Jesus- every story whispers His name...

This is the Bible I read to Jack from every night... For the past few nights it's been great to hear (and attempt to answer) his questions of "Why did they put a crown of thorns on His head?" and "Why did they want to hurt Him?"

We also have been reading through, one story at a time on the first Sunday of the month, with our kids in our worship gathering. (If you can keep a secret, I'll tell it to you- as excited as I am to take our kids through this, I'm actually more excited about the adults hearing the entire scope of the Bible the way this one tells it, ending with how it points to Jesus).

Here's part of an interview with the author (seriously... read this!):

When I first heard about The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every story whispers his name, I was thrilled that there was now a children’s Bible story book that put Jesus at the center. What I especially appreciate about it is that you do this with 21 stories from the Old Testament. Why did you set out to write a children’s book like this? Why did you feel the need to write a Bible story book that presents Jesus as each story’s hero?

When I first saw that everything in the Old Testament, is pointing to a child—the one who is coming—it blew me away. Suddenly, here was a way to read the Bible without it leaving you condemned (I’ll never keep all the rules all the time) or in despair (how can I ever be as brave as Daniel? or David?).

I found it so moving when I started to discover how the Old Testament is basically one long record of failure—the failure of God’s people time and time again to live rightly, to rescue themselves—and that the stories in the Old Testament are all getting us ready for the One who is coming. They are all signposts to the True Hero, the True King, the True Prince, the True Servant, the greater David, the greater Daniel. The Rescuer.

As a child, I thought the Bible was packed with rules you had to keep (or God wouldn’t love you) and heroes setting examples you had to follow (or God wouldn’t love you). I thought, in short, that the Bible was all about me and what I should (or shouldn’t) be doing. Until I read a Story.

It’s the Story running like a golden stream underneath all the other stories in the Bible: the story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. Suddenly, I realized the Bible wasn’t about me and what I should be doing at all. It was about God and what he had done. And it changed everything.

So, throughout the mapping out of the book and writing the stories, I was resolute in my determination to avoid even a whiff of moralizing in terms of applying the stories. The absolute last thing I ever wanted to ask a child was: “And what can we learn from David about how God wants us to behave?” The story isn’t there to be an example for us to follow. If that were the point, Jesus would never needed to have come. We could have saved ourselves.

The story is there because it’s true and because it’s telling the bigger story—of the greater David who is coming. To do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves, to fight the battle we could never fight. To be the Hero we all need. To be our Rescuer.

I wanted children to know this Story—and to meet this wonderful Hero in the pages of this book. Because rules don’t change you. But a story can.

Amen and amen! Read the rest here

Comments

[dave wainscott]

Thanks Bob..this post...dovetailed w/a quote by Stanley Kubrick inspiredthis

I'm reading it with my whole family (kids 7 -17) and they love it. I've said over and over again that EVERY SEMINARIAN should be required to read this Bible at the beginning of their studies, and just before they graduate.

[fr'nklin]

Sorry...didn't mean to post anonymously...that was me.

[sally lloyd-Jones]

Wow it's so exciting to read your blog. Thanks for this post and for helping get the word out and the book into more hands (big and little!)

That's so generous. It's God's Story and I am humbled and honored to have been part of re-telling it for children. it's wonderful to see how He is using the book in people's lives.

you and your readers may also be interested to know about a radio interview where I talk about writing the book and also read from 6 of the stories... available on my blog (TAG: BIBLE)

there are also lots of other resources at my site (sallylloyd-jones.com)--like a downloadable sample for anyone who wants to sample the book before buying, as well as reviews by Kathy Keller, interviews, etc.

Thanks again, Bob. And also to "fr'nklin" for his lovely Keller-esque comment. Amen. Amen.

[curtis]

wow... this sounds GREAT!

I've honestly been struggling with how I can share my faith with my son. Granted, he's only 2, but he's wicked smart, and he remembers almost every book we read to him. I've been thinking that it would be great to somehow work in some Bible stories. But most children's Bible books I've seen are cheesy at best; theologically off base at worst.

This sounds like a welcome breath of fresh air. Bob, thanks for bringing it to our attention, and Sally, thanks for much for writing it!!!

[Jason]

Bob, I never thanked you for posting this. So...thanks! My daughter was barely 1-year-old when I read the post, so I wasn't in a huge hurry to pick it up. I ended up getting it for free as a Christmas present from my mother-in-law, and have greatly, deeply enjoyed reading it myself. I'm anxious for my daughter to develop the patience to get through a book that takes longer than 10 seconds to read a 2 page spread.