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Remember Heaven: Meditations on the World to Come for Life in the Meantime
How the Hope of Heaven Shapes Our Lives as Christians in the Meantime
What we expect from our future has tremendous power over our experience in the meantime—that’s why the Bible places the hope of heaven at the center of the Christian life. But even if we affirm the reality of our heavenly future, we often struggle to long for heaven, much less to connect the promises of the world to come to the concrete details of life in this world as it is. If and when we think about heaven at all, it’s easy to think of it like an insurance policy that will be there when we need it. But the Bible defines our future hope as an inheritance—a trust fund that is certain, inexhaustible, and freely accessible here and now.
In this book, Matthew McCullough offers a series of meditations that model how to draw on the hope of heaven for everyday life in the meantime. Chapters connect specific struggles of life in this world—from dissatisfaction and inadequacy to anxiety, grief, indwelling sin and more—to specific promises of the world to come. Drawing on insights from Christian writers of the past, McCullough shows how the Bible uses the hope of heaven to help us now.
Offers Hope: Helps readers deal with feelings of loneliness, inadequacy, grief, and dissatisfaction to curate a healthy life perspective around God’s promises
Biblical and Practical: Engaging meditations offer Christians applicable advice for living joyfully in light of the inheritance that awaits them in heaven
From the Gospel Coalition: This accessible book makes a great gift for students, pastors, and Christians of every age
What we expect from our future has tremendous power over our experience in the meantime—that’s why the Bible places the hope of heaven at the center of the Christian life. But even if we affirm the reality of our heavenly future, we often struggle to long for heaven, much less to connect the promises of the world to come to the concrete details of life in this world as it is. If and when we think about heaven at all, it’s easy to think of it like an insurance policy that will be there when we need it. But the Bible defines our future hope as an inheritance—a trust fund that is certain, inexhaustible, and freely accessible here and now.
In this book, Matthew McCullough offers a series of meditations that model how to draw on the hope of heaven for everyday life in the meantime. Chapters connect specific struggles of life in this world—from dissatisfaction and inadequacy to anxiety, grief, indwelling sin and more—to specific promises of the world to come. Drawing on insights from Christian writers of the past, McCullough shows how the Bible uses the hope of heaven to help us now.
Offers Hope: Helps readers deal with feelings of loneliness, inadequacy, grief, and dissatisfaction to curate a healthy life perspective around God’s promises
Biblical and Practical: Engaging meditations offer Christians applicable advice for living joyfully in light of the inheritance that awaits them in heaven
From the Gospel Coalition: This accessible book makes a great gift for students, pastors, and Christians of every age
157 pages, Paperback
Published May 13, 2025
56 people are currently reading
335 people want to read
About the author
Matthew McCullough
8 books20 followersMatthew McCullough (PhD, Vanderbilt University) serves as pastor of Trinity Church in Nashville, Tennessee, which he helped plant. He is the author of The Cross of War and writes occasionally for 9Marks and the Gospel Coalition.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
April 4, 2025
My endorsement: “Matt McCullough is a delight to read. ‘Remember Death’ blew me away a few years ago. Sure enough, ‘Remember Heaven’ is masterful too. Matt has an uncommon ability to apply soaring truth to everyday life, with surgical precision and pastoral care. Turning these pages moved me to long for the world to come and, ultimately, for the King who is coming. And it reinvigorated me to think and live differently now. Cheer up, brothers and sisters! Our future is unimaginably bright.”
May 25, 2025
5
“Heavenly-mindedness is basic Christianity. It is the only response to the fact of Jesus’s resurrection from the dead and the sign that we believe it’s really true. It is the living conviction that Christ is risen and soon returning.”
This is a book of meditations on the hope of heaven and it truly stirred my heart in that direction. Each chapter addresses how as Christians the hope of heaven helps us in the here-in-now through various trials or anxieties. The last chapter is about how we hope for heaven collectively as the church. I read it through tears thinking of all the people that the Lord has placed in my life to point me to the hope found in Christ in times of doubt or melancholy.
“Heavenly-mindedness is basic Christianity. It is the only response to the fact of Jesus’s resurrection from the dead and the sign that we believe it’s really true. It is the living conviction that Christ is risen and soon returning.”
This is a book of meditations on the hope of heaven and it truly stirred my heart in that direction. Each chapter addresses how as Christians the hope of heaven helps us in the here-in-now through various trials or anxieties. The last chapter is about how we hope for heaven collectively as the church. I read it through tears thinking of all the people that the Lord has placed in my life to point me to the hope found in Christ in times of doubt or melancholy.
December 9, 2025
I'm so grateful for this reminder that the Church is voyaging together to a promised Kingdom full of joy, righteousness, holiness, untouchable security, painlessness, love, reunion, and - sweetest of all - boundless communion with our Savior.
"Heavenly-mindedness is basic Christianity. It is the only reasonable response to the fact of Jesus's resurrection from the dead and the sign that we believe it's really true. It is the living conviction that Christ is risen and soon returning." (148)
"Heavenly-mindedness is basic Christianity. It is the only reasonable response to the fact of Jesus's resurrection from the dead and the sign that we believe it's really true. It is the living conviction that Christ is risen and soon returning." (148)
December 20, 2025
I’ve heard someone negatively described as “so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good.” This book turns that saying around to show the tremendous positive earthly implications for us of meditating on the realities of heaven. I was very encouraged and challenged by this short book, which I read in small chunks devotionally.
June 21, 2025
Probably like top 3 books for me!
November 28, 2025
"Groaning for heaven is spiritual maturity. It is the sign that God's Spirit is growing faith in God's Word about God's Son."
Lord help me desire until I possess. My favorite read of 2025!!! Oh what a treasure this book is.
Lord help me desire until I possess. My favorite read of 2025!!! Oh what a treasure this book is.
October 23, 2025
A breath of fresh air in an incredibly busy season.
Favorite Quotes:
"Augustine boiled down happiness to having and holding what you love--to fully possess the thing you desire and to keep it, without the threat of loss" (21).
"I know the difference between hearing Beethoven's Fifth Symphony as a ringtone and hearing it performed by a world-class orchestra in a perfectly designed symphony hall. I know the difference between watching a movie on an airplane with free headphones and watching a movie in an IMAX theater. I know the difference between getting a text from a friend and a phone call, or the difference between a phone call and a video call, or the difference between a video call and an hour with my friend over coffee... All the things that don't satisfy us here and now are like a text message version of God's goodness" (29).
"We can't hoard our way into fullness of joy" (34).
"Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home" -C. S. Lewis, Problem of Pain, (quoted on p. 37).
"The only person authorized to tell us that we are enough is the God who gave us our lives in the first place" (41).
"When we see him face-to-face, nothing will ever turn our heads again" (64).
[Commentary on Col. 3:2-5]: "It's as if Paul is saying, 'Think on where you're going, then go ahead and dress appropriately" (65).
"We can't be casual about sin if we're clear on what our sin cost our Savior" (69).
"Anxiety can be considered the price we humans pay for having the ability to imagine the future" (75).
"No one can customize the future. And the more you expect to customize, the more bothered you are by what you can't" (77).
"If you're going to carry on without losing heart, you need to know that heaven is where you are going, and suffering is how you will get there" (94).
"If we don't enjoy [God] here [on earth], we wouldn't enjoy him there [in heaven]" (97).
"We want more than life after death, we want love after death" -Tim Keller, "Hopefulness" (quoted on p. 111)
"Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief" -C. S. Lewis, "A Grief Observed", quoted on p. 119
"The purpose of friendships in the local church is to help each other journey all the way to heaven" (133).
"It would be so much easier to pass the time talking about baseball than flagging danger, confronting sin, or facing up to someone else's probing questions. But if we see one another as pilgrims together in a dangerous time, trudging through our wilderness like Israel before us, vulnerable on our own just as they were, we won't be able to live with what silence might mean for the ones we love" (135).
"Help me desire until I may possess" -Richard Baxter, "The Saints' Everlasting Rest" quoted on p. 150
Favorite Quotes:
"Augustine boiled down happiness to having and holding what you love--to fully possess the thing you desire and to keep it, without the threat of loss" (21).
"I know the difference between hearing Beethoven's Fifth Symphony as a ringtone and hearing it performed by a world-class orchestra in a perfectly designed symphony hall. I know the difference between watching a movie on an airplane with free headphones and watching a movie in an IMAX theater. I know the difference between getting a text from a friend and a phone call, or the difference between a phone call and a video call, or the difference between a video call and an hour with my friend over coffee... All the things that don't satisfy us here and now are like a text message version of God's goodness" (29).
"We can't hoard our way into fullness of joy" (34).
"Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home" -C. S. Lewis, Problem of Pain, (quoted on p. 37).
"The only person authorized to tell us that we are enough is the God who gave us our lives in the first place" (41).
"When we see him face-to-face, nothing will ever turn our heads again" (64).
[Commentary on Col. 3:2-5]: "It's as if Paul is saying, 'Think on where you're going, then go ahead and dress appropriately" (65).
"We can't be casual about sin if we're clear on what our sin cost our Savior" (69).
"Anxiety can be considered the price we humans pay for having the ability to imagine the future" (75).
"No one can customize the future. And the more you expect to customize, the more bothered you are by what you can't" (77).
"If you're going to carry on without losing heart, you need to know that heaven is where you are going, and suffering is how you will get there" (94).
"If we don't enjoy [God] here [on earth], we wouldn't enjoy him there [in heaven]" (97).
"We want more than life after death, we want love after death" -Tim Keller, "Hopefulness" (quoted on p. 111)
"Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief" -C. S. Lewis, "A Grief Observed", quoted on p. 119
"The purpose of friendships in the local church is to help each other journey all the way to heaven" (133).
"It would be so much easier to pass the time talking about baseball than flagging danger, confronting sin, or facing up to someone else's probing questions. But if we see one another as pilgrims together in a dangerous time, trudging through our wilderness like Israel before us, vulnerable on our own just as they were, we won't be able to live with what silence might mean for the ones we love" (135).
"Help me desire until I may possess" -Richard Baxter, "The Saints' Everlasting Rest" quoted on p. 150
October 2, 2025
Powerful, honest, and beautifully written
Maybe you’ve heard the phrase “don’t be so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good”.
What scriptural passages Iike Colossians 3 would argue is actually the contrary. Christians can only be of any earthly good the more heavenly minded they are. Setting our minds on things that are above, as it were.
McCollough does a powerful job of arguing that our longing for the world to come (when he uses the term heaven, he’s actually referring to the new creation), is a healthy, essential, and powerful tool that is used by the Holy Spirit to grow us in holiness, free us from anxieties, increase our communion with the Lord, and actually be of good to our neighbors, as we live lives of sacrificial service.
Dear Christian, don’t forget…no matter your station right now, because of Christ you will inherit an eternal world to come filled with infinite glory.
- When you are filled sorrow or despair, remember that you are bound for endless joy in God’s presence
- When you you are filled with temptation to sin or conviction over your sin, remember that you are bound for perfect holiness
- When you are filled with insecurity and doubt about who you are, remember you are bound for an indenture of spotless righteousness
- When you are filled anxiety, fear, and dread, remember that you are bound for untouchable security
- When you are experiencing physical, mental, or circumstantial suffering, remember that you are bound for no more tears or pain
- When you are filled with grief over the loss of brothers and sisters in Christ that you loved in this life, remember that you are bound for endless community
- When you are stricken with sadness over the state of this broken world, remember you are bound for an endless home
“A frequent desire for heaven and to be with Christ is a sure sign of spiritual maturity”
Maybe you’ve heard the phrase “don’t be so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good”.
What scriptural passages Iike Colossians 3 would argue is actually the contrary. Christians can only be of any earthly good the more heavenly minded they are. Setting our minds on things that are above, as it were.
McCollough does a powerful job of arguing that our longing for the world to come (when he uses the term heaven, he’s actually referring to the new creation), is a healthy, essential, and powerful tool that is used by the Holy Spirit to grow us in holiness, free us from anxieties, increase our communion with the Lord, and actually be of good to our neighbors, as we live lives of sacrificial service.
Dear Christian, don’t forget…no matter your station right now, because of Christ you will inherit an eternal world to come filled with infinite glory.
- When you are filled sorrow or despair, remember that you are bound for endless joy in God’s presence
- When you you are filled with temptation to sin or conviction over your sin, remember that you are bound for perfect holiness
- When you are filled with insecurity and doubt about who you are, remember you are bound for an indenture of spotless righteousness
- When you are filled anxiety, fear, and dread, remember that you are bound for untouchable security
- When you are experiencing physical, mental, or circumstantial suffering, remember that you are bound for no more tears or pain
- When you are filled with grief over the loss of brothers and sisters in Christ that you loved in this life, remember that you are bound for endless community
- When you are stricken with sadness over the state of this broken world, remember you are bound for an endless home
“A frequent desire for heaven and to be with Christ is a sure sign of spiritual maturity”
June 10, 2025
I think most Christian’s won’t find anything is the book to be some sort of “mysteries of heaven unlocked” sort of deal. That isn’t a bad thing. I wouldn’t have read it if it were of that sort of book on heaven. This book delivers, on all fronts, what it sets out to do, which is to encourage the reader with reflections and mediations on heaven for life in the meantime.
Without spoiling the contents of the book extensively, below is probably my favorite quote (found in the conclusion), which accurately summarizes the previous chapters:
“If longing for heaven is crucial for growth, heavenly mindedness is how we feed it. We use our minds to warm our hearts toward all that god has promised for our future. This is the work of faith for as long as Jesus terries. And as we do this work we should pray as Baxter prayed: ‘help me desire until I may possess’”
This is one of those books that is “formative” you might not remember everything you read to the t. You may not even have any earth shattering, life altering quotes, but you will find that the truths of the book will be a treasure for your heart as you endure this life, longing with all endurance, by God’s grace, for the life to come.
5/5
Without spoiling the contents of the book extensively, below is probably my favorite quote (found in the conclusion), which accurately summarizes the previous chapters:
“If longing for heaven is crucial for growth, heavenly mindedness is how we feed it. We use our minds to warm our hearts toward all that god has promised for our future. This is the work of faith for as long as Jesus terries. And as we do this work we should pray as Baxter prayed: ‘help me desire until I may possess’”
This is one of those books that is “formative” you might not remember everything you read to the t. You may not even have any earth shattering, life altering quotes, but you will find that the truths of the book will be a treasure for your heart as you endure this life, longing with all endurance, by God’s grace, for the life to come.
5/5
July 2, 2025
Beautiful and life-giving! This book is deeply thought-provoking and also practical, and wonderfully written.
July 16, 2025
Couldn’t give it 5 stars, but 4 almost doesn’t do it justice. Definitely a helpful, reorienting book that I will no doubt read again.
August 4, 2025
This book was such an encouragement to me. How helpful to think about things with a heaven lens. It all seemed so obvious but also profound. I plan on returning to this one again and again.
September 7, 2025
Such a sweet book to meditate on! So thankful for our incredible hope of heaven!
October 7, 2025
Some would say that the mind that rests on heaven is useless on earth. They would be wrong. As Christians, this is our hope of what is to come. Our thoughts of heaven are not to detract from our earthly experience, but help make sense of it, to help cope with it, and much more. Heaven is more than you can imagine because you’re tainted by sin. “Come taste and see that the Lord is good” and the room he has prepared for you.
Remembering Heaven aims to clean the Christian’s lens on our final destination. It does so with eloquence and thought provocation. Pulling from scripture and not merely human opinion. It causes you to dwell on an element of our Christian life that so easily gets drowned out by other things.
Remember heaven so you don’t forget why you’re here on earth.
Remembering Heaven aims to clean the Christian’s lens on our final destination. It does so with eloquence and thought provocation. Pulling from scripture and not merely human opinion. It causes you to dwell on an element of our Christian life that so easily gets drowned out by other things.
Remember heaven so you don’t forget why you’re here on earth.
August 10, 2025
Valuable little book that helped reorient me to not just put my head down, grit my teeth, and do what I'm supposed to do; but look ahead to the promise of heaven to find encouragement to remain faithful. The last two chapters are especially helpful.
April 16, 2025
How does the hope of heaven help us to live faithfully and fruitfully in the present? This is the question that Matthew McCullough explores in this deeply insightful and wonderfully edifying book. McCullough not only paints a compelling picture of our eternal home, but he helpfully connects the bright hope of heaven to many of our pressing problems in this present world—dissatisfaction, inadequacy, anxiety, grief, indwelling sin and more. McCullough was able to take familiar passages and infuse them with fresh insight, while also drawing on different Christian thinkers from the past. I appreciated the fact that McCullough would generally ground each chapter in a single passage of Scripture. This means the book could actually serve as the basis for a really helpful and practical sermon series. I'd previously enjoyed and benefitted from McCullough's prior book, Remember Death, and this was no different.
June 30, 2025
4.5 stars ✨ An excellent book on heaven from a truly biblical perspective!
Whenever I see a book all about heaven, I'm typically a little skeptical because lots of them have many guesses and opinions. However, with this book, I appreciated how biblically rooted it was, loaded with passages of Scripture rather than meandering speculation. Instead of focusing on the things we don't know about heaven, the author takes a good look at what we do know from God's Word and expounds upon that richly.
As with many other Crossway books, I really enjoyed the setup and organization of this book. Chapters 2, 4 and 6 were my favorite chapters; chapter 2 particularly spoke to me in such a profound way, because I have always struggled with how God can see me as righteous, and I think the author dealt with that topic and other topics in such a clear, beautiful way. I certainly underlined and highlighted my copy quite heavily, which I consider the defining mark of a helpful book to me ;)
I believe I enjoyed this book a bit more than the author's first book, Remember Death, although I would recommend that one as well. Both are well-done, thought-provoking reads that I believe so many Christians would benefit from.
All in all, this book stirred my heart, helped me cultivate my longing for the world to come, and encouraged me in so many ways to strive to live faithfully and fruitfully on this earth as I remember heaven.
Some favorite quotes...
~“What will seeing God be like for us? For all we don't know, it is safe to say that we will be completely absorbed by a beauty of which all other beauty anywhere else on earth is just the faintest shadow."
~"We will never see the glory of Christ more clearly than when we look at Him through tears."
~"There is no true peace without hope and no true hope without heaven."
~“The worst thing that could happen to us happened to Jesus instead so that it would never happen to us."
~"[Our] inheritance is undefiled. In this world every good thing comes tainted. More often than not, it is tainted by me-by my greedy desire for me, my preoccupation with what others have that I don't, my unrealistic expectations, or simply by my knowledge that no good thing lasts forever. In heaven all joy is pure."
~“There is no future outcome, no matter how fearsome, in which God will not be with you."
*I received this book for free from the publisher (Crossway) in exchange for this honest review.
Link to review: https://boundlessbookshelfreviews.blo...
Follow The Boundless Bookshelf: https://www.blogger.com/followers/fol...
Whenever I see a book all about heaven, I'm typically a little skeptical because lots of them have many guesses and opinions. However, with this book, I appreciated how biblically rooted it was, loaded with passages of Scripture rather than meandering speculation. Instead of focusing on the things we don't know about heaven, the author takes a good look at what we do know from God's Word and expounds upon that richly.
As with many other Crossway books, I really enjoyed the setup and organization of this book. Chapters 2, 4 and 6 were my favorite chapters; chapter 2 particularly spoke to me in such a profound way, because I have always struggled with how God can see me as righteous, and I think the author dealt with that topic and other topics in such a clear, beautiful way. I certainly underlined and highlighted my copy quite heavily, which I consider the defining mark of a helpful book to me ;)
I believe I enjoyed this book a bit more than the author's first book, Remember Death, although I would recommend that one as well. Both are well-done, thought-provoking reads that I believe so many Christians would benefit from.
All in all, this book stirred my heart, helped me cultivate my longing for the world to come, and encouraged me in so many ways to strive to live faithfully and fruitfully on this earth as I remember heaven.
Some favorite quotes...
~“What will seeing God be like for us? For all we don't know, it is safe to say that we will be completely absorbed by a beauty of which all other beauty anywhere else on earth is just the faintest shadow."
~"We will never see the glory of Christ more clearly than when we look at Him through tears."
~"There is no true peace without hope and no true hope without heaven."
~“The worst thing that could happen to us happened to Jesus instead so that it would never happen to us."
~"[Our] inheritance is undefiled. In this world every good thing comes tainted. More often than not, it is tainted by me-by my greedy desire for me, my preoccupation with what others have that I don't, my unrealistic expectations, or simply by my knowledge that no good thing lasts forever. In heaven all joy is pure."
~“There is no future outcome, no matter how fearsome, in which God will not be with you."
*I received this book for free from the publisher (Crossway) in exchange for this honest review.
Link to review: https://boundlessbookshelfreviews.blo...
Follow The Boundless Bookshelf: https://www.blogger.com/followers/fol...
April 10, 2025
5/5
i am someone who is overwhelmingly tapped in to the strife this world churns out. i read ecclesiastes often to help manage my expectations and remind myself to take a deep breath. i catch myself grieving often and deeply and need near constant reminders to realign where i set my beaten sense of hope. i have over-highlighted colossians 3 to where it’s almost unreadable, i’ve posted sticky notes on my dashboard and my mirror about the kingdom to come as defensive tactics, i have too frequently sought meaning in vapors, and i’ve had mental wrestling matches that consistently funnel into dejected convalescence.
i read everything i can get my hands on about the joy that is to be revealed to us. and this book has provided a tranquility that lingers.
don’t be mistaken, i will quickly be reminded of the harshness that is here to remind us here is not our home and i will rail against my longing again. but i will move forward from that viewing it a bit differently and with a bit more ease. i’m positive over 70% of the text in this book has been highlighted and i know i will be purchasing and reaching for mccullough’s words across the decades.
reading this did not erase the grief or the inquietude or disenchantment that makes itself known often, but it did teach me a bit more how to see them as signposts of my destination ahead that will quell all heartache.
thanks to netgalley and Crossway for the eARC.
i am someone who is overwhelmingly tapped in to the strife this world churns out. i read ecclesiastes often to help manage my expectations and remind myself to take a deep breath. i catch myself grieving often and deeply and need near constant reminders to realign where i set my beaten sense of hope. i have over-highlighted colossians 3 to where it’s almost unreadable, i’ve posted sticky notes on my dashboard and my mirror about the kingdom to come as defensive tactics, i have too frequently sought meaning in vapors, and i’ve had mental wrestling matches that consistently funnel into dejected convalescence.
i read everything i can get my hands on about the joy that is to be revealed to us. and this book has provided a tranquility that lingers.
don’t be mistaken, i will quickly be reminded of the harshness that is here to remind us here is not our home and i will rail against my longing again. but i will move forward from that viewing it a bit differently and with a bit more ease. i’m positive over 70% of the text in this book has been highlighted and i know i will be purchasing and reaching for mccullough’s words across the decades.
reading this did not erase the grief or the inquietude or disenchantment that makes itself known often, but it did teach me a bit more how to see them as signposts of my destination ahead that will quell all heartache.
thanks to netgalley and Crossway for the eARC.
October 21, 2025
Incredibly edifying. Beautifully written. Theologically sharp. This book causes you to gaze deeply at the realities of heaven, because that is where Christ is (Col 3:1). As we gaze longingly to be with Christ in heaven, it fuels us to live actively for Christ now. Easy to read and renewing to the soul.
November 22, 2025
Very good
June 9, 2025
Beautiful meditations of heaven for life today and a fitting sequel to “Remember Death.”
July 2, 2025
Favorite book of the year thus far. Gloriously encouraging.
July 22, 2025
Matt’s words are deeply insightful, articulate & comforting. A brilliant theologian, yet completely down to earth- McCullough’s writings never cease to challenge and bring perspective to the sorrows of this life and the hope to come. This is a book I will keep coming back to.
October 19, 2025
Worth reading and rereading!
March 27, 2025
First sentence (from the introduction): Another Christmas just came and went, along with a wonderful week away with our extended family.
Matthew McCullough shares 'meditations' on WHY remembering heaven helps us to live 'in the meantime' with hope, peace, and joy--even in the midst of troubles and hard circumstances. These meditations are not daily meditations--like a devotional book--but instead a series of longer chapters. Each chapter is a different way of looking at the subject. The book is not meant--and the author discloses this--to be an exhaustive book of reasons to remember heaven in light of our 'groans and moans.'
A few of his reasons to remember heaven:
grounds our lives as Christians
reframes our dissatisfaction in the meantime
overcomes our feelings of inadequacy in the meantime
empowers our battle with sin in the meantime
relieves our anxiety in the meantime
makes our suffering meaningful in the meantime
makes our grief bearable
sets our mission in the church
I found the book helpful and encouraging. It didn't always go in the direction of my preconceived notions, HOWEVER it always went in a direction that surprised me and ultimately proved engaging. I had not pieced together how HOPE in heaven or 'remembering heaven' could be connected with inadequacy and anxiety. So there were chapters that were JUST the medicine I needed. I think the book will be relevant for just that reason. I think each reader will have his or her own 'favorite' chapter(s) that speak to them in their need. The Holy Spirit is good like that.
I would definitely recommend this one.
Quotes:
Hope matters. We can't live without it. But what we hope in matters even more. We need a hope strong enough to bear the weight of our lives in the meantime. And that is precisely what we have in the hope of heaven.
Many Christians simply aren't thinking about heaven at all and, if asked, couldn't say why they should be.
Meditating on heaven, Richard Baxter argues, is how we use our understanding to warm our affections. It throws open 'the door between the head and the heart.'
How we spend our moments is how we spend our lives.
The only way to long for a place you've never been is to long for the person whose presence makes that place what it is to you.
Love for Christ anchors us to the future we've been promised, and it reshapes how we live here in the present.
Pride is the poison our culture doles out as medicine.
We are anxious when we feel responsible, as if all the outcomes depend upon us. But God is responsible for this future. Everything depends on him.
Matthew McCullough shares 'meditations' on WHY remembering heaven helps us to live 'in the meantime' with hope, peace, and joy--even in the midst of troubles and hard circumstances. These meditations are not daily meditations--like a devotional book--but instead a series of longer chapters. Each chapter is a different way of looking at the subject. The book is not meant--and the author discloses this--to be an exhaustive book of reasons to remember heaven in light of our 'groans and moans.'
A few of his reasons to remember heaven:
grounds our lives as Christians
reframes our dissatisfaction in the meantime
overcomes our feelings of inadequacy in the meantime
empowers our battle with sin in the meantime
relieves our anxiety in the meantime
makes our suffering meaningful in the meantime
makes our grief bearable
sets our mission in the church
I found the book helpful and encouraging. It didn't always go in the direction of my preconceived notions, HOWEVER it always went in a direction that surprised me and ultimately proved engaging. I had not pieced together how HOPE in heaven or 'remembering heaven' could be connected with inadequacy and anxiety. So there were chapters that were JUST the medicine I needed. I think the book will be relevant for just that reason. I think each reader will have his or her own 'favorite' chapter(s) that speak to them in their need. The Holy Spirit is good like that.
I would definitely recommend this one.
Quotes:
Hope matters. We can't live without it. But what we hope in matters even more. We need a hope strong enough to bear the weight of our lives in the meantime. And that is precisely what we have in the hope of heaven.
Many Christians simply aren't thinking about heaven at all and, if asked, couldn't say why they should be.
Meditating on heaven, Richard Baxter argues, is how we use our understanding to warm our affections. It throws open 'the door between the head and the heart.'
How we spend our moments is how we spend our lives.
The only way to long for a place you've never been is to long for the person whose presence makes that place what it is to you.
Love for Christ anchors us to the future we've been promised, and it reshapes how we live here in the present.
Pride is the poison our culture doles out as medicine.
We are anxious when we feel responsible, as if all the outcomes depend upon us. But God is responsible for this future. Everything depends on him.
May 29, 2025
Heaven is not only the final resting place for the people of God; it is what they long for the most. Yet, too many times, Christians become fixated on earthly things. Matthew McCullough’s book, Remember Heaven: Meditations on the World to Come for Life in the Meantime, is an encouraging reminder to focus on our future home.
McCullough sets the parameters early in the book. He writes, “I want to show that the issue is not whether you love this world and its joys, its people and their needs. The question is whether you have any hope beyond this world and what it has to offer. In other words, he reframes the trajectory for Christians and challenges them to orient their hearts and minds heavenward. He adds, “Heavenly-mindedness is absolutely vital because what we want or expect from our future has a huge effect on our experience in the meantime. We humans are future-oriented creatures, whether we like it or not.”
The author argues his case for heaven with skill and biblical fidelity. Seven chapters drive readers deeper into the reality of heaven, each one touching on a theme that resounds with gospel hope. The wisdom of the Puritans saturates this work, which bolsters its credibility and invites a more thorough investigation of our heavenly home.
John Bunyan offers this stunning insight as he describes the travelers in The Pilgrim’s Progress at the end of their journey:
Remember Heaven is an invitation to “set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2).
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
McCullough sets the parameters early in the book. He writes, “I want to show that the issue is not whether you love this world and its joys, its people and their needs. The question is whether you have any hope beyond this world and what it has to offer. In other words, he reframes the trajectory for Christians and challenges them to orient their hearts and minds heavenward. He adds, “Heavenly-mindedness is absolutely vital because what we want or expect from our future has a huge effect on our experience in the meantime. We humans are future-oriented creatures, whether we like it or not.”
The author argues his case for heaven with skill and biblical fidelity. Seven chapters drive readers deeper into the reality of heaven, each one touching on a theme that resounds with gospel hope. The wisdom of the Puritans saturates this work, which bolsters its credibility and invites a more thorough investigation of our heavenly home.
John Bunyan offers this stunning insight as he describes the travelers in The Pilgrim’s Progress at the end of their journey:
Thus therefore, they walked on together; and as they walked, ever and anon these trumpeters, even with joyful sound, would, by mixing their music with looks and gestures, still signify to Christian and his brothers how welcome they were into their company, and with what gladness they came to meet them.
Remember Heaven is an invitation to “set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2).
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
April 11, 2025
I am so grateful to have gotten a copy of this amazing book! In just seven short chapters, the author teaches why a future heaven changes life for us here on earth. My copy is heavily highlighted. But here are just a few favorite quotes:
“Hope matters…We need a hope strong enough to bear the weight of our lives in the meantime.”
And in talking about setting our minds above…
“But how do you set your mind on somewhere you’ve never been and something you haven’t experienced yet?”
And the answer: “The only way to long for a place you’ve never been is to long for the person whose presence makes that place what it is to you.”
This is very practical book, and I already want to reread it! Five stars!
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC copy of this book!
“Hope matters…We need a hope strong enough to bear the weight of our lives in the meantime.”
And in talking about setting our minds above…
“But how do you set your mind on somewhere you’ve never been and something you haven’t experienced yet?”
And the answer: “The only way to long for a place you’ve never been is to long for the person whose presence makes that place what it is to you.”
This is very practical book, and I already want to reread it! Five stars!
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC copy of this book!
June 29, 2025
This is a little book full of forward-looking perspective. The author takes current struggles (e.g. the struggle for self-worth or the struggle for appropriate grief) and applies the hope of heaven to them. While I was not riveted by this book, it had a solid theological foundation. What I missed was a sense of joy—a sense of celebration about the salvation we have and all that we will experience in times to come. I think that our expectation and anticipation of glory best include worshipful exuberance. That said, I found chapter two to be the most interesting, that self-worth must come through the day of judgment (justification in Christ) rather than fulfillment of the modern drive to be unique or master niche shills in order to achieve success.
May 6, 2025
Not as good as his book on death (interestingly enough), but still worth a quick read. As far as the subtitle goes, the focus is far more on the "meantime" than on the "world to come," and at times that balance annoys. In facts McCullough goes out of his way to state how he will not talk much about the particulars of heaven. Kind of strange.
But he does better writing about living in light of hope. It does get eye-rolling when all of his illustrations are about himself. It is important to think about how one's eternal perspective ought to shape life in the present. This author will help lead you along that path.
But he does better writing about living in light of hope. It does get eye-rolling when all of his illustrations are about himself. It is important to think about how one's eternal perspective ought to shape life in the present. This author will help lead you along that path.
June 28, 2025
Deeply encouraging. The question the author poses in the introduction, “What view of your future has functional control over your present?” is one that we all need to consider. McCullough helps us connect our current problems/struggles to God’s specific promises for Christians in heaven. I love Remember Death even more than Remember Heaven, so that is the only reason I didn’t give it a full 5 stars!
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