Experiencing Lent: Amon's Adventure

Do you celebrate Lent? Do anything special to mark the days leading up to Easter, or Resurrection Sunday?

I confess - that is one of the things that I miss about the Episcopal church I attended in college. The ritual, the liturgy, and the church calendar. Each year, I try - with varying degrees of success - to prepare my heart, and help my children prepare their hearts - for the glorious celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.

We have had far more success celebrating Advent, the days leading up to Christmas. Part of that celebration has been the series of books written by Arnold Ytreeide: Jotham's Journey, Tabitha's Travels, and Bartholomew's Passage. We've read each one at least twice. . . . they are captivating stories set in the time of the birth of Christ, weaving tales of three young children who are caught up in adventures and end up at the manger.

This year, by the request - no, the pleading of my children - I purchased Amon's Adventure. Amon is the son of some main characters from the Jotham series, and we follow his life and intrigue around the temple in Jerusalem during - you guessed it - the time when Jesus was approaching His passion.

We've only ready about 5 days so far - there are 28 chapters all told. Mr. Ytreeide gives several ways to schedule the reading; once every few days, start the 28 days before Easter, or read a whole bunch during Holy Week. Each lesson ends with a scripture to consider and a short thought related to the day's reading, making it perfect for family devotions.

You're not too late! If your family has read the Jotham's Journey stories, your kids will laugh and nod their heads as they recognize familiar characters. But even if you are newcomers to Arnold Ytreeide's work, you and your kids will be drawn into the heart of the adventure, and turn your hearts and minds towards the marvelous sacrifice of Jesus.

Book Review: The Beginning Reader's Bible

This is a hard review to write. 

Mainly, because I had to pry this Bible out of Amy's hands!

With five kids, we've seen a lot - and I mean a LOT - of children's bibles come and go in our house.   They've been read and re-read, handed down, taped together, and toted to and from church for years.  Yurii will even freely admit that his first overview of the Old Testament came from reading Kathryn's Children's Bible to her every night!

So when I had a chance to review The Beginning Reader's Bible (distributed by Thomas Nelson), I jumped.  Amy didn't really have her very own Bible, and this was a great opportunity.

First, the nitty-gritty.  This is an oversized volume, with a nice binding and stitching that appears sturdy enough for little hands.  The pages are full-sized illustrations, with selected Scripture texts inserted to tell the story.  All scripture is taken from the International Children's Bible.  As such, it's not the full Bible, but rather a collection of stories - the title there is a little misleading.  Also slightly misleading is the name "Beginning Reader's Bible" - with words like "language", "everyone", and "Babylonia", it's hardly for true beginning readers. 

More nitty-gritty.  At the end of each Bible story are sections entitled "Remember God's Word", "Do God's Word", and "Pray God's Word", designed for application in young lives.  The very end of the Bible has a list of familiar passages (such as the Ten Commandments and the 23rd Psalm), books of the Bible, a Scripture reading plan, and a Scripture memory plan.

Now, some impressions. Let's start with the six-year old.

I'll have to say that Amy LOVES this Bible.  She's a fairly good reader, so she can read almost all of it herself.  She loves the feel of the book, loves the vivid illustrations, and loves the ribbon bookmark that is attached!   When it first arrived, she pored over it, reading the stories and telling me all about them.  One favorite:  the Tower of Babel - at the end, it has a chart that shows how to say "God Loves You" in about 8 different languages.

My impressions.

As I said before, it's not really a Bible.  It's a nice-quality Bible storybook.  I really wish the folks at Thomas Nelson had called it the "Read-to-Me Bible Storybook"; it's a pet peeve of mine, that kids think the Bible is a collection of stories.  But enough about that.

The stories chosen are a nice sample - I wish the New Testament had a little more meat in it, but they do include 2 stories from Acts (the coming of the Holy Spirit and Paul's conversion) and the description of heaven from Revelation.  The supplements at the end are helpful - most children's Bibles don't list the 12 tribes of Israel, for example.  The illustrations are very nice, but not stunning.  The illustrations really are the main show, here- the text is only a small part of the page.

Overall, it's a nice Bible storybook.  It would be a great gift for a child who enjoys Bible stories, but not for a young reader who's ready for a Bible text to follow along with during family worship or church service.

So while I'll let Amy continue to enjoy her new storybook, I'm back in the search for a Bible with full text, sturdy enough to withstand her 6 year-old exuberance, preferably in the ESV translation.

Any  ideas?

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Book Review: The Shelter of God's Promises by Sheila Walsh

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ.  And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God.  2 Corinthians 1:20

I needed to read this book.

Readers of this blog  - and those who know me in real life - know that the storms of life have been very real and very hard indeed these last four or five years.   And honestly, there have been a few holes in my spiritual umbrella lately.  So when I was searching my book review website for my next title, this one fairly leaped off the page. 

I read - engulfed it - in one sitting.  Truthfully, I didn't really know who Sheila Walsh was - turns out, she's the author of the popular Gigi series for little girls, and a speaker on the Women of Faith conference team.   Her writing is spot-on biblically:  she takes the reader through a tour of God's promises - roughly categorized into 10 chapters - with powerful Scripture to back up each promise.  (In addition, much to my delight, she includes interesting insights into the text with references to the original Greek structure of the verse or an important note about ancient Hebrew culture at the time of the Scripture's writing.  Good stuff!)

In addition to the main text of the book, the author has included a Bible study appendix, with questions for scriptural study and personal application based on each chapter.  This would be most appropriate for a personal quiet time study, in my opinion - and something I'm hoping to start on myself very soon.

Sheila Walsh has written a powerful, helpful book, with just the right combination of scripture (heavy on that) and personal stories (not overwhelming, and help to emphasize her point).  I was refreshed while reading it, and rejoiced as I felt my own "umbrella" renewed and strengthened not by me or my own efforts, but the timeless, unchanging principles of God.  This book is sure to stay on my shelf to be pulled out for times of refreshing.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

The Argument Builder - A Review

If I were playing the word association game at a party, and someone said, “build”, I would not immediately reply with “argument”.  To my non-trained mind, an argument is something that just happens spontaneously, and usually when my emotions are running high.

Enter The Argument Builder: Constructing an Argument Piece by Piece by Shelly Johnson, published by Classical Academic Press (CAP).  I’ve used their Latin materials for a few years now, so when I had the chance to review a copy of Argument Builder, I was intrigued.  Even more so when I read this passage from the first chapter:

Right now, you might feel a little uncomfortable with the word argument because it seems that it always involves fighting, tension, hostility, and hurt feelings.  Although this unpleasantness can be present when people argue, it doesn’t have to be.  The Latin word argumentum means ‘evidence’ or ‘proof’.  Therefore, when you have an ‘argument,’ it means that you supply the evidence or proof for what you believe.

From the forward, the purpose of The Argument Builder is “to train you in the art of building a strong argument”.   Using the Common Topics method, developed by Aristotle, the text takes you through all five of these common topics (Definitions, Testimony, Comparison, Relationship, Circumstance) while developing a hypothetical argument about curfew. 

The text is comprised of 25 chapters, with an appendix on debate techniques.  Each of the first 22 chapters includes a exercises not only in defining terms and answering basic questions about the topics introduced, but also in analyzing and identifying arguments from a wide variety of authors, scholars, and statesmen.  The final 3 chapters of the book cover a cumulative review, a brief introduction to logical fallacies, and instructions on how to hold a debate.  The Teacher’s Edition - a necessary component - includes not only the answers to the text exercises, but suggestions and recommendations for extending the material.  For further support, CAP also offers an online class taught by the author.

I am particularly thrilled to find this text - we’ll be adding it in for our high school students, as a component of their logic/philosophy studies.  Especially attractive to me is the author’s inclusion of primary source documents  from history as a source of analytical exercises. The Argument Builder is easy to understand, clearly laid out and provides great training in analyzing and building arguments.    As a high school course, this could be done in one semester by an ambitious student, but might be best spread out over the course of a year, especially if you intend to include the debate component. 

Paired with Discovery of Deduction, another CAP title, the Art of Argument makes the study of logic understandable and accessible to high school students, homeschooled or otherwise. 




Now for the nitty gritty:  I was provided a free review copy of this text in exchange for this review.  I would have panned it if I didn’t like it - I’m honest like that - but really, it’s a great text.

Book Review and Giveaway - Kabul24

I'll admit it.  I had no idea about the actual history behind this story when I picked it up.  Honestly, my interest stemmed from the fact that my brother and his wife lived in Kabul for quite some time, after 9-11, so we had a first-hand glimpse of life in Afghanistan after the Taliban left.  Would you believe I even have a burkha in my garage??

Kabul24 is the gripping account of the arrest and imprisonment of 24 workers from the organization Shelter Now International.  The workers were arrested in August 2001, and released 105 days later in November of that same year.   The chapters follow the 8 foreign aid workers and their 16 Muslim associates through their arrests and imprisonments by the Taliban, their enduring the bombing of Kabul post-9/11, to their miraculous release by the U.S. Special forces.

The names Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry may be familiar to many evangelical readers; their book, Prisoners of Hope, was published in 2002 and rode the wave of interest in all things Afghani following the events of the fall of 2001.  Less well known in the U.S. are the other 6 international worker held captive, and hidden even further from our eyes is the plight of the 16 Muslims who were accused of converting to Christianity.

The strength of Kabul24 lies in its detailed descriptions of the conditions of the prisons and the interrogations, the insights it gives into the risks many ordinary Afghanis took to help these foreigners, the means the captives used to maintain their sanity and serve God in the midst of persecution, and the tracing of the sovereign hand of God in their rescue.  A terrific, mesmerizing read that puts a personal face and context onto recent history.

This book is actually a manuscript version of the movie, Kabul24, which I am very much hoping to see at some point.

And now. . . .the giveaway!

This really is an excellent read, and a great account of life inside the dark days of the Taliban's rule.  If you'd like to be entered to win a copy, just post a comment!  I'll let one of my kids draw your name out of a hat, and the book will be on its way to you.

Thanks for reading!

Edited: hscarol, you win the draw!  If you can email me at hthrhnrqsbassoon@gmail.com, I can ship the book to you.  Enjoy!