Posted on Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Book Review – Bible Stories For His Beautiful Princess

Sometimes you just have to read things that are out of your normal genre.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been reading stories from Bible Stories For His Beautiful Princess. That’s because I have a three year old daughter, and she is completely fixated on princess stuff right now. Princess pajamas. Princess movies. Princesses wear their hair like this Daddy. Princesses dance this way Daddy.

In fact, my daughter is fully convinced that she is a princess. So when I saw the opportunity to read and review Bible Stories For His Beautiful Princess, and enjoy doing it with my daughter, that was a no-brainer for me.

My daughter and I have really enjoyed the time together.

Bible Stories For His Beautiful Princess isn’t really a Bible. The stories are Bible stories, but they are simplified and generalized to the point where they can only really be referred to as “Bible-based.” That’s quite alright, though. My daughter is only three, after all, and the finer details of most of the stories contained in these pages would be lost on her. But at the same time, these stories serve to teach her the basics of many of the main themes found throughout the Bible.

After each story, there are two closing elements. There is the Princess Jewel. This is a brief value lesson derived from each story. My daughter and I say these out loud together, enjoying finding the jewel of truth from each story.

The other element is the Princess Prayer. This is a brief prayer that seeks God’s help in applying the lesson learned form each Bible story. Again, my daughter repeats these after me, learning to ask God for his leading and becoming quite comfortable praying.

Bible Stories For His Beautiful Princess is an incredible resource that I enjoy sharing with my daughter. And she’s excited about it as well. After all, it is a princess Bible, and she carries it proudly to church, around the house, and has even been seen sleeping with it.

If you have daughters, and if they love princesses and princess things, then you need to check out Bible Stories For His Beautiful Princess. It’s an incredible opportunity to spend some quality time together.

My daughter’s favorite story so far is the story of Ruth? What Bible stories do your kids enjoy? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

If you would like to share Bible Stories For His Beautiful Princess, by Sheri Rose Shepherd, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 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.“

Posted on Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Rejuvenating Your Prayer Life (ESD)

Probably one of the most difficult spiritual disciplines I face is the challenge of keeping my prayer life fresh and meaningful. It seems too easy to slip into a dull routine, praying the same prayers, or types of prayers, every day.

Once you fall into that rut, it can be difficult to pull yourself out of it. But if you want to experience a vivid and meaningful prayer life, you must do something to revitalize your prayers.

Woman Praying

Building a vibrant prayer life isn’t as difficult as it seems. Of all the methods I’ve tried in my life, none of them has been difficult. The only difficulty I’ve experienced has been in my consistency in maintaining the habit. It’s easy to fall into a dulling routine, or to become complacent in your prayer life.

But when that happens, your spiritual health suffers as if you’d just been sealed away from the life-giving oxygen that we need to survive. The frightening part is that we may not even notice that we’ve drifted until the effects are drastic.

For that reason, it’s crucial that we develop and maintain the discipline of a healthy prayer life. Over the course of my life and ministry, I’ve discovered a few ways that have helped me to keep my perspective fresh. Hopefully, they will help you as well.

Posted on Monday, March 3, 2014

Coffee Break – 03.03.2014

Stovetop Roasting – As a coffee roaster, I’m always looking for new items and accouterments to experiment with. This stove top roaster looks pretty fun. My only reservation is that roasting produces very strong smells. I like it, but my family finds it a bit (okay, a lot) overbearing. Still, it would be fun to try.

The Legend Of Zelda Timeline Theory – My favorite video games of all time are found in the Legend of Zelda series. The seeming discontinuity always frustrated me. Here are a few ideas of how all the different games in this franchise can actually fit into a timeline. Now I have to go home and play…

Top Ten Reasons For Choosing A Paper Book Over An eBook – My brother is a diehard ebook guy. I’m a diehard print book guy. We have some interesting conversations. This inforgraphic gives several excellent reasons why I’m right. As usual.

Every Dream In The Bible – Dreams hold a prominent place in Scripture. God uses them several times to speak to his people. This is an interesting infographic that compares the 21 dreams found in the Bible.

Three Big Opportunities That Busy Pastors Miss – Our society is a culture of busy-ness. Often we are too busy. And that causes us to miss out on some pretty important things. Here are three big things that busy pastors miss.

Why Every Girl Longs For A Father’s Love – All too often, fathers don’t fulfill the role of Daddy. And a little girl (and boys, too) needs the love of a Daddy. This is a brief and excellent article that can help fathers be better Daddys.

Writing A Family Mission Statement – I’m not sure I’d ever go so far as to literally do this as described here. But the concept is pretty intriguing. A family needs a mission just like anything else, right? Have you ever done this? Would you?

There comes a special moment in everyone’s life, a moment for which that person was born… When he seizes it… it is his finest hour. – Winston Churchill

Posted on Sunday, March 2, 2014

Memorize Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:1-3

After Paul’s diversion onto the topic of three individuals, two who abandoned the faith, and one who stayed strong, he returns to his plea for Timothy to “endure hardship” and stay faithful to the message, and to Paul.

You can see this week’s passage in 2 Timothy 2:1-3:

2 Timothy 2:1-3

Over the next few verses, Paul will encourage Timothy to stay strong in the faith. He will use a series of illustrations to make his point throughout this chapter. He will use the image of a son (verses 1-2), a soldier (verses 3-4), an athlete (verse 5), a farmer (verses 6-13), a workman (verses 14-19), a utensil (verses 20-23), and as a servant (verses 24-27).

Paul’s words throughout this chapter paint a vivid picture of how a believer, and a minister, should live.

Paul starts off with the phrase “you then.” This is an emphatic link to the previous chapter. Some believe that it links back to verses 6-14, connected by the repetition of the call to endure hardship and suffering. Others feel that it serves as a contrast to the three men mentioned in the last verses of the preceding chapter, calling Timothy to be more like Onesiphorus and not like Phygelus and Hermogenes. If this is the case, Paul may be calling Timothy to leave Ephesus and come to Rome. I’m not certain this is the case, because too much of this letter lends itself to the instructions Timothy would need to continue in ministry there.

So that means that Paul has come back to his point after digressing on the matter of those three other men. Paul exhorts Timothy to stay strong in the face of opposition. How is he to do that? Only by the grace of Christ is that possible.

Posted on Sunday, March 2, 2014

Top Posts For February 2014

Another month has come and gone. I don’t know about where you live, but so far, 2014 has been a crazy year, from a weather perspective. We’ve had several big snows this winter, and are facing another one this weekend.

Sounds like a good time to build up the fire in the fireplace, sit back with my laptop and write a few new posts, or finish a book or three.

February 2014 Word Picture from Wordle.net

Along with the crazy weather, we’ve had a busy season in our lives as well. Our daughter was a cheerleader for basketball season, keeping us busy for several months. That’s finally come to an end, and now we are looking at spring activities on the horizon, if we can get past the ice and snow on the forecast.

It’s been a busy ministry season as well. With a lot coming up in the near future, a conference last week, and studies and classes and books to read and review… Whew! Life stays pretty busy, and only seems to get busier. That’s why it is so crucial to take some time to relax and rest on a regular basis. That’s one of the topics coming up in the Establishing Spiritual Disciplines series.

In case you missed them, here are my top seven posts for the month of February:

Even though it’s been busy, I’ve been making a solid effort to write more. And, I’ve been trying to write more meaningful content. It’s been a challenge for me to improve, because I know where my goals lie and how badly I want to get there. I’m trying to keep an objective view, and I think I can see improvement.

This list is evidence of that. Over the past several months, several posts from the Foundations Of Youth Ministry series continue to show up on this list. I was worried about the fact that my newer content never seemed to make it. But over the past few months, I’ve seen a solid mix of both older and newer content make the list, stuff from my series called How To Develop A Daily Routine, and articles from my series on communication. That really excites me. That tells me that my efforts are paying off. Now I just have to keep it up.

My favorite post from February is from the series Establishing Spiritual Disciplines, and is called The Purpose Of Prayer. This is a series I’m really excited about, and am looking forward to the topics on the list.

Plus, there is a new blog on the horizon that I’m pretty excited about. That’s all I’ll say about it for now, but stay tuned for more info on that bit of juicy knowledge in the coming weeks.

Have a great month!

If you are a blogger, leave a comment with your top post for the month. If you don’t blog, leave a comment with a favorite post or blog that you read this month.

You have to think anyway, so why not think big?

Donald Trump

Posted on Monday, February 24, 2014

Coffee Break – 02.24.2014

Before There Was Tea, There Was Coffee – When most people think of coffee, they generally don’t think of England. But did you know that for over a hundred years, coffee was the drink of choice in England? This small bit of history is incredibly fascinating.

How Dogs Drink Water – I’ve always thought that the way a dog drinks sure does waste a lot of water. It’s not very efficient. Actually, it’s pretty cool how dogs are designed. Have you ever wondered why dogs have such big tongues? Now you know…

Get More Sleep – I’ve been saying this for years, without the scientific study to back it up. And now, there’s an infographic.

Why Writers Are The Worst Procrastinators – This is something I have to guard against very carefully. If I don’t, I procrastinate everything. So I found this interesting.

The Danger Of Forgetting How To Read The Bible – Over the course of my ministry, I’ve known dozens of men and women who destroyed their ministries because of a moral failure. It’s sad, but I think these men and women could have prevented their fall. When we forget how to read the Bible devotionally, we are in danger of seeing our spiritual growth stagnate. And that will always lead to problems.

On Humility – Humility is one of those characteristics we seem to have eliminated from our lives. But it is extremely necessary. This is a well written article describing the need and benefits of keeping this attitude forefront in our lives.

7 Habits Of A Highly Effective Date Night – My wife and I try to date at least every other week, without the kids. Here are a few good points to keep in mind as you strive to date your spouse.

The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them; a man may live long yet live very little. – Michel de Montaigne, French essayist

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