Book Review - One Thing You Can't Do In Heaven

“Why is it that when we are in church or in a good worship time, God is so big and Satan is so small; but when we go out witnessing, Satan is so big and God seems so small?” (pg. 185) Mark Cahill, in his book One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven, encourages believers with personal testimonies and motivating anecdotes to be more confident in sharing the gospel. We often find ourselves caught up in a wave of excuses when we don’t boldly stand up for Christ. Cahill tackles our excuses and replaces them with great excitement to be bold in our witness.

Each chapter contains a short lesson given to change the reader’s perspective on evangelism. Many times we convince ourselves that God would simply prefer us to sing praises to Him and have fellowship with other believers while we ignore obedience to the Great Commission. “I can guarantee that there is one thing you cannot do in heaven that you can do on earth. You can worship God in heaven. You can praise God in heaven. You can sing songs to God in heaven. You can learn God’s Word in heaven. But one thing you cannot do in heaven is share your faith with a nonbeliever. Why? Because everyone in heaven is a believer.” (pg. 17)

We often see evangelism as a duty that we must grit our teeth and bear through until we get to Heaven. Cahill encourages us with a story changing our attitudes from duty to privilege. He says that we must see evangelism not as something we have GOT to do, but something we GET to do. And when we understand that when we are persecuted for the name of Christ we earn crowns in Heaven. This helps us to realize that every time we share the gospel it is a win-win situation. No matter the response of our hearers, God is glorified by our obedience and we will be rewarded in heaven.

Not only does Cahill teach on evangelism, but he lives it. He has made it a personal goal to witness to every person he talks to. At a restaurant, on a plane, in the mall, Cahill sees the need for Jesus in every soul and he shares dozens of his personal experiences in the book including former basketball stars Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan. “How do you see people? Everyone around you is either dying and going to heaven or dying and going to hell. That is biblically true. What do you want to do about it?” (pg. 197)

Cahill says that the Apostle Paul tells Timothy “that there are only two times to share the gospel with people: in season and out of season. Any other time would be wrong.” (pg. 20). Every church member knows it is their responsibility to share Christ with the world, but we too often get distracted or afraid and convince ourselves that the time just is not right to witness. One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven is a very motivating book to help you take your next step in being more obedient in evangelism. “Every breathing person you will ever meet needs Jesus. Those who are believers already realize how much they need Him in their life. Those who are nonbelievers most definitely need Him, for the rest of this life and for the eternal life to come. Since all these breathing people need Jesus, and you know Him personally…just go ahead and tell everyone you meet about the Son of God until you draw your last breath!” (pg. 90)

“In Matthew 4:19, Jesus said, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’…Remember that if you are not fishing, you are not following.” (pg. 174)