Wayfinding Bible

I was recently offered the opportunity to review The Wayfinding Bible from Tyndale House Publishers. I have to admit that I was very intrigued by the premise of this version of the Bible, as it promised three views of each book of the Bible - a brief overview, a slightly more involved overview, and reading nearly all of the text.

This is definitely my new favorite Bible version. The Wayfinding Bible offers direction and a road map of what to read. The three different reading options offer options to still be able to read the Bible and get something out of it even on limited time. The "flyover route" offers an overview of the major events that occur in the Bible; The "direct route" gives more of an indepth perspective on the entire Bible in 215 readings; The "scenic route" is 386 readings that give you the full understanding of the Bible that takes you through both the familiar and unfamiliar passages in the Bible. I loved this feature of this Bible because it allows you to have a sort of road map of what to read, which helps keep you on track.

I started out reading the "flyover" route of The Wayfinding Bible and found that it really helped me to understand the main events of the Bible without feeling like it wasn't a complete reading. I intend to follow the "direct route" next, and am super excited to go more in depth via the map that this Bible lays out.

Aside from the different routes you can choose from to read this Bible, The Wayfinding Bible is also jam packed with all sorts of extra information and resources to further your understanding of the reading. Colorful boxes, maps, and charts offer additional information, insight, and facts about what you are reading. I loved the splashes of color and helpful tools. Sometimes the Bible feels like pages and pages of black and white, and the colorful additions go a long way both aesthetically as well as functionally.

Each chapter of this Bible offers an informational page that introduces you to the events that are about to occur. It gives you any information you  may need about the setting, location, and time frame to help you get the most out of the reading. It also gives you a brief overview of the stops you will make for each of the different "routes".

I think that the Wayfinding Bible offers the ideal study Bible for anyone who really is seeking to get more out of their Bible. I found the NLT translation to be easy to understand, and really enjoyed the many additional features that were put into this Bible. This is my go-to Bible for studying and more comprehensive understanding of Biblical readings. Tyndale House did an awesome job making the Bible less daunting and easier to tackle. Love it. I honestly can't find anything about it that I don't like!! 5/5!

For more information about The Wayfinding Bible, please see the trailer HERE

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received this book for free from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. I was not obligated to write a positive review.

Humility: An Unlikely Biography of America's Greatest Virtue

"Humility: An Unlikely Biography of America's Greatest Virtue" by David Bobb is a book that discusses the need for humility in our current time, and compares the humility that some of the most loved American figures had in their character. In this book, Bobb makes the case that humility above all else is one of the greatest virtues that a person, as well as a country, can exhibit. "Humility: An Unlikely Biography of America's Greatest Virtue" offers an inside look at the humility of historical figures like Abraham Lincoln, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, and Abagail Adams. 

It is clear through this book that David Bobb is deeply acquainted with the history and personal character of these historical figures, and upon reading his biography it is easy to realize that he is an expert. Bobb is a champion of constitutionalism, even one of founding members of a Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Studies. Bobb writes this book with an understanding of the challenges these people faced, and the character that helped them face them. 

I thought this was an awesome book. I truly enjoyed reading the short biographies of these people who I was only given a brief overview of in history class. To understand the character of these people and how humility played such a vital role in making them a part of history was fascinating. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in history - the book itself makes a good point, and ties in the humility factor to the current day, but if you don't have any interest in history, it will probably bore you. I give it a 4.5/5.

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received this book for free from BookSneeze.com's blogger program in exchange for an honest review. I was not obligated to write a positive review.  

The Reason for my Hope

Billy Graham's book, "The Reason For My Hope: Salvation" is a book that discusses and illustrates the hope found in salvation. One of the things I really liked about this book was that it offers up tons of personal stories of people just like you and I, who experienced life changing events, Biblical references, and the wisdom of a man who has served God for 70 years. Billy Graham writes this book with a passion for sharing God's salvation that is almost palatable. 

"The Reason For My Hope: Salvation" easily gets 5 stars. The book itself is easy to read, and even easier to follow. Graham uses easy to comprehend language to tell the stories of the Bible, and explain their meaning and context. I found that Billy Graham inserts a lot of factual statements that are easily used as an argument for Christianity, which is definitely helpful when discussing such topics with children, family, etc. For example, in his book, Graham concludes, "There is more evidence that Jesus rose from the dead than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived or that Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty-three".

The chapters in this book are relatively short, with each chapter being broken down into smaller sections that could easily break this up into reading that could be done daily. This could easily be broken down into devotional reading. I would highly recommend this reading to anyone who is a fan of Billy Graham, or who really wants to dive deeper into the topic of salvation. 

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received this book for free from BookSneeze.com's blogger program in exchange for an honest review. I was not obligated to write a positive review. 

Adventure Bible

The Adventure Bible Storybook is an adorable Bible storybook for children. This storybook features some of the most loved Bible stories in a format that is easy for children to understand. This Bible is accompanied by a pair of CDs that has every Bible story recorded on it. Kids can follow along as the stories are read.

The stories are very condensed, and some of the stories do skip past some important details, for example it skips over Noah building the ark, and tells a simple story of a typical day on the ark as it is floating on the flood waters. While some people won't like that it skips the initial command to build the ark and the loading of the animals, I thought it was a nice change, and as my daughter already knows the story of the building of the ark, it was actually a nice addition for her to think about how life might have been living on a boat with all the animals. If you are supplementing and reading with your child, I don't think these oversights make a huge difference.

The book is appropriate for children aged 3 and up. The audio accompaniment allows for even young children who aren't reading yet to follow along and enjoy the story along with vivid illustrations to help them connect with the story. 

I would give this book. 5/5. Great retelling of Biblical stories and completely appropriate for young kids!

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received this book for free from BookSneeze.com's blogging program in exchange for an honest review. I was not obligate to write a positive review. 

God of the Underdogs

"God of the Underdogs When the Odds Are Against You, God Is For You" By Matt Keller is an inspiration book written to motivate the underdog in each of us. What I absolutely love about this book is that is can easily fit into the life story of anyone. At some point in everyone's life, someone has underestimated, minimalized, or even disregarded us. This book speaks to the underdog's soul.

Keller uses famous Biblical underdogs to reveal God's plans and purposes are much more important than man's. Through the stories of Biblical heroes like David, John the Baptist, Moses, and Jesus, we find our own underdog and with it, our motivation to be a leader in God's family of underdogs.

I thought Keller did an amazing job making these men easy to relate to, and I absolutely loved the underdog theme. I also love that with these men that had been underestimated, God did such amazing things. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is searching for that inspiration. Great book.

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received this book for free from BookSneeze.com in exchange for an honest review. I was not obligated to write a positive review. 

NIV Pink Bible

The "NIV Pink Bible: An Invitation to Hope" is a traditional NIV translation of the Bible, with some extra encouragement for those who have experienced or are facing the battle of breast cancer. The Bible really is just a plain Bible, without many footnotes or study features at all, which was a little bit disappointing. The Bible itself is just what you would expect for an NIV translation of the Bible.

What makes this Bible "Pink", is the handful of pages that have been inserted into the Bible that offer prayers, encouragement, hope, and faith for those who are struggling with breast cancer. While these are often beautiful, heart warming, encouraging messages to those people, I felt like there really could have been more of them.

I have to say that I was more than disappointed in this particular Bible. It is advertised and marketed as being "Pink", but the only thing that makes it different from any other NIV Bible on the market right now is maybe ten pages of encouragement/prayer/messages about breast cancer. I think that more could have been done to make this Bible truly "Pink", by relating more messages of encouragement, and maybe even tying in footnotes with specific passages that offer those same messages.

Overall, disappointing. I wouldn't recommend this particular Bible unless you just want a traditional NIV Bible without many of the study features that others offer. I didn't think there were enough specific messages and help about breast cancer to consider this a "Pink" Bible.

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received this book for free from BookSneeze.com's Blogger program in exchange for an honest review. I was not obligated to write a positive review.

Raising Boys By Design

"Raising Boys By Design" by Gregory L. Jantz, and Michael Gurian is a book devoted to raising strong, Godly boys who turn into strong, Godly men. This book is a blueprint for how mothers and fathers can help to encourage, strengthen, and manifest Biblical qualities in our sons, and I thought it was a really interesting book. What I really liked about this book was that Gregory Jantz is a psychologist, and Michael Gurian is a family counselor. So not only are you getting a Biblical view of raising boys, but you are also getting some insight into how a boy's brain develops, which is drastically different from that of a girl's.

The book devotes entire chapters to what a boy will learn from both his mother and his father, which I thought was very interesting. This makes it so clear why it is important for a son to have both a mother and a father in his life. Another chapter discusses the differences between how boys develop and how girls develop. This book discusses how to create a Biblical journey for your son from child to man, and I think it is a great resource for any parent who desires to raise their boys into men of God.

The chapters that I found most interesting and most useful were those on building character, and building a hero. It's so important in this day in age to raise our boys to have self-discipline, and morality, so I truly believe that this book would be a benefit to any parent raising a son, no matter what age they are.

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received this book for free from Water Brook Publishers in exchange for an honest review. I was not obligated to write a positive review.