Eternity changes everything: How to live now in the light of your future

In this book, Stephen Witmer lifts up our eyes to see beyond the “now” that presses in on us to what is eternal. More than that, he lifts up our eyes to see the eternal God in the magnificence of his redeeming purposes. What encouragement this brings to the spiritually weary and what challenge it brings to those tempted to fall sleep amidst the buzz and plenty of our modern world! This treatment of deep, biblical themes is fresh, pastoral, and stimulating. Highly commended.

If I knew the future, then surely that would affect every minute of the present. But I do know the future. Christians are going to live day after day in a gloriously renewed creation. We will see our good and kind Saviour, Jesus, face-to-face. Yet this certain future had so little impact on how I live most days. So Christ put Stephen Witmer's book in front of me. Reading it has reminded me of my future and immediately and hugely shifted my outlook on the present. I pray, and expect, that it will be a lasting change. I have already recommended this book and will keep doing so. It is a readable, simple, hopeful and deep book on a crucial topic. I think it will change our lives, churches and evangelism.

For a book dealing with the issue of eternity, this is definitely a quick read. What makes it so engaging is that Stephen comes across as so likeable and has a great illustration on almost every page. A hope filled, encouraging gem of a book. Loved it.

What Stephen Witmer has accomplished here is akin to a cozy visit over coffee with a new friend brilliantly and winsomely sharing with you the secret of the universe. Full of both passion and clarity, Eternity Changes Everything invites us and helps us to share God's vision for the world and the people in it according to the spreading glory of Christ's kingdom.

A previous generation sometimes focused so much on the future that they seemed to forget that eternity begins in the here and now. But today's generation often focuses so much on the present world that we can neglect the coming reality of the new heavens and earth. For this reason, I am thankful for this wise book by Stephen Witmer. With a PhD in New Testament from the University of Cambridge, he is a well-qualified guide to the details of the biblical storyline. And as a pastor and fellow struggler with us all, he knows how to communicate the biblical story of eternity—both present and future—in a winsome, compelling, and genuinely helpful way. May the Lord stir in all of us restless patience as we lean forward toward the eternal things with the help of this excellent book.

Stephen Witmer does us a great service by counseling great impatience and patient endurance in the life of the believer between the first and second comings of Jesus Christ. Whatever your circumstances, this book will fill you with longing for Jesus' return even as you go to work spreading the love of God in this world he created.

Have you ever wondered why Heaven is helpful now? Eternity Changes Everything shows us how heavenly ideas can come down right into the nooks and crannies of everyday life--parenting, suffering, work, and more. Stephen makes you lean forward to heaven in holy restlessness and enduring patience. Every truth he explains makes a stop in reality, moving the reader from "Aha" to "Mmm." Here is a writer who pastors, and a pastor who thinks. This is theology that breathes and sings. I can't wait for more Stephen Witmer!

For some, the future looms so large that this present world holds no importance. For others, the present is so critical that God's promised future holds little significance. For Stephen Witmer and his readers, the present and the future are vitally connected. *Eternity Changes Everything* provides necessary perspective and practical guidance for walking the tightrope of the already and not yet. Heartily recommended.

Hope has fallen on hard times in our cynical I-want-it-now generation. Even within the Church, many are settling for a pathetic best life now, rather than holding out for a life that offers a foretaste of the infinitely better life to come. Witmer is a superb biblical scholar with a pastor’s heart, so on every page are fresh insights and much needed spiritual remedies.

As I read this book, it was so evident that it comes from a wise and compassionate pastor. It is biblically faithful and theologically grounded, but at the same time it is wonderfully practical and accessible to readers. We are reminded that we were made for a new world that is coming, that the best is yet to be. The book is hopeful but realistic, challenging but balanced. I am confident that many readers will be encouraged and convicted by this gem of a book.