Wondrous Works of God: A Family Bible Story Book
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Beautiful, accurate, and a great family devotional
Ever since our girls were tiny . . .
. . . we've been sharing the heart of God with them in the evening times as a family. How precious it is to snuggle together on the couch and read the Scriptures!
When the girls were very tiny, not even one year old, we were given several beautiful toddler "Bibles" and Christian books to read with our girls. How they loved sitting with us every evening, reading some of the same books over and over, giggling and smiling and enjoying being all together!
As they grew into readers, the world of family Bible devotionals just opened up to us. We were amazed at how many children's Bibles and devotional books existed. It wasn't like this when we were young!
One of the books we read with the girls quite a few years ago was Starr Meade's book, Mighty Acts of God. It was accurate, filled with simply told events found in the Bible, and the artwork wasn't insulting. We loved it!
Starr Meade has now written a sequel to Mighty Acts of God. How wonderful! Another option for families who have younger children at home (ages 5-10), Wondrous Works of God is filled with 90 more events from the Bible, beginning with the true account of God creating Eve, and ending with the epic visions in the book of Revelation.
What I thought was very unique about this book, as well as Mighty Acts of God, is that each retelling event highlights an aspect of God's character as well as includes a discussion guide to help the whole family see and understand the wondrous works of God.
Each of the 90 retellings in Wondrous Works of God are typically three pages in length, including the artwork.
At the end of each retelling, there are questions to think about and answer, as well as extras to do as a family.
Beautiful! While I love every stage of our parenting that we are in, I do wish we'd had this book to use with our girls when they were younger. They're a bit too old for Wondrous Works of God now, but some day, we'll have grandchildren with whom we can snuggle up on the couch and share the events of the Bible!
Wondrous Works of God is a hardbound book containing 288 pages. The pages are durable, high quality paper. If you are looking for something new to share with your children, this is an excellent option!
January 9, 2013
seeing God in Scripture through Bible stories
What can a parent who wants to bring his children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord do to help impress Biblical principles on their minds? One way is to read Bible stories to them. When our boys were little, we made it a practice every day after lunch to read a Bible story, using several different resources such as Aunt CharlotteâÂÂs ChildâÂÂs Bible Reader, HurlbutâÂÂs Bedtime Bible Story Book, The Golden ChildrenâÂÂs Bible, The Illustrated ChildrenâÂÂs Bible, and my favorite Mrs. LeeâÂÂs Stories, among others. Of course, as they grew older, we progressed from reading Bible story books to reading from the Bible itself, and then from dadâÂÂs reading aloud to everyoneâÂÂs reading around, which we still do. Even though we no longer use Bible story books, IâÂÂm always on the lookout for such products that I can recommend to young parents.
Author Starr MeadeâÂÂs first Bible story book, Mighty Acts of God (2010) consisted of ninety stories to help children see what God reveals about Himself in the stories of the Bible, but there are so many more Bible stories to tell. Hence, this second volume is presented to retell a different ninety stories from the beginning of the Bible, through redemptive history, to its consummation, including some about Abram, Moses, Ruth, David, Naboth, Hosea, Josiah, Jesus (of course), Peter, and JohnâÂÂs vision in Revelation. As I like to point out in my preaching, the historical information in the Bible has at least a two-fold purpose. First, itâÂÂs given as a true record of events that took place in the carrying out of GodâÂÂs scheme of redemption. But, second, the stories are told in such a way as to be didactic in nature--that is, they reveal lessons regarding important principles that God wants us to learn.
In her âÂÂNote for Parentsâ the author says, âÂÂThe Bible is, first of all, a story. ThatâÂÂs a wonderful thing for two reasons.â The first reason is that while other religions are based on myths or legends that supposedly happened in a time and place that were hidden away from ordinary view, the Bible records events that occurred at specific moments in history and in real places. The second reason is that it makes it easy to communicate it to children because they think concretely. MeadeâÂÂs goal is to look for what God is revealing about Himself through what He was doing in these events. Each chapter includes an âÂÂAs for Me and My Houseâ¦â application section with ideas to start additional conversation or provide activities to reinforce the storyâÂÂs truth. Also, summary statements of important truths regarding the Christian faith appear in the text as colored type. Some people may want to know that the Library of Congress data categorizes the book as âÂÂReformed ChurchâÂÂDoctrines.â Those who come from a different theological background may find some things in the application sections and summary statements with which they would disagree. However, perusing through the book, it appears that these would be few and minor. I believe that any godly family can profitably use the stories in Wondrous Works of God to see God in Scripture through the accounts of what He has done for His people.
December 4, 2012