Robert Elmer

Some books slip quietly onto a shelf; others move in and take up residence beside your Bible and journal. Joy of Heaven is the latter … a fantastic companion for our journey, a gathering of voices who prayed through revivals, heartaches, ordinary mornings, and long sleepless nights.

Each page invites us to echo the longing of believers whose lives were marked by surrender and hope. Reading through these prayers, I found myself whispering, “Let Your love compel us. Let Your name be show more glorified, and Your will be done by us and in us. Let us count all things loss… for the excellence of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.” (John Newton). What a rare gift: to borrow the vocabulary of the saints when my own words fall short.

The wisdom and humility of these prayers seep into my heart every day. They call me to a higher, deeper life like Stephen Tyng said: Set a watch before my mouth, and keep the door of my lips. Wean my affections from things below, and let me be eager and fixed upon heaven and heavenly things.

I found myself praying the essence of his prayer when my attention so easily drifted or my heart grew restless, so grateful to be reminded that heavenly hope has always been the antidote to earthly distraction.

Susannah Spurgeon’s prayer has reminded me that this life is practice for eternity: “Doing the will of God from the heart must be at least the reflection, the copy, of the perfect obedience of the saints in light. Oh, to begin the service of heaven, while yet on earth! Practicing here, to be made perfect there! Learning the laws, manners, and customs of the land where our eternal inheritance awaits us!”

The prayers are both beautiful and bracing. There’s nothing generic or vague. Only honest heart-felt pleas for holiness, repentance, and truth. I’ve underlined Thomas Chambers’ request, needing it often:
…let me live in holy abstinence from sin, even in the least appearance and degree of it.

And in a world where truth is so easily bent, I’ve lingered over B. F. Westcott’s words: Almighty God, You have sent the Spirit of truth to guide us into all truth. Now rule our lives by Your power in such a way that we may always be truthful in thought, word, and deed.

These prayers do so much more than fill a book, they thread together centuries of faith, sorrow, revival, and perseverance. They offer guidance and companionship for days when my prayers are faltering or my gratitude is overflowing … yet my words don’t flow.

The structure is quietly brilliant: prayers for every season and circumstance, elegantly arranged, and bound in a way that fits the sacred. I’ll return to it daily because these priceless and cherished words help me live more faithfully in the present as I pour my heart, mind, and soul out to Almighty God, my Lord and Savior.

Five stars. Very, very highly recommended! What a treasure and a companion for every believer longing to pray with depth, history, and honesty.

I received a digital ARC from the publisher and NetGalley. I am not required to write a positive review nor paid to do so. This is my honest and unbiased review. My thoughts and opinions expressed in this book review are my own. My review focuses on the writing and story’s content, ensuring transparency and reliability. show less

First sentence: What does it take to pray like a Puritan? And why would we want to?

Robert Elmer has collected 'prayers' from the works of over thirty Puritans for his prayer book, Piercing Heaven. These prayers seem to be arranged mostly topically. There are titled chapter headings: "Teach Me to Pray," "Help Me Ask for Help!," "Help Me Through My Doubts," "Help Me Through My Time of Sadness and Suffering," "Help Me Endure Temptation," "Help Me Rest in God's Love," "I Believe--Help My show more Unbelief!," "Prepare My Heart for the Lord's Day and the Lord's Table," "Take My Life and Let It Be Consecrated," "Help Me Give the Gospel to Others," "Forgive My Sins," "Help Me Praise and Thank the Lord," "Help Me Begin the Day," "Help Me Live the Day," "Help Me Close the Day," "Your Kingdom Come." Prayers vary from a few sentences--one paragraph--to a full page(s)--many, many paragraphs. Each prayer is attributed to a specific Puritan. (Brief biographies are included for all authors. And there's an index for each author.)

Perhaps you are seeking out Piercing Heaven because you love, love, love, love Valley of Vision. Confession, that is why I checked this one out from the library. I really crazy love and adore that poetry collection. So how do the two compare???

The [only] weakness of Valley of Vision is that it lacks all attribution of authors. Readers almost have to take it on faith that the author/editor Arthur Bennett is using the actual words of actual Puritans. Readers don't know how many Puritans are represented within Valley of Vision. Readers don't know how crafted/manipulated the original texts were to get them into poetic form. Readers certainly don't know which Puritan wrote which poem. Everything about Valley of Vision is a complete mystery.

As I mentioned above, every author is attributed in Piercing Heaven. There are even author biographies and an author index.

But is that enough to make it better than Valley of Vision?????

I found Piercing Heaven to be a bit of a busy layout, a bit cluttered. Perhaps I am just too set in my ways. But the white space of Valley of Vision is super-helpful. It blocks out distractions. It aids meditation and prayer.

While Piercing Heaven may be a true(r) representation of the Puritans' actual words/works, the Valley of Vision is a thing of BEAUTY in terms of language and literary style.

Now, to be completely fair: I did not read Piercing Heaven the way it was intended. The fact that it was a library book with a definite due date didn't help matters. But also I was more curious than prayerful. I wanted to read it cover-to-cover in a week. I didn't have time (or opportunity) to use it as a topical prayer book...or even a legitimate prayer book. For those that do pray individual prayers--over weeks, months, years--that use this book as a devotional/spiritual aid, I'm sure it would prove more beneficial.

I was reading with one thing in mind: do I love it enough to buy myself a copy of this to have on hand????? And the answer was, I can probably make do with the Valley of Vision for my Puritan needs. show less

Given the nature of the historical events in this novel, it’s almost a given that the story would be gripping and dramatic. The author doesn't fail to deliver in this very engaging look at Denmark during WWII and the rescue of its Jews. The action doesn't wait to happen; the story opens on a showdown between Resistance and Germans, with poor Steffen caught in the crossfire. From that introduction, the story just keeps picking up steam with intense dashes across the sea to Sweden for show more Denmark’s Jews, heartbreak when those rescues fail, and the discovery of one’s self in a country controlled by tyranny. I thoroughly enjoyed how the author was able to keep the suspense up throughout the entire work.

Steffen and Hanne were fantastic characters. Filled with depth and character, I felt like they were very real and changed with the events as they happened. Steffen found his brand of resistance within religion and preaching out against the Germans. Hanne stayed to help with the rescue efforts and as a result became caught up in the danger herself. The changes in her spirit as the relentlessness of the Holocaust bore down on her was heart-breaking to read at times.

I enjoyed how the author handled their relationship. I was wondering how that would all work out, he being a Lutheran preacher and she a Jew, if not a very observant one. But it was handled with skill and a delicacy I enjoyed. I didn't feel like Steffen was ever forcing religion onto Hanne nor conversion, which is a trap I could see an author falling into very easily. The Christian elements were very much there, between philosophical discussions and inner reflections. Yet, they didn't interfere with this very beautiful relationship that developed between Hanne and Steffen. I liked how they found a reason to fight on and inspire each other.

There were some issues with minor characters. I felt that, at times, they were flat stereotypes or inconsistent characterizations that plagued the overall story tone. Henning flip-flopped between berating his brother for not doing enough and then he gets all pissy when Steffen actually does start resisting in his way. I can see where maybe he’s concerned for his brother and just doesn't know how to channel that. Yet, always doing this? Never coming to grips with Steffen’s activities? Then, there’s Aron, the stereotypical schmuck of a fiance-type figure who believes everyone should do what he says and doesn't feel the slightest bit of guilt in sacrificing everyone else for his safety. More than once I wished he’d fallen into the Baltic and drowned…

For a Christian fiction that handles a delicate subject matter like the Holocaust, I felt this novel does a admirable job. It’s a dramatic story with two main characters I grew to love and admire. Their relationship was beautiful to watch develop and mature. The Christian themes were handled with taste and didn't overshadow the story itself. And while there were issues with some of the secondary characters, I feel I could definitely recommend this novel to lovers of WWII-themes historical fiction. It’s truly a good book. show less

Life Behind the Wall is a collection of three novella-length stories for the YA crowd. Each is set in part of Berlin in a different time period between 1948 and 1989.

Book One, Candy Bomber, begins in the summer of 1948. Erich Becker, a 13-year-old Berlin resident, hates the Americans whose bombs wrecked his city and killed his father. He regularly prowls Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport, sneaking into U.S. cargo planes in search of food for his hungry mother and grandmother. He meets U.S. show more soldier DeWitt who is a journalist, befriends Erich, and writes a story about the hungry children of Berlin. He comes around to Erich’s house with bags of treats like canned peaches and takes Erich and his cousin Katarina up in his plane to do some candy drops over Berlin neighborhoods.

Soon it becomes clear that DeWitt’s interest is in more than Erich. He wants to marry Erich’s mother and move the family to the States. Will Erich be able to forgive the Americans for what he holds against them?

Book Two, Beetle Bunker, begins in 1961. Its main character, 13-year-old Sabine, is a polio survivor who hobbles around on crutches. She lives with her mother, grandmother (Oma Poldi Becker), older brother Erich (from book one), Onkel Heinz and Tante Gertrud in Oma’s crowded flat in East Berlin.

In this book we see the Berlin wall erected and are part of a daring tunneling attempt to escape from the East to West sectors of the city.

Book Three, Smuggler’s Treasure, begins in 1989. Liesl, the 13-year-old daughter of Sabine and Willi (from book two), lives in West Berlin. She tries to act cool the day she and mother are stopped at the checkpoint and thoroughly questioned on their way to visit Uncle Erich who still lives in the Communist side of the city. Mother and Uncle Erich are most upset when they find she has stuffed her stockings and clothes with slim Bibles. She gets into more trouble when she digs into the family history while researching for a school project and still more when she joins some older kids in a protest at the wall.

This part of the story sees the Berlin Wall come down and also reveals the mysteries surrounding Sabine’s father (Liesl’s grandfather).

These stories offer a great experience of another time in history. They show firsthand the poverty, bravery, resilience, and resourcefulness of the people of East and West Berlin during the Cold War era. They are also an example of how the divided city affected families.

The setting seems realistic with its atmosphere of suspicion and secrecy. Characters must be careful not to be seen with the wrong people or overheard saying the wrong things because they don’t know who to trust and who might be snitching on them to the authorities. Chapter numbers in German and lots of other German words and expressions sprinkled throughout also give a feeling of authenticity to these stories.

None of the main character kids in these books are content to sit around. The stories are fast-paced and filled with adventure and danger. The age of each of the heroes (13) tells us that these books will appeal to tweens and early teens.

The end of Book One has a “How It Really Happened” section that explains which events in that story actually happened. All the books conclude with a set of Questions for Further Study designed to deepen and broaden the reading experience for individuals or groups.

As well as giving YA readers three interesting and fun stories, this book would be excellent supplementary reading for home schoolers and Christian school classes doing a study of the Cold War period (all three books are written from a Christian point-of-view).

I received Life Behind The Wall as a gift from the publisher (Zondervan-Zonderkidz) for the purpose of writing a review. show less