Reading, Writing & Pondering

The Most Important Stories of the Bible by Christopher D. Hudson and Stan Campbell lists 75 stories from the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in chronological order. I especially like that they are in chronological order and I like that they are divided in to sections: Beginnings, Patriarchs, Noah's Family Becomes a Nation, Kings and Prophets, Stories of Jesus, and Stories of the Early Church. Another really neat feature of this book are the timelines at the beginning of each section linking the major Bible events with major world events. I also like that at the end of each story summary there is an essential truth listed from each story that sums up the main theme of the story. I found The Most Important Stories of the Bible to be more than just a summary of many of the Bible stories I learned in Sunday School. I also learned better how those key stories in the Bible flowed with the world's history. I was reminded of how those key stories work together to make the Bible...

If we live long enough, I think there are tough moments that come when most of us say, It's not supposed to be this way. We wonder why these things happen. The past few years, Lysa Terkeurst has faced some tough challenges which she shares in her new book, It's Not Supposed To Be This Way . It's Not Supposed To Be This Way is Terkeurst's story of how she handled the hard things of the past few years and how turning to God helped her face them. This book is part memoir and part an inspirational encouragement book for anyone reading it who is facing tough challenges and struggling. At the end of each chapter, Terkeurst has a "Remember" section with some of the most important ideas from each chapter that she encourages readers to cling to. That section is followed by a "Receive" section with several Bible verses to soak in and meditate on. Then she offers a "Reflect" section with questions to think on. This book pairs well with your Bible...