Christian Book Notes

Ham, Ken and Mally.  Illustrated by Jeff Albrecht.  A is for Adam: The Gospel from Genesis.  Green Forest: Master Books, 2011.  77 pp.  $16.99.  Purchase at Amazon for $11.42.

Introduction

At this point, Master Books and New Leaf Publishing no longer needs to be introduced.  Ken Ham is in the same boat.  Ken is the founder of Answers In Genesis–a ministry dedicated to reclaiming the authority of Scripture especially the foundation of the Bible in Genesis 1.  You can read other reviews I have written of Ken’s books here.

Summary

A is for Adam is a spiral bound tent-book designed for homeschooling families and/or the classroom.  On one side of the book (the side facing the child) there is a vibrant colorful picture with a few lines for the child to see.  On the back page (the side facing the parent or teacher) is a lesson plan.  There is a “let’s read” highlighted in yellow that allows the parent to read what is before the child.  The next point is “The Starting Point.”  This gets the lesson rolling.

“Bible Bits” offers some bullet points to offer discussion topics for the instructor.  ”Let’s Talk” further enforces the lesson plan and is set up such that the child has to respond which is great for discussion and knowing if the child is understanding what is being taught.  ”Always Remember” drives home the important lesson for that particular letter and is a key component to the gospel message being shared with the child.

“Visual Vocabulary” offers some interaction with the picture itself while the “Stuff to Do” section gives more critical thinking and interaction.  The “Quick Review” helps to ensure the child has comprehended the lesson for the particular letter.

At the back of the book are further notes for each letter.  These are best read before the lesson and will help to give the teacher the overview of the discussion and the lesson.

The final element of this resource that is extremely helpful are the free coloring pages one can download.  These can be used as take home pages or to keep small hands busy.

Review

This tool is one of the best put together resources for homeschooling, Sunday School, and even the standard classroom I have come across in some time.  In essence, you have a 26-lesson book completely prepared for your use.  You do not necessarily need to prepare longer than it takes to read the notes in the back of the book before each lesson.  Everything is spelled out on the instructor’s side of the resource.

The vividly colored drawings by Jeff Albrecht are top notch and will keep the child’s interest long enough to be able to get the lesson in without much concern of losing them.  What is best, and is to be expected with Ken Ham (thankfully!), is that the child (and possibly the parent) are being introduced to a biblical theology with the gospel being found (and rooted) in Genesis.

My wife literally started using this resource right out of the package with our 3 and 2 year old during their “letter time” during the school day.  That is how easy it is to use.

Recommendation

Yes, I have recommended everything from New Leaf Publishing very highly.  This resource is no different except that if you are teaching the alphabet to your children or you have smaller children still completely learning their ABC’s, you will find this tool to be invaluable.  Trust me.  I recommend this resource to all parents with small children, homeschooling or not.  Also, to all children’s ministers, you will want to make this resource available to your teachers in your department.

Hodge, Bodie and Tommy Mitchell with Ken Ham.  Answers Book for Teens: Your Questions God’s Answers.  Green Forest: Master Books, 2011.  96 pp.  $14.99.  Purchase at Amazon for less.

Introduction/Summary

New Leaf Publishers is back again with yet another quality resource.  This time, the work is geared toward teenagers with legitimate questions about life, faith, and why truth matters.

Ken Ham offers some assistance but largely steps back to allow Bodie Hodge and Tommy Mitchell to gain traction as a voice for the defense of the Christian faith.  You can read more and check out a free preview of this work here.

This resource is organized by fifteen questions pointing toward one answer–faith in Christ.  They begin with a list of definitions of a few words that will be used throughout discussion in the book.  After defining these terms, they embark on a fact-filled Q & A aimed at answering some of the toughest (and most common) questions teens have (especially those in youth group).  The book is full of colorful illustrations and pictures designed to give an edgy look to the book.

Review

The questions asked (and answered) in Answers Book for Teens are very common questions that often catch a parent or youth pastor or Christian off guard.  The answers are more than introductory but not so comprehensive as to leave the reader feeling as though they are drinking from a fire hydrant.

I personally found the graphics to be a bit distracting (am I showing my age?).  They seemed at points to distract from the material being discussed.  I can, however, understand the reasoning for the these graphics even if I do not necessarily agree.  The glossy pages do not allow the reader to write in the margins without running the risk of smearing the ink but does make for a very nice resource to add to a church’s library, a youth group or even a home school group.

Recommendation

Once again New Leaf has published a quality resource that would be most useful in defending the faith to a skeptical generation.  Perhaps another effect of this resource would be to get it into the hands of a youth pastor or parent wanting to be able to biblically answer legitimate questions and finding that they were misinformed themselves!  I recommend this resource to youth pastors, parents, and Christians who may be asked some tough questions about your faith.

 How Do We Know the Bible is True? Volume 1.  Edited by Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge.  Green Forest: Master Leaf Books, 2011.  $14.99.  Purchase at Amazon for less.

Introduction

Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge are back with an excellent resource that seeks to answer some of the toughest questions by critics of the Bible.  Master Books has done an excellent job recently in the field of apologetics and this resource is yet another example.

Powerful biblical insights are soundly presented by more than a dozen respected defenders of the faith, including Ken Ham, John MacArthur, Terry Mortenson, Jason Lisle, Brian Edwards, Tommy Mitchell, Jobe Martin, Georgia Purdom, Bodie Hodge, and Roger Patterson.

Summary

With 28 chapters, How Do We Know offers in depth introductory answers to some of the more common though critical questions of the faith; specifically, of the Bible.  Some of the questions answered include:

• Is the Bible totally without error?
• Did the resurrection really happen?
• How do we know that the 66 books of the Bible are from God?
• Does the Bible contradict itself?
• How were people saved before Jesus came?
• What is the purpose and meaning of life?
• Did miracles really happen?
• Was Genesis derived from ancient myths?
• How should we interpret the Bible; should Genesis be literal?
• Do you have to believe in a young earth to be saved?

Each chapter is roughly 10 pages in length and offers a readable explanation for each question.

Review

How Do We Know Volume 1 is well written with both depth and clarity.  With quite a few charts and photographs, this resource offers many answers that have been made stronger by recent discoveries and academic discussions.

Unlike other apologetic works of this type, this resource has more than one voice.  With more than a dozen contributors, there are many different perspectives and backgrounds in which the subject matter is being dealt with.  Even more, the wide ranging evangelical contributors offer one common answer – the Bible is true.

I do wish the editors would have included a recommended resources section for further study.  As it is, the reader can extract from the footnotes further resources to use for their own edification.

Ultimately, I thought this resource to be well written and pleasurable to read.  Often times a work of apologetics can  come across as dry and boring.  The writers, in my estimation, brought energy and worship to the table as they sought to answer some extremely important questions of the faith.  We can only hope that volume 2 is not long in coming.

Recommendation

There are numerous resources available today that offer answers to tough questions.  What sets How Do We Know apart from the rest is the many contributors and the one common objective–you can trust the Bible.  If you are looking for a resource to engage unbelievers and skeptics of the faith, you would do well to begin here.  This book will make a great gift for the young Christian headed off to college as well as being a resource that would be used often, if not regularly, in your own library.

The Big Book of History.  Edited by Laura Welch, Bodie Hodge, and Ken Ham.  Green Forest: Master Books, 2011.  15 feet! $19.99.  Purchase at Amazon for $13.59.

Introduction/Summary

The following video will produced by Master Books will give you an introduction and summary of this massive time line.

For more information, check out the Big Book of History webpage.

Review

This was a hard resource to review – I had to pry it out of the hands of both my wife and my older children.  This review is for the bound version though there is an unbound version available that can be mounted on the wall of a classroom.  Both stretch 15 feet long!

The color coding of the events in history help to keep everything in perspective.  For example, the yellow shows Bible and Christian history while the orange shows various world events.  The green offers inventions and technology and the red gives the dates for civilizations and empires.  There are arrows of like color pointing to a more in depth description of the events discussed.

I was somewhat intrigued to find that they dated the beginning of the world to 4004 B.C. only because that is a disputed date though it is also acceptable as it was the date Bishop James Ussher came to when he calculated the genealogies.  I guess I would have like to see a note about that more than anything else.  To be honest, I have come to the personal conviction that if Ussher was wrong, it wasn’t by much!

The colorful pictures help to bring the historical events to life while the descriptions are age appropriate and will lead the child (and parent?) to do a bit of research themselves.  Obviously, the closer to the present day the timeline is, the more information there is included.  For example, the first 4,000 years only comprise 8 panels while the last 2,000 comprise the last 13.  There is something in this resource for children and adults.

Recommendation

Though it is for children ages 7-12, I recommend this resource to any homeschooling family or anyone in general who enjoys history.  The ability to look up a biblical event and see what else was going on in history at that time is both cool and amazing.  It really helps to put into perspective that history really is His Story.  This is a fun resource that will be used for years.  Don’t forget, you can also get the unbound version that is perfect for hanging on your wall.

Begin: A Journey Through Scriptures for Seekers and New Believers.  Edited by Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge.  Green Forest: Master Books, 2011.  $12.99.  Purchase at Amazon for less.

Introduction

Ken Ham is the founder of Answers In Genesis–a ministry dedicated to reclaiming the authority of Scripture especially the foundation of the Bible in Genesis 1. .  You can read other reviews I have written of Ken’s books here.

Bodie Hodge graduated from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale (90 minutes from my house) where he received a B.S and an M.S. in mechanical engineering.  He now serves as a speaker, writer, and researcher for Answers in Genesis and is a co-author of Dragons: Legend & Lore of Dinosaurs.  You can read the review of that resource here.

Summary

Extracting passages and books from the English Standard Version Bible, Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge have compiled five important sections to provide a new believer with a decent biblical theology.  Beginning in Genesis 1-11 as the foundation for all of the Bible, they move to Exodus 20 where the Lord gives to Moses the 10 Commandments.

After an extremely brief history from Exodus 20 to Matthew 1 (3 pages!), they introduce the life of Christ through the lens of the Gospel of John.  They next offer 2 page overview of basically the book of Acts and then divide the book of Romans into three parts.  They conclude with another 2 page overview of the rest of the epistles in the New Testament and then give us Revelation 21 and 22.

The final “section” is an explanation of what it means to be saved coupled with an exhortation to boldly proclaim a biblical worldview.  Here they equip the reader/student with 10 basics of the faith (including a literal understanding of Genesis 1).  The final chapter looks at the inerrancy and authority of Scripture as they answer the charge that the Bible was written by man.

Review

As with any resource Ken Ham has  a hand in, you will be given a steady dose of why the foundation of the entire Bible is rooted in a literal understanding of Genesis 1.  Thankfully, Begin is no different.  Each section offers ample space to write out thoughts as well as interact with questions liberally sprinkled throughout.

The editors allow the Bible to speak for itself while offering a guide to show how the New Testament fulfills the Old while the Old is the foundation for the New.  I would have liked, however, to see a few more selections from the Old Testament such as the covenants with Abraham and David as they are essential to our understanding of why Jesus Christ did come (to fulfill the Law and the Prophets and for God to keep His covenant promises).  Nonetheless, the editors achieved their goal of providing an introductory study to biblical theology rooted in Scripture.

Recommendation

Begin is a wonderful resource for your new believer’s/members class at your local church.  It can be for personal study or group study.  It can be used devotionally or in a homeschool setting.  It deserves our attention and consideration as a viable apologetic for the new believer or the one who has questions about the Christian faith in general.

Ham, Ken and Karen Hansel. Charlie and Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure. Green Forest: Master Books, 2010. 23 pp. $15.99. Purchase at Amazon for $11.51 or less!

Introduction

We all know of the Grand Canyon. We all are filled with wonder and amazement at its vastness and depth. We all have questions about how it was formed. Was it millions of years as scientists believe or was it due to on cataclysmic even like the Great Flood found in Genesis 6-8? Noted Creation scientist Ken Ham offers an introduction for children to a biblical account of how the Grand Canyon was formed.

Summary

Charlie, a curious little monkey who does not understand the Bible and Trike, a biblically wise triceratops visit the Grand Canyon one day. Along their journey on this particular day, the reader will learn that the Bible can be trusted as an authoritative book in all that it says. You will witness rescues, forgiveness, and discovery. You will find fossils as well as scientific explanations about where the Grand Canyon came from that makes sense.

Review

Obviously, there are many who disagree with the Bible’s account of creation, and that is the main reason behind Ken Ham’s ministry. This little adventure book for children introduces a biblical foundation for the child’s mind for not just the formation of the Grand Canyon, but for the creation of life itself.

Speaking as one who used to be a theistic evolutionist (light on the theism), and one who loves geology and the earth sciences still to this day, I found Ham’s explanations to be sound both scientifically and biblically. More importantly, Ken Ham points the reader to Christ throughout this short book.

Recommendation

If you have children, then you will love this book. The little flaps and interactive notes along the way only add to the child’s curiosity of God’s creation. Many parents do not know where to begin in attempting to explain God’s creation from a biblical perspective since most were raised given an evolutionist-bent, scientific explanation. Thankfully, Ken Ham has already done the hard work. All that needs to be done now is to purchase these resources and read them with your children. In many cases, the parents will be learning as much as the children!

Ham, Ken. Illustrated by Bill Looney. Dinosaurs for Kids. Green Forest: Master Books, 2009. 64 pp. $14.99. Purchase at Amazon for $10.19 or less.

Introduction

Ken Ham is the founder of Answers In Genesis–a ministry dedicated to reclaiming the authority of Scripture especially the foundation of the Bible in Genesis 1. While many charge they are nothing more than religious propaganda, there is actual science and scientific evidence that supports everything they do. Their main focus is on the theory of evolution. More specifically, Christians who believe in the theory of evolution as the means by which God created the universe.

Summary

The book is divided into 7 ages: Formed, Fearless, Fallen, Flood, Faded, Found, Fiction. In each age, dinosaurs are discussed using scientific evidence supported by a biblical worldview. Thus, many stereotypes crumble.

Throughout the book, children will be introduced to dinosaurs of all types. From the famous T-Rex to the Pterodactyl. The kids will see and understand how human (and dinosaur) history can be not only explained by the biblical accounts of creation, the fall and the flood, but also makes the most sense of the scientific findings of today.

Review

Many would argue that this is not a scientific book on Dinosaurs and that is simply Creationist propaganda. This is not true. Sadly, many Christians have allowed man’s explanation (evolution–which is still a mere theory) to explain what the Bible says about creation. Dinosaurs are, without a doubt, the most fascinating of all prehistoric creatures. This book on dinosaurs for children helps to reinforce a biblical worldview without denying the existence of ancient animals that are now extinct.

Recommendation

Ken Ham does an excellent job of keeping the Scriptures as the main resource for our understanding of science. What is more, the gospel is presented in the context of the destruction of the dinosaurs. To be able to share the gospel with a child at any time is a blessing in and of itself. To be able to do so in the context of dinosaurs is just plain cool in my book.

Many forget that modern science really started because men wanted to know better how God created both the earth and the universe. Unfortunately, many have created the god of science and now bow before it in the hopes that they do not have to answer for their sins.

As one who used to believe in a theory as fact, I highly recommend this book. If you do call on Christ as both Lord and Savior, then it is very important that you have a right understanding of Creation. Where better to start than with the question of the dinosaurs?

Ham, Ken and Britt Beemer.  Already Gone: Why your Kids will Quit Church and What you can do to Stop it.  Green Forest:  Master Books, 2009.  192 pp.  $12.99.  Purchase at Amazon for $9.35.

Introduction

Many denominations and churches in general are feeling the numbers crunch.  What I mean is that people are no longer interested in going to church.  Even worse, those who attend church as children are leaving in droves in their teens and twenties.  Why is this happening?  Can we do anything to stop it?  Has this ever happened before in the history of the church?  If so, when and where and how can we learn from it?

Ken Ham, Answers in Genesis, and Britt Beemer, a statistician and first rate researcher, have come together to answer the question, “Why are our children leaving the church in droves?”  The answers will certainly surprise you.  The solution may shock you.

Review

The title of the book was enough to grab my attention.  What do you mean, “Already Gone?”  As a children’s pastor and former youth-pastor, I was afraid that I was going to be indicted somehow in the problem.  I was partially correct.  Split into two sections, the problem and the solution, Ham and Beemer, set the record straight and dig deep to understand the epidemic that rages in our church buildings today. To make matters worse, they surveyed only twenty-somethings from conservative, Christian churches who attended Sunday School and church regularly as children growing up through their high school years.  In other words, they surveyed the “Bible thumpers.”

First, they look at what has happened in England and how the once proud Christian nation has crumbled to her knees to the point of churches shutting their doors for the last time (1,500 since 1969).  In America, we are witnessing this firsthand as attendance dwindles from Sunday to Sunday across the nation.

They argue that the problem is rooted in our Sunday School System; however, it is not Sunday School itself.  The numbers actually point to the children already questioning their faith by the fifth grade.  In other words, they are “already gone” by the time they reach high school.  Ultimately, our problem is not with the Sunday School system, which is a fairly new concept within Christianity (mid 1800′s).  No, the main thrust of the problem began in about 1859 with the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species.  At the heart of evolutionary philosophy was the undermining of the Bible.  If millions of years are needed for evolution to take place then six literal days cannot make sense and the Bible must be wrong.

Crunching all of the numbers from their survey, Beemer and Ham explain how this undermining of the creation account in Genesis has led to the issue we now face of our children leaving the church in droves.  The solution, they argue, is that we must teach apologetics in the Sunday School room, from the pulpit, in discipleship classes, and in evangelism training.  With the advent of secular science taking over to explain our origins, we have been taught to believe that we learn facts in the class room and faith in the church.

What is more, the class room shows that you can touch facts through scientific experiment which is all fine and good until they begin talking about matters of origins where you cannot test the hypothesis.  It is at this point where the students just trust that the professor or teacher knows what he or she is talking about because they deal with facts all the time.

Therefore, we cannot teach facts in the church because faith is not something that can be tested (or can it?).  Rather, faith is just based on mythologies and stories and “after all, science has proven the first eleven chapters of Genesis to be wrong.” The solution to our problem is that we must begin teaching why the Bible can be trusted.  We must begin teaching why the science behind evolution is wrong.  We need to bring to light the authority of Scripture once again in an age when that authority has been challenged by everyone–including many in the church.

Recommendation

I said earlier that I was only partially indicted.  This is so because of my love for apologetics.  I take every opportunity I have to share with the children external evidences for the Bible, and Jesus, and creation, etc.  Nevertheless, I do not do this as often as I should.  If you think I am being too much of an alarmist, I dare you to pick up this book and read what the authors have to say.  Crunch the numbers for yourself (the results of the survey are included in the book) and see where they lead you.

If you are in a teaching position of any kind in your local church, I exhort you to read this book.  This book ought to be on the desk of every pastor of every local congregation.  It is not like Ham and Beemer are the only ones questioning what is wrong–surveys and papers and blog posts abound regarding the steady decline in church membership.  Already Gone actually offers a sensible solution to an egregious problem.  Pick up a copy today.