Advent Blocks- a way to focus on Jesus, Emmanuel, God with Us at Christmas! Review

 Adventblocks.com   Follow their facebook page, as they have example pictures, special codes for discounts, where they can be purchased, etc.  Below is their picture of the full color set of blocks as you will reveal each day in December.  

The blocks arrive in a neat package- a protective box, plus the keepsake box. 

The book is included in the kit.  You choose whether you want all white blocks or colored blocks.  The numbers are white on both sets.  

What I like about this advent book and blocks:

• tangible, durable, visual tool to represent the waiting from December 1 to 25.  
• the images  in color, child friendly, and warm that you will see as you turn each block with the daily reading.  
• I LOVE the daily rhyme established in the readings.  The repetition aspect is educational, developmentally appropriate for littles, and catchy with good theology repeated. setting a great foundation for biblical literacy.  
• The rhyme changes a little each day but it starts as:  
• God couldn't remain; sin drove Him away
• So _________ (name of person/people) began to hope and pray
• "God, will you come back and stay?"  
• at Day 17, it changes a bit:
• "God couldn't remain; sin drove Him away
• But now He has heard, what we hoped and prayed,
• God is coming to earth....to stay!"
• This aspect I think could make this family read aloud a lot of fun for tweens, teens, and even adults at home.  It opens the gospel conversation, sin impacting the relationship between man and God.  The repetition of sin in the lives of people across history, and then this new little baby that arrives to stay.  
• Tone of the daily explanations, it is biblical information, told in a 2020 manner, with questions for the listeners to respond to, and statements that compare or contrast something that could easily be misunderstood.  There is a touch of sarcasm in the author's tone, and I read through the book skimming more than reading fully, so maybe some won't like the style. 
• I love the underlying theme of the set: "Emmaunel, God with us!"  as the revealed message December 24.  
• I love the blocks- child friendly, won't break, can be taken off the shelf and played with by anyone.  We build with blocks in our children's church, in so many bible lessons, should I have a set for church?  To use all year round?  
  

What I wonder:

• Will families all have a place to put the blocks out, I had a plan, and discovered my entryway table is a little too short for a straight line, so I had to adjust a little.  (see picture below) 
• What has changed that when we talk about God with pronouns, authors no longer capitalize His pronouns and modifiers.  I've always been taught that God is God and to recognize His attributes and use a capital letter to distinguish it is God.  
• Where are the biblical references to the events from the Bible mentioned each day.  
• How were the events chosen for the readings? It is not the Jesse Tree format, will people expect that?  Is this a different liturgical plan? I personally liked the choices of events and the examples of God being with people in the old testament even when they failed Him with sin.  
• Is it too childish for tweens, teens, college kid?  what angles can I use to sell this to my almost 11 year old, 15, and 19 year old kids.  If we record it for littles at church will they enjoy it?  Will they learn and will we have conversations about the repeated phrase, and even the author's choices of events leading to God coming to stay?  
• Will you ever forget what it means when you hear: "Emmanuel, God is with us" again after reading this book and turning the blocks?  
• How can I adapt this for my ministry with children at church and in the community?  
• Would some families prefer this to be a calendar with cards to fill in or turn over? or ornaments?  Ornaments wouldn't work for the day 24 surprise.  Or even an app version?  

I purchased this block set all on my own, the day that the sets sold out.  As I found it the night before, I did email the company and ask for a pdf of the book to review on my blog, but since they were sold out. I am not completing my review until my kit arrived.  I'm just reviewing it because I am an advent junkie with this opportunity to capture our children's heart's, minds, and souls from little on with the true meaning of Christmas, being God being with us.  

goodbook company partner review: Deborah and the Very Big Battle by Tim Thornborough

 

Very Best Bible Series- released November 18, 2020

Things I like about the book:

• After starting with the signature phrase, "this is a true story from the Bible," this book gives the audience jobs to do as they listen to the truth.  Three simple tasks: finger to your lips, hand to your ear, or point to your hand.  In ministry to kids, a tool like this is GOLD in focus and attention. 
• This book has a rhyming component, making the book have a singsong feel. 
• There is also repetition in the book. 
• Amazing illustrations that come to life.  
• Female focused.  Deborah is the leader who follows God and the others follow her.  Our kids need to know the events in the Bible where women were central as well as the many, many events that the main leaders were male.  
• The author's style with motions, rhyme, repetition, key truths, and great description gives this book a fluency and engagement for littles.  
• Hardback book, with thick glossy, sturdy pages, it should last the test of time and even a classroom of children. 

Things I wonder about the book:

• This book not only doesn't capitalize pronouns like his/him when referring to God, it does capital Word when it means the Word of the Lord which is inconsistent to me.  
• I wonder why we share a "true story from the Bible" and don't share the reference to read it in a physical or e-book Bible and check out the facts as an adult?  

Educational Connections:

• Explore other women who had significant contributions to following God.  
• God's speaking through His Word- the Bible- connections, teaching this concept. 
• Obeying and Listening practice with follow the leader or Simon says, and connect to sometime's it's hard to follow and complete a task.  But it is important to follow God. 
• Battle- charge, reenact with army men or little figures- and have all 900 drop because God said.  

Thankful to partner with the goodbook company and review another solid biblical book.  

New Growth Press Partner Review: Jesus Came for Me by Jared Kennedy

 

Jesus Came for Me

The True Story of Christmas, 

a Board book by Jared Kennedy 

Read a Sample

What I like about this book: 

• Jared Kennedy does an excellent job sharing the biblical events in an engaging, educational, age-appropriate manner.  I enjoy all that he has developed for children.  
• Questions at the end of each section, that build connections with the child and the learning concept. 
• Scripture References to look up the event in your own Bible.  
• Clear, concise, child-friendly images that enhance the book. 
• Concept/Vocabulary Emphasis: Wait, Believe, Immanuel-God with Us, temple 
• Word choices enhance and connect to the Bible text as well as key concepts that reoccur in the Bible, it's understandable for the toddler/preschool audience, but it's also building literacy skills for the children and biblical literacy. 
• Developmental concepts: young/old, Good News, emotions- angry, selfish, gifts, Jesus is the best gift.  

Wonders:

• How many people will be disappointed if they own the Beginner's Gospel Story Bible and realize that the three stories are the same?  Of course, a board book serves a different audience and setting.  
• I don't have a physical copy of the board book, so I wonder about the quality of pages, durability, etc.  

Educational Connections: 

Zechariah/Elizabeth

• Play the Quiet Game (not talking for 9 months? waiting! it's hard)
• Jump for Joy (like the baby in Elizabeth's womb)
• Writing practice- My Name is John
• Use Sign Language or Hand Signals to communicate directions- to show how Zechariah had to live.  

Baby Jesus 

Talk about:         Good News- Jesus lived on earth as God and man- He came to take the punishment of our sins- and rescue us!  He died for our sins. It’s good news! 

•         Waiting:  people had been waiting for hundreds of years for the Messiah to come.  God helped everyone to believe and wait for His arrival- and NOW He is here!  And That’s good news!  

• God is with us: Emmanuel- God lives here

• Act out the events so far.  With children as the actors or with a nativity scene.  

Wise Men

Star Game: Use the star, show the kids, then have them close their eyes, and hide the star.

 Then say, “wise man, wise man, where’s your star? You’ll need it or you won’t get far!” Have the kids open their eyes and look for the star- hint with hot (as they get close) or cold (when they move away). After it’s found, that child or you can re-hide it and play again.   

GAME: FOLLOW THE STAR

Purpose: Children pretend to be the Wise Men following the star to find baby Jesus, the promised King.

Supplies: baby Jesus laminated figure, large paper star

Prepare: Hide the baby doll before starting.

The Wise Men knew God promised there would be a special star shining when He sent the greatest king. Let’s pretend we are the Wise Men searching for the newborn King. Follow the star!

Directions:

1. Hold the star over your head and walk around the play area in a random pattern. Have the children follow behind you.

2. Stop and hold the star over the place where you have hidden the doll. Can you find baby Jesus? Wait for the children to find the baby, Jesus.

3. Say: “We found baby Jesus! He is our King.”                     4. Children say: “God keeps His promises!”

5. Play again, as time allows. Have children take turns holding the star and hiding the baby 

An enjoyable book for this season!   

Book Review: Talking Back to The Purity Culture by Rachel Joy Welcher

 

 Look I bought this book!

I appreciate Rachel Joy Welcher’s desire to be sure that the church has open conversations about these important truths, makes clear decisions about teaching Gods Word over the cultures interpretation of the Bible.  She does a great job setting the stage, raising the issues, and informing the readers of concerns, cautions, and she ends the book with her prayerfully approached response to this culture, and shares the concepts and scripture to approach educating the next generation from a biblical worldview.  

I think this book is a great jumping point for conversations, as a parent of teens, I appreciated the last few chapters that focused on ways to address sexuality and Gods design that might prevent some of the misunderstandings of the rules based expectations.  Read the book.  The last few chapters were my favorites.

I love the discussion questions and activity that every chapter ends with.  I love the research and interviews the book is built on, and the foundation of scripture integrated throughout the book.  

I wonder if her directness, the bold aspects of sexual relationships, experiences, and stories will be too much for some readers, it certainly may make many blush, even more uncomfortable, but while it’s a sensitive topic, she’s approached it well, with her experience and others well represented, and she doesn’t fully give the list of clear do’s and don’ts that some may hope for in a book on the purity culture.  

To help a review reader gain my perspective.  I’m 48, married almost 26 years.  I have two teens, ages 15 and 18, and an almost 11 year old.  My place and story in the early end of this culture is shared below.  

I was a teen in the start of this cultural movement, with the True Love Waits events.  I was a newlywed and youth leader when the culture expanded to I Kissed Dating Goodbye and I read the book so I could connect, I was an education college faculty member in the era of purity rings, contracts, even bigger cultural impacts than my era. That said, I married my high school sweetheart, after college, and we attended different colleges only seeing one another at holidays, and rare prepaid card calls.  We didn’t date the whole way through, giving us space to find our identities outside our relationship, and outside our parents homes.  But we waited until we were married to follow Gods design and plan, but we held hands, hugged, kissed, and hotly debated often keeping our physical connection appropriate and honoring to one another and God. 

So in many ways I experienced this culture, had great friends, leaders, mentors, and family where we had conversations about Gods design for relationships and his design for sexual intimacy.  I’m thankful that my training was focused on the Word of God and making my life’s decisions around His truth.  And I challenged those single young people who discussed this with me, not to focus on the rules or pledges, but to focus on following and honoring God by their choices.  Sin is sin plain and clear.  Lying is a sin, having sex before marriage is a sin, in Gods eyes all sin separates us from God. It’s only by His grace, His plan, and the saving work of Jesus dying, rising again, and giving us the Holy Spirit that we can have a relationship with God and bring Him glory by living for Him.  

New Growth Press Partner Review: God Made Me for Worship Helping Children Understand the Church by Jared Kennedy

This book intrigues me-- it's been a theme that I've invested in, researched, taught, created handouts for families, shared with elementary-age children, and created a "little church" for our children out of the nursery but not yet ready to sit for a 75-90 minute Big Church service.  While I do not attend a 'liturgical' church, I appreciate rhythms, routines, and practices.  Many spiritual practices are rooted in clarity and are simple, easily understood techniques to help all people, but they are repeated so they really benefit those still learning- our children.  

Jared Kennedy is a favorite author of mine has created the Beginner's Gospel Storybook Bible with 52 biblical events developed for our youngest learners.  He gets kids.  He really gets little kids, his books have questions built-in, and he expects the child/ren to answer out loud, making it so easy to build these versions of the Bible events into preschool/pre-K Sunday school.  

I do not yet own this physical book,  Before I review this book, I think it's helpful to read the note from the author on the first page of the book for parents or caregivers, it explains the intent.  

Dear Parent or Caregiver,

 I wrote this book to give you a way to introduce your children to public worship. When you think of explaining a worship service, you might say something like this: “First, we sing. Then, we listen to the sermon.” But most worship gatherings involve more than music and preaching. When the church gathers, we follow a rhythm—or liturgy—of call and response. It’s like a big game of follow the leader. We hear God speak and then we move in response to him.

 Maybe you’ve noticed this rhythmic back and forth in your own church’s gatherings. First, you hear God’s Word call to you—perhaps in what we describe literally as the “call to worship”—but then also in words of blessing or assurance and finally in the sermon’s words of instruction. Then, after you hear from God’s Word, you respond by lifting your voice in song, greeting others, giving, or by shouting, “Amen!”

 We repeat this back and forth every week when we come to church, just as Christians have for hundreds of years. During the Reformation, John Calvin saw a need to help the church rehearse gospel rhythms when it gathered for worship.1

 His liturgy followed three movements:

 • Adoration—Drawn from Isaiah 6, this rhythm reveals God as holy and calls upon sinners to respond with a cry for mercy.

 • Renewal—Rooted in the burning bush story of Exodus 3, this rhythm begins with reading and teaching God’s Word then calls for a response of reverence and humility.

 • Commitment—This rhythm, based in Luke 24, involves seeing Christ’s glory and participating in it as we gather around the table for communion.

 God Made Me for Worship walks kids through each of these rhythms. My goal is that they’ll see and learn how all the parts of worship work together to tell the gospel story. The words we use to describe the parts of worship and the particular orders of worship we follow differ from church to church. But a wide variety of traditions view gathered worship as a weekly rehearsal of the good news. And that’s my prayer, that the children who read this book will learn to love and enjoy their church’s regular gatherings, because in worship they hear Christ speak and then by faith respond.

 With joy in Christ, Jared Kennedy 

I watched this video and then contacted the publisher and was offered a pdf copy to review.  After sharing the link with friends and church leadership as I think this book could benefit the children in my home church.  

What I liked about this book: 

• Gospel emphasis. Worship works together to tell (or review) the gospel story.  
• The author's purpose is achieved- I love this book because it's clearly reminding the audience that we are to love and enjoy this precious time together!
• Biblical Connections: Ephesians 5, Isaiah 6, and Luke 22 tying together Biblical foundations of worship.  These passages are either in the book or the references given and the concepts explained- with a statement to look it up in your own Bible- this is a biblical literacy skill!  
• Too often we speak and teach of worship, as the New Testament shares and teaches, but it all started with the Prophet Isaiah, and this connection is so well done, I think many adults will make connections they haven't understood. 
• This book is reality-based, the premise is Alice asks the Pastor a question about the meeting of the church.  It's confusing to her.  Her words, his answers, and the other dialogue bring the book completely to life, and it's a realistic scenario.
• I shared the author's intro letter above, and didn't know until I read the pdf that he also has a two page on how to teach children about worship at the end of the book with more scripture to integrate and other conversations to share with your family.  
• Questions integrated into the book- and answers expected!  Engaging!
• Illustrations and print, clear, readable, uncluttered, yet warm, colorful, and engaging.  
• The main child's name is Alice- and my twin sister is named Alice which is not a common name, so when it's in a book, I love it.  
• People in the book are represented as different skin tones, ethnicities.  Not only are their faces realistic but while I own other books this illustrator has drawn- I've never noted the expressions, the paster winks, the kids have many appropriate facial expressions and emotions.

What I wonder about this book:

• If the book is listed as an ages 5-8, why does the book include 4th-grade kids whotypically are 9 and 10 years old?  I think this book could easily be used with children ages 5-11, and one of my friends watched it for me, and said her almost 3 years old sat through the author's reading and answered most questions out loud!  
• How many adults will learn something from this book?
• Will littles be confused by this book, if the worship service they attend is different than the liturgical elements the book lists?  
• Call to Worship
• Praise & Adoration
• Confession & Lament
• Words of Assurance
• Welcome
• Ministry of the Word
• Communion
• Obedience
• Tithes
• Benediction 
• Our church does not have this order, these titles, or the formality that this liturgical process implies (to me).  But we do have a Call to Worship and during our Worship, we praise and adore, and during our Lord's supper, our Ministry of the Word, Prayers, and sharing we often have mention of confession, lament, obedience, and a benediction prayer but these are not named elements of the service, and we don't have a welcome and greet one another regularly, and certainly not in a pandemic (but we do welcome and greet one another a lot before and after our meeting.) 
• Our leadership has streamlined our service so much that we do not have an offering passed during the meeting, but rather a place to give an offering as you come and go from our meeting. We also have the option to give through our website and set up a reoccurring offering electronically.  
• But I also wonder, if a parent or leader can't just explain to the child who is listening, this is a traditional formal church service plan, and every local gathering of believers plans their meeting to meet the needs of those in attendance and to worship God corporately.  So our meeting looks a little different, our meeting locations have been very different, but all of the elements in the examples are part of a rhythm that are aspects of biblical worship and corporate meetings. 
• Having seen the pdf version, many of the 'headings' that traditional churches may use are separate titles on the page, and could easily be ignored, explained, or included.  Let your children ask, wonder and intrigue is the foundation of learning!  
• Because I wondered about how this book would be appreciated in my circle of local church friends, I shared the video with a few teacher friends, a few parents, others in children's ministry, etc.  Not one of them has said anything but positive things about this book, and they all see value in it.  Several commented that this would be good for adults as well, one watched it with her almost 3 year old who actively answered the questions and stuck with most of the reading of it, and I read it to my almost 11 year old daughter, who maturely said- "It's good, and it would be useful."  

Connections:

• In the book, in the letter shared above from the start of the book, and in the two pages at the end, there are verses and passages to look up, suggestions like talk about lifting hands in worship, and several other elements that would be great and are really needed for children to grasp what is happening in your local church, perhaps a relatives local church that has a different order, structure, is more or less formal. 
• I wished before visiting different denominations of family and as a college student, I'd had a book like this that had exposed me to more information, and made it more normal, so perhaps I would have discussed it more with family or others at churches I attended in college.  
• Discussiosns of the church being the people- the body of Christ from I Corinthians could also occur, as well as an opportunity to help children understand that there are different denominations, different types of churches, but that many are like our church, centered on the good news- the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
• Social-Emotional learning- the facial expressions of characters would be great to ask children- what does it mean when her face looks like that?  Could he look like that and could it mean more than one thing?  Do we express our thoughts, feelings, and emotions in our eyes? mouth? whole face?  ... 

Thankful to partner with New Growth Press and have a chance to review the pdf of this book, I hope this becomes a new regular review partner, as I own A LOT of the books published by this group.

 And if you like this book, until November 3, 2020 it's 40% off if you buy 1 copy, or 50% off if you buy 5 copies, and they also have 50% off 5 books in the God Made Me series (by different authors) as well.  WTSbooks as always showcased new promising books and has amazing sales!  

New Growth Press has it on sale but not as discounted, but I know they will have codes and deals all throughout the holiday season, and they ship free at $25.  Sign up for their emails to learn about their books.  Also sold at amazon, christianbook, barnes and noble, and BAM.   

I am not an affiliate with any of these companies, so I do not make a profit or percent, I just love sharing books that help us be equipped to whisper the Word in natural ways with our children, grandchildren, Sunday School class, Christian school classroom, wherever you have a chance to share the Good News with the next generation.  

goodbooks partner review: Moses and the Very Big Rescue by Tim Thornborough

The Very Best Bible Story Series

Written by Tim Thornborough and Illustrated by Jennifer Davison

Every book in the series includes on the first page: "in this true story from the Bible."  This is a connection I made last year and I have started to try to change my vocabulary when sharing a lesson from the bible I try to say, today I have a biblical event to share with you.  And I've been trying to eliminate story from my teaching the Bible language.  It is easier for me to remember to tell children that each lesson from the Bible is true.  

This is a new series for me. There were four books published in November 2019- Noah, Jonah, Daniel, and David & Goliath.  In 2018, the series began with, A Very Noisy Christmas and in January 2019, A Very Happy Easter.   Next month, November 16, 2020, to be exact,  this book and Deborah are launching to the world.  These books are designed for the 2-4-year-old.  Compared to the Tales that Tell the Truth Series,  that I have reviewed a few of the books from, and that I own all of this series.  That is geared to ages 3-6, but I've used it with elementary-age children regularly as well.  I recently discovered that the goodbook company makes it easy for kidmin people to use their books in their ministry by providing all the artwork images in a file for each of the children's books they produce.  So that you can show it on a large screen while reading the book aloud.  

So on with my normal routine-- a book review.  

What I like about the book:

• Illustrations- not only are the pictures warm, friendly, modeling expression, and emotion, the illustrations include painted words, some large for emphasis.  The people and images seem to jump off the page.  The color choices are realistic yet there is whimsy present as well.  
• Developmental concepts included in the book- counting down! 
• Lots of great descriptions with active verbs, adjectives, and alliteration.  
• Fun. Vivid. Inclusive. Active. Enjoyable. True. Accurate. 
• Focus is on the TRUTH, and the portrayal for kids of this historic event is done with novelty, passion, and it is made memorable with the style of the writing and images.    

What I wonder about the book:

• Why do people capitalize God, but not capitalize the pronouns that refer to Him?  Am I just old school?  I think that God deserves to be recognized as God and respected for His character and nature with a capital letter. 
• Is it too long for the littles?  I only have the pdf, with the virus, the printed copies are not done as planned.  And while it is fun and engaging, it's hard to judge if it's too involved and wordy or not.  

Educational connections:

• As explained above, "this is a true story from the Bible."  So discussing true vs. fiction.  
• Bible is the Word of God.  It is true.  Lessons on why we know the Bible is true. 
• The Plagues- bring in darkness vs. light, different animals and insects, so many concepts. 
• Pharaoh and his fit in history (if this is older kids). His power vs. God's power.  
• Concepts: Counting down, Description, People and Sin- hard hearted, stubborn 

Thankful to partner with the goodbook company and review this book. I hope to get to read all the others.  

Tim Thornborough is the publishing director of the goodbook company.  I enjoy his article on the Gospel Coalition site.  

Chosen Partner Review: Spiritual Intelligence: The Art of Thinking Like God by Kris Vallotton

I am fascinated by brain research and how we can re-wire our brains and make them stronger.  A book about spiritual intelligence intrigued me.  Reading the information about the book, talked in concepts that I have learned about and embraced like mindset, EQ emotional intelligence, and IQ intelligence quotient and it added the component of SQ spiritual quotient.  It mentioned the book would share five dimensions of spiritual intelligence.  So it sounded like a book for me.  

I knew that it was from a smaller focused aspect of Baker/Bethany books- and the description is:  chosen publishes well-crafted books that recognize the gifts and ministry of the Holy Spirit and help readers live more empowered and effective lives for Jesus Christ.  In the email, it suggests that these books will be Charismatic.  So I was not sure what to expect, but the forward is written by a neurologist.  And the vocabulary seemed to build into my background knowledge and would expand my horizon, even if it might vary from my core theology.  

In reading the book, I completed a Spiritual Intelligence Assessment.  I enjoyed the author's biblical insight, regular connections to events in the Bible, and people from history, as well as clear verses about the Holy Spirit's role in our lives.  The author's style mixes facts and his experiences and attempts to define terminology, and the concepts the author develops.  

This book stretched me, and I'm not sure that I have enough experience and background knowledge to really grasp the full intent and meaning of how the author is developing his own SQ.   The first warning was his discussion of the gifts of the Spirit, of how his pastor had typically preached about a gift in the morning, and in the Sunday evening meeting the time was spent "experimenting with one another with the Holy Spirit."  But I kept reading and recognized many concepts about familiar brain research discussed in the next two chapters, and it was grounded in concepts that made sense to me.  

As the book moved on, the next area that had me wondering was the concept of thinking like God and taking on His divine thinking.  This is where I began to search for a better understanding of the concepts, and the first time the author suggested that the reader was ready to complete the assessment and measure my Spiritual Intelligence to set goals for growth, I did.  This expanded the five areas of SQ in my understanding and matched with the examples from the book of the author's experiences and growth, I realized that this book is not one that I can give a fair review.  I need more interaction with others about how the gifts of the Holy Spirit appear in our lives, and how they are manifested.  I believe that the author is growing in SQ, and with reading over half of the book, I believe my mindset has been impacted and I'm growing spiritually.  

The book's intent is to be practical teaching on how to grow your SQ.  It is practical.  There are stories, there are metaphors, there are many biblical connections, he has the experience to share.  So it seems to be a well-done non-fiction book.  But to really grasp the intent, the areas of growth, and the SQ that the author is trying to develop in the reader, I'm not ready to measure that with my knowledge and understanding.  Nor am I ready to rate the book fairly.  so I will post it as a 3-star book- since I can't judge it as great or good, nor can I determine if it's inaccurate or unbiblical.  

Thankful to partner with Chosen Books and expand my horizons and have a new area to grow in.