject, this is the book for you!

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main message of the book is great, and Tripp does a decent job communicating. However, this is one of those books that would probably have done better if it were shortened to blog post length. Repetition is pretty heavy with this one.

[Valerie Romero · Rating 4 out of 5]

exceptional truths and encouragement! each section had so much good substance and depth... encouragement that was not only specific, but zoomed out so vividly to see the "big picture" of acknowledging and living for an eternal God through an eternal savior! highly recommended reading :)

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

This book is great for believers and unbelievers alike. The world seems to be losing its mind, they have no sense of direction. This book serves as a north star to point us all to our destination.

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great perspective-changing book. I especially liked chapters 9, 12, and 13. Tripp helpfully connects what we can hope for in heaven to how we live and view our life in the here and now.