For brevity, I focus here on my disagreements with Shepherding a Child’s Heart—its application of some Scriptures and its overall emphasis. My main concerns are these:

1. The book’s focus on requiring obedience as the primary component of the parent/child relationship and emphasis on parental authority as the right to require obedience.
2. Tripp’s teaching that spanking is the means the parent must use in order to bring a child back into “the circle of blessing.”
3. Tripp’s interpretation that the “rod” in Proverbs equals spanking, that spanking is even for young children, that spanking is the God-ordained means of discipline (which parents must obey) and that use of the rod saves a child’s soul from death.
4. His portrayal of any other style or method of parenting in a derogatory manner and training parents’ consciences that failure to discipline as his book teaches is disobedience to God.

These points are the heart of Tripp’s teaching, and while his book contains many truths, it does not communicate the full truth of gospel-oriented parenting, as he claims it does.

1. Is obedience the primary component of the parent-child relationship, and is it right for parents to mainly exercise their authority as the right to require obedience?

For several reasons, I see the obedience emphasis as a frustrating, and even false, paradigm for the parent/child relationship. The truth of the gospel is that my child will never obey me or God perfectly while on the earth. I, an adult, will never obey God perfectly on this earth. The essence of the gospel is that perfect obedience to God’s standards is only achieved by Christ—and in Him, we are free from this exacting burden.

So emphasizing obedience as the primary component of the family relationship, as Tripp does, distorts the gospel and puts our focus on ourselves and our sinfulness—not only because we will always fail, but also because our works are not praiseworthy; they are only acceptable insomuch as they are the Spirit’s work. The gospel focuses us on Christ’s obedience and His complete sufficiency for us. And the deeper we understand and accept that truth, the more we are transformed into His image (i.e., the more we obey). Obedience is the fruit, not the object. Obedience is our joyful freedom, not our punishable law.

Martin Luther wrote:

Therefore the first care of every Christian ought to be to lay aside all reliance on works, and strengthen his faith alone more and more, and by it grow in the knowledge, not of works, but of Christ Jesus, who has suffered and risen again for him, as Peter teaches (1 Peter v.) when he makes no other work to be a Christian one….

Then comes in that other part of Scripture, the promises of God, which declare the glory of God, and say, “If you wish to fulfil [sic] the law, and, as the law requires, not to covet, lo! believe in Christ, in whom are promised to you grace, justification, peace, and liberty.” All these things you shall have, if you believe, and shall be without them if you do not believe. For what is impossible for you by all the works of the law, which are many and yet useless, you shall fulfil [sic] in an easy and summary way through faith, because God the Father has made everything to depend on faith….

Now, since these promises of God are words of holiness, truth, righteousness, liberty, and peace, and are full of universal goodness, the soul, which cleaves to them with a firm faith, is so united to them, nay, thoroughly absorbed by them, that it not only partakes in, but is penetrated and saturated by, all their virtues.¹

A better rubric for parenting is developing a loving relationship (which does entail teaching obedience) which prayerfully prepares a child’s heart so that it is favorable to receive the good seed of the gospel. Again, teaching obedience is one part of this. Tripp’s emphasis is wrong and his methods are limited—he claims that communication and the rod are the only “biblical” methods of discipline.

Second, on the subject of authority as the right to require obedience, Tripp writes:

Authority best describes the parent’s relationship to the child. (p. xix)

When your child is old enough to resist your directives, he is old enough to be disciplined. When he is resisting you, he is disobeying…. Rebellion can be something as simple as an infant struggling against a diaper change or stiffening out his body when you want him to sit in your lap. (p. 154)

Yes, loving parenting authority does require obedience, but the extent to which Tripp emphasizes this is mistaken. Though he mentions other aspects of servanthood in authority, his main thrust is authority as requiring obedience, and he goes to great lengths to teach parents exactly how to exercise authority in this manner. Tripp’s book makes this the main factor in the parent/child relationship in a manner that is not consistent with Scripture.

For example, God’s relationship with us as His children is characterized by many things other than His right to demand obedience from us. He emphasizes lovingkindness, rejoicing, longsuffering, compassion, and sacrifice. He meets our true needs, helps us to will and to do His good pleasure, has compassion on us, blesses us—and much more. Tripp gives little attention to how these apply to parenting.

We want to model the entire nature of God—not mainly God’s exercise of authority over us to command obedience. Communicating to my child that God can be trusted because He always is acting in wisdom, righteousness and truth toward us is the more godly path to obedience.

Again, Martin Luther understands:

This also is an office of faith: that it honours with the utmost veneration and the highest reputation Him in whom it believes, inasmuch as it holds Him to be truthful and worthy of belief…. What higher credit can we attribute to any one than truth and righteousness, and absolute goodness?

Thus the soul, in firmly believing the promises of God, holds Him to be true and righteous…. In doing this the soul shows itself prepared to do His whole will; in doing this it hallows His name, and gives itself up to be dealt with as it may please God. For it cleaves to His promises, and never doubts that He is true, just, and wise, and will do, dispose, and provide for all things in the best way. Is not such a soul, in this its faith, most obedient to God in all things?

In His dealings with us as His children, God does nothing like reaching down and spanking us each time we disobey. Sin has natural consequences, but God bears them with us, redeems them, and works in the secret places of our hearts transforming our beliefs and understanding about Him. Greater obedience results. His graciousness is not permissive, but it is very patient—training yet not demanding.

2. Does spanking bring a child back into the “circle of blessing”?

Shepherding a Child’s Heart connects spanking with blessing:

The rod returns the child to the place of blessing…. The rod of correction returns him to the place of submission to parents in which God has promised blessing. (p. 115)

The disobedient child has moved outside the place of covenant blessing. The parent must quickly restore the child to the proper relationship with God and the parent. As the child returns to the circle of blessing, things go well for him. He enjoys long life. (p. 135-136)

The Bible does not support Tripp’s teaching that spanking brings a child back into the “circle of blessing.” Spanking is not endued by God with such spiritual power, nor, in fact, is a parent endued with the power to restore the child. Biblically, confession and repentance restore our fellowship with God and others. Let’s cling to this promise: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (NASB, 1 John 1:9). Tripp’s made-up “circle of blessing” teaching goes beyond what God says.

Also, the command to obey was given to the child. Just as husbands are not told to make their wives submit and wives are not told to make their husbands love them, parents are not told to make their children obey.

I taught my daughters to obey—starting when they were small—because I wanted their hearts to be sensitive and trained in the things of God. But teaching obedience is only one facet of my parenting.

3. Has Tedd Tripp correctly interpreted the “rod” passages?

Tripp teaches that the “rod” in Proverbs equals spanking, that spanking is even for young children, that spanking is the God-ordained means of discipline (which parents must obey) and that use of the rod saves a child’s soul from death.

God has commanded the use of the rod in discipline and correction of children. It is not the only thing you do, but it must be used. He has told you that there are needs within your children that require use of the rod. If you are going to rescue your children from death, if you are going to root out the folly that is bound up in their hearts, if you are going to impart wisdom, you must use the rod. (p. SACH, 108)

The rod … is the parent, as God’s representative, undertaking on God’s behalf what God has called him to do. He is not on his own errand, but fulfilling God’s. (p. SACH, 109)

Tripp’s use of Proverbs 23:14 (NIV: “Punish him [a child] with the rod and save his soul from death”) is faulty. Only the grace of God saves us from death and from our sinfulness. It is unbiblical to assert that spanking is God’s “means of grace” for saving children in any way. We diligently teach our children to obey, but spanking them is not salvific in nature. In fact, it is usually unnecessary. There are many godly ways we can teach our children to obey: by our example, by physically helping them fulfill our instructions, by meeting their internal and external needs, by teaching that choices have consequences, etc. God does these things for us as His children.²

The book refers several times to this conversation:

Father: “I must spank you. If I don’t, then I would be disobeying God.” (p. 31)

And again, “Dear, you know what Mommy said and you did not obey Mommy. And now I’ll have to spank you.” (p. 103)

In reference to the mother’s actions, Tripp explains that “the issues of correction transcend the present. All earthly punishment presupposes the great day when destinies are eternally fixed” (p. 103).

The conversation Tripp describes suggests parents who are controlled by a parenting formula rather than by the Holy Spirit: “I must spank you.” And linking earthly punishment to the day of judgment is a distortion of God’s relationship to us. As His child, my eternal destiny was decided already, because He punished His Son, not me.

As His children, He does not consistently punish us when we sin. He trains and disciplines us consistently but He is not obligated to punish us. By teaching parents that they are required to spank, Tripp teaches children (and their parents) that—contrary to the gospel—God does punish us consistently for our sins. Because Christ was punished for us, God is free to use whatever methods of discipline He wishes in order to train us and bring us closer to Himself.

Luther’s words are helpful once again:

When I say, such a Person [Christ], by the wedding-ring of faith, takes a share in the sins, death, and hell of His wife, nay, makes them His own, and deals with them no otherwise than as if they were His, and as if He Himself had sinned…. Thus the believing soul, by the pledge of its faith in Christ, becomes free from all sin, fearless of death, safe from hell, and endowed with the eternal righteousness, life, and salvation of its Husband Christ.

Tripp errs gravely in asserting that spanking is God-ordained, that God’s methods of discipline are limited to communication and spanking, and that parents must spank or they are sinning.

The book also lacks adequate attention to age differences and stages of development—a great aid in child-rearing. On this point, Sally Clarkson writes:

The unfortunate thing is that many parents, in the name of faithful discipline, do not understand the differences between babies or toddlers or young children or even teens with all of their hormones, and they exhibit anger and harshness toward their children, act in a demeaning way, while neglecting the cues of the child at each stage. These parents have no perspective for the children themselves–they use a rule and formula no matter what–and often wonder why their children do not respond to them.³

4. Is Tripp correct that any other methods of parenting are ineffective and disobedient?

Finally, Tripp consistently describes other methods or styles of parenting or discipline as ineffective and undesirable. This is a weakness in his argument because other godly methods of biblical training do exist and have been used effectively for many years.

For example, a daughter of Puritan parents, Mary Fish (1736-1818) writes: “They were very watchful over us in all our ways, and they had such a happy mode of governing that they would even govern us with an eye, and they never used severity with us at all.”⁴

These summarize several of the major errors in teaching and emphases that I have found in Shepherding a Child’s Heart. The book includes several good teachings, but the overarching errors concern me to the point that I do not recommend the book to parents. Those considering promoting this book and its teachings seriously should give these topics a lot of thought.

**This review really made me think! What about you?**

What I Don’t Like

One thing I didn’t  appreciate was that Don includes two stories of other people who hear God speak to them while drunk or on drugs. The reason I have a big problem with this is that the Bible is clear that we are not to be drunk with wine but filled with the Spirit. If being drunk impedes the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts then it’s hard for me to believe that God chose that time to audibly speak to them. It just doesn’t make sense with what Scripture says.

What’s with all the cussing? I don’t’ get why cussing is so glorified in this book. Don describes Reed College as cool because of cussing and smoking, he loves the cussing pastor, he just seems to love cussing. I don’t’ get the fascination with using dirty words as cool. It’s not cool, it’s just unnecessary. It seems immature to love cussing that much.

What I Loved

I do not have the space here to tell you everything I loved about the chapter on Grace, but I loved it.  I identified with it. When he started describing his summer at camp and all the ways he tried so hard to be good. He makes a pact with his friends of all the evil they are going to avoid in order to be good. What I found particularly striking was that there is no mention of the good things he is going to do, just the bad things they are going to avoid. Anyway, Don explains how miserable he is the first time he breaks the rules on their year long pact. This is not the grace of God, it is simply man trying to earn God’s favor. I understood it. Grace is not a list of do’s and don’ts.

Authenticity. Wow. I know who Don is. I love that. He admits to unbelief, how sinful he is and his need of Jesus. I loved reading how he shared his beliefs and feelings with so many people. Not just the good stuff to make them admire him. He shared the bad stuff too and that is a behavior Christians can learn from.

He doesn’t shy away from sin. He calls it sin. He makes it clear that as humans we are depraved.

What I Still Don’t Get

What is with all the gay stuff? He seems to come back to this several times and I just don’t get it. Does he think homosexuality is a sin or not? Does he think it’s “cool” to be gay? I’m just confused.

Does he actually like any conservatives or republicans on a personal level? I know he says he loves fundamentalists, but is he friends with any of them currently? It seems he gravitates toward the liberal, as though they are better. They aren’t. Every group (in my opinion) has flaws. What is not flawed is Christ and we need him.

Conclusion

Don Miller is a popular guy among people in my generation and now I understand why. Young people crave honesty and transparency and Don Miller fits that description to a Tee. However it often feels as though he is just immature. Some ideas are good, but some are not accurate when it comes to theology, and that matters to me. A valid point mixed with bad theology doesn’t make a good book. I think that is what scares me about someone like Don Miller and Blue like Jazz. It becomes something more than just a book of a guys journey through Christianity. He has created a following of people who might not discern what is right and wrong. Blindly following this book or frankly any book that is not God’s Word is going to lead to a flawed world view. Should a Christian decide to attend and expound upon how much he loves a Unitarian church? NO.

There are things to ponder from this book. Is Satan using religion to keep us from God’s grace and to make us waste time? Yes, honestly agree with the author on this point.

If you are looking for a book to challenge the way you think pick up Blue Like Jazz. You will be forced to think about how you live and I would encourage you to compare that to Scripture. Read this book with a discriminating eye.

If you have read this book, I’d love to hear what you think about it. Tell me if you love it or hate it.

I’m not going to sugar coat this; if you read this book, be prepared for conviction almost instantly. She starts by pointing out that “gratitude feels optional…an acceptable sin,” and then clearly shows that an ungrateful heart is a sinful heart. On page 24, the author describes how our whining and complaining attitudes are from our lack of the Holy Spirit. I was particularly struck by her use of Romans 1:21, where Paul lists ingratitude along with the “terrible sins”. I don’t often think of ungratefulness as a “terrible sin” but it is.

At the end of chapter 3, I was feeling like a complete ingrate! I can see so many things in my own life that need to change. I was relieved to discover some reasons for gratitude and why it is so important in our daily lives. I had never really thought about the fact that Jesus was giving thanks at the Last Supper. He knew what would happen to Him that night, yet He was grateful. Would we be grateful if we were facing the same circumstances?

The author also connects our gratitude with our prayer life. This was an aspect of gratitude I had never considered before. “If you’ve always wanted prayer to be as natural as breathing, then pave the way with gratitude.” It’s true. If we have a thankful hearts we want to commune with the One who gives all good things. The author also challenges us to give thanks not only to God but to also to other people. On p. 119 she points out that Paul thanks people in all but 4 epistles. The thankful example of Paul was preserved in Scripture for a reason.

An especially great part of this book is that it includes a 30 day devotional in the back of the book. Each day includes a scripture reading and a small devotional. At the end is a challenging statement to help you reflect on the gratitude in your life each day.

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to increase the gratitude in their own life. Truly, this is an area everyone can improve on in their own life. Get this book and begin your journey to joy!

The cause of rebellion: Kids in Christian Homes Rebel Because They are actually lost and Don’t Know Christ Personally. This is just one of seven causes of rebellion that the author discusses. This one stands out to me. It is the first cause he lists and I think it is for good reason. Children learn from a young age to go through the motions of Christianity without actually being Christians. Kids are rebelling against the motions of Christianity; once they are older we see that Christ is not actually Lord of their lives. Since they have never accepted Christ, the motions eventually come to be seen for what they are, simply motions. A profession of faith does not mean that a child is saved.

In the second chapter he discusses different types of parenting that lead to rebellion and then describes “grace based parenting”(which is also the title of one of his other books). He is trying to help parents strike a balance between rules and grace. Personally, I think finding this balance is very difficult but in the author’s opinion this is key to avoiding rebellious children.

I could barely read Chapter 4, “Lessons from the Italian Stallion”. Sorry, I’m not a Rocky fan so this was not an analogy that appealed to me. Maybe Dad’s will find this chapter more interesting. All the references to Rocky though made the point of the chapter lost in boxing translation.

Once you get past these foundational chapters he gets into different types of Christianity which is fascinating. He describes Compulsory, Cliché, Comfortable, Cocoon, and Compromised Christianity. This is really the meat of the book. As I read these chapters I would easily think of families that fell into these different categories and would think about how their children turned out. I think it is important as you read these chapters to be open to your own weakness as a parent. It is easy to read chapters that describe the problems of “others” without identifying the ways we personally fail in these areas. So be open-minded as you read about the different types of Christianity.

The author ends the book with messages of hope for hurting parents. I found his list of “Top Ten Things to Remember When Dealing with Rebellious Children” very practical. I love that the first thing is “Never underestimate the power of prayer.”
I think this book is worth the read. Like pretty much any parenting book there are parts I disagreed with, but the overall thrust of the book was well received. If you are the parent of a rebellious child or young adult I think you will find comfort in this book. If you are the parents of young or school aged children this book will give you some tools to help your children avoid rebellion.

“Perhaps your trek through the different corridors of this book not only picked up the echoes of your son’s or daughter’s anger but your own too.” This parenting book is about the kids but it’s about all of us and our own rebellious nature.

by Marcus Buckingham

So when I got this book I was skeptical just from the cover. Shallow I know, but I am always leery about books on woman empowerment written by men. The sparkly-eyed man on the cover with the title of his book in bright pink did not attract me. The other reason for my skepticism was that although Thomas Nelson is a Christian book publisher, this is not a Christian book.

As I opened the book I realize why any publisher would fight to publish this man’s book. Mr. Buckingham has been on Oprah. I had my own “Ah-ha” moment right then as to why this was a Thomas Nelson book.

Synopsis

It starts with a story about Gloria Steinem being quoted as saying “You can have it all.”  Ms. Steinem replied that she had never said that.  She had said that men and society should not dictate what women can achieve. So the book progresses from there. The author presents various statistics which are quite enlightening. He has a background with the Gallup organization so these can be taken seriously. In the chapter “Of Choice and Men” he proposes the idea that women are now afflicted with too much choice. He goes on to explain finding our “strong moments” and how to “Catch and Cradle” them.

Included is “The Strong Life Test”, which comes after the first 7 chapters of foundational material. This test helps you find out what type of work environment is right for you as an individual. I am an Advisor/creator.

The book then is summed up by explaining that we should “Strive for Imbalance”. It also gives “Tactics” for dealing with different life scenarios. These tactics are presented in the form of questions and answers such as : How do I find my passion? How do we divide and conquer? What do I do if Motherhood weakens me?

Strengths

The Strong Life test is well conceived and if the reader is honest with herself I think she will find it beneficial. If you are unsure of what you should be doing with your life it is helpful to see in black and white some of your options.

I also appreciate how the author handled the concerns of real women. Too often in Christian women self-help books it seems to be a message of “Get back to your kitchen and rejoice”. I don’t think it is that simple for women. He does an excellent job of contrasting two women Charlie and Anna. He gives a case study for each woman and shows how woman had focus and determination and the other does not. One woman ends up happy and the other is miserable. It was sobering to think about how one’s choices can so completely affect the course of our lives.

The Downside

This book is not written from a Christian perspective. It is inherently selfish. Me, Me, Me. The happiness and successful women he is talking about are those who are only worried about themselves.

This book does not have a message of how our lives can honor our Creator. How we can serve the Lord and our fellow man. Without this worldview I cannot endorse this book as a good resource for Christian women. It is the opposite of God’s plan for people to serve themselves. We should love God and others. That should be the measure of our happiness and success.

Conclusion

I wish I could tell you that at the end of this book I was less skeptical. Unfortuately this book lived up to my expectations, which isn’t saying much.

A far better book, other than the Bible, for finding happiness and success in my opinion would beDesiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist by John Piper. I truly believe that women can be living happy and successful lives serving the Lord and their fellow man.

Synopsis
This story begins in August of 2001 when the employees of Shelter Now International are taken hostage. The names Heather and Dayna are somewhat more familiar because of the media attention their parents brought to this story. It details the Shelter Now International employee’s betrayal, capture, and captivity. The focus of this book however is our good God. The faith of these workers is painted beautifully. Also included are songs written while they were imprisoned and black and white photography to give you a visual idea of their experience.

Strengths
The strength of this book is that it focuses on the faith of these 24 imprisoned people. They have the usual ups and downs you would expect of those in this circumstance but their testimony stands. They are respectful of the culture. The women wore headscarves out of respect. That was love. You will see several examples in this book of how their faith in the Lord had a direct impact on those around them.

The choice of these individuals to leave the comforts of their home countries to live in Afghanistan is shocking. They certainly did not do it for the glory. They did it at their own peril to meet a real need. It’s amazing.

Conclusion
Read this book. We are so sheltered in this wonderful nation. We are not confronted with this type of evil on a daily basis. We need to embrace the freedom we have to minister to people on a daily basis.

 
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Synopsis
This book covers “Sunday School” myths that many Christians hold as truth from God’s Word. I know that I have been guilty of this in the past. Mr. Osborne writes to debunk these commonly held myths with the truth from God’s Word. He gets right to the point with the first chapter “Faith can fix anything.”

He covers a wide range of topics which many Smart Christians had dumb ideas about. At the end of the book he provides a discussion guide so you can discuss the myth along with the truth from God’s Word with a small group. It would also work as a personal study guide if you want to read this book on your own.

Strengths
This book does not sugar coat the truth. It just presents the truth from God’s Word. This to me makes a Christian growth book good. I like that he points out the difference between a proverb and a promise. He comes back to this point a few times. In his chapter “A Godly Home Guarantees Godly Kids” this point is incredibly relevant. He gives two examples of parents with rebellious children. One set of parents suffers from extreme guilt over what they think must be poor parenting. The other set of parents is filled with unfounded hope that their child will absolutely return to the Lord because of the verse Proverbs 22:6. He uses practical examples like this throughout the book to illustrate the myths we believe from the truth of what God’s Word actually says.

Each chapter provides the reader with several reasons why the widely held belief is false and what the truth actually is in the correlating situation. At the end of each chapter it asks the myth in the form of a question like “Can Christians Ever Judge?” and then answers with a Scripture passage. I love that feature of this book. After you read all his thoughts on the topic you are given a concrete answer from God’s Word to answer the question.

Weaknesses
The author uses lots of Scripture throughout the book, but they are not clearly listed. Often he makes a point or paraphrase and then there is a footnote number. However they are not actually footnotes. They are notes at the end of the book. So if you want to read through this book and read the corresponding passages it takes quite a bit of time. I would have preferred actual footnotes so I wouldn’t have to constantly flip back and forth.

Phrases like “Jesus made a mean Merlot” are unnecessary to me. I understand that Jesus turned water into wine, this type of phrasing doesn’t add anything to the message.

Conclusion
This is a well written book. When I read about the author at the end of the book I was not at all surprised that he has a congregation of 7000 people. He is an excellent communicator and he speaks the truth in love. These chapters speak clearly against widely held beliefs. I am sure he knew that some of his truth would be offensive to some but he confidently presents the facts and I admire that in a person.

I especially appreciated the truth of chapter 10, “Dead People Go to a Better Place”. This is not true unless the deceased person has believed on Christ. He uses the illustration of the rich young ruler who wanted his stuff instead of the Savior. This chapter encouraged me in evangelism. I do not evangelize like I should.

This book is a good read. I think this would be a good book not only for the believer to have good answers to these common questions. I also think it would be a good read for a new believer so they start out with the right answers to what they’ve always heard about Christianity.

It had probably been 7 years since I had read one of his books, probably just the insanity of newlywed to new mother. So when I picked up this book it was like hearing from an old friend. You and the friend have grown over the years but you still can relate. That’s how it was for me when I picked up “Fearless”.

Synopsis
Fearless takes us from the primary reason for our fear, which is sin. the fears we face, and the fear we need to have. He takes the reader on a journey through fear.

The first chapter is an explanation of why we are afraid. I love that he takes the time to explain this concept. What impressed me most about these chapters were the Scripture passages he uses. Toward the end of the chapter he lists 13 verses where Jesus told His followers to be fearless. He then uses the words of Christ to open the following chapters.

The book continues with chapters that detail common fears and ways to change our thinking towards courage in the Lord. I appreciated his candor when dealing with the subject of fear of death. He details a dream he had where he dies but he has courage in death because of Christ. I loved the story and then he details his own brush with death during a heart surgery. I think that is one of the things I like about Mr. Lucado. He is honest about his own struggles and it makes me take his counsel seriously.

Other fears he touches on include the fear of not mattering, of not protecting my kids, of violence and other relevant topics (obviously you can read the table of contents)

He ends with what he calls “The One Healthy Terror” which details our fear of God. We must always fear Him for He is Holy.

Strengths
One of the best parts of this book is that it uses Scripture as the premise of the author’s assertions. That is important to me. It is not a book that makes points and then finds Scripture to back up his points. It is the other way around, Scripture is the base and everything else falls around that. The first chapter lists 13 verses where Christ instructs His followers not to fear. The following chapters are based largely on this list of passages making the book a cohesive unit.

I alluded earlier to Max Lucado’s candor throughout this book but I can’t reiterate enough how much I appreciate a transparent author. This is not the kind of book where the author spends 200 pages telling you all the great things he has done. Instead he points out his own fears and how these Scriptures help him in his daily walk.

The book includes a discussion guide which is excellent. It includes several thought provoking questions for each chapter as well as lots of Scripture to back it up! Each chapter’s discussion guide has 3 areas of focus: “Examining Fear, Exposing Fear, and Battling Fear.” This would be a great book discussion for small groups at church. When it focuses on Examining Fear it is filled with thought provoking questions like “What are you prone to – dread of failure, rejection, or calamity? What does that indicate about you?”
Exposing Fear is filled with God’s answers to our fears. It lists several bible verses to combat the fears you discover about yourself through the first section. Battling Fear includes a section of reflection and a meditation for the week.

WeaknessesI wish this book went deeper. I think it does a great job of skimming the surface of these issues of fear but the middle chapters where specific fears are listed seem to short. The discussion guide does make up some for this lack of depth in my opinion.

Conclusion
I do recommend Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear. It gave me a lot to think about in my own life. Fear is something that can plague a person. It is something I have struggled with and for those of you who usually read my blog you know that about me. Max Lucado delivers his message in an easy to read manner that is appealing to large audiences. If you are reading this book on your own I encourage you to do the discussion questions as study guide questions after each chapter. Do a chapter each week and meditate on Scripture from the chapter and the probing questions of the study guide. I think it will help the reader get a lot more from this book than simply reading the chapters. This book would also make a great book for small group discussion at church or local Bible studies.

Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear is a great resource for any Christian, whether they are oppressed with fear or not. We all need to remember that because of Christ we have every reason to be “Fearless.”

The cover of this book just draws kids into its pages. The art on the cover is a fantastic example of the art throughout this book. It is happy and colorful. The songs are also just as bright and happy.

This children’s Bible goes from Genesis through Revelation. Like most children’s Bibles these stories are paraphrased and give just a brief overview of the story. A unique feature of this book is that it comes with 2 CD’s with a simple children’s song to go along with each story. The back cover says that your child will Read it! Sing It! And Learn It! This book gives parents the extra tool of music to reinforce a Biblical truth which is a neat feature.

It includes an extensive table of contents in the front of the book which includes the Story, Bible Verse, Bible Song and Page. It also separates the stories by Old Testament and New Testament. Each story is just two adjacent pages. The page on the right has the story and song title and the body of the story. The left hand page has the illustration, Bible verse paraphrase, and a truth your child can learn from the story.

What your child will like

Your child will enjoy the bright illustrations and catchy songs that go along with each story. The stories are easy to understand and the truths are simple for very small children to grasp and put into practice. My boys loved singing the songs some of their favorites were “Only a Boy named David”, “His Banner Over Me is Love”, and “My God is So Big”. My older son (age 4) liked that the stories are short so that we could read several in one sitting.

What the parent will like

These stories and songs give the parent a short version of a story that they can explain to their child. It is often difficult to read a long story to a small child and then have them accurately understand a truth. I think as a parent you will find this book enables you to bring back these truth’s to your child and they will remember the story and song. The songs are a big part of this book and I think it works well with a child’s natural ability to remember and sing songs. Often it seems children will more easily remember a song than a story. As a parent you might enjoy the fact that most of the songs are very familiar classics. It is a joy to introduce these wonderful songs to our children.

My conclusion

This book is beautifully illustrated and presents the Bible accurately. However the stories are very short so the focus of the story is very simplistic. This is good for the very young child, probably under the age of 4. Children older than 4 might find this book too simple for their growing minds. The truth that the book presents is a paraphrase as well. For me, I would like the truth to be an actual Scripture verse with the reference. The book does tell you what book of the Bible the story is from, but the truth presented is not always an actual Bible verse. As a parent you might want to incorporate an actual Bible verse with these stories if you are using them for a devotional time with your child.

I think the CD’s can stand alone apart from the book. We have listened to the CD’s more than once and the kids have enjoyed singing their favorite Sunday School songs at home. If you buy this book I think you will find the CD’s worth the price. I know that some of my readers have fairly conservative views on music. If that is the case you might find some of the songs on the CD’s a little too peppy.

If you are looking for a first Bible for your very young child I think this book is a good starting point.

The book details many aspects of life. Surrender must take place in our homes, when we succeed and fail and ultimately all the glory goes to God. The message of this book is spot on in these areas.

Before I give a wholehearted stamp of approval to this book, I get the feeling that the Lambs are full gospel. There are frequent stories where she tells us that Jesus came to her in a vision or that the Lord literally spoke to her or someone else. My usual readers probably know that this is not something I would personally agree with.

One of the things I truly appreciated about this book is that the focus is always on what God did, not what Joni and her husband have accomplished in their own strength. It seems as though their heart for ministry is genuine, and I find the spirit of the book refreshing.

My favorite story in the book is when Joni tells us how the Lord orchestrated events in her life so that she and her husband Marcus would be husband and wife. She had to deal with heartbreak and then was able to find the love of her life. In keeping with the theme of the book Joni had to surrender her life to the Lord in order for Him to direct her steps.

Overall I found this book well written and the stories accurately illustrated the points she is trying to make. I found that the book encouraged me to give everything to the Lord.