Having grown up in a fairly conservative home, I don’t have a huge “CCM” background. While my parents formed the music team in our Fundamental Baptist Church (not a weird church, thank you very much), while they loved classical music and hated jazz, and while they sided with emotionless vibrato as the most godly of singing styles, they weren’t prudes. My mom had a weakness for the Beach Boys and Neil Diamond (who doesn’t, am I right, ladies?), and my dad often “rocked out” to bluegrass and old cowboy trail tunes while on the road.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t until my senior year in high school that I started dabbling in true rock-and-roll and sampling the offerings of mainstream CCM. The first time I ever heard Steven Curtis Chapman was when my youth pastor secreted some of his own favorite music into our fundy church van on a trip to Six Flags. All us teens were fascinated by the music’s noise and words, and were even more surprised to discover that it actually was possible to praise God with guitars and drums! That was a defining moment for me. The sacred and secular had always been depicted as black-and-white, but now I could see that the lines weren’t so drastically defined. “The world’s music” could be redeemed, and musicians like Steven Curtis Chapman really can use their talents and interests to share the Gospel and edify the Church. Amazing.

Between Heaven and the Real World is not a full biography, but truly is Chapman’s story, as the subtitle suggests. The first half of the book describes bits and pieces of his childhood, his love for music, his eventual rise to fame, and his romance with Mary Beth Chapman, all with the pretty-pervasive theme of Steven’s desire to “fix things.” The second half details many of their emotional struggles, their passion for and involvement in adoption programs in China, and—most importantly—the accident and fallout that took their five-year-old daughter, Maria Sue.

It’s this final subject which made me want to read the book. I’ve never followed the careers of celebrities, yet I remember sitting at my parents’ home with my new bride back in 2008 or 2009, watching Larry King interview the Chapman family, who shared not only their fresh wounds but also their faith with grace and incredible strength. That was an emotional show to watch and still is. I’ve never forgotten it.

Now, the chance to hear the father’s heart as he recalls the event almost a decade later brought tears to my eyes. Learning how they handled the aftermath, just as much so. These portions of the book alone are worth the read.

Steven Curtis Chapman wears his emotions on his sleeve, and perhaps this is the artist in him. I found it hard to relate to that side of his personality, and I guess that just means I’m probably more like Mary Beth. But one thing I found incredibly helpful from them both was the family’s emphasis on godly counsel. From the very beginning of the book to the time of publication, Chapman shows how he has had a person or a team of godly advisers to hear him, uplift him, teach him, and challenge him. He’s no theologian, he admits, which is why he even runs his songs by his pastor before considering them ready for the studio! This essential element of his life and career is exemplary, and it shows how a child of God can pursue his dreams and use his gifts—even on such a large platform—without fear of compromise: just don’t do it alone.

The emphases in this book of adoption and loss make it a worthy recommendation, not simply for those who like Chapman’s music, but also for those who have a heart for “pure religion” or those who have also suffered heartbreaking loss. Chapman’s prayer at the scene of the accident, “God, you can’t expect this of us! It’s too much!” is likely the exact heartache I would feel, were God to take my own child. While I cannot adequately prepare for such an event, I can at least know from this account that I wouldn’t be alone in my grief, and that it’s possible to move on.

I greatly admire the Chapmans and I love the guy’s music. He can’t fix everything, but he knows the One who can, and he wants the world to know it. That makes him a hero worth emulating.

©2018 E.T.

Read More about Music:

• Take Me Home: An Autobiography by John Denver (1994)
• Cash by Johnny Cash (1997)
• No Compromise by Melody Green and David Hazard (2000)
• Unashamed by Lecrae (2016)
• Between Heaven and the Real World by Ken Abraham and Steven Curtis Chapman (2016)
• Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson (2019)
• The God of the Garden by Andrew Peterson (2021)
• Theology That Sticks by Chris Anderson (2022)
• “50 Great Songs about Missions” by Elliot Templeton (2024) Playlist!
• “20 Great Songs about Home” by Elliot Templeton (2025) Playlist!
• “20 Great Songs about Light” by Elliot Templeton (2025) Playlist!