EQUIP20 Picks - books chosen and reviewed for you by our EQUIP team

Have you ever had someone ask you about what happens when you die, only to discover that you are not entirely sure you know the answer yourself? Or have you tried to explain why the new creation will be great (and not boring!) to a teenager, only to feel like you haven’t really captured it? If there are questions floating around about what happens after ‘this’, then, Scott Petty’s Life After Death in Matthias Media’s Little Black Book Series is a book you should know about.

Life After Death is a quick read at 80 (square sized) pages. It is organised into five chapters: Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus’ return, What happens when I die?, The final judgement and Eternal life. Petty writes in a conversational style aimed at teens, but adults will definitely benefit from his biblical thinking and easy-going presentation of ideas.

This book would be great to share with teens who have questions about heaven and hell whether they are followers of Jesus or just checking him out. Petty doesn’t shy away from tough questions. His chapter on ‘What happens when I die?’ gives biblically informed answers for what a follower of Jesus can expect after death, and what we can look forward to. The whole book is firmly anchored to the hope of Jesus’ resurrection and shaped by the confident expectation of Jesus’ return. In the chapter on final judgement Petty addresses the nature of judgement for both the believer and the unbeliever. He deals with the topic of hell with sensitivity and wisdom, while faithfully portraying the awful reality of life under judgement. Petty also calls his readers to take the Bible’s teaching on life after death seriously, so seriously that it requires action in this life: to escape judgement by turning to Christ for forgiveness and living holy and godly lives now as we train for eternity.

I enjoyed reading Life After Death across the weekend, and now I’m sliding it in the direction of my teen who’s already asked if he can have a look.

The EQUIP20 Picks will be available for a limited time online via our ministry partner, Reformers Bookshop.

http://reformers.com.au/equip?aff=6

A percentage of the sales from books bought via the above link will support our CMS missionary, M.

Meet Emma Newling

Emma is married to Scott and they are raising 3 sons. During the week she loves sharing Jesus with primary aged students in her role as an assistant school chaplain. Emma has been on the Equip committee for the past 7 years and usually supports the conference by being the venue co-ordinator. This year she’ll miss working behind the scenes but she’s looking forward to hearing the talks in full for the first time in a long time.