Annie's Blog: Parables and Other Bible Stories

Annie's Blog: Parables and Other Bible Stories: Currently teaching a group of sixty ladies a 30 week in depth study in Matthew which has twenty parables, I have a close friend that ...

Parables and Other Bible Stories

Currently teaching a group of sixty ladies a 30 week in depth study in Matthew which has twenty parables, I have a close friend that just doesn’t connect with parables.  I asked to review this resource searching for insights into the Parables of Jesus, I was thrilled to find a chapter on 1 Corinthians 13. Because next years bible study is 1 and 2 Corinthians. Chapter 6 in this book has thirteen pages to teach this famous chapter heard at wedding and quoted as the Love chapter. First is a breakdown overview of the passage in a way that is easy to understand and memorize: Gifts Without Love; the Definition of Love- what love is and is not, and what love does; and Love Never Fails. The next page is a three column chart listing the specific characteristics of love from chapter 13, the definition of that term and several scripture references in the Bible. A similar chart tells us what love is not. Other pages identify positive qualities as well as negative qualities of love and example from scriptures. This is the best resource I have found for this often referenced chapter of the Bible. Chapter 7 on the Twenty Third Psalm with an equally thorough teaching. Though only a couple paragraphs for each of the thirty-nine parables their is much good information on how to study a parable and interpret it's meaning. This is a excellent good resource for accessing all the parables of Christ. Facts, maps and timelines of the lives of Joseph, David, and Esther are included in this 130 page book .This resource was given to me for my honest review by Rose Publishing.

Super Sized Book of Bible Puzzles

The Super Sized Book of Bible Puzzles is a gem of a resource for any Christian school or church related activity. With 220 printable pages are cataloged by the books in the bible, making it easy to find the puzzle suitable for your topic. Genesis alone has forty pages and Luke has thirty but not all books in the Bible have a puzzle. However each puzzle has a theme that can be interchanged with various stories.  Each page includes a short memory verse and most have an abbreviated bible story that is familiar. Some puzzles are very easy and require no reading skills, such as matching shapes, coloring items, or solving a simple maze. While others are more difficult with numbers up to twenty and reading is required to answer the questions. The crossword puzzles and word searches are of varying levels of difficulty. The product description labels this book as appropriate for 5-10 years old. That seems reasonable. This puzzle book has enough activities for a full year of Sunday classes using two different levels of skills. The price is definitely cost effective and could be shared with several teachers. This PDF file was given to me for an honest appraisal by Rose Publishing.

The Water-Saving Garden by Pam Penick

Pam Penick draws the reader in with the many brilliant colors in the photographs on the cover. The book has a study cover and quality paper to stand up to the constant use of this tabletop book. You cannot just read it and put it aside; it calls you to pick it up and flip through the pages time and again. The use of decomposed granite for a permeable material to let the water flow through may be the salvation of my soggy side yard. The list of plants and trees for a water saving garden was very useful. Many of the succulent plants I have used in my own Rock Garden. Her suggestion for specific area of need was useful to me. Soaker hoses are great and the author shows creative ways to conceal them in the garden. Photos of actual gardens using water-saving landscape designs could be reviving your own problems areas. It is pleasing just to browse the full color photographs. Container gardens are a great idea for apartment dwellers. During the summer seasons and times of drought, this would be an awesome resource to have in your collection. This book was given to me by Waterbrook Publishing for an honest review.

How We Got the Bible

The book is filled with information and tidbits I was totally ignorant about.  Several characters and religious groups were new to me, but it would be good for everyone to take special interest in the origin of the Bible so they can be aware of heresy and of false teaching. “Infallibility” of the Bible from a Latin word that meant “unable to deceive” or “not liable to err” means we can trust Scripture to tell us the truth. Though some may say the Old Testament is irrelevant, Jesus quoted scriptures from the Old Testament to defeat the devil and confound the Pharisees. The author has wonderful charts throughout the book.  The Old Testament had dozens of authors and spans 3,000 years of history and several continents. For new Christians it may be daunting. I usually suggest one of the synoptic gospels to introduce someone to Jesus. The text contains interesting facts and much information on the different languages of the Bible. The Pentateuch, the Apocrypha, and the Canonization of the scripture: so much to learn. In Charlotte, NC we were blessed to have a showing of the Dead Sea Scrolls and years later a walk through exhibition of How the Bible Came to Be.  Very interesting to find about lost books and how to test the authority of these books, the accuracy of the copyists and correctors who check their work was informative. So much history and tons of facts; I can see this is a good resource book for the history of the Bible. 

PowerPoint Romans

It took me a while to study the 115 slides for the PowerPoint on Romans. Romans has always been such a difficult book for me. There are several charts by James D. G. Dunn which were very instructive. One in particular compared Dead to Sin with Alive to Christ. This is an importation teaching point and is well covered. The use of animation was not overdone and the key verses on antique looking scrolls were quite effective. The background information on Paul and the purpose for the book of Romans had very good historical data for those new students of the Bible. The design of the slides are beautifully done in grey tones and natural stone backgrounds which made it very easy to read. Nice use of maps and pictures. Navigating through the slides was easy using the links on the Menu to each study point; a small icon in the corner of the last slide easily returns you to the Menu. The Application Questions used for discussion would be helpful. I wish the author could have included a slide with the simple Plan of Salvation using Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, and 10:13. I was given the download by Rose Publishing for an honest review.