A Greater Reward

by Ken Van Horn

The most important day in the life of every real Christian is the day we die and appear before our Lord. The true believer in Christ lives their life for the day of their death and longs to hear “Well done.”
As a small town pastor in a rural community, Pastor Van Horn was appointed and served ten years as a county judge. While serving as a judge, the Holy Spirit revealed to him the meaning of justice and opened up fresh insight into what it means to be a Christian, how God views sin in the life of the believer, how we will be judged and what we can do to be sure to receive a warm welcome when we stand before the Lord.
Every member of the Body of Christ who desires to please God and hear Him say, “Well done!” needs the message within this book.

245 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 12, 2015

Reviews

[Gregory Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Greater Reward, by Ken Van Horn, was thirty-seven years in the making. Mr. Van Horn shares how it was birthed out of years of walking with God, studying, struggling, and praying. One of the main themes of the book is seeing God as the Judge. This is a common metaphor used in Scripture: God is the Judge, Satan is the accuser, and Jesus is the Advocate. Mr. Van Horn served both as a pastor and a judge for ten years and twenty-five years as a pastor altogether. His experience gives this book a unique flavor in considering God as Judge. It reminded me of another unique book I read about Psalm 23, written by someone who was a shepherd. Mr. Van Horn shares many illustrations both from his ministry and time as a judge that help us better understand God. He said this about his purpose in writing A Greater Reward:

“My goal here was never to create light reading, but perhaps more of a reference work. I want this book to be something you use for your personal spiritual growth. Use it continuously to examine yourself whether or not you are still living by faith. I want this book to be a guide that you use with your children to teach them and train them to be a Christian, and a resource you use to teach those who come to the kingdom through your witness and testimony so that you may establish them in the faith.”

This book is not only unique in its theme but its style of writing. At times, Mr. Van Horn shares from an expository perspective. He spends a great amount of time sharing the story of Joseph and how Judah, Joseph’s older brother, was redeemed from his treacherous act of contributing to the enslavement of Joseph. Mr. Van Horn breaks down the story through several chapters in an expository method—pulling out truths from the details of the narrative. And at other times, he focuses on a topic such as fearing the Lord, the tester, the advocate, prizes and crowns, etc., while using various Scriptures (instead of one primary text) to relay his message.

There is a lot to like about this book. I really enjoyed seeing God and his justice from the perspective of a pastor and judge. Though A Greater Reward can be used as a reference work because of its array of topics, it is not academic in its writing. It is more devotional—which I think is more attractive to most readers. There is nothing like sitting at the feet of someone who has walked with the Lord for almost forty years. A Greater Reward is both a refreshing and challenging read.

[Erica Mbasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This is not a book to be taken lightly. There are many deep insights into the Word of God in this volume, surrounding God's system of justice and rewards. I learned a lot, and actually I feel that I need to refer back to these pages to again glean from them. Author Ken Van Horn gives a very clear and intelligent explanation of what is in store for the believer who is focusing on living a life of sacrifice, a life pleasing to their Lord.

"The spiritual man thrives where the natural man fails. The spiritual man overcomes because he sees far beyond wha the eyes of a natural man can perceive. The spiritual man walks in joy."

We can walk in joy, in the midst of the struggles, because we know that we will receive a reward and inheritance from the Lord. God sees, He keeps tracks, so we shouldn't falter or give up. "Knowing these things, we should be fully established and well grounded. We must allow nothing to shake us from our resolve to follow Christ. We must throw ourselves into the work of the Lord and give it our all. We must also surrender ourselves to Him, knowing He will not waste our lives or squander us."

The author also warns that God is just, and those who give up or spend from their inheritance now, will suffer the consequences eternally.

This book stirred me to continue fighting the good fight, and to run the race even harder. I would highly recommend anyone interested in serving God, or any believer for that matter, to read this.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.