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Showing posts from August, 2015

The Epic of God

The Epic of God by Michael Whitworth Michael Whitworth in his award winning book The Epic of God takes the Book of Genesis as his main textbook and outlines, brings to life, and applies God’s Word to his reader’s lives with depth and clarity.  Basing his view of the days in Genesis of creation as literal 24 hour periods, Michael explains that he believes this because other passages consistently conclude that there were six days of creation and one day of rest and make up an entire week (see Exodus 20.11; 31:17) (pg. 24).  in the natural way that you would see a week.  He sees the day-age theory as more as a tip of the hat to modern science. I appreciate the way Michael weaves together a sense of the application of Genesis for our lives, like in his discussion of the Sabbath (23).  In talking about sin, Michael points out that sin is breaking God’s boundaries but also contains an emotional element as well (79), for sin breaks God’s hearts and it g...

Canticle of the Sun or Canticle of the Creatures

All Creatures of Our God and King (Trans. by William Henry Draper, Words by St. Francis of Assisi) The hymn, All Creatures of Our God and King , the English Christian Easter hymn by William Henry Draper was originally taken from the words of St. Francis of Assisi in his poem Canticle of the Sun (1225).  The poem was first published in a hymn book in 1919.  The poem is based upon the words of Psalm 148.   Francis was born in Assisi, 100 miles northeast of Rome.  Born in 1181 or 1182, Francis was born into a family of some means, they were of the mercantile stock class.  Little education was given to Francis, probably by the priests of San Giorgio, he describes himself as unlettered but we know that he knew some French also along with Latin.  His first biographer, Thomas of Celano recounts that early on life for Francis was one of frivolity, lewd living, and arrogance.  Francis signals out his time with the lepers as one of extraordinary change, ...

The Bible Story Handbook

The Bible Story Handbook by John and Kim Walton This new book by John and Kim Walton called The Bible Story Handbook is a great resource for those wanting to teach the Bible to children but are concerned about interpretation and application.  The book is divided up into 175 stories starting in Genesis and ending in Revelation that combine sections on focus, application, interpretational difficulties, context and background.  Main takeaway points are in bullet points with succinct ideas that come from the text.  What is apparent in the reading of each story is that the Walton’s took time to focus specifically in interpretation difficulties that connect with the main points of application.  In turn, what you get is a well thought out synthesis of the biblical story that is God glorifying and edifying for the church.  One of the last sections in each biblical story that the Walton’s look at is labeled Mistakes to Avoid.  In looking at Gene...