March 19th, 2011 by Kristi Stephens

A frequent source of frustration for me is how the Bible is often “dumbed down” for kids. We avoid tough questions. We simplify God and speak only of His love, downplaying His justice, holiness, and other aspects of His nature. As Biblical doctrine is being questioned more and more both outside and sadly also from within the church, we must do a better job of equipping our kids to think. We need to equip them to engage Scripture on a deeper level than picture book stories, to know that God is real and has spoken clearly in His trustworthy and true Word.

Kids are raising real questions, and adults often dismiss them. From my review of Ken Ham’s compelling book, Already Gone: “the Church has failed to teach the Bible as relevant fact. We have, intentionally or unintentionally, taught the Scriptures as “stories” that relate to spiritual matters and have avoided engaging the deluge of challenging questions from the secular world that bombard churched children and adults the other 166 hours of their week.” One of the results of not being allowed to honestly engage in discussion and receive real and satisfying Biblical answers to their questions is an epidemic of young people exiting the church in a steady and predictable flow. We must equip our kids. We must equip parents to equip their kids!

This is one of the many reasons why I love resources from MasterBooks!

I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to read and review Ken Ham’s The Answers Book for Kids: Volume 3 – 22 Questions from Kids on God and the Bible. This book is in a question-and-answer format, with each colorful and attractive page spread containing a question from a child from ages 6-12. These aren’t just “kid” questions – I’ve had discussions with adults about these things, too! Questions range from what God looks like to how the Trinity works to how we can know the Bible is true. Some of the questions include:

• How does God know something before it happens?
• How could God be Jesus, and Jesus be God? How can they be the same, but different?
• In the Bible, God is a God of second chances. God gives us a second chance when we sin. So, why didn’t God give Adam and Eve a second chance in the Garden of Eden even though they sinned?
• Why did God allow the Israelites to kill people?

Good questions, right? Ham does not talk down to his young audience with his answers. His replies contain vocabulary such as omnipresent, infinite, omnipotent, abstractly, eternal, triune, coincidences, etc!  Each answer also includes a short list of Biblical references.

Especially if you have a child on the younger end of the targeted age spectrum [the intended audience is 6-12 year olds], don’t expect this book to be a ‘quick read.’ It’s not a bedtime story type of book, but a resource that would be great to intentionally talk through.

My five year old daughter AG stood beside me as I looked at this book for the first time, and she read one of the questions aloud. “Why did God create sin?” Instead of reading her the answer, I asked her, “well, did God create sin?” She shook her head solemnly, “No. Sin comes from us.” It opened for us a little window of conversation about what sin is and where it started, which ties to our ongoing discussion in our house about sin – what it is, how it affects our relationship with God, and what Jesus did about it!

This is how I anticipate using this book – taking time to discuss one or two questions at a time, asking my kids to think through the answer on their own first, reading and discussing Ham’s reply, and then looking up the Biblical references together and discussing what they say and mean. This book is a fabulous tool to help parents teach their kids to think critically and biblically, encouraging them to think about how they would answer these questions if one of their friends asked these questions of them.

Thank you, MasterBooks, for giving us great resources! Parents – it’s up to us to use good tools as tools and engage our kids, teach them to think, equip them to respond to the barrage of questions our culture sends their way.

Want a chance to win some great stuff from Masterbooks? Join us this Tuesday, March 22nd, at 8pm CST for a #masterbooks twitter party! Check out @MeghanTucker‘s post here for more details!

**I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for my review from MasterBook  Publishers.

February 4th, 2011 by Kristi Stephens

I’m posting about what it means that mankind is in God’s image over at Scripture Dig today! Hope you join us there! In the meantime…

Unshakeable Faith, an 8-session Bible study for women by Kathy Howard, has just been released by New Hope Publishers. I’ve worked through/taught Kathy’s other studies and they are excellent! I’ve also gotten to know her as a fellow writer over at Scripture Dig and can tell you that she is the real deal! What a privilege to know her and learn along with her in the Word. This study helps readers apply 8 key “faith traits” found in the life of Peter so they will be prepared to weather the harshest storms of life. Today we get to talk to Kathy about her new Bible study!

Kathy, what prompted you to write on this particular topic?

Over the last few years, many Christian women I love and admire have endured difficult circumstances such as life-threatening illness, divorce, death of a child, and financial hardship. The quality of their faith significantly affected how they endured these trials and how God worked in them for His glory. God strengthened and guided them through their close relationship with Jesus.

Their experiences made me wonder how I would do in the same circumstances. Like most women, I manage to juggle the everyday things of life – work, family, ministry, and home life – without too much difficulty. But sometimes, even in just a small crisis, my self-sufficiency is shaken. Would I stand firm in really hard times or would these trials knock me flat? I began to ask God to show me how my faith could be prepared.

So why Peter? Why is he a good example for us to study?

Peter was just an ordinary man, a fisherman. He worked hard. He had a family and friends. Peter was passionate and a natural leader, but he was also headstrong and impetuous. Peter had sworn to follow Jesus unconditionally, no matter the circumstances. Yet on the night Jesus was betrayed, his faith wavered and he denied His Lord. But then several decades later Peter willingly faced martyrdom rather than deny Him again. This study is about what made the difference in Peter’s faith. Unshakeable Faith looks closely at Peter’s life and teachings to discover some of the key characteristics God built into his faith that helped him stand firm in the face of death. That’s the kind of faith I want to have.

What’s unique about this study?

I love to study God’s Word. Learning about God, His ways, and what He desires for us is wonderful. But if we don’t apply what He teaches us, let it shape our lives, then we fall short of the full purpose of study. Unshakeable Faith not only leads readers into learning God’s Word, but it also purposefully helps readers apply it. In addition to each week’s application section, there is a “Faith Shaker” story that helps us see how that faith trait works in real life. These stories are about real women who have faced a life trial with which many readers will relate. Readers get to see how their faith keeps them standing firm. A strong faith in Jesus Christ does work in real life!

Where can readers get a copy of Unshakeable Faith?

The study is available at most online bookstores and many Christian bookstores. If your local bookstore does not carry it more than likely they can order it for you. You can also order it online from Amazon, New Hope/WMU Bookstore, Barnes & Noble, or Christian Book Distributors.

June 23rd, 2010 by Kristi Stephens

I am ridiculously behind on book reviews.  Yes, you might object that I am also ridiculously behind on starting our look at Revelation 4… many apologies!  [Blame it on the pregnancy!]  Truth is, I used up all my writing time last night finishing a book that I just could not stop reading!  So, today I will tell you about it and perhaps you can be the one staying up late, laughing, highlighting, and reading pages and pages aloud to your husband who is valiantly trying to work on other things. ;)

Somehow Wilson manages to look at the existence of God, the nature of good and evil, the reality of hell, and other such “light” topics in a poetic, sarcastic, highly unusual, dizzying, and sometimes provocative way.  I really do feel like I am spinning a bit after stepping off a carnival ride… do not read this book looking for a matter-of-fact apologetic argument or list of data.  This reads more like a stream-of-consciousness rambling from a poet who loves science and philosophy but loves God more.  And I loved it!

My only objection would be that, although I loved the artistic way he wrote about it, I would have liked to see him more clearly explain that the evil and brokenness in this “beautiful but badly broken” world was not the way God intended His creation to be – the sin of humanity shattered the original beauty.  He does allude to this in many ways, but never really says that outright.

This book was worth the read just for his chapter on hell.  His description and explanation of the reality of hell was the most thought-provoking and beautifully stated I have ever read.  It is a beautiful bookend to the way Wilson begins the wild ride through this book – he pictures this world as a carnival with “darkness lurking in the corners,” and where we are all “carnies” along for the ride.  He stitches this thought together with this wonderful statement:

“Would you go to heaven?  There is a sign you must stand beside where the man with the cigarette takes the tickets.  There is a height you must achieve.

You must be wretched.  That is your ticket and your only qualification.  It is an unexclusive ride, but wild, with weather you’ve never seen, and deafening light.” (page 180)

I loved this dizzying trip as I tried desperately to keep up with Wilson’s train of thought.  It left me with a profound sense of my smallness – and at the same time a reminder of the great security we have when we come in our wretchedness to the Maker and Sustainer of our souls.

So, if you’re in for a wild ride (and are not offended when a Christian book veers far from the beaten and expected path)… this is worth a read.

And yes… eventually we will get to Revelation 4. ;)

**I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for my review from Thomas Nelson Publishers. I am an amazon affiliate and would receive a small percentage of any sales resulting from the link above. The opinions expressed in this review are my unbiased thoughts as in keeping with my disclosure policy.

April 18th, 2010 by Kristi Stephens

My four year old daughter AG is painfully shy and quiet.  So much so that some of her Sunday school teachers have never heard her voice!  While her shyness is part of her quiet and timid personality and not necessarily a bad thing, I’ve been trying to find some creative ways to help her gain some confidence in social settings.

I found some princess castle invitations on clearance at Target a couple of months ago and simply had to buy them – they were just way too adorable!  The idea was born: a princess tea party.  On a small scale.

I asked AG who she wanted to invite… and lo and behold we ended up with a group of four quiet and shy little girls.  You know what they say about birds of a feather… ;)  That was the quietest play of four preschoolers I have ever observed!

I mentioned on twitter that we were having a princess tea party, and our friends over at Tommy Nelson graciously agreed to send us a party pack to have Gigi, God’s Little Princess as a centerpiece of our party!

We read about Gigi’s royal tea party together:

I loved that this book focuses on Gigi’s excitement to tell her best friend that she was also God’s daughter, which made her a royal princess, too!  Great addition to our party!

We didn’t read it aloud at the party, but AG really likes Gigi and the Purple Ponies, as well:

I like that Gigi doesn’t make the team in this book, but learns to appreciate the gifts God has given her as well as the different gifts He gave to her friends!

We asked all the girls to bring their favorite doll or stuffed friend – AG’s new Gigi doll  came along to the party, of course… and has hardly left her side since she arrived in the UPS truck, I mean… magic carriage.

Our princesses all came dressed up as fancy as they wanted… AG was very excited to wear the Cinderella dress that her Grandma made for her!  And by the way, you can even get a Gigi dress-up kit for the princess at your house!

The girls were having such a great time playing together that we didn’t pull them out for the party, but Tommy Nelson also graciously provided two DVDs for us – AG loves them already.

I appreciate that they are non-annoying, sweet stories that emphasize Biblical truth.  I also love how delightfully girly they are without being too indulgent and emphasizing a world-revolves-around-me mentality.

Each girl also received a Gigi magnetic frame (for a picture that we’ll send them of everyone together!) and also had a “flat Gigi” at the tea table with her name on it. :)

If you’d like to win your own prize pack of Gigi products, check out this great contest!  Print out your own “flat Gigi” and take her with you on whatever adventures your family will be having and upload a picture to the Tommy Nelson facebook fan page!  You’ll be entered to win your own prize pack full of Gigi goodness!   You can find “flat Gigi” and a variety of coloring and activity pages here.

We colored some Gigi pictures at our tea party, too!

For more info about the Gigi product line, watch this video clip!

Thanks, Tommy Nelson, for these great products – we love them… and I think your little princess will love them, too! :)

The amazon links in this post are affiliate links – I would receive a small percentage of any sales resulting from these links.