Plain Promise is a quick and fun read. Beth Wiseman draws the reader in with the quiet and peaceful setting of the Amish community. Yet, not all is peaceful within the hearts of the people. A young widow, Sadie, rents out her extra cottage to a new tenant, only to find out he is a famous, wealthy man. Kade is attempting to escape his life and “hides” among the Amish. Seemingly, Sadie and Kade have nothing in common and yet attraction continues to grow. At the same time, Sadie has been writing and communicating with Milo, an Amish man she has yet to meet. Further complicating Sadie’s world is the arrival of Kade’s son, Tyler who is autistic. Kade does not know what to do with his son, how to communicate or how to take care of him. It is through Sadie’s special touch and love that a family is born.
Though the romance side of the story is predictable, I also enjoyed the deeper aspects that Ms. Wiseman added to the story. Kade must struggle with forgiveness of the deepest kind – his best friend marrying his ex-wife. Kade also must struggle with how to relate to a son who he has not spent time with. I also appreciated the way autism was looked at. Sadie points out the “innocence” that accompanies a child who is autistic. Finally, I also enjoyed the tension of a relationship against two different worlds and how Ms. Wiseman resolves it in the end.
Fearless by Max Lucado is a timely message to this generation. Everyone is tempted to worry and be anxious about something. Mr. Lucado addresses several major areas of concern that are especially prevalent in today’s economy. Mr. Lucado is careful to take the reader to scripture not only to show that we are not to have fear but that we have every reason to trust because of who our God is.
This book is a gentle read in that it is not terribly deep theologically. I enjoyed Mr. Lucado’s story telling format as he presented how a Christian can live fearlessly. My only wish is that Mr. Lucado would have stressed more often that these promises from God are truly only for the believer. The world can not have peace without belief on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Advertised as a study tool and aid in reading the bible, I was very excited to obtain a copy of The Expanded Bible. I eagerly opened it up and was dismayed to find my expectations were not fulfilled. To be fair, my husband is in seminary and so we are exposed to deep material. This bible might be okay if you are just trying to get a sense of what the text is trying to say but it is not really a fair translation; it is more of a paraphrase. Imbedded in the text are examples of what the words could otherwise mean like the red [burgundy, rouge] flower [plant, leaf]. I found this to make the text more distracting and choppy. Personally, I would rather sit with my bible open and a dictionary or commentary next to me. One thing about translating original language into modern day language is that while words can have different meanings, they can’t have all the meanings within that context. No translation will be perfect but scholars work very hard to find the BEST meaning within the given CONTEXT. One can get themselves into all kinds of trouble when applying just any meaning of a word to the text.
Wow, it’s been a long time since I have written. Life has been very crazy. Since the last time I wrote…(April 17), we found out we were pregnant again…wahoo!!!! We are due December 25th and we also just found out that we are going to have a boy. I’ve always wanted a boy so I’m thrilled. I’m also excited that Abby will have a brother. She’s kind of tomboyish even right now so it’ll be good for her to have a boy around.
My sister, Debbie got married in July. We had 2 1/2 weeks to plan the wedding but it was a success! Everyone looked so beautiful!
I enjoyed reading the Toddler Bible with stories retold by Gwen Ellis. The pictures are vivid as well. One thing that I appreciate about the way Ms. Ellis retells the stories is that she simplifies them without losing the important components. She is not afraid of the “bad” parts of the bible. At the end of each chapter or section, there is a small box for the parents giving ideas for a craft that will help the child remember each lesson. There are also ideas for discussion questions for taking each story a bit further. For those with older kids as well, at the top of each page is the reference in the Bible from where these stories come from. I look forward to using this book with my little ones.
With a one year old, I was very excited to get my hands on a copy of bible stories for little ones. We want to establish a routine of devotions and reading through the bible even at a very young age. We started going through this book with our little one about 2 months ago. She likes the pictures but of course doesn’t really get what we are reading yet. Unfortunately, we do get what we are reading. I know that a lot of the stories need to be simplified for the younger but this book has taken it too far. God’s work of redemption is so watered down that you can barely see His hand at work. The great lessons of the Old Testament which point to Christ have instead been made into nice little moralistic stories. Another aspect which I take concern with is the way this book deals with the not-so-nice parts of the bible. I understand that some subjects are not appropriate for little ones, but making up details to make the story nicer is a far grievous error. This is misrepresenting God’s Word – even to our little ones.
The book also came with a cd with 100 bible songs which are supposed to correlate with the bible stories. Some of them do, some don’t. It was kind of fun hearing and singing songs that I haven’t sang since my own childhood. Now my husband knows where they come from.
I am thankful that Thomas Nelson has a new bible stories out for toddlers. I look forward to giving that one a try and seeing if that one is better.
Greetings all, we are back in Colorado now, beginning my last year of seminary. It has been awhile since I have posted (about 3 months actually!) . I am going to try and be better about posting to our blog. For those of you who didn’t know, Sarah, Abby and I spent the winter in Springfield, IL. We made some wonderful friends while there and were able to spend some time with Sarah’s parents who have been home from the mission field.
Last week was the first week of classes here at the seminary and we completed our first class, The Doctrine of God. Dr. Lewis Hill, President of Reformed Discipleship Ministries was our lecturer. It was an excellent study of our Scriptural understanding of who God is, and his plan of redemption.
This week’s course is Pastoral Counselling, led by Dr. Andrew Zeller. Primarily we will be reading through Instruments in the Redeemers Hands, by Paul David Tripp. From what I have read thus far, this is an excellent book that is not only helpful for those who “professionally” counsel, but to any Christian, who takes relationships and discipleship seriously. I have only read the first 3 chapters so far (I should be finished by the end of the week), but already I can see that Dr. Tripp is laying a foundation of who we are in Christ Jesus instead of presenting a “system” on how to counsel people. One of the neat things with this course and this book is that the women at the seminary are also going to go through this book as part of their study this summer.
Well, I think that is all for now, we would love to hear from you.
In the Footsteps of Paul is an amazing collection of photos following Paul’s life. I thoroughly enjoyed letting my imagination go and recalling the stories from the Bible in context now with the photos. It is easier to understand certain portions of Scripture having seen what the walls or trees or landscape really looked like. So often, we allow our own preconceptions color what we read. I also appreciated the quotes and scripture verses that go along with each photo which gives context. The only pictures that seemed out of place were the ones of paintings in churches. Overall, a great resource to have and amazing pictures!
The Noticer is a nice story but completely gives a completely false dose of reality. The basic premise is that if you think positively, then positive things will happen to you. If you surround yourself with successful people, then you too will become positive. If you just think about things in a positive way, then life becomes that much more wonderful. The book centers around a man named “Jones” who steps in and out of people’s lives, encouraging them to notice the positive and to make changes in their lives. These stories are miracle stories; marriages are saved, lives changed, businesses created, children inspired.
My main issue with the book is that it is once again the “pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps” mentality. No where is there any persuasion to depend on Christ, to completely cast all your cares upon Him. There is also an underlying assumption that suffering is only due to self-made problems. Scripture clearly teaches that we will have suffering because we are servants of Christ. We learn more through our suffering oftentimes than when life is great.
What is so appealing about this book though, is that there is a little bit of truth hidden amongst the pages. We are in control of how we think and act. Rather than practicing “happiness” to gain success, one should practice being content and resting in who God is. It is a practice and one must continue to work at it. We shouldn’t merely accept the bad things but instead of just wanting a better life, we should be longing to be sanctified and grow more in knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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