This so reminds me of my youngest daughter! She would never agree to this much cello abuse, but she certainly does love her cello this much.
Enjoy!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
The American Patriot's Bible
I especially love the nice large print size that can be easily read and the comfortable size that is easy for arthritic hands to hold. The paper is fairly durable, but not so thick that it makes the overall weight of the Bible unwieldy. Words of Christ are not in red, which may not be a problem to some. Also, this Bible is very appealing to the eye. The dust jacket is quite nice, a good deal more artful than most Bibles. This Bible would make a nice conversation piece on a coffee table.
Inside, there are many wonderful, informational features, including "The Seven Principles of the Judeo-Christian Ethic", several snippets on character qualities, with Scriptural examples, and many quotes from people of historical and political significance. You will also find quite a few pieces on important events and biographies, including pictures, of patriots of our history. I think it would be a great resource in many homes, but especially for use by homeschoolers due to the wealth of historical background information.
This Bible is a wonderful gift Bible. It is perfect for a history teacher, veteran, pastor, or fan of history. I believe it is geared a bit more towards men than women, but that may be just my age or experiences showing (I personally know many more military men than women). I am planning on giving a copy to a patriotic, homeschooled, young man at our church who will be graduating this year. I’m quite sure he and his family are going to be very happy with it!
I am very pleased that I had the chance to review this Bible and I highly recommend it to all.
I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising
Friday, March 16, 2012
Are you rich?
As I was clearing out clutter from my desk today, I came across this lovely little story and thought I should post it here. It is such good inspiration and encouragement to keep our needs simple in order to be able to give of our resources to help others.
The Rich Family in Church by Eddie Ogan (click here for author's original)
I'll never forget Easter 1946. I was 14, my little sister Ocy was 12, and my older sister Darlene 16. We lived at home with our mother, and the four of us knew what it was to do without many things. My dad had died five years before, leaving Mom with seven school kids to raise and no money.
By 1946 my older sisters were married and my brothers had left home. A month before Easter the pastor of our church announced that a special Easter offering would be taken to help a poor family. He asked everyone to save and give sacrificially.
When we got home, we talked about what we could do. We decided to buy 50 pounds of potatoes and live on them for a month. This would allow us to save $20 of our grocery money for the offering. When we thought that if we kept our electric lights turned out as much as possible and didn't listen to the radio, we'd save money on that month's electric bill. Darlene got as many house and yard cleaning jobs as possible, and both of us babysat for everyone we could. For 15 cents we could buy enough cotton loops to make three pot holders to sell for $1.
We made $20 on pot holders. That month was one of the best of our lives.
Every day we counted the money to see how much we had saved. At night we'd sit in the dark and talk about how the poor family was going to enjoy having the money the church would give them. We had about 80 people in church, so figured that whatever amount of money we had to give, the offering would surely be 20 times that much. After all, every Sunday the pastor had reminded everyone to save for the sacrificial offering.
The day before Easter, Ocy and I walked to the grocery store and got the manager to give us three crisp $20 bills and one $10 bill for all our change.
We ran all the way home to show Mom and Darlene. We had never had so much money before.
That night we were so excited we could hardly sleep. We didn't care that we wouldn't have new clothes for Easter; we had $70 for the sacrificial offering.
We could hardly wait to get to church! On Sunday morning, rain was pouring. We didn't own an umbrella, and the church was over a mile from our home, but it didn't seem to matter how wet we got. Darlene had cardboard in her shoes to fill the holes. The cardboard came apart, and her feet got wet.
But we sat in church proudly. I heard some teenagers talking about the Smith girls having on their old dresses. I looked at them in their new clothes, and I felt rich.
When the sacrificial offering was taken, we were sitting on the second row from the front. Mom put in the $10 bill, and each of us kids put in a $20.
As we walked home after church, we sang all the way. At lunch Mom had a surprise for us. She had bought a dozen eggs, and we had boiled Easter eggs with our fried potatoes! Late that afternoon the minister drove up in his car. Mom went to the door, talked with him for a moment, and then came back with an envelope in her hand. We asked what it was, but she didn't say a word. She opened the envelope and out fell a bunch of money. There were three crisp $20 bills, one $10 and seventeen $1 bills.
Mom put the money back in the envelope. We didn't talk, just sat and stared at the floor. We had gone from feeling like millionaires to feeling like poor white trash. We kids had such a happy life that we felt sorry for anyone who didn't have our Mom and Dad for parents and a house full of brothers and sisters and other kids visiting constantly. We thought it was fun to share silverware and see whether we got the spoon or the fork that night.
We had two knifes that we passed around to whoever needed them. I knew we didn't have a lot of things that other people had, but I'd never thought we were poor.
That Easter day I found out we were. The minister had brought us the money for the poor family, so we must be poor. I didn't like being poor. I looked at my dress and worn-out shoes and felt so ashamed—I didn't even want to go back to church. Everyone there probably already knew we were poor!
I thought about school. I was in the ninth grade and at the top of my class of over 100 students. I wondered if the kids at school knew that we were poor. I decided that I could quit school since I had finished the eighth grade. That was all the law required at that time. We sat in silence for a long time. Then it got dark, and we went to bed. All that week, we girls went to school and came home, and no one talked much. Finally on Saturday, Mom asked us what we wanted to do with the money. What did poor people do with money? We didn't know. We'd never known we were poor. We didn't want to go to church on Sunday, but Mom said we had to. Although it was a sunny day, we didn't talk on the way.
Mom started to sing, but no one joined in and she only sang one verse. At church we had a missionary speaker. He talked about how churches in Africa made buildings out of sun dried bricks, but they needed money to buy roofs. He said $100 would put a roof on a church. The minister said, "Can't we all sacrifice to help these poor people?" We looked at each other and smiled for the first time in a week.
Mom reached into her purse and pulled out the envelope. She passed it to Darlene. Darlene gave it to me, and I handed it to Ocy. Ocy put it in the offering.
When the offering was counted, the minister announced that it was a little over $100. The missionary was excited. He hadn't expected such a large offering from our small church. He said, "You must have some rich people in this church."
Suddenly it struck us! We had given $87 of that "little over $100."
We were the rich family in the church! Hadn't the missionary said so? From that day on I've never been poor again. I've always remembered how rich I am because I have Jesus!
As I was clearing out clutter from my desk today, I came across this lovely little story and thought I should post it here. It is such good inspiration and encouragement to keep our needs simple in order to be able to give of our resources to help others.
The Rich Family in Church by Eddie Ogan (click here for author's original)
I'll never forget Easter 1946. I was 14, my little sister Ocy was 12, and my older sister Darlene 16. We lived at home with our mother, and the four of us knew what it was to do without many things. My dad had died five years before, leaving Mom with seven school kids to raise and no money.
By 1946 my older sisters were married and my brothers had left home. A month before Easter the pastor of our church announced that a special Easter offering would be taken to help a poor family. He asked everyone to save and give sacrificially.
When we got home, we talked about what we could do. We decided to buy 50 pounds of potatoes and live on them for a month. This would allow us to save $20 of our grocery money for the offering. When we thought that if we kept our electric lights turned out as much as possible and didn't listen to the radio, we'd save money on that month's electric bill. Darlene got as many house and yard cleaning jobs as possible, and both of us babysat for everyone we could. For 15 cents we could buy enough cotton loops to make three pot holders to sell for $1.
We made $20 on pot holders. That month was one of the best of our lives.
Every day we counted the money to see how much we had saved. At night we'd sit in the dark and talk about how the poor family was going to enjoy having the money the church would give them. We had about 80 people in church, so figured that whatever amount of money we had to give, the offering would surely be 20 times that much. After all, every Sunday the pastor had reminded everyone to save for the sacrificial offering.
The day before Easter, Ocy and I walked to the grocery store and got the manager to give us three crisp $20 bills and one $10 bill for all our change.
We ran all the way home to show Mom and Darlene. We had never had so much money before.
That night we were so excited we could hardly sleep. We didn't care that we wouldn't have new clothes for Easter; we had $70 for the sacrificial offering.
We could hardly wait to get to church! On Sunday morning, rain was pouring. We didn't own an umbrella, and the church was over a mile from our home, but it didn't seem to matter how wet we got. Darlene had cardboard in her shoes to fill the holes. The cardboard came apart, and her feet got wet.
But we sat in church proudly. I heard some teenagers talking about the Smith girls having on their old dresses. I looked at them in their new clothes, and I felt rich.
When the sacrificial offering was taken, we were sitting on the second row from the front. Mom put in the $10 bill, and each of us kids put in a $20.
As we walked home after church, we sang all the way. At lunch Mom had a surprise for us. She had bought a dozen eggs, and we had boiled Easter eggs with our fried potatoes! Late that afternoon the minister drove up in his car. Mom went to the door, talked with him for a moment, and then came back with an envelope in her hand. We asked what it was, but she didn't say a word. She opened the envelope and out fell a bunch of money. There were three crisp $20 bills, one $10 and seventeen $1 bills.
Mom put the money back in the envelope. We didn't talk, just sat and stared at the floor. We had gone from feeling like millionaires to feeling like poor white trash. We kids had such a happy life that we felt sorry for anyone who didn't have our Mom and Dad for parents and a house full of brothers and sisters and other kids visiting constantly. We thought it was fun to share silverware and see whether we got the spoon or the fork that night.
We had two knifes that we passed around to whoever needed them. I knew we didn't have a lot of things that other people had, but I'd never thought we were poor.
That Easter day I found out we were. The minister had brought us the money for the poor family, so we must be poor. I didn't like being poor. I looked at my dress and worn-out shoes and felt so ashamed—I didn't even want to go back to church. Everyone there probably already knew we were poor!
I thought about school. I was in the ninth grade and at the top of my class of over 100 students. I wondered if the kids at school knew that we were poor. I decided that I could quit school since I had finished the eighth grade. That was all the law required at that time. We sat in silence for a long time. Then it got dark, and we went to bed. All that week, we girls went to school and came home, and no one talked much. Finally on Saturday, Mom asked us what we wanted to do with the money. What did poor people do with money? We didn't know. We'd never known we were poor. We didn't want to go to church on Sunday, but Mom said we had to. Although it was a sunny day, we didn't talk on the way.
Mom started to sing, but no one joined in and she only sang one verse. At church we had a missionary speaker. He talked about how churches in Africa made buildings out of sun dried bricks, but they needed money to buy roofs. He said $100 would put a roof on a church. The minister said, "Can't we all sacrifice to help these poor people?" We looked at each other and smiled for the first time in a week.
Mom reached into her purse and pulled out the envelope. She passed it to Darlene. Darlene gave it to me, and I handed it to Ocy. Ocy put it in the offering.
When the offering was counted, the minister announced that it was a little over $100. The missionary was excited. He hadn't expected such a large offering from our small church. He said, "You must have some rich people in this church."
Suddenly it struck us! We had given $87 of that "little over $100."
We were the rich family in the church! Hadn't the missionary said so? From that day on I've never been poor again. I've always remembered how rich I am because I have Jesus!
Monday, February 13, 2012
by Robert Morgan
I was delighted to receive a copy of this book to review. I own the first
two volumes as well, and have enjoyed them greatly. It saddens me to know that
this will be the last book in this series. I really enjoyed the additional
historical information and background given for the hymns in this book. It is
so nice to have the sheet music for the hymns included also. It makes the
reading so much more enjoyable to have all of the words and the tune accessible
while reading the story that goes with each hymn.
This book would be enjoyed by anyone interested in traditional Christian
music. It is so inspirational to read about the trials that brought about many
of the most beloved songs we sing. I think my favorite story in the book was
that of Susan and Anna Warner. Anna penned the words to "Jesus Loves Me".
These two sisters were born into a prosperous family that tumbled into poverty
in the early 1800s. They also lost their mother when they were very young. The
sisters committed their way fully to the Lord and endeavored to "give their
lives without reservation to the Lord Jesus Christ" and to do whatever they
could to keep their family home, and to provide for themselves and their
father. It was such a joy to read their story and see God's hand of provision
at work in their lives. By simply being doing the tasks set before them, and
being open to the will of God, they were able to touch countless people with the
love of Christ.
In short, I loved this book, and I think a great many others will love it
also. The only criticism I have of the book is the paper on which it is
printed. The pages have uneven edges, like handmade paper or torn paper. I
have read other books bound with this style of paper also, such as the Jesus
Freak books by Toby Mac and Michael Tait, and I have the same complaint about
those books. For people such as myself with arthritic hands, it is quite a lot
more uncomfortable to hold and read books with this kind of paper. I do think
the torn edging gives a pretty look to the book, sort of like an antique, but it
makes reading them less comfortable. That is the only drawback I find to this
wonderful book. I highly recommend it to all!
I
received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book
review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I
have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal
Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements
and Testimonials in Advertising
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Tyndale: The Man Who Gave God an English Voice
By David Teems
I found this book to be awe-inspiring! It makes me want to live my life more courageously as a Christian. Even though sections of the book were quite difficult for me to get through in terms of readability, I learned so much about this incredible saint of the church. Because of his drive to translate the Bible into the English language, he lived in a continual state of being hunted, hated, exiled, and deprived of comforts. As the author puts it, "His life was reduced to a kind of living martyrdom." As a homeschooling mom, born-again Christian, and a student of the Bible for the past 34 years, I have read about, and taught my children about, the bravery of William Tyndale. Yet, it has been mainly his translation of Scripture and his martyr's death that I have known about. His life, choices, and bravery are presented in such a way as to make the reader feel they really know and understand William Tyndale and the pressures and persecution he lived under. God had so wonderfully prepared and placed this man to do this work. He was an English speaking scholar of Latin and Hebrew in the Medieval years, an oddity in itself.
In addition to giving the King James Bible much of the lyrical beauty that
makes it so easy to memorize, William Tyndale also had an incredible impact on
the English language in general. There are lists in the book of the incredible
amount of words in our language to which we owe gratitude to Tyndale (including
Godly, sanctified, chastening, zealous, and so many more). William Tyndale was
a contemporary of William Shakespeare. A valid and thoughtful point that the
author makes is that we (English speakers) speak much more 'Tyndale' than we do
'Shakespeare', and yet it is Shakespeare who is studied and credited as a great
writer. I was brought to a deep awareness of my great debt to William
Tyndale for spending his life making the Holy Scriptures accessible to me. The
author does an excellent job of describing the medieval times and the fear that
was used then to try to control the thoughts and actions of 'heretics' to
the Catholic church.
The author has painted a very complete picture of the pressures put upon
Christians in the Medieval era. We see Tyndale through the words of others who
knew him, such as Desiderius Erasmus and Thomas More. The book contains
exhaustive references to works of the time. One of the major detriments to me
in reading this book was the use of the original texts in Old English. It is a
very scholarly work. I have a master's degree in education. I am no stranger to
scholarly texts. Having said that, let me confess that I lost my concentration
in certain deeper segments of the book, since, as a wife and mother, my life is
subject to frequent interruptions and demands on my thought processes! I had
expected and hoped that this book would be more accessible to the average
reader. Still, I think it is good that it is written at a more demanding
level. The more distracted or casual reader will certainly come away much
richer for having read it, and those with more concentration will take away even
more.
The peace and resolve that Tyndale showed in the face of his imprisonment,
sentencing, and death are awe-inspiring. I am so grateful to this man, and even
more so when I read of the calm, kindness, and care for their salvation, that
he showed to those who imprisoned him and forced him to suffer such hardships,
cold, indignities, pain, and terrible death. His final words were: "Lord! Open
the King of England's eyes."
No matter that some of the book is so deep that I will have to read it
again to uncover more of the facts, I still have come away from this book better
for having read it. I am much more knowledgeable about the path of peril that
brave men took to bring me the King James Bible I read daily. It is rare that I
finish a book, already having made the decision to read it again (and again),
but that is how I feel about this book. There is much inspiration to be gained
by studying the lives of the martyrs. This book on William Tyndale is a most
excellent place to begin, or continue, to study.
I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com
book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions
I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal
Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements
and Testimonials in Advertising
Friday, December 2, 2011
Heaven Is For Real--DVD Based Conversation Kit
I was so anxious to receive this set, hoping to use it in small group
settings with other believers. I had read the book (twice!) and absolutely LOVE
it! This kit is such a disappointment to me. There is not nearly enough of
Colton in the DVD sessions. It was enjoyable to see him 'in person' on
the DVDs, but there was far too much extraneous stuff, and not enough just
hearing what Colton had to say. Now, I thought that the section on the DVD with Sonja, Colton's mother, talking about babies who die through miscarriage was absolutely wonderful, very full of hope for those who have suffered through this. One of the aspects of the book that offers such hope for hurting people is the description of Colton meeting his sister who had died in a miscarriage before Colton was born. The DVD does do this justice, I think. I am so happy to have this to share with women, and families, who have suffered miscarriage. The study guide doesn't seem to be geared to adults, or to born again believers as I hoped it would be. I suppose it is a good point that the questions range over a large spectrum. If you want to pick
and choose in the contents of the conversation guide, you will find questions
geared toward children, casual seekers, etc. Some of the questions seem so
air-headed, or wishy-washy that it is distracting to have to read through them.
Possibly this was done purposefully, so the set would be applicable to a wide
range of people. In my opinion, it detracts from the usefulness, or even the
pertinence of the set to the people I hoped to use it with...born-again
believers, middle school age through adult.
The bottom line, in my opinion, is that the book itself is wonderful, I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone, but this DVD and conversation guide set just doesn't live up to that standard at all (sadly). It would be better to just stick with the book, and let the book itself generate any discussion in small
groups.
Disclosure of
Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the
BookSneeze.com book review program. I was not required to write a positive
review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in
accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides
Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising
settings with other believers. I had read the book (twice!) and absolutely LOVE
it! This kit is such a disappointment to me. There is not nearly enough of
Colton in the DVD sessions. It was enjoyable to see him 'in person' on
the DVDs, but there was far too much extraneous stuff, and not enough just
hearing what Colton had to say. Now, I thought that the section on the DVD with Sonja, Colton's mother, talking about babies who die through miscarriage was absolutely wonderful, very full of hope for those who have suffered through this. One of the aspects of the book that offers such hope for hurting people is the description of Colton meeting his sister who had died in a miscarriage before Colton was born. The DVD does do this justice, I think. I am so happy to have this to share with women, and families, who have suffered miscarriage. The study guide doesn't seem to be geared to adults, or to born again believers as I hoped it would be. I suppose it is a good point that the questions range over a large spectrum. If you want to pick
and choose in the contents of the conversation guide, you will find questions
geared toward children, casual seekers, etc. Some of the questions seem so
air-headed, or wishy-washy that it is distracting to have to read through them.
Possibly this was done purposefully, so the set would be applicable to a wide
range of people. In my opinion, it detracts from the usefulness, or even the
pertinence of the set to the people I hoped to use it with...born-again
believers, middle school age through adult.
The bottom line, in my opinion, is that the book itself is wonderful, I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone, but this DVD and conversation guide set just doesn't live up to that standard at all (sadly). It would be better to just stick with the book, and let the book itself generate any discussion in small
groups.
Disclosure of
Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the
BookSneeze.com book review program. I was not required to write a positive
review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in
accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides
Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Review of :
Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent
This book is just the most incredible story. It is a very quick &
enjoyable read, too. You won't be able to put it down. Colton, is the 4 year
old son of a pastor, who has a near death experience and, over time, begins to
tell his parents small bits of what he experienced. The writing completely
captures the sweet innocence of the little boy who seems to believe that his
experience it not out of the normal at all. His parents, of course, are quite
at a loss with what to do with Colton's new knowledge. Without letting him know
they are fishing for information, and without feeding him leading questions,
they begin to piece together the whole story.
Colton is able to describe deceased relatives he had never met or even
heard about. One very moving part of the story involves his parents' quest to
find out what Jesus looks like. His father begins nonchalantly showing Colton
each photo of Jesus he comes across. All of them are dismissed by Colton as
being all wrong for various reasons. Then, his father comes across the drawing
of Jesus done by a Lithuanian-American young girl named Akiane, the daughter of
athiests, who begin having visions of Heaven at the age of four. With her
phenomenal artistic talent, she was able to translate her visions into
paintings. This picture of Jesus, Colton pronounced as being exactly right. I
now have that photo, by Akiane Kramarik, displayed in my home. It is just
unbelievable to me to think that I am able to know exactly how Jesus appeared to
these two little children! One of Colton's pronouncements about Jesus was that
He "really, really, really loves children!" and He must indeed to make Himself
so tangible to these two small children, and to all others now who read this
book.
You will have chills when you read the descriptions of Heaven and Jesus as
related by this innocent little boy. He tells of a horse that only Jesus can
ride, and describes Jesus' garments, as well as angels. Colton is able to come
up with details about people he has never met or heard about, but that his
parents can personally verify, and all in the sweetest child-like way.
I plan to give this book as a Christmas present to anyone on my list who
has not yet read it. It is THAT good! Do yourself, and anyone you love, a big
favor and buy this book. You won't be disappointed!
Disclosure of
Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the
BookSneeze.com book review program. I was not required to write a positive
review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in
accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides
Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in
Advertising."
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