The Bible (For Kids!)

One of my first priorities in training my children in the faith is to immerse them in the stories of Scripture—especially The Story of Scripture. Theology and commandments are important, but ultimately it’s the stories that kids will latch onto. They’re easy to remember because our brains are wired to think in narrative (as an anecdote, I’ve noticed when quizzing my daughter on her history lessons, she struggles with the facts; but when it comes to the stories of these ancient cultures, her eyes perk up as she retells the events back to me). Stories hold incredible depths of meaning. And, really, they’re the primary way God has chosen to speak with us. Think about it. The majority of the Bible is not law or theology. It’s story.

Consider how Mark begins his book: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” When Mark sets out to lay out the Gospel, he does not do so by laying out a list of propositions or a road to salvation. He tells a story. The Gospel is a story—one of how God took on flesh, submitted unto death on a cross, defeated death and paid for sin, rose from the grave, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and is coming again to judge the living and the dead (c.f. the Apostle’s Creed).

But, I digress. This is supposed to be a post about some of the tools I use to help immerse my children in those stories, namely children’s Bibles. There’s a lot of choices out there when it comes to children’s Bibles, and despite being somewhat of a collector, I’ve not tried them all. But, I can share with you a few favorites I’ve come across as well as how I use them. For me, I have three main functions I try to fill with children’s Bibles.

Book Review: Finding The Right Hills To Die On (Gavin Ortlund)

Finding The Right Hills To Die On
(by Gavin Ortlund)

"Is that a salvational issue?", "Can't we all just get along?" These are questions I'm all to familiar with and used to use myself in the cause of unity. Because, on the other hand, I had seen people dividing over the silliest things. But over the last few years I've finding this framework somewhat inadequate. That's where Gavin Ortlund's "Finding the Right Hills to Die on" comes in.

Book Review: The Great Spiritual Migration

The Great Spiritual Migration
(by Brian D. McLaren)

Most people who know me know that I try to keep an open, yet critical mind about new ideas. I will consider the ridiculous, try to get into the shoes of those who believe it; but when I'm done, I'll apply the same ax that I apply to my own beliefs. It is in this vein that I opened up The Great Spiritual Migration and it is under this standard that McLaren's book failed to hold up.

Book Review: Spiritual Sobriety

Spiritual Sobriety
(by Elizabeth Esther)

Addiction is a nefarious sickness that can take any number of disguises--including spirituality. In Spiritual Sobriety, Elizabeth Esther (a former religious addict herself) shares advice on how to recognize and overcome religious addiction.

As a recovering religious addict myself, I found the concept behind this book intriguing. In our faith walk, we're always trying to figure out how to do things right so that we can be righteous and accepted and so that we can feel close to God. But, how often do we ask ourselves what is healthy? Is it really healthy to continually be looking for that emotional high we get at worship services? Could our constant fretting over whether or not we're doing the right thing be a sign of a deeper problem? Esther says these are signs of spiritual addiction, and I'm inclined to agree.

Book Review: You Lost Me -- Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church And Rethinking Faith

You Lost Me
(by David Kinnaman)

I was looking through the books I had on our e-reader (I forget what I was looking for), when I came across one that I had downloaded several years ago, but never got around to reading: You Lost Me--Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church And Rethinking Faith. Having just watched a documentary called Divided about the problem of youth leaving the church, the topic was fresh on my mind. Like Divided, this books aims to diagnose the church drop-out problem and propose solutions. Unlike Divided, this book is backed by years of research and offers a more balanced point of view.

Book Review: The Heaven Promise

The Heaven Promise
(by Scot McKnight)

Here is yet another book to add to my "books about the Kingdom" shelf (one of my favorite topics). In The Heaven Promise, Scot McKnight (who is quickly becoming a favorite author) cuts past our cultural images and wild imaginations to see what does the Bible say about heaven? The answer is, actually, quite a lot.

Both the premise and the organization of the book are quite simple--you won't need a PhD to understand it. McKnight starts with some background about why we think about heaven and what various ideas are out there. Then, he moves into the six heaven promises that form the foundation of how we should think of heaven. These are pretty simple ideas like "God will be God" and "Heaven will be the utopia of pleasures."

Book Review: A Community Called Atonement

A Community Called Atonement
(by Scot McKnight)

I picked up this book while searching for information of the different theories of atonement. I didn't find exactly what I was looking--but what I did find was no less marvelous.

In "A Community Called Atonement," McKnight builds a unified theory of atonement from the ground up, resting it on thoroughly Biblical foundations. I love how creatively titles Part 1 "Where to Begin?" and follows that with chapter 1, "With Jesus, Of Course!" This may seem an obvious place to begin, but as McKnight points out, many theologians try to begin with Paul. Without a proper understanding of Jesus and His message as understood through the Gospels, McKnight argues, we cannot truly understand the depths of His atonement. It's only when we start with His Kingdom message that we can see that atonement is about more than personal salvation--it's about raising up a people to worship God in unity.

Book Review: Bringing Heaven to Earth

Bringing Heaven to Earth 
(by Josh Ross and Jonathan Storment)

How do you imagine heaven? Golden streets and pearly gates? Clouds and rainbows and harps? According to a survey cited in this book, "81 percent of Americans...said they thought heaven was going to be nonmaterial, and that we would be ethereal or ghost-like."

What we believe about heaven affects how we live today. That's one of the main points that Ross and Storment try to drive home in their book, "Bringing Heaven to Earth." If we see heaven as our escape from this earth, then we will find little motivation to try to make this world a better place. Why does it matter? It's all going to burn up anyway. But, if instead we see that heaven is not an escape from earth, but rather a reality coming down to earth, there we will find a vision for bringing heaven to earth.

Book Review: The Giver

The Giver (by Lois Lowry)

Imagine a utopian world without suffering, hunger, or war. Everyone was treated equally with fairness. Everyone worked his assigned duties and everyone is provided for according to his needs (money had become obsolete). Children were taught from a young age to respect one another and mind the rules which kept their community peaceful. Science had virtually obliterated such nuisances as illness, inclement weather, safety hazards...and emotions.

Welcome to the monotone world of 11-year old Jonas, where everything is carefully regulated to preserve the community. Everything is predictable and safe...that is, until Jonas receives his unique role as Receiver of Memory.