Jesus and the Very Big Surprise Storybook

It is a rare and wonderful thing to find someone so immensely talented who submits that talent to Jesus by sharing the gospel with children. For years, Randall has been looking young people in the eye and telling them—through song and story and good humor—the astonishing truth of the gospel. It’s no surprise that Randall's book about surprises does that very thing too.

Randall Goodgame is all about bringing the good news to kids. This book might be his best gift yet. It is fun, and it packs a big punch of powerful significance. I want to go back in time and read this to myself as a child. I want my kids and the children in my life to have this by heart. Here’s a book that, like Goodgame’s fantastic music, somehow harmonizes faithfulness with fun. It’s enjoyable as a story, but the message of the book is a truthful, generous gift to kids desperate for clarity on who Jesus is.

This book takes what might be a frightening concept—the unexpected nature of Jesus’ return—and makes plain that we as Christians may look forward to that day with eagerness! Far from the empty bumper sticker theology of “Look Busy,” this book reminds us that we might take part in the Lord’s joyful work until he comes.

The Bible is filled with mystery, paradox, and surprise after surprise. Who can communicate this deep reality to children better than the inimitable and uniquely gifted Randall Goodgame? Children will love this book, and their parents will too. In reading this together, the whole family will he brought back again and again to the biggest surprise of all: the good news of Jesus the Servant-King.

When our children were young, it did not take long for us to realize that "The moral of the story is..." can devolve into an insufficient story ending, even though it is a very popular one. If the main message we are sending to our kids is merely that they need to try harder, achieve more, serve better, and be good for goodness' sake, we are missing our opportunity to introduce them to the Source of all that is good. That Source is Jesus, who came to be our Suffering, Saving, and Surprising Servant. In characteristic fashion, Randall does a lovely job, and in a way that is accessible to kids from one to ninety-two, letting us know that our future is bright because Jesus has already done all the work to get us home.