In a music career that spans an astounding 30 years, Steven Curtis Chapman is the most awarded artist in Christian music history. He has received 58 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, five GRAMMYs®, an American Music Award, 48 No. 1 singles, and has more than eleven million albums sold and eight RIAA-certified gold or platinum albums to his credit. Now, he has taken the step to share his life story with his memoir, Between Heaven & the Real World. The book, written with New York Times best-selling author Ken Abraham, is slated to hit shelves and all digital platforms on March 7, 2017 with Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
For decades Steven Curtis Chapman's music and message have brought hope and inspiration to millions of people around the world, and for the first time this music luminary is ready to share intimate details of his own personal journey. The aptly titled book will take the reader inside Chapman's childhood in Paducah, KY and along his amazing journey that has carried him to far higher heights and more devastating depths than he ever could have imagined. He shares with startling honesty about the places on his journey where he has wrestled with the unfixable things, even his own insecurities, only to find much of the inspiration for his life and his music in those very places. He also reveals honest and vulnerable stories about his 32-year marriage to the love of his life, Mary Beth, and their family -- through their children and the miracle of adoption.
Poignant, gut-wrenchingly honest, yet always hopeful, Chapman offers no sugary solutions to life's toughest questions. Yet, he continues to trust God to one day fix what is unfixable in this life. Between Heaven & the Real World presents a backstage look at the down-to-earth superstar that will touch the readers' lives and fill their hearts with hope.
Below is an excerpt from Between Heaven & the Real World:
A songwriter once wrote these words: "We'll travel over mountains so high, we'll go through valleys so low. Still through it all we'll find that this is the greatest journey the human heart will ever see . . . the love of God will take us far beyond our wildest dreams." Okay, I confess, that songwriter was me and the song was "The Great Adventure." Even as I wrote those words, I had already experienced higher mountains and deeper valleys than I could've ever imagined as a boy riding rollercoasters. And I certainly had no idea how much higher and deeper the journey was going to take me. I'd love to take you on some of that journey with me, if you'd like to come.
While I've woven my life and my story into the songs I've written all these years, my desire has always been to tell the bigger story of God's grace and faithfulness. I want to tell honest stories and sing songs about how God shows up in our "real world." So that's what my hope and prayer is for this book, as well. That as I share my journey over the mountains and through the valleys with you, you might find encouragement for your own journey and be reminded of what's true as we travel this journey together . . . between heaven and the real world.
