Archives For Christmas

Christmas Daddies: A Gift Idea

Aaron Armstrong —  December 14, 2009 — Leave a comment


An interesting challenge is finding gifts that are just right. As fun as things like Dora, Diego, and the Little Einsteins are for my daughter, it’s also important that I’m getting her gifts that are interesting, engaging and edifying. So if you have the same kind of trouble I do, I wanted to try to help out with a gift idea.

Here’s one: The Jesus Storybook Bible Deluxe Edition


Here’s the product description:

Every Story Whispers His Name…

Written for children ages four and up, The Jesus Storybook Bible tells the one story underneath all the stories of the Bible and points to the birth of a child, the Rescuer, Jesus. Complete with 44 Bible stories, The Jesus Storybook Bible paints a beautiful portrait of Jesus and invites children to see that he is not only at the center of God’s great story of redemption—he is at the center of their story too. Children and adults alike will be captivated by the beautifully written narrative and the original and unique illustrations by accomplished artist Jago. Lloyd-Jones’ powerful gift of storytelling draws the reader into the greatest adventure of all time in an exciting page-turner that kids (and adults) find hard to put down.

Since its release in 2007, The Jesus Storybook Bible has become a must-have for children and adults and has grown into a brand that includes: a Spanish edition, an ebook for large and small group presentations, and the new Deluxe Edition, which includes the complete book on audio CD, read by award-winning British actor David Suchet. The audio from the Deluxe Edition is also available separately.

I bought the regular edition of the book for Abigail last Christmas. It’s still a bit above her comprehension level (it’s intended for children over age 4), but it’s far and away the best children’s Bible I’ve seen so far. The stories have depth but are easily understandable and all remind children (and parents) that Jesus is the Hero of the Story.

It’s really great stuff.

If you’ve got some great gift ideas, pass them along in the comments section.

In Books, General , , , , ,
 permalink

Around the Interweb (12/13)

Aaron Armstrong —  December 13, 2009 — Leave a comment

Tim Challies: The Next Story (His Next Book)

Tim Challies, the world’s most famous Christian blogger and author of The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment announced his next book this week.

The working title: The Next Story. The publisher: Zondervan.

True story. Here’s what Tim had to say:

Since I wrote The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment I’ve often been asked the obvious question: what next? That’s a good question, of course. I have deliberately been biding my time. I’ve been in no real hurry to jump into my next project. A few ideas have come and gone, but none have been intriguing or original enough that I’ve wanted to dedicate a year of my life to them. The commitment to a certain topic is really a commitment to spend at least six months reading and writing about it and then a further six months (at minimum) doing interviews about it, speaking about it, preaching about it, and so on. The last thing I wanted to do was find a topic that would bore me and leave me dreading it.

[...] The book’s working title is The Next Story. I’m really pleased with the title, but it does have a downside in that it is remarkably difficult to pronounce (try saying it out loud). It is a book about technology in general and digital technology in particular. Even the least technical among us are being pressed from all sides by technology. Like it or not, we rely upon it in unprecedented ways. Many people feel that they are analog creatures in a digital world. Christians are beginning to awaken to this reality and are trying to think critically and biblically about many new realities brought about by technological developments. Yet, there are few helpful and sympathetic voices for those who wish to do so but have no idea how. I’m hoping to fill this gap, creating a book that will help Christians think well about technology. I do not intend to discuss Facebook and Twitter and whatever will be big and popular next month. I want to discuss technology in the bigger picture so that the book will be applicable today, tomorrow and ten years from now.

If all goes well, the book will be published in hardcover in the spring of 2011. And it will be published by Zondervan. I’m guessing that this will be a surprise to a few people. Frankly, it is a bit of a surprise to me. But in the end it was clear that Zondervan had the best all-around offer, from the financial, to the marketing, to the audience. Zondervan will take the book to a whole new audience, I’m convinced, and will work hard to help me find interesting speaking opportunities. They put together a fantastic proposal and I had no hesitations in signing on with them.

This is very exciting news and I’m thrilled for both Tim and Zondervan (and a very wise move on Zondervan’s part).  I’ve no doubt that he’ll bring the same thoughtfulness to this book as he did his first.

Look for The Next Story in 2011.

In Other News

Molly Piper cordially invites you to break your heart

Kevin DeYoung on The Christian Century and the New Calvinism

Michael Hyatt believes the SI Tablet might be the end of book publishing as we know it (and he’s excited!)

Trevin Wax reminds us that contextualization goes both ways

In Case You Missed It

Here are a few of this week’s notable posts:

A review of Andy Deane’s very helpful book, Learn to Study the Bible

Building Christmas traditions with my family

Ed Stetzer points us to a study on the effects of pornography

In Bloggers, General , , , , , , , ,
 permalink

Christmas Daddies: Building Traditions

Aaron Armstrong —  December 8, 2009 — Leave a comment

Christmas is a couple weeks away. That probably fills some of you with glee. And others with dread.

Me, I’m somewhere in between.

I’m learning to enjoy Christmas as a daddy. It’s a lot of fun to see my daughter get excited about everything that’s going on (most of which she doesn’t understand yet). And it’s a privilege to try to help my lovely wife overcome her Christmas anxiety (long story).

But something that’s been a bit difficult for me: Starting family Christmas traditions.

As far as I recall, we didn’t really have any traditions in our family growing up, although by the time I got into my teens, it became common for us to have lasagne instead of turkey for our Christmas meal.

One of the things I really want to do as my children get older is start reading Dickens’ A Christmas Carol together, as well as other appropriate Christmas stories. But I suspect that’s still a few years off.

So this year, we’re going to try to start two new traditions: Building a gingerbread house and reading the birth of Christ from Luke 2.

I suspect the gingerbread house will be fun because:

  1. My daughter loves gingerbread
  2. I love gingerbread
  3. My wife loves chocolate candy
  4. There is an icing pack for Abigail to squeeze

Reading Luke 2 as a family will be beneficial because it’s a reminder of who and what we’re celebrating at this time of year.

So, my fellow dads (and moms, too), what traditions are you building into your family?

Let’s share some ideas.

In General , , ,
 permalink

Around the Interweb (12/06)

Aaron Armstrong —  December 6, 2009 — Leave a comment

Elliot Grudem: Learning to Advent Together

Elliot Grudem completed a three-part series on why it’s actually helpful to celebrate Advent. Grudem readily admits that Scripture doesn’t require us to do anything different around Advent and celebrating it doesn’t make us more spiritual, but it does have some benefits:

Celebrating Advent helps us cut through all the distractions of the Christmas season and focus our attention on Jesus Christ’s birth and ministry as well as his promised return. Since we can’t anticipate the day or the hour of Christ’s return, we are filled with both a sense of joyful expectation and humble reverence, with our spiritual focus being on lives of prayer and preparation.

Throughout the season we are constantly reminded that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah and Savior of the World.

The series is available at The Resurgence.

In Other News…

Kevin DeYoung asks the question, “Why did they kill Jesus?” and examines “The Gospel Old and New.”

Russell Moore says, “Jesus has AIDS.”

World Magazine interviews Evangelical scholar J.I. Packer who says he’s considering writing a systematic theology.

In Case You Missed It…

Here are a few of this week’s notable posts:

A review of Millard Erickson’s Making Sense of the Trinity: Three Crucial Questions

The final part of George Whitefield’s The Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent

A couple of ideas for something to do instead of boycotting a business for Christmas

In General , , , , , , ,
 permalink

Boycott a Business for Christmas…Seriously?

Aaron Armstrong —  December 1, 2009 — 4 Comments

The other day while looking at Z’s blog (which you should be reading too; he’s swell), I came across a post talking about Stand for Christmas. Here’s a bit of info from the StandforChristmas.com:

In response to the secularization of Christmas and the trend of censoring public references to this time-honored holiday, Focus on the Family and Focus on the Family Action began to speak out on the issue in 2007...In recent years, Focus on the Family has evaluated the advertising of major retailers and assigned ratings based on their level of ”Christmas-friendliness.” We provided these ratings in an annual shopping guide. The response from consumers – and media outlets – has been remarkable.

This year, we’re excited to present a Christmas campaign with a twist!

We’re placing shoppers in the driver’s seat. Through this site, customers can provide feedback directly to retailers and share their experiences with fellow shoppers! [emphasis mine]

Okay, seriously, who thinks this is actually a good idea?

I don’t want to come across as throwing fellow Christians under the bus, but seriously, this is silly. Continue Reading…

In General , ,
 permalink

Let's Do Something Different-Update: $4830 to go!

Aaron Armstrong —  November 23, 2009 — Leave a comment

Update:

$200 $2600 dollars donated so far!

Only $4830 to go!

Please donate and help give 2000 street kids a Christmas they’ll never forget!

Continue Reading…

In Compassion International, General , , ,
 permalink