"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

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.