"Bible Stories for His Beautiful Princess" Literary Review

Bible Stories for His Beautiful Princess by Sheri Rose Shepherd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A bedtime staple for young girls to read and learn about various Bible stories at a young age, with a colorful, pretty,

Disclaimer: I do not have any children. However, I am a teacher and future librarian, so that should have credibility in some shape or form. As a former Girl Scout leader, I also evaluated this text in regards to illustrations, language complexity and format.

Shepard's book is a compilation of various Bible stories in their [supposed] chronological order. Each story is condensed into about 50 word summaries that are interpreted from their corresponding Scripture reading. i.e) "Make me willing to obey you."-Psalm 51:12 is expanded into a retelling of Jonah and the Whale. The large font, simplicity of the language, and positive words used help young girls understand God's message. Aside from the simple stories, I think that readers will enjoy the illustrations the most. Not only is this book a princess theme, but it has watercolor and pen drawings of princesses (of various ethnicities--which was a HUGE plus for me!), flowers, and otherwise positive illustrations. Every character within every story was smiling, which put emphasis on the positive experience that is strived for while reading this book. PLUS, not only are there the Scriptures and Bible stories, but a Princess Prayer to say after the reader has completed the story, as well as a "Princess Jewel", or otherwise valuable piece of knowledge that the reading princess should take away for her crown of knowledge.

I consider this a valuable read that I would recommend to anyone with a young girl and wants to help them with their comprehension of Christian stories.

I received this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for my honest, unbiased opinion.

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"A Call to Resurgence" Literary Review

A Call to Resurgence: Will Christianity Have a Funeral or a Future? by Mark Driscoll
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Being offered a chance to read and review this title, I began with the mindset that I would be learning more about the decline of Christianity during today's modern digital age, and I expected an explanation about what was happening and solutions to the problem. What I found while reading Pastor Mark Driscoll's title was more like a war manual of sorts that explained the decline, guided the reader towards different paths in which an individual could take, as well as begin to attack the issue itself, which is something that is essential to a text that wants to solve a problem. "A Call to Resurgence" does a marvelous thing: it explains, exhibits and enhances the topic of the Resurgence, a topic that is prominent with those who are seeking religious salvation. However, as many statistics throughout the book state, there aren't that many individuals who are on the side of the Resurgence.

Driscoll provides many statistics throughout his book to help enhance his argument, which sets the stage like any other solution book on the market. The book begins with the basic statistic that only 8% of Americans are classified as Evangelical Christians, which is less than the amount of left-handed people, Texans or even pet cats that are in America. This 8% haunts you as a reader, and you become part of the mission to raise that number as you continue reading. But what was the main issue in the first place? How did Christendom die? The rise of various political platforms on the national stage as well as the promotion of civil religion and borrowed faith instead of the "raw devotion" to the gospel of Jesus Christ, whom Driscoll reiterates as "humanity's one and only hope". As a pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Driscoll continues evaluation the causes of death of Christendom, beginning with the idea of uniting various "tribes", which I interpreted through his elaborate explanation as the different denominations of Christianity. How does one do this? Identify the elements of your "tribe" (meaning understand your beliefs), then unite with others to begin promoting the message. Driscoll even tailors his argument to satisfy today's digital age by suggesting education, books, as well as the Internet. Considering that 61% of Americans say that they wish they read the Bible more than they do currently, the union of tribes could result in an initiative.

As someone who is not devotional in religious practices, this book was very informative in the different aspects of providing information on the subject, Driscoll is credible, well-spoken with his stories, statistics, and elaboration on the topics that could be otherwise considered dull and boring. He shows a drive to share this topic. However, with readers who are seeking a "how-to" manual, this is not a simple one. There is a lot of religious terminology that if you are unfamiliar with, you could become entirely lost, but nothing that a simple "Google" search wouldn't fix.

I received this book from NetGalley via the Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for my honest opinion in this review.

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