The Book

Blending pastoral warmth, philosophical depth, storytelling skill, and literary craft, Mark Buchanan encourages Christians to make heaven, literally, our “fixation” — filling our vision, gripping our heart, and anchoring our hope. Only then, says Buchanan, can we become truly fearless on this earth, free from the fear of losing our life, property, status, title, or comfort; free from the threat of tyrants, the power of armies, and the day of trouble.

Buchanan reawakens the instinctive yearning for things above, showing that only the heavenly minded are of much earthly good.

The Author

Mark Buchanan is a pastor and freelance writer/editor who lives with his wife, Cheryl, and three children on the west coast of Canada. Educated at the University of British Columbia and Regent University, he has been published in numerous periodicals, including Christianity Today and Books and Culture.

My Thoughts

I’d been pondering the bittersweetness of life, even doing some writing about it, suspecting that unexplained longings were actually a longing for heaven. Mark Buchanan does, too, exploring this theme chapter after chapter in Things Unseen: Living in the Light of Forever.

Those of us familiar with the movie “Karate Kid” will enjoy Chapter 15, “Wax On, Wax Off,” suggesting that just as Mr. Miyagi’s curious instructions to Daniel were a secret apprenticeship in learning karate, one day we may discover that our mundane and even excruciating days are apprenticeship for heaven.