My First Hands on Bible

I recently received a copy of My first Hands-On Bible from Tyndale. We have a variety of children’s Bibles and as they each have only selected stories from the Bible it doesn’t take long to go through them several times. That being the case I am always on the lookout for some good new options that will bring some new stories or have some fun ideas of things to do with the kids.

After reading through some of the stories there are several things I enjoyed about this Bible. One is that the stories aren’t just summations of what the Bible says, but actual sections of scripture. I enjoy how they make the focus of every story to be on Jesus. I truly enjoy finding Jesus in every passage of my Bible as I read and I like to emphasize this with my kids. So to have a children’s Bible that helps in this is something that I appreciate. I like the effort put into the activities they include with each story, but I do find some of them to be a bit on the cheesy side.

Overall I have enjoyed this Bible and I look forward to reading through more of it with my kids.

I received a complimentary copy of the book for review purposes from Tyndale House.

Billy's Quotes

Billy Graham in Quotes is a collection of personal and published quotes edited by his son Franklin Graham and Donna Lee Toney. I have enjoyed reading some of Billy Graham’s books over the years and so I was looking forward to reading a compilation of quotes from him. I thought it would be a great get to read quotes that spanned his lifetime. It is kind of like getting a “best of” compilation.

The book is broken up into chapters that consist of quotes focused around a variety of topics. It is really interesting to read his thoughts around different topics that we all have to deal with in life. I appreciate that Billy focuses himself on Jesus Christ and his quotes reflect that he knows Jesus is the answer for the world today. He has years of experience and many lessons learned. I appreciate learning from men who have walked with the Lord for years.

I enjoyed reading through the quotes and I would recommend this book to others as well.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their book review bloggers program

The Imagination Station: Peril in the Palace

Peril at the Palace is the third book in the Adventures in Odyssey Imagination Station series written by Paul McCusker and Marianne Hering. The story follows the cousins Patrick and Beth and their adventures in Mr. Whittaker’s imagination station. This continues their adventures as they try to help save Mr. Whittaker’s friend Albert who has been captured by the mysterious Lord Darkthorn.

I read this book to my 4 year old son. At first he wasn’t really interested as there weren’t many pictures, but as I started to read the story he really liked it. We read it over several days and each day he would come and ask me to read him some more. I liked how the cousins proclaimed the gospel in a dangerous situation, that they delivered a Bible and I liked how the cousins worked together. I would recommend this book to young kids and to parents who want to start moving beyond picture books with their kids.

I received a complimentary copy of the book for review purposes from Tyndale House.

The Reason Why

The Reason Why was originally written by Robert A. Laidlaw and published in 1913. Today Mark Mittelberg has taken The Reason Why and expanded on it. Mark looks as such questions as; Is there a God? Can the Bible be trusted? and Are we accountable to God? The book is a mere 127 pages and is an easy read.

Mark’s writing style is easy to read and laid out in a thoughtful manner that keeps the heart of what Laidlaw set out to do. Mark has taken the historical and archeological evidence from the past century to further expound on why Christians can firmly account for why they believe in the Bible in addition to their personal testimonies.

I like Marks approach and found this book to be simple and useful in encouraging Christians to stand firm in their faith, in the perfection Word of God and in Jesus Christ.

I received a complimentary copy of the book for review purposes from Tyndale House.

The Story of the Bible by Larry Stone

The Story of the Bible contains a plethora of information on the historicity of the Bible. It starts with a basic timeline and then moves on to languages. It delves into archeology and the texts used for our current translations of the Old and New Testaments. It looks at the history of the church and the use of the Bible in recent history. Plus it contains copies of ancient documents that are historically significant.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I loved the historical information and the removable documents. To be able to see what the actual ancient manuscripts look like helps make it all the more real when reading about them. The author’s personal interpretation does come through regarding the value of certain documents as well as in the Bible’s “effect of civilization”. However, I think the author does a good job of presenting the story of the Bible and is a good resource for the historicity and authenticity of the Bible that we hold today.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program.

Changed by Fatih

In Changed by Faith by Luis Palau he presents to the reader Jesus Christ. He takes a look at what many Christians take for granted in having Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. He invites the reader to let Jesus be the directing influence in all aspects of his or her life. He backs this up with many pin point scripture references. You will also find many encouraging stories from his life and the lives of other believers who have allowed Jesus to be the director of their path.
I really enjoyed reading Changed by Faith. I found the book to be encouraging and inspiring. It prompted me to pray through how I am using my life right now for the Lord and how I can truly let Him be my Lord and Master in every aspect of my life. I would recommend this book for the young believer as well as the seasoned veteran of the faith. Luis’ testimony and that of others paired with scripture is a powerful tool to challenge each of us to truly live our lives completely for the Lord.
Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

Max Lucado's Hermie and Friends DVD Box Set

At the end of this last week I received a copy of A Bug Collection DVD Box Set by Max Lucado. It contains stories for young kids designed to teach them about prayer, bee-having, and getting along with others. Each DVD is about 45min long including an introduction and conclusion with Max and Hermie talking about the story and learning the same lessons.
When we received the DVD set we were looking forward to having another fun movie for our kids to watch that would reinforce good behavior and values. We watched the story Busby and the Grumble Bees with our son. My wife and I understood the message and our son could identify it as well, but we were disappointed with how it was presented. Most of the story focused on the bad behavior with the characters learning to do the right thing at the end. But as a result the songs and actions that our son remembered and repeated were mimicking the bad behavior that the story was trying to illustrate as being bad. In addition Max’s comments before and after didn’t model what we would like our kids to do. I previewed the other 2 discs and they followed the same pattern. I understand the lessons that they are trying to teach, but I would prefer the bulk of the story and songs to mimic good behavior and values.
I would not recommend these to other parents and we will not be showing them to our kids.

Questions Christians get asked and answers

I recently received a copy of The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask by Mark Mittelberg. Mark focuses his minister on apologetics oriented outreach and went to the Barna Group to find out what were the questions Christians feared the be asked the most. Each section of this book addresses a specific question and works to provide the reader with scripture references and a practical knowledge base needed to respond appropriately. At the end of each chapter is a summary, tips for talking about the issue and questions for group discussion.
I was intrigued to find out what the questions were. While I didn’t find myself surprised that the included questions were being asked, I don’t know that I would have put them all in a top 10 list. I appreciate Mark’s style writing. While books like this can easily be geared towards winning the argument, it was refreshing to read solid evidence and have it applied with the final goal of winning others to Christ. It is important for Christians to know what they believe and why they believe. Not forgetting that Christ died for us all and that we need to speak the truth in love. This book is a good reference for Christians to think through some of the hot topics in today’s society. I would also recommend that after reading through it the reader should take some time with their pastor for a more solid foundation.
Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

A fun children's bible

I was looking forward to receiving a copy of the newest children’s Bible, Read and Share: The ultimate DVD Bible – Volume 2 by Gwen Ellis. Having young kids (ages 3 and 1) it is fun to get new books to read together to give some variety to the stories that they are already getting familiar with. This book contains 105 bite size bible stories and also comes with 2 DVD’s following along with the book. It contained a nice mix of both Old Testament and New Testament stories.
Each child’s bible has its pros and cons. They all leave out large chunks of scripture, but have fun artwork and try to boil key passages down to simple messages of God’s love, etc. I found this bible to have a nice blend. It was fun to read through with our kids using the small amount of scripture included to reflect on more of the whole story that my wife and I could share in more detail with them. This was true for both our kids. The DVD’s were a nice bonus and a special treat to show the kids. It is nice to have some fun movies to show them on special occasions. While I don’t think this is the best book ever (and I don’t know if I have one) I would recommend it as a good option to parents with young kids.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program

Voices of the Faithful – Book 2 by Kim P Davis and Beth Moore

This is a one year devotional containing the stories of Christians from around the globe. Each month has a different theme with each day having a verse followed by a related story and a short prayer. The appendix of the book contains reference material regarding missions. This includes a message from the International Mission Board, how to pray for missionaries, the church’s roll in missions and information about the authors.
I appreciate the heart that this book was written with. I have a heart for missions and that is what initially attracted me to the book after reading its brief description. I do like the stories of missionaries serving around the world and how the Lord provides for them. Hearing the testimonies of how the Lord provides is good and healthy for fellow believers to hear.
While I like most of the content, I don’t think this fits as a devotional very well. It fits more as stories to read than insight on scriptural truth to start the day with. The appendix at the back does have some good general information and exhortation to pray for those in the mission field.
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their book review bloggers program