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4. Faith, Hope and Hilarity and more...
4. Faith, Hope and Hilarity Faith, Hope and Hilarity: The Child's Eye View of Religion. Dick Van Dyke. Edited by Ray Parker. Illustrated by Phil Interlandi. 1970. 153 pages. [Source: Bought] [3 stars] [humor] First sentence: I've always thought that kid humor is the funniest kind there is, because it's so honestly spontaneous and truly human. Did you know Dick Van Dyke is a former Sunday School teacher? I didn't either. This book is a collection of kid stories that relate in one way or another--one degree or another--to religion and faith. Don't expect anything resembling theology or doctrine. These are just funny stories gathered together. It has the vibes of a faith-themed America's Funniest Home Videos. Don't expect anything super amazing or life changing. A few stories did make me laugh out loud. (One a little girl was confused when her mom wanted her grandma to live to be very very very old when the little girl thought she should just ask Jesus to make Grandma younger and younger.) A few of these are misheard lyrics of hymns and Christmas carols.     • View comments • Track comments •
Sunday Salon #2 Bible reading NET Timeless Truth (which I've decided to drop for now since I over-committed) Genesis 20-50 1611 King James Version (which I'm using with Morning and Evening devotions from the Book of Common Prayer)
Amplified
BSB (audio) (which I'm using the To the Word plan with)
KJV Journal the Word
ESV Everyday Gospel Devotional Bible
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3. The Lord of Psalm 23 3. The Lord of Psalm 23: Jesus Our Shepherd, Companion, and Host. David Gibson. 2023. 157 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, christian nonfiction, christian living] First sentence from the introduction: Some texts of Holy Scripture are hard to preach on or write about, not because they are especially difficult for the pastor or theologian to understand but because they are already so profoundly precious to the hearer and reader. I suspect this is more true of Psalm 23 than of any other part of the Bible. The Lord of Psalm 23 could be classified as a weighty devotional or a light commentary. It isn't properly either absolutely. It approaches all six verses of the psalm and invites the reader to take a closer, deeper look to the psalm, to perhaps see it with fresh eyes, though the author is not pushing a "new" or "improved" way of reading it. He breaks the psalm into three main sections: The Sheep and the Shepherd, The Traveler and the Companion, The Guest and the Host. He also encourages readers to link the psalm with the exodus story or exodus theme which is prevalent throughout the Bible--but certainly appears 'again-again' throughout Israel's songbook--the Psalms. I enjoyed reading this one. Something to think about: Some of us want Jesus to protect us from our enemies with his rod, but we don't want Jesus to protect us from ourselves with his staff. We like the idea of Jesus coming down hard on others; we are less enamored when he reaches us personally and directs us somewhere we don't want to go. But what is my greatest enemy right now as I type these lines? It is my own sinful heart. My love of myself, my self-pity, my distorted belief that the path of righteousness might not be the path of happiness. "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,/ Prone to leave the God I love," the hymn says. Oh how I need Christ's staff in my life to continually pull me back to him.   • View comments • Track comments •
2. The Heart of Jesus2. The Heart of Jesus: How He Really Feels About You. Dane Ortlund. 2024. 128 pages. [Source: Review copy] [4 stars] [christian nonfiction, devotional] First sentence: This is a book about the heart of Jesus Christ. Who is he? Who is he really? What is most natural to him? What flows out most freely? Who is he? The Heart of Jesus is an abridged "concise" edition of the super popular Gentle and Lowly by the same author. This one has been edited with "young readers, new Christians, and seekers" in mind. I read Gentle and Lowly twice last year--once in November, once in December. I was conflicted about Gentle and Lowly. On the one hand, I saw a lot of truth in it. It provided a lot to think upon, plenty to 'chew the cud' about. On the other hand, there were sentences or paragraphs that if taken at face value may lead down a slippery slope to some potentially dangerous unbiblical ideas. One could always give the author the benefit of the doubt, to assume the best. One could also question the author in terms of consequences of ideas. I wanted to read The Heart of Jesus particularly because it was concise. I found the book to remove a lot of the things that I found almost semi-problematic. I think this is because it was in the elaboration of details that my confusion began. When the book keeps to the point and on track, I found less confused. If I had to recommend one book over the other, I would recommend this one instead.   • View comments • Track comments •
Sunday Salon #1Bible reading 1611 KJV
Amplified
BSB
KJV Journal the Word Large Print
NET Timeless Truths
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