History Lives: Chronicles of the Church Book Review

Series Title: History Lives: Chronicles of the Church

Titles: Peril & Peace, Monks & Mystics, Courage & Conviction, Hearts & Hands, and Rescue & Redeem.

Author: Mindy & Brandon Withrow

Publisher: Christian Focus Publications

Ages: 9-14

This five volume series provides children nine to fourteen with a clear and comprehensive history of the church through those people who followed Christ. It is written in a modern style and brings to life both the struggles of the church as well as the many ways it has glorified God. The series covers 3B.C. through today, and concludes with a look to the future.

Each volume provides the reader with a clear understanding of the major historical events of the time period covered. In addition, the series contains numerous special sections providing the reader with background explanations and additional information to help them understand and appreciate the times the events were occurring in. I would highly recommend this series for families with children in later elementary and middle school. Below is a brief summary of each book in the series.  

Peril and Peace: Chronicles of the Ancient Church Vol. 1

Beginning with the Apostle Paul and ending with Benedict this volume covers the first 550 years of the church. In addition, to describing the historical events through the lives of Christ’s followers the reader will learn about persecution, worship, creeds, and church councils.

Monks and Mystics: Chronicles of the Medieval Church Vol. 2

This volume begins with Gregory the Great and continues through 950 years to John Hus. The biographical information presented through the narratives brings church history to life for the reader. This volume includes an examination of Isalam, division in the church, the Crusades, the first university, creeds and councils, and the Renaissance.

Courage and Conviction: Chronicles of the Reformation Church Vol. 3

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were a time of tremendous changes to the church. From Erasmus to John Eliot this was a time of action as the Scriptures were studied and the church faced many challenges.

Hearts and Hands: Chronicles of the Awakening Church Vol. 4

Jonathan Edwards to David Livingstone this volume examines the time the gospel exploded around the world. During this time period there were revivals from Europe to the Americas. It was during this time the need and urgency of world missions came to the forefront of many Christians.

Rescue and Redeem: Chronicles of the Modern Church Vol. 5

This volume continues examining world missions with Hudson Taylor and looks at the last 150 years of church history. Special sections focus on modern missions and Bible translations.

The Flood and Heaven Are For Real

In recent weeks there have been several movies released with the Christian audience in mind. Rather than discussing each specific movie and its strengths or weaknesses, as followers of Christ we need to remember the Biblical principles and calling that God has placed on each of our lives. The Bible is clear we are not of this world, but we are in the world and we must practice Biblical wisdom and discernment if we are to avoid the prevalent traps of the world.

How should a Believer decide what movies to see or not to see? What books to read? What music to listen too? The test should be the same for everything we expose ourselves and our children too. I Thessalonians 5:21-22 instructs us to … test everything; hold fast what is good.  Abstain from every form of evil. This is not always as obvious as it may seem. If a movie is marketed as Biblically based or intended for a Christian audience does that mean Christians should lower their guard and automatically hold fast to it?  

Whether something is marketed as Christian or not we need to ask ourselves several questions.  First, is what I am going to see, read, or hear glorifying to God? God’s desire is for all His followers to glorify Him.[1] The Bible tells us among the many ways we can glorify Him we should rely on Him, praise Him, and do everything to His glory.[2] He desires our obedience and love which should be the outflow of our hearts desire for Him. Are we glorifying Him when we are being entertained by the sinful actions of others whether real or imagined? Can He be glorified when we are watching His Truth changed to glorify someone else? We must ask ourselves, does what we are watching glorify God? 

The majority of the people living in the world today do not believe absolute truth exists. Yet, for Christians we are told to test and discern what is true.[3] We know absolute truth exists and God is the source of all Truth. Therefore we must ask ourselves this question. What does the Bible tell us about the subject and content of the media we are considering to view?  We must be cautious since we know there are false prophets and teachers who will try to take us captive.[4] When we examine the previews of a movie or read a summary of a book we need to avoid focusing on the accuracy between the media and the Bible. Rather we must look for the inaccuracies whether large or small!

We must also ask ourselves why we desire to watch, read, or listen to this specific media.  Often times we can convince ourselves the inaccuracies don’t really matter. We might justify our choice by thinking it could open a dialogue about spiritual things, even if much of the content is clearly inaccurate and falsely portrays the Truth. There might only be a little bit of inappropriate language or gratuitous violence, in our opinion. They might portray God, just a little, inconsistent with the Scriptures or make Jesus a little inept and forgetful in certain circumstances. They may share part of the gospel or use words from the Bible like heaven and ark.  

I have often told the families and children I minister to the following story to illustrate this point. If I am baking brownies for the church bake sale I always follow my mother’s recipe since it makes brownies people talk about for years to come. I can’t give you the whole recipe because there are some secret combinations of ingredients. However, what sets these brownies apart is one ingredient. Each batch of the brownies must contain a single tablespoon of fresh dog poop. Now there is less dog poop than any other ingredient in the recipe. Really it is just a small percentage of the ingredients, but it just makes the brownies unforgettable. 

There are well made, Biblically solid movies, unfortunately there numbers are few. The majority of the movies marketed to the Christian audience today do much more harm than telling only part of the story of God’s redemptive plan for man. Instead they take truths like the worldwide flood, angels, and Heaven and distort them in ways that can only be described as heretical. Believers today must be on guard so they are not led astray or taken prisoner by the philosophies and empty deceit of this world.  

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[1] 1 Corinthians 6:20

[2] Psalm 50:23, Romans 4:20, 1 Corinthians 10:31

[3] Matthew 10:16, 1 John 4:1,

[4] Matthew 24:24, Colossians 2:8

Theology Thursday: God's Omnipresence

Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:24

Background for Parents:

God’s attributes can be understood from an early age. This lesson focuses on the omnipresence of God. This is the first of the three attributes of God that commonly begin with the prefix “omni” meaning all. The scriptures are clear God is present everywhere (Jeremiah 23:24, Proverbs 15:3, Psalm 139:7-10, Job 24:21, Matthew 18:20, Romans 8:38-39, and many others). 

This lesson includes an object lesson using a kitchen sponge, scissors, and water. You will want to gather these materials prior to sharing this lesson. 

Memory Verse:  

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139:7-10

Introduction:

Have you ever wanted to hide from God? Are there people in the Bible who have tried to hide from Him? (Yes, in Genesis 3:8-10 we see Adam and Eve trying to hide from God because they had sinned.) Though sometimes people want to hide from God when they feel guilty about their sin, the Scriptures make it clear it is impossible to hide from Him. Since we cannot hide from God there is an amazing truth about Him we will learn today!

Lesson:

Today I have a total truth for you. God is omnipresent; He is everywhere, when we believe in Jesus He is always with us no matter where we are! 

The prefix “omni” means “all” and “present” can mean being in attendance. So omnipresence means all attendant. This tell us God is present everywhere at the same time. There are many verses in the Bible that describe God’s omnipresence.

(Show your children the sponge.) What is this? (Yes, it is a sponge.)  (Take the sponge and submerge it in a bowl of water.) Remove the sponge and gently wring out excess water.) Ask if the water is everywhere or all present depending on the age of your children. Take a pair of scissors and cut the sponge. Is it wet on the inside where the cut reveals more of the sponge? Keep cutting the sponge; is there any part of the sponge that is dry? No the entire sponge is wet. We can think of God like the water covering the sponge and the earth as the sponge. God is present everywhere just like the water. 

Read Psalm 139:1-10.

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
² You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
³ You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴ Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
⁵ You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high; I cannot attain it.

⁷ Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where shall I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.

This Psalm presents us with a view of God’s omnipresence. What does this Psalm tell us the Lord knows? (Yes, when we sit, stand, what we are thinking, our words, etc.) This Psalm teaches us God is everywhere and knows each one of us!

Read Jeremiah 23:24, Proverbs 15:3, Psalm 139:7-10, Job 24:21, Matthew 18:20, Romans 8:38-39

What do these verses teach us about God?

Total Truth:

I have a Total Truth for you today. Are you ready for the truth? Remember the world is full of big lies, but we can always learn the truth from the Bible! Today’s Total Truth is:

God is omnipresent; He is everywhere, when we believe in Jesus He is always with us no matter where we are! 

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Book Review: God's Names

Title: God’s Names

Author: Sally Michael

Illustrator: Fred Apps

Publisher: P&R Publishing

Ages: 8-12

Sally Michael, co-founder of Children Desiring God, provides families with a tremendous resource in her book God’s Names. Explaining the significance behind names for God used in the Scriptures she provides families with a tremendous tool to learn about God’s attributes. She specifically examines twenty-five different names for God and their meaning. Each of these chapters provides the reader with a clear understanding of the name, what it tells us about God, and concludes with a section titled “Learning to Trust God.”

Each chapter can be used as a weekly family study. The text is more than just the mere memorization of a list of God’s names and what they mean. Rather Mrs. Michael’s points directly to the Scriptures to show how each of the names teaches us we can trust God. Ending with suggested Scripture readings, family discussion questions, and activities to apply what has been learned, this book is a comprehensive Bible study for the whole family.