Books I have enjoyed

For kids:

I have been on a qwest for some time for the perfect children's Bible. I wanted it to be actual Scripture with lifelike pictures on the page with the Scripture. I have found ones with good pictures that didn't use the actual Scripture and ones that quote Scripture but don't have the pictures on the page with the story they describe. I actually started making my own, getting Genesis and Exodus done before becoming so weary trying to find appropriate pictures that I gave up.

All this to say that I am VERY excited about Crossway's new ESV Illustrated Family Bible. It has 270 actual Scripture selections from the Bible, each illustrated with realistic images that will help children picture the stories.

And for adults:

The Walk by Michael Card is a small book that I think is out of print. In it, Card tells of his relationship with his Bible professor in college and what he learned of discipleship from him. God taught me much of Himself and His vision for discipleship through this simple book. When in doubt, "flee to the life of Jesus." Jesus' example is always a safe place to rest, meditate, and learn.

This little book transformed how I thought about discipleship. I have been given several neat opportunities to speak to large groups of ladies over the years. Those opportunities were REALLY exciting to me. But it was easy to justify sacrificing ministry to individuals in that season. I didn't have time to do both right?! So I needed to protect myself so that I could teach masses of ladies. Wasn't that a more effective use of my talents and opportunities?

If we flee to the life of Jesus, we see this for the myth it is. Jesus taught masses for sure. But He never did it at the expense of His ministry to the few. He taught 5000. He taught 12. And He taught 3. And in the end, it was the inner three that took His legacy to the world.

"I would like to speak to you now about discipleship. ... I will tell you a story because something as important as discipleship cannot be reduced to a definition or contained in a program. The truth of it must be lived out to be properly understood. It is organic; it flexes and moves and defies definition. That is the way of discipleship.

The means of discipleship is ... essentially a walk that two people share together over the course of months or, hopefully, years. It is in the context of the walk that the truth becomes fleshed out and alive. We see the truth of this in the life of Jesus." (p.
5-6)

If you are looking for a 5 step program on discipleship, this is not it. However, if you want an examination of discipleship that focuses on the life of Jesus, this little book is likely to be life changing for you.