Family Discipleship Archives - Page 2 of 17

Wizzy Gizmo Audio Drama: Who Created Everything? (Review Crew)

August 20, 2014 By Kara Leave a Comment

Our family has enjoyed listening to audio books and dramas since my teens were toddlers.

Even now, with my youngest in kindergarten, we still replay old favorites regularly. They’re still in demand for car trips and bedtime especially. The whole family are good sports about listening to something new too, so I’m always open to trying out something different with them. Anything high quality, biblically sound, and not too cheesy is fair game for us! 🙂

We’ve had a couple of new things playing for the last several weeks, one of which is Wizzy Gizmo‘s Audio Drama One: Who Created Everything? (watch for more about the other one we’ve been listening to in the next week or so). Wizzy Gizmo produces books, audio dramas, and flashcards that explain the Bible in a fun and engaging way. Their resources are meant to provide tools to help parents put Deuteronomy 6: 5-6 into practice:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”

Who Created Everything? is a 36 minute Bible audio drama (adapted from the book) based on Genesis chapter one, with an additional 24 minutes of bonus soundtrack content, aimed at ages 4-12. In it, a group of kids experience the Creation story as written in Genesis chapter one through Gizmovision, the unique invention of Professor Wizzy Gizmo. Gizmovision brings any book to life where it can be experienced with all five senses, as if you are really in the story. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Faith, Family, Family Discipleship, Review Crew

Exploring Grace Together: 40 Devotionals for the Family

August 7, 2014 By Kara Leave a Comment

A few years ago I shared what is probably my very favorite parenting book of all time with you.

Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids With the Love of Jesus is a primer on how the gospel should transform our parenting, and it’s a must-read in my book! Now, co-author Jessica Thompson has given us Exploring Grace Together: 40 Devotionals for the Family.

Exploring Grace Together puts the principles discussed in Give Them Grace into action through a series of simple family devotions. Our family has been going through the book this summer, though we haven’t managed to read every single day, so it’s taking us a bit longer to get through the entire book.

A short introduction to read to your children portrays the devotions as a “treasure hunt” to find Jesus in everything we do, in every circumstance. The first several readings work through a basic explanation of the gospel using Romans 3:11-12, 23, 6:23, 8:38-39, and Ephesians 2:8. The rest of the readings build on that foundation, covering such topics as feeling misunderstood, feeling alone, family discord, blame shifting, lying, materialism, grief, and more. Each reading ends with several discussion questions to provoke more thought and conversation. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Bookshelf, Faith, Family, Family Bookshelf, Family Discipleship

God’s Story: A Student’s Guide to Church History

July 18, 2014 By Kara 1 Comment

I’ve said before that I think familiarizing our kids with church history is important.

I was taught little to no church history growing up, beyond a cursory mention of major events like the Reformation in my history textbooks. I want my kids to have more than just this passing knowledge. I think familiarity with the major figures and events in the history of the church is essential to seeing and understanding God’s “one story” for all of history. It’s also incredibly valuable to help them establish a stable faith that isn’t blown to and fro by every new whim that comes along. And, it’s essential to understanding how we got where we are now. So, since they were very young, I’ve spent time searching out and collecting resources to make sure they’re aware of the rich heritage of our beliefs.

God’s Story: A Student’s Guide to Church History by Brian Cosby is one such resource that recently came my way. This little book is part of the “A Student’s Guide” series published by Christian Focus Publications and covers the span of church history from its Old Testament roots to the present day. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Bookshelf, Family Bookshelf, Family Discipleship, One Story

Apologia’s What We Believe Series: What on Earth Can I Do? (Review Crew)

May 29, 2014 By Kara Leave a Comment

We’ve been using Apologia’s What We Believe series since the first book came out a number of years ago.

The Dancer (15) went through the first couple and Karate Kid (13) has been through most of them. As I said in my review of the second volume:

Our worldview is important. Learning to be discerning and to view the world from a Christ-centered perspective are critical skills for our children to learn. A worldview curriculum can be a valuable tool in our discipleship toolbox to help us teach our children how to take Biblical truths and apply them to real life. There are good worldview curriculums on the market, but most seem to be aimed at high school age. Enter Apologia’s What We Believe series.

Several weeks ago we received the final volume in the series, What on Earth Can I Do? from Apologia Educational Ministries. Along with the hardcover text, we received:

Who Is God? focuses on God and his attributes, Who Am I? focuses on developing a healthy self-image based on biblical truth, Who Is My Neighbor? focuses on servanthood and biblical community. What on Earth Can I Do? wraps things up with a study of stewardship.

Heaven IS for Real: How Our Family is Handling the Hype

May 14, 2014 By Kara 16 Comments

Unless you live with your head in the sand, I’m sure you’ve heard about the recently released movie, Heaven is for Real, and the book it’s based on.

Both tell the story of young Colton Burpo, who experienced a “trip to heaven” during a close brush with death when he was not quite four years old. When the book was first released in 2010, I was invited to review it and help promote it here on my blog. After reading it, I declined the offer, and our family isn’t jumping on the movie bandwagon either.

Here’s why, and what we’re doing instead.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Faith, Family, Family Discipleship

The Brinkman Adventures: An Exciting Audio Experience for the Whole Family!

April 29, 2014 By Kara Leave a Comment

Our family has always enjoyed listening to quality audio stories and dramatizations in the car and at bed time.

Over the years we’ve amassed quite a collection, and we’ve listened to them all dozens of times. So when I had the opportunity to review The Brinkman Adventures, everyone was excited to hear something new! The Brinkman Adventures are exciting, true stories of modern-day Christian heroes, told through the eyes of the Brinkman family. We received a downloadable version of The Brinkman Adventures Season 2: Episodes 13-24, which contains the following twelve episodes: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education at Home, Family, Family Discipleship, Review Crew