Tag: children

More on a Christ-Centered Kid’s Book

~ Bob Hayton ~ 5 Comments

check out The Jesus Storybook BibleNot long ago, I passed along a recommendation for a new Bible Storybook called, The Jesus Storybook Bible. I called it a “storybook for preachers“, and explained why a Christ-centered Biblestory book could help many a preacher.

Well, I came across an excellent and informative interview of the author, Sally Lloyd-Jones about this book over at Eucatastrophe. I’m going to post a few excerpts here, and encourage you all to go read the interview. And more than that, you’ve got to get the book. I did, and I’m loving it. You can expect a review of it before too long.

I found it so moving when I started to discover how the Old Testament is basically one long record of failure””the failure of God’s people time and time again to live rightly, to rescue themselves””and that the stories in the Old Testament are all getting us ready for the One who is coming. They are all signposts to the True Hero, the True King, the True Prince, the True Servant, the greater David, the greater Daniel. The Rescuer.

As a child, I thought the Bible was packed with rules you had to keep (or God wouldn’t love you) and heroes setting examples you had to follow (or God wouldn’t love you). I thought, in short, that the Bible was all about me and what I should (or shouldn’t) be doing. Until I read a Story.

It’s the Story running like a golden stream underneath all the other stories in the Bible: the story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. Suddenly, I realized the Bible wasn’t about me and what I should be doing at all. It was about God and what he had done. And it changed everything…

It sounds strange, but the consistent reaction from many adults is that it makes them weep. (I think that’s good? Hope so!) Parents are reading it to one another as their devotional before bed. Pastors are using it to help them with their preaching. I heard someone call it, “the storybook for preachers” [she might be referring to my blogpost here!!].

And of course families are reading it together. Teenagers and college students have told me they are enjoying it. I heard from one dad that his young boys listen to each of the stories and as they near the end of each story, they whisper just one word: “Jesus.” I couldn’t ask for a better response. May all of us to be whispering his name in all the stories of our lives!

Be sure to read the entire interview!! (The comments discuss the Christ-centered treatment of the Old Testament in more depth.)

The Storybook for Preachers

~ fundyreformed ~ 9 Comments

check out The Jesus Storybook BibleThe more I learn about Pastor Tim Keller (of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City), the more I respect his opinion. So when he says of a new kid’s Bible storybook: “I’d urge ministers to buy it and read it for themselves. It will improve their preaching.” I listen up.

From what I have heard and seen about the book so far, I’d have to agree. But perhaps you’re wondering, “How can any Bible storybook help a preacher? Storybooks are just dumbed down Sunday School lessons for kids, aren’t they?”

Very often, and with many a book, sadly, I’d have to agree with your point. In fact, Kathy Keller, Tim’s wife, who has edited children’s Sunday School curriculum  and also  worked as a theological consultant for Zondervan, says the following:

It is very hard to find (or even produce) material for children that doesn’t essentially contain the message “Be good, so that God, your heavenly Father will  love you, and your earthly parents will be happy with you, too.”

In stark contrast to such kid’s material, stands Sally Lloyd-Jones’ new book: The Jesus Storybook Bible. Of this, Kathy Keller writes:

…Sally goes out of her way in the first pages of the book to reclaim the true story of the Bible: not a book of rules, nor a book of heroes, but:

The Bible is most of all a Story…It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life! You see, the best thing about this Story is —it’s true! There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them.

Tim Keller describes the book:

Sally Lloyd-Jones has captured the heart of what it means to find Christ in all the scriptures, and has made clear even to little children that all God’s revelation has been about Jesus from the beginning–a truth not all that commonly recognized even among the very learned.

This storybook in a nutshell,

capture[s] the plot line of redemption in a children’s story Bible that sings the praise of Jesus and his saving grace on every page, in every story. (—Kathy Keller)

Now, Tim Keller is Sally Lloyd-Jones’ pastor. But still  by now you should be convinced this book is different. But why should it be required reading for pastors?

Here’s why. When we step back and see the Bible as a whole, and look at all the characters and events in light of their place in redemptive history, the power of the Story shines through. Stories, especially well crafted ones, capture our imagination. They thrill even as they teach. This is why fairy tales and good fantasy literature are so enduringly popular. So looking at the Bible as a story, has practical benefits. It can thrill us anew at the wonder of God’s redemption work.

But today, pastor’s are busy preaching other things than the Gospel Story of Redemption. Often the Bible is seen as a “how-to-have-a-successful-life-manual”. Other times it is simply  a rule-book for how to please God. For others it is a theological manual or a social-remedy-guide. It is everyone’s panacea, and everyone has a prooftext for teaching anything.

So why not let the Bible speak for itself? Why not let the Biblical story shine as intended? Sometimes, I think, we would if we could just see it. There are so many other things about the Bible that are important, yet they steal our attention from Its Big Story.

So perhaps a kid’s storybook, pictures and all, might just do the trick. And let me tell you, just the two stories I read in the online sample, were enough to convince me that the book might just have that effect on me.

So check this book out. Read Kathy Keller’s full review,  and see Justin Taylor’s  brief post on it (that’s where I found out about it, and it is in the comments there  that Pastor Keller made the statement that started this post). Then buy it, and purpose to use it for yourself first, and your kids second. [Also check out the book’s  flyer.]

For more info on the  redemptive historical approach to Scripture, check out my hermeneutics topic, my friend Nathan Pitchford’s blog, or this category at Monergism.