All I can say is Wow! I choose Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century by Hank Hanegraaff because I wanted to see what he had to say about the sad state of our churches in America today. I am so saddened over the infighting amongst those who proclaim to be Christians and even sadder for those who are misled because of unBiblical teachings from those who claim to be men of God, women of God or even go so far as calling themselves Prophets!
With sound Scriptural back up, Hank Hanegraaff tells the readers why Faith teachers that are VERY well known are wolves in sheeps clothing. He also explains why the Christian can't sit back and just let them continue on in their anti-God rhetoric - because we are called by God to let the Truth be known! The writing was very well researched with documented quotes but Faith teachers claiming God is a failure or even that we are little gods.
I have been waiting for someone else to see the error with these teachers. I am so glad that Mr. Hanegraaff has re-written this book for the 21st century so that hopefully those who blindly follow such 'teachers' can be awakened with the Holy Spirit and learn what they really teach. This book was an excellent read and I would recommend it to those who enjoy, buy or watch any of these Faith teachers items. Even if you know these people are teaching false doctrine this book will help you minister to those who may have been hurt by the Word of Faith movement.
You can find more about this book here: http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=0849900069
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
"How Can a Good God Let Bad Things Happen?"
I had the chance to read and review a book written by Mark Tabb titled How Can a Good God Let Bad Things Happen? I thought this book was fitting for this time in my life and was glad that I requested this book from NavPress.
Mr. Tabb uses the book of Job to help the reader understand that bad things, terrible circumstances in our lives aren't from God and we need to continue to praise Him even if we think we will never get through it. Through Mark Tabb's book I saw that what I see as trials in my life aren't as bad as they could be. I still have a house, two vehicles, a husband, my three children are alive and healthy, even if our house isn't big enough, our van is constantly breaking down, our house needs a lot of repairs - our circumstances could be much, much worse.
Reading this book helped me understand God a little more. The evil in the world is the result of the first sin, and Satan is alive and well in this world. While I never doubt and I do my best to never blame God for the bad things in my life - I am not sure how I would react if my children were to die, we were to lose our house, etc. Could I continue giving God praise? I would like to think so. Would I want to hear empty words from friends and family? Definitely not. I heard the empty platitudes when we lost our first baby, "oh it's God's way of taking care of it now" and so on. This isn't what grieving and hurting people need to hear. Mark Tabb does a great job of getting this point across without belittling anyone or hurting anyone's feelings. He does it with grace and maturity and in the end, his book is well written and gives sound Scriptural basis for his findings.
The only thing I could find wrong in the book, and it could just be personal preference, is that when Mr. Tabb refered to God or Christ as "him" it was a lower case 'h'. I was always told that it's a sign of respect to use a capital 'H' when refering to the Lord. Like I said it could just be a personal preference, but even with that pet peeve of mine the book was very enjoyable.
Please visit NavPress to see their other books and even place an order.
God bless
Mr. Tabb uses the book of Job to help the reader understand that bad things, terrible circumstances in our lives aren't from God and we need to continue to praise Him even if we think we will never get through it. Through Mark Tabb's book I saw that what I see as trials in my life aren't as bad as they could be. I still have a house, two vehicles, a husband, my three children are alive and healthy, even if our house isn't big enough, our van is constantly breaking down, our house needs a lot of repairs - our circumstances could be much, much worse.
Reading this book helped me understand God a little more. The evil in the world is the result of the first sin, and Satan is alive and well in this world. While I never doubt and I do my best to never blame God for the bad things in my life - I am not sure how I would react if my children were to die, we were to lose our house, etc. Could I continue giving God praise? I would like to think so. Would I want to hear empty words from friends and family? Definitely not. I heard the empty platitudes when we lost our first baby, "oh it's God's way of taking care of it now" and so on. This isn't what grieving and hurting people need to hear. Mark Tabb does a great job of getting this point across without belittling anyone or hurting anyone's feelings. He does it with grace and maturity and in the end, his book is well written and gives sound Scriptural basis for his findings.
The only thing I could find wrong in the book, and it could just be personal preference, is that when Mr. Tabb refered to God or Christ as "him" it was a lower case 'h'. I was always told that it's a sign of respect to use a capital 'H' when refering to the Lord. Like I said it could just be a personal preference, but even with that pet peeve of mine the book was very enjoyable.
Please visit NavPress to see their other books and even place an order.
God bless
Monday, March 09, 2009
Read and Share DVD Bible Volume I
I love anything that anything that drives home Biblical truths, and when it's done with little one's short attention span and understanding in mind, it's even better. I had the chance to review Thomas Nelson's Read and Share DVD Bible Volume I (you can view it http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=1400313031 )
I was very impressed from the time I put in the DVD until the time that it ended. The short Bible stories begin with Adam and Eve and go through 12 more stories culminating in The Lost Sheep (the wayward son parable). The cartoon style movie was very colorful and allowed for easy focusing for the child, even a child whose focus isn't maintained for long will enjoy it. The narrator spoke slowly and carefully for the child to understand the story and along with titles before each 3 minute story, it was easily understood what the story was about.
The total running time for the DVD is 60 minutes - not including the special features. With each story a length of 3 minutes, a family can watch one and then read the corresponding story from the Bible for even more Biblical applications, or allow the child to watch the whole DVD at a time. If you choose to let your child watch the whole DVD at a time, there are no worries about inappropriate language, behavior or costuming - so it is okay to use it while you get the laundry done or was the dishes.
Like every DVD there are bonus materials: dolby surround sound, widescreen/fullscreen, interviews with "real kids", "behind the scenes", trailers, coloring pages and auto-start. We didn't view much of the bonus materials but from what I did view, it was much like other materials on other DVD's. I must say the best bonus material is by far the coloring pages and auto start. Pop the DVD into your computer and follow the easy directions to get a 10 page coloring book. The images are big and will allow the youngest to the oldest child to enjoy coloring the images. The auto-start allows you (or your child) to put in the DVD into the player and off it goes - no need to press play or other buttons - it's made this way so that children can watch it by themselves.
My children insisted on watching it immediately after me removing it from the package and we were not dissapointed. They were all enthralled, my oldest at 7 years, my middle child at 4 1/2 and my youngest at 2 1/2 years old. Overall, this is a truly well made and Biblically correct DVD that children can enjoy and parents don't have to worry over letting their children watch it. I even learned part of a Bible story that hadn't been told to me in all my years of Sunday school.
I was very impressed from the time I put in the DVD until the time that it ended. The short Bible stories begin with Adam and Eve and go through 12 more stories culminating in The Lost Sheep (the wayward son parable). The cartoon style movie was very colorful and allowed for easy focusing for the child, even a child whose focus isn't maintained for long will enjoy it. The narrator spoke slowly and carefully for the child to understand the story and along with titles before each 3 minute story, it was easily understood what the story was about.
The total running time for the DVD is 60 minutes - not including the special features. With each story a length of 3 minutes, a family can watch one and then read the corresponding story from the Bible for even more Biblical applications, or allow the child to watch the whole DVD at a time. If you choose to let your child watch the whole DVD at a time, there are no worries about inappropriate language, behavior or costuming - so it is okay to use it while you get the laundry done or was the dishes.
Like every DVD there are bonus materials: dolby surround sound, widescreen/fullscreen, interviews with "real kids", "behind the scenes", trailers, coloring pages and auto-start. We didn't view much of the bonus materials but from what I did view, it was much like other materials on other DVD's. I must say the best bonus material is by far the coloring pages and auto start. Pop the DVD into your computer and follow the easy directions to get a 10 page coloring book. The images are big and will allow the youngest to the oldest child to enjoy coloring the images. The auto-start allows you (or your child) to put in the DVD into the player and off it goes - no need to press play or other buttons - it's made this way so that children can watch it by themselves.
My children insisted on watching it immediately after me removing it from the package and we were not dissapointed. They were all enthralled, my oldest at 7 years, my middle child at 4 1/2 and my youngest at 2 1/2 years old. Overall, this is a truly well made and Biblically correct DVD that children can enjoy and parents don't have to worry over letting their children watch it. I even learned part of a Bible story that hadn't been told to me in all my years of Sunday school.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
New Reviews Coming Soon.
Just a heads up on some upcoming reviews:
How can a Good God Let Bad things Happen? by Mark Tabb from NavPress
UHU February and March sample reviews
The Read and Share DVD Bible - Volume I from Thomas Nelson
How can a Good God Let Bad things Happen? by Mark Tabb from NavPress
UHU February and March sample reviews
The Read and Share DVD Bible - Volume I from Thomas Nelson
Monday, March 02, 2009
Next Generation: New Testament
I recieved Word of Promise Next Generation New Testament (http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?dept_id=230170&sku=1400313309) from Thomas Nelson, on 3 MP3 CDs. There is over 23 hours of dramatic audios of the Bible. There is an all star cast reading this, such as Annasohphia Robb, Corbin Bleu, Emily Osment and others.
I wasn't sure how I would like this since I am not big on today's Hollywood actresses or actors even the ones that claim Christianity, but I thought it would be neat for the children. I was very impressed and am praying that by doing this that there hearts are more open to the Lord, if they weren't before.
My children were very intuned to this as we listened to it while we cleaned and I sewed. The dramatic pace of the CDs made it enjoyable and the children were able to understand the stories as they were portrayed. I didn't get the sense that any Biblical truths were compromised in the dramatic reading of Scriptures either. The version used is called the ICB New Testament. I have no knowledge of this version of the Bible, but like I said I didn't hear anything that I would say misconstrued the Word of God and it was written.
There are sound effects which aren't overpowering and do not take over the performance being read. You can definitely hear and understand what is being read. That is a good thing when you have children who if not kept occupied will loose interest very quickly.
There is a 40 day listening plan, which would come in handy if you are not doing a review and I will likely use this during our school time according to the 40 day plan. The soundtrack is done by an award winning composer and there over 100 actors.
I would definitely recommend this set of CDs to accompany your Bible studies or even for a child or teen who would like to understand more Biblical truths.
I wasn't sure how I would like this since I am not big on today's Hollywood actresses or actors even the ones that claim Christianity, but I thought it would be neat for the children. I was very impressed and am praying that by doing this that there hearts are more open to the Lord, if they weren't before.
My children were very intuned to this as we listened to it while we cleaned and I sewed. The dramatic pace of the CDs made it enjoyable and the children were able to understand the stories as they were portrayed. I didn't get the sense that any Biblical truths were compromised in the dramatic reading of Scriptures either. The version used is called the ICB New Testament. I have no knowledge of this version of the Bible, but like I said I didn't hear anything that I would say misconstrued the Word of God and it was written.
There are sound effects which aren't overpowering and do not take over the performance being read. You can definitely hear and understand what is being read. That is a good thing when you have children who if not kept occupied will loose interest very quickly.
There is a 40 day listening plan, which would come in handy if you are not doing a review and I will likely use this during our school time according to the 40 day plan. The soundtrack is done by an award winning composer and there over 100 actors.
I would definitely recommend this set of CDs to accompany your Bible studies or even for a child or teen who would like to understand more Biblical truths.
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