Book Review: Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts

March 3, 2010 //

As someone who has taught a range of Sunday school classes, from preschool through high school students, I was glad to receive a free copy of Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts as part of the Booksneeze book review program.

Often, when talking about the places Jesus traveled as He taught, healed and ministered, or in describing the journey of the Israelites in the Old Testament, it is helpful to have a visual illustration. Complete Book includes many different maps, photos and helpful summaries — including a map that shows the geographic location of major events in Jesus’ ministry, the apostle Paul’s journeys and the wandering of the Israelites.

Since Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts is slightly larger than other books (a little over 7″ x 9″), I can see how it would be a helpful teaching tool for a class of eight to ten students to view pretty easily. Complete Book also includes a link to free downloads of all the maps and charts included inside the book — again, very helpful for those preparing to teach Sunday school classes.

Tags Booksneeze

Categories books, church, reviews

The Long Road To Reconciliation

February 25, 2010 //

Last week, I was stunned to see a steady stream of comments about something called the “Compton Cookout” in my Facebook feed. Students from a fraternity at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) organized an off-campus party mocking Black History Month. Some lowlights from the invite:

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Categories asian american, church, communication, community, faith, family, Kingdom of God, leadership, race, reconciliation, third culture

Family Fun On The Ark In Los Angeles

February 22, 2010 //

Last week, our family visited Los Angeles for a quick getaway. Through a recommendation of a friend, we visited the Noah’s Ark exhibit at the Skirball Center. We had a fantastic time there!

I had never heard of the Skirball, even though it’s just up the street from the Getty Center (which we’ve visited many times). I’m so glad that we took one afternoon out to visit.

The Noah’s Ark exhibit is an immersive, interactive experience filled with creativity. After entering the museum and finding our way to the Noah’s Ark exhibit, we waited for a couple of minutes for a quick orientation.

There, we found out that the animals on display throughout the Ark are made from recycled materials. For example, they fashioned flamingos from spools of thread, fly swatters and combs and alligators from tires and violin cases.

Kids are free to run around, explore hands-on, and create their own animals from recycled art materials. We used almost our entire two-hour block in the exhibit. If you have kids, or are a kid at heart, the Noah’s Ark exhibit is a great place to spend the afternoon.

Categories art, culture, design, family

Guess I Know What Kind Of TV We Watch Most

February 12, 2010 //

The other day, my daughter said that she would get breakfast ready for all of us.

She decided to prepare peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. My wife told me that as they were prepping together in the kitchen, she heard our daughter start saying:

First, you wait patiently while Mommy gets the bread out. Today, we’re using wheat bread, but you can use any kind of bread you’d like to make your own sandwich…

Spoken like a true celebrity chef! Maybe we’ll see her taking on Morimoto on Iron Chef or throwing down with Bobby Flay. My daughter already has her favorites from Top Chef and Top Chef Masters.

Categories family, food, just grinning

Theologizing With Moltmann

February 8, 2010 //

One of my regrets from my seminary days is not being more fully present to my studies.

Perhaps it was the multiple hundred-mile round-trip treks to serve as a youth pastor each week, or the constant catching up with the hundreds of pages of theology, church history and biblical language studies each week, or just trying to figure out who on earth I was and where God might be leading me, but much of what I read escaped my brain as soon as I wrote it down for an exam or typed it for a paper (of course, in reality, it was probably some combination of the three, plus many other factors).

Recently, I am rediscovering many theologians whose writing & thoughts I did not have the time to engage deeply while I was a seminary student.

These days, some thoughts from Jurgen Moltmann on prayer have gotten my attention:

Real prayer to God awakens all our senses and alerts our minds and spirits. The person who prays, lives more attentively.

Theologian friends, any thoughts on Moltmann?

My theology reading is painfully slow (I think reading Karl Barth has permanently damaged the theology-reading part of my brain. Seriously, I would have to read a paragraph of his, like, five times over just to catch a glimpse of what he was saying), so any insight would be appreciated!

Categories church, hope, theology