Book Reviews - Hive Resources

Sweeter than Honey (a study for new Bible students & teachers)

June 27, 2016 By: demingglobal116 Comments

I’ve been biting my nails, anticipating today, like it’s Christmas morning! Because today, I’m launching my new Bible study geared for new Bible students and the teachers leading them. And I have a really big, really sweet gift to give away!

the book

Sweeter than Honey: Cultivating an Appetite for the Word of God is a five-week discipleship guide based on Psalm 19 that offers first-time Bible students and their teachers hands-on cooking lessons for feasting on the Scriptures, helping them become women of the Word.

Part 1 helps women cultivate an appetite for God’s Word and the One whom the Bible is about, Christ, the Living Word.

Part 2 contains simple and practical steps for self-feeding on God’s Word despite busy schedules or the lack of a biblical ground.

For new Bible students

New students of the Bible will learn how to study the Bible by:

–Cultivating an appetite for God’s Word (and learning what keeps you from desiring it!)

–Reading the Bible contextually

–Interpreting passages based on what the author intended to say

–Faithfully applying the Bible’s principles (without resorting to legalism)

and most importantly…

–affirming the trustworthy nature of God’s Word

For new Bible teachers

Great books on how to study the Bible abound. But what sets Sweeter than Honey apart from the rest is it is also written for Bible study teachers and women’s ministry leaders – particularly first-time teachers or leaders who are discipling women from an unchurched background.

Discipling unchurched women looks differently from discipling women who have grown up in the church. Sweeter than Honey takes those differences into consideration and, together with the free Leader’s Guide, offers teachers a step-by-step guide for helping new believers learn how to prepare a meal from God’s Word.

New Bible study teachers will learn how to guide other women through the Scriptures with:

–Ideas for engaging the heart of an unchurched woman

–Tips for working with groups of different sizes

–Info for hosting the material as apart of a women’s ministry event or retreat

–Tools for explaining how the Bible came to be and why it’s trustworthy

–Access to free printables and visual aids for Bible study

–A simple, reproducible method for Bible study

–A 31-Day Reading Challenge discipler and disciples can take together

Sweeter than Honey is for any woman who wants to become a woman of the Word – a woman who craves the sweetness of the Scriptures because she has tasted the sweetness of her Savior. It is my hope that this book both encourages you and equips you to nourish yourself on God’s Word each day and to invite others to his lavish table!

GIVEAWAY

This week, I’m giving away a complete Bible study bag packed with of everything you need to cultivate your appetite for God’s Word!

Trust me when I say that it is truly a measure of my love for you that I’m able to part with this adorable bag and pencil case. On multiple occasions, the honeybee-obsessed troll that lives in my head offered up a surprisingly well-reasoned defense on why I needed it. I mean, the teal polka dot lining on the pencil case almost did me in.

I know.

Bees + polka dots.

I hope you feel loved.

*sigh*

The lucky winner will receive:

–1 paperback copy of Sweeter than Honey

–1 canvas beehive book bag

–1 honeybee pencil case (filled with my tears – just kidding)

–1 ESV journaling Bible, hardcover

—Pigma Micron pens (6 pk)

—Bic Xtra-strong mechanical pencils (24 pk) (my favorite pencils for Bible study because the leads don’t break!)

—Bible Hi-Glider highlighters (3 pk)

Enter below! Contest ~~ends July 4 at midnight!~~ HAS ENDED! Congrats to Norma B!

Thank you to everyone who entered! If you didn’t win, keep your eye on my instagram account. I might have a few little FLASH FREEBIES in the coming weeks!

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To download the Leader’s Guide or to find out more, visit the book page.

For information about the affiliate links in this post, click here.

About

Melissa Deming is the creator of Hive Resources — a site to help women sweeten their walk with Christ through Bible study, ministry and missions resources, and more. She is the author of "Daughters of the King: Finding Your Place in the Biblical Story." Melissa has an M.Div. in Women’s Studies from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

5 reasons the Psalms of Lament give us hope (giveaway!)

May 26, 2016 By: demingglobal129 Comments

Today, I’m thrilled to share a book with you that I’ve been waiting to be released for a long time!

Written by my friend Christina Fox, A Heart Set Free: A Journey to Hope Through the Psalms of Lament, is a book for weary-worn souls. It is a book for all women struggling to understand how their faith in Jesus Christ intersects with life’s difficult moments.

It reads true to Christina’s character and personal story of how a specific group of Psalms in the Scriptures helped her to overcome emotions that threatened to shipwreck her life – depession, anxiety, despair, and more.

Christina starts her book where all good stories begin – in the Garden. The entrance of sin into God’s creation corrupted all things, particularly the human heart. Because of that, A Heart Set Free, is more than a guide to cultivating healthy emotions; the book challenges readers to use biblical tools (the Psalms of Lament) to voice and identify the emotions that hold them hostage so that they might live and walk in the freedom of Christ.

WHAT IS A LAMENT?

Newer believers might be unaware that there are songs classified in the Scriptures as laments.

A lament is a type of song that honestly expresses the deepest cries of the human heart – cries of sorrow, fear, anger, anxiety, depression, suffering, pain. More than simple venting, the laments offer modern believers a guide for pouring out their hearts to God so that they might find hope in him.

5 REASONS THE PSALMS OF LAMENT OFFER HOPE

In the book, Christina outlines 5 reasons the Psalms of Lament offer hope in the midst of spiritual and emotional darkness.

(1) They help us express our feelings in honest and healthy ways.

(2) They help shape our feelings, helping us interpret them in light of God’s redemptive plan for the entire world.

(3) They teach us more about ourselves by revealing our greatest need and how our minds and hearts influence our lives.

(4) They teach us more about God, his character and activity in us and the world.

(5) They reorient us to the truth of the gospel and how it transforms us from the inside out.

Part of the power of Christina’s book is her own personal story of interacting with the laments, particularly in writing her own laments using the pattern and language the psalmist provides. A Heart Set Free is the vulnerable story of how Scripture is redeeming the heart of one woman and the hard work heart work is. It is a journey that I suspect will resonate with countless believers struggling with depression and anxiety.

Christina has been working on this book in both her head and heart for a while, and after seeing the finished product, I can’t recommend it heartily enough.

Fortunately, she has graciously provided a free copy for one lucky Hive Resources reader! And because the Psalms are one of my favorite books in the Bible, I thought I’d pair her book with one of my other favorite things: coffee!

To enter to win a copy of A Heart Set Free and a $15 Starbucks gift card, simply leave a comment in this blog post. That’s it! Pretty easy, right? ~~Comments must be posted by Tuesday, May 31 at midnight! (U.S. Residents only).~~ CONTEST HAS ENDED!

Congratulations to the winner, Gail Hein! Thank you to everyone who entered!

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Easter gifts that inspire

March 16, 2016 By: demingglobal1comment

Whether your family fills Easter baskets or not, Easter offers parents a special opportunity to inspire your children toward resurrection living.

Easter is more than a bunny, more than new dress clothes, more than candy, and more than even attending a special service with the whole family.

Easter is about the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Easter is about victory over death and sin. Easter is about the new kingdom and new life Christ makes available to us…right now.

To help the twins connect those dots, we try to downplay the commercial trappings that come with the season and try to focus on elements that inspire them to love Christ more deeply. We have fun decorating the house, doing fun activities that picture our new life through Christ, making fun and symbolic foods, and sharing special devotionals.

We don’t “do” the Easter bunny, but we do fill baskets with gifts meant to inspire their minds. For my boys, this task can be harder than it sounds considering that most books and activities produced during Easter are pastel or depict baby animals.

Action Bible

If you have the same problem, you might consider adding some Bible-based graphic novels to your son’s Easter basket this year.

Last year, we gave our boys the Action Bible – a visual timeline of about 200 Bible stories in chronological order.

The artistry is amazing and the editors do a pretty good job retaining the overall message and point of each Bible story – making sure they form one cohesive narrative of redemption.

Now, it comes in a 52-week devotional, a Bible dictionary, and a recently-released ESV study Bible edition.

Just a warning: as with most graphic novels, the artwork is very realistic and doesn’t shy away from the biblical story. So, Ezekiel’s dry bones take on more a zombie feel and the crucifixion of Christ can be a lot for young eyes. Those facts didn’t deter my boys, but if you have younger children, previewing the books is always a good idea.

The Pilgrim’s Progress

By chance, I stumbled across the graphic novel of John Bunyan’s literary classic, Pilgrim’s Progress, at a LifeWay store. The graphic version is split into two volumes and is abbreviated and retold so that younger readers can take in this treasure.

Not sure if the twins would like this book, I only bought the first volume and packed it for an upcoming trip to visit our other boy cousins. Between the six of them, this book was so well-read and fought over that we left for home missing several pages.

Each boy was mesmerized by the story of Christian and his loyal friend Faithful. The artwork is nothing short of amazing and emotional. The boys were so invested in the storyline, rooting for Christian to sidestep the various temptations along his journey, that I ordered the second volume while we were still on our trip and had it shipped to we were staying.

I still find them curled up on the couch or in bed with this book in their hands when they have a quiet moment.

If you have boys ages 6 and up, this gift will surely inspire them to faithful living in light of the resurrection.

A similar note of caution: the artwork is very realistic, so depictions of Satan could be scary for young readers. Similarly, some of the ladies are drawn in particularly sensuous ways. If that worries you, previewing a copy is wise.

Kingstone Comics

The success of the Action Bible and Pilgrim’s Progress with the boys, sent me on a mission to find more material for the twins.

I discovered that Kingstone Media also produced their own comics line, with graphics similar to today’s comic books.

In addition to slim comic books that retell Old Testament stories – like King David and Joshua, Kingstone also produces longer books like how the Bible came to be in the Book of God.

Each of these resources have opened the door to interesting conversations with the twins about faith, God, the afterlife and more. We’ve used them as quiet reading material as well as fun family read a-louds before bed.

How do you inspire your children with the message of Easter? I’d love to hear what you’ve used in your home, so share your ideas in the comments!

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Ruled by kindness in a rude world

February 17, 2016 By: demingglobal1comment

The internet abounds with memes – pictures captioned with sarcastic comments. Most are partisan, crass, and condescending.

The most high-handed of memes feature actor Gene Wilder in his beloved role as Willy Wonka, complete with bemused/creepy grin and felt top hat.

But for many people, memes (especially the wildly popular Gene Wilder sort) and their biting one-liners, represent the bulk of our nation’s cultural engagement. Whether it’s the bickering Republican presidential debates or verbal assaults lobbed on Facebook, our culture’s ability to hold civil discourse has all but evaporated.

Consider the recent beating actor Richard Dreyfuss endured after attending a Ted Cruz rally. Dreyfuss defended himself on Fox News, lamenting the loss of curiosity in America and our patience to listen to opposing ideas. His point was not lost on me, nor was the fiery reception he received from his liberal friends for venturing outside the left’s ideological silo.

But, for years now, I’ve watched many of my Christian friends fall into the same philosophical trap.

Facebook, and its lack off accountability, has robbed our culture of civility, the result of which is not only the loss of kindness in conversation, but the ability to hold any kind of conversation at all. We engage in one-sided rhetoric that wins no converts to our positions much less to the person of Christ. We lob insults like grenades hurled from a WWII trench, logging off before seeing where they land or whom they damage.

On the rare occasion, we do see people of differing perspectives successfully engage one another with kindness, we are baffled. The recent passing of Supreme Court Antonin Scalia led to multiple news stories describing his long-time friendship with his political opposite, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as “unexpected” and novel.

Perhaps both the state of the church and the state of the union would be in much better repair if friendships like this were more common – if kindness was more common.

This is not an accusation so much as it is a lament, particularly for the failure of the church to live out it’s God-given missional role in our respective communities with any sort of charm or congeniality.

The character of our conversations

Simply put, the character of our cultural engagement reveals the character of our heart. Are we, a people who have been shown immeasurable kindness in Christ, ruled by kindness? Or are our hearts ruled by something else? Something more sinister?

Fearful hearts

The church is called to uphold truth and biblical principles (1 Tim. 3:15). But when our interactions with the world are reduced to hateful and unkind words, we reveal the peace that should rule our hearts has been replaced by fear.

Fear leads us to falsely assume we will fail to uphold truth or acquiesce to the world by engaging opposing ideas. And after the tensions that have swept the political landscape of our country for the last 7 years, those fears of succumbing to evil are sometimes warranted.

But often our fears can be motived by less nobility. We fear we will be proven inadequate in the marketplace of ideas, and more tragically, we fear our beliefs, or our God, will be proven lacking as well.

Prideful hearts

If it is not fear that shapes our cultural engagement, then it is pride.

We want to be right. We enjoy being right. We make idols of being right. And so, we post comments on Facebook that are mean-spirited and unkind and unfair – things we wouldn’t otherwise say if the person was standing in front of us.

Pride and its ugly twin – anger – cause us to nurse resentment against those who do not subscribe to the same ideas. And while some of that anger can be justified, it is often dangerously vented to the detriment of the gospel.

The character of our engagement speaks not only to our own personal character, but also speaks how we view the character of our God.

In his very nature, God, who is both Truth and Love, demonstrates how both come together without contradiction (John 14:6, 1 John 4:8). His character was made plain even in the days of the Old Testament when Scripture speaks of God’s hesed (lovingkindness) toward his people (Ps. 36:7; 63:3).

“For His lovingkindness is great toward us, And the truth of the LORD is everlasting. Praise the LORD!” Psalm 117:2

It is exactly this type of hesed that we receive ultimately from God Incarnate (Eph. 2:7). It is this type of hesed that we need desperately in our dealings with those who are not yet claimed by God nor claim him in return.

2 ways to be ruled by kindness

In his book, Onward: Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel, Russell Moore calls the church to re-embrace “convictional kindness.” He says, believers should seek to engage the culture commiserate with the kindness of the gospel of Christ.

Convictional kindness comes as we seek to “speak the truth in love” without contradiction (Eph. 4:15). Living out that tension in a world of memes is challenging. To get started, here are two ways we can let our hearts be ruled by kindness and by Christ.

1. Offer a listening ear

For some of us, being a good listener means being a better friend. It certainly doesn’t mean you have to concede to unbiblical beliefs, but it does require us to take an active role in learning what others around us believe and why they believe it by asking good questions.

For some of us, being a good listener means being a better student. It means reading a spectrum of authors and commentators – not just the ones you agree with. It might also mean getting our news from a spectrum of sources – even those you believe to be hopelessly ‘biased’ in their reporting.

For even more of us, being a good listener means demonstrating better restraint. It means we should stop posting offensive things on social media, even if we believe them to be 100 percent true. I include myself here, as well.

2. Offer an invitation

In an era when our daily conversations are becoming decidedly less personal, they are also becoming increasingly less kind.

Offering an invitation means asking a friend for coffee rather than trying to have fragmented conversations online. Offering an invitation means opening your home and dinner table to those who look differently, believe differently, or even live differently than you do.

As it turns out, kindness was something that Roald Dahl’s character, Willy Wonka, knew something about.

The 1971 film adaptation ends a bit differently from the book. In the screenplay, Charlie returns an everlasting gobstopper stolen from Wonka’s chocolate factory, unknowingly proving himself ready to receive an even bigger inheritance – a kingdom of chocolate. Quoting Shakespeare, Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka breathes: “So shines a good deed in a weary world.”

Our weary world is in dire need of the kindness of Christ. Let us be a people of Truth who are ruled by Christ and his kindness in our words. In this way, we prove Christ has made us ready for the inheritance that awaits us in heaven.

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace… but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ” Eph. 4:1-3, 15

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A must-have book for helping women who miscarry

May 7, 2015 By: demingglobal11 Comment

After Sunday worship recently, I could sense a friend was upset. When I inquired, she mentioned she was miscarrying. I did what I knew to do — I hugged her. And then I hugged her again.

Last week my sister texted me. “I have a friend who had a miscarriage. What can I do for her?” Immediately, I replied: “Take her a meal!”

For those of us not acquainted with miscarriage, it can be an isolating and strange kind of grief. I know this grief personally, I’ve had three miscarriages. The first two were what doctors consider routine; the third was a particularly difficult as I was further along in my pregnancy. In both instances, women around me hugged me and loved on me by bringing me meals.

You don’t have to serve in women’s ministries very long to encounter a woman suffering from the tragedy of miscarriage. Although you would never know from the very little we speak about it or hear about it from Sunday pulpits, miscarriage is a common event. Yet, the sadness from the loss of a pregnancy is so unique that the church is often left wondering how best to minister to women walking through this circumstance.

This Mother’s Day, it’s my honor to recommend a new resource written by my friend Jessalyn Hutto. Inheritance of Tears: Trusting the Lord of Life When Death Visits the Womb is a biblically-faithful and thoughtful account of God’s sovereignty over and through miscarriage.

Why I recommend the book:

Packed into five little chapters, Jessalyn offers hurting women wisdom, comfort and hope while leading them to the cross of Christ, their ultimate source of comfort.

–She offers wise counsel regarding practical questions of grief. For the woman who wonders if her miscarriage is her fault or if she could have prevented it, Jessalyn draws their attention to the salve of the gospel.

–She speaks from the big picture of life, opening her book with a primer on the impact of sin on a woman’s body.

–She beautifully links God’s sovereignty to God’s goodness for women who doubt the Creator’s trustworthiness for allowing their miscarriage.

–She offers sweet prayers for hurting mothers at the close of each chapter, giving women a chance to digest the rich doctrine covered in each section.

And because she wisely guides the reader through the different levels of emotional suffering entailed in miscarriage, I would recommend that every women’s ministry leader purchase and use Inheritance of Tears as they serve women walking through this difficult circumstance. Despite hard the circumstance of miscarriage and the equally hard truths Jessalyn explicates in her book, women ministry leaders must be prepared to give biblically-informed comfort to the hurting women in their care. Inheritance of Tears is a must-have book for helping women who are suffering from the “unseen grief” of miscarriage.

Special thanks to Jessalyn for providing me a copy of Inheritance of Tears to review. For more information about the links in this post, click here.

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Christine Hoover: the goodness gospel & women’s ministries

April 27, 2015 By: demingglobal1comment

Recently, I had a chance to pepper author and church planting wife Christine Hoover with questions about her latest book, From Good to Grace: Letting Go of the Goodness Gospel.

The book is a resounding call for Christian women to bid adieu to “performance-based Christianity” by living in light of the freedoms of the gospel and is a must-read for every woman, particularly for those in the trenches of ministry. The lessons Christine shares require believers to evaluate their understanding of the greatness of God and the way they serve him in their homes, churches, and communities.

Listen in as Christine shares about the goodness gospel and how it impacts ministries to women.

HIVE RESOURCES: Your book is very personal. The beginning is largely the story of your journey of faith and how you learned to embrace the gospel over “being good.” How many other women in the church do you think resonate with your journey?

Christine Hoover: You’re right, this book is very personal. It was written on my heart through many years of wrestling with spiritual perfectionism. For so long I attempted to be good for God according to my own ability—which is what I term the “goodness gospel”—but then He taught me about His grace and that changed everything for me.

As a pastor’s wife, I’ve found that many Christian women are deeply entangled, as I was, in the bondage of “not good enough.” They live their lives solely based upon what others are saying and the loud voices of expectation in their heads. These voices correspond closely with cultural messages of “do more, try harder” and “be the change you want to see.” They’ve infiltrated our churches and have confused the simplicity and beauty of the gospel of Jesus. I wrote this book for those women, the ones who don’t even know they are living by the goodness gospel but feel the effects of it: the comparison, competition, division, people-pleasing, isolation, self-condemnation, and guilt. There are many Christian women who feel like I did: unloved by God and certain that they’ll never be enough or do enough for Him. I wrote From Good to Grace for them.

HIVE RESOURCES: How important is understanding the “goodness gospel” in women’s ministry? Does it impact what you promote, what types of events you offer, and even what you teach the women in your church?

Christine Hoover: The culture is already telling women they need to be better and try harder; we certainly don’t need women’s ministries propagating these things in relation to the gospel. If we imply we have to be good in order for God to love and use us for His glory, we only add to the burden, guilt, and condemnation women come to the church to be freed from. So it is vitally important that we look at the foundation of our women’s ministries: is everything we do, teach, and promote based upon the true gospel, which leads to life and freedom and a deeper trust of the Lord’s work in us, or is it promoting the goodness gospel, which leads to greater condemnation?

HIVE RESOURCES: How did the goodness gospel impact you in your church planting journey?

Actually church planting took further crutches of self-reliance out from under me. It showed me how the goodness gospel–a reliance on myself and my own abilities–continued to ingrain itself in my heart. Church planting is tough work, but it’s also been the best thing God’s done in my life, primarily because it’s taught me that I can’t bear spiritual fruit on my own. No amount of hard work or my own goodness can change someone’s heart. It’s the Holy Spirit alone. I completely dependent upon God’s grace toward me.

HIVE RESOURCES: In what ways do traditional women’s ministries feed the addiction to the goodness gospel?

Christine Hoover: Women’s ministries must cultivate a great love of, reverence for, and dedication to the Bible while also cultivating a safe environment where women can bare their heart struggles. This is a powerful combination where the Holy Spirit can work, produce fruit, and yield lasting, redemptive change. When one is cultivated without the other, we are in danger of feeding women’s addiction to the goodness gospel. Knowledge of Scripture that we’re not urged to apply will lead to puffing up and self-reliance. Hearts laid bare without the truth of Scripture applied opens the door for worldly wisdom or self-help cliches to be thrown around. We need both Scripture and honesty about our hearts so that we’re able to encourage a deep dependence on the Lord.

HIVE RESOURCES: How can women’s ministries serve women who are paralyzed by the fears of trying to earn God’s love by being good? What are the some practical ways to reverse the addiction to goodness/perfection and help women crave the gospel in our women’s ministries?

Christine Hoover: The gospel is not innate to us. It’s an announcement of good news that we must hear and proclaim to ourselves over and over again. We must let it consistently sink down deeper into every crevice of life. We get it wrong so often because what I term the goodness gospel is innate. We tend to innately believe that external behaviors can change internal realities, so self-effort has an appearance of wisdom to us. We must, as Paul says in Galatians 5:1, “stand firm in the liberty for which Christ has set us free.”

Women’s ministries can serve their women by proclaiming the gospel over and over again. We can tell it in a variety of beautiful ways, because we can apply it to every issue that women deal with: comparison, body image, shameful and secret sin, marriage, singleness, widowhood, friendship, and more. We serve our women when we don’t just pass out tips for being “better” at roles and responsibilities but when we give them gospel truths. The gospel is life. We also serve them when we don’t cater to whims but when we dig deeper into the gospel.

I think in our churches we often focus on what the gospel says about salvation, but we aren’t always talking about how the gospel applies to our sanctification. How do we grow? How does the Holy Spirit work in our daily lives? What does it mean to walk by faith? Without understanding these concepts, we naturally revert back to the goodness gospel.

HIVE RESOURCES: How has the goodness gospel impacted how we disciple women?

Christine Hoover: In From Good to Grace, I talk about the type of counsel we give other women. We can give women the goodness gospel (do better, try harder) or we can give them the gospel of grace, which is that God has provided not only for salvation but has given us everything we need for life and godliness. We want to disciple women in a way that pushes them to seek God’s voice, know God’s voice, and obey God’s voice. The goodness gospel, however, puts the burden for discipleship on the discipler. I have to give perfect wisdom. I have to tell them what to do. It is my responsibility to make sure they do the right thing. It’s my responsibility to discipline them and be their Holy Spirit. Ultimately, if I disciple according to the goodness gospel, I have to be good. I am not a fellow learner or a fellow sojourner in need of grace.

HIVE RESOURCES: In your book you talk about how the goodness gospel impacts the way women relate to one another. What advice would you offer a women’s ministry leader who is battling unhealthy relationships and trying to implement some of these measures?

Christine Hoover: Have conversations about it. Our church recently held a women’s retreat where we talked about these exact issues. We looked at the root beliefs of comparison, competition, and disunity among women and then we looked at what the gospel says about these things. We had very honest conversations about broken relationships in the church; in fact, I shared with one of my friends about how our friendship had deteriorated and how God had restored it. We wanted to model how we fight for unity, how the gospel gives us the power to do that, and how we confess and repent in community.

Special thanks to Baker Books and Christine Hoover for providing me with a review copy of From Good to Grace. This post contains affiliate links. To find out more, click here.

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Host your own ‘Daughters of the King’ small group

February 18, 2015 By: demingglobal16 Comments

Today I’m excited to share with you some ideas for hosting your own small group or book club using my Bible study, Daughters of the King: Finding Your Place in the Biblical Story.

Longtime friend and international missions advocate Debi Pruitt is leading some friends and college students through the book. Because some of her students are bound for the mission field, Debi thought the book’s emphasis on discipleship using the whole story of Scripture would be helpful for them.

And since the roots for this book were born out of my days living in Southeast Asia, I couldn’t agree with her more!

At the kick-off for the Bible study, Debi set up a spread of refreshments fit for a queen (chocolate covered strawberries? Yum-o!) She decorated with fun crowns and a globe a reminder of God’s story for the nations. How cute are these gals wearing their crowns?

I love how she made use of the free printable pack I offered a while back and customized one of the ready-made invites. She even used copies of the book as decorations.

Here’s what Debi had to say about the time with her small group:

Thanks, Debi, for all the feedback and pictures!

Is your small group reading Daughters of the King? I’d love to hear from you! Send your ideas and pictures to me at info@hiveresources.com or post them to your social media sites with #DaughtersoftheKingbook.

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A family devotional for the New Year

January 15, 2015 By: demingglobal11 Comment

Looking for a new family devotional to kick off the New Year? Then check out the recently released I Can Learn the Bible: 52 Devotions and Scriptures for Kids by Holly Hawkins Shivers. Published by Tommy Nelson, this weekly devotional will help you hide God’s Word in even the smallest heart in your home.

I Can Learn the Bible

Here’s what’s inside:

— a short and relatable devotion based on 52 Scripture verses

— explanations and illustrations of each verse that children can understand

— helpful discussion questions for parents to use in prompting their children to apply the passage to their lives

There are a number of things I enjoyed about this book, like the fill-in-the-blank statements sprinkled throughout the text that help prompt discussion.

The author also offers a sample daily schedule of simple activities for parents to help their children memorize the weekly passage. A far cry from the moralistic lessons typically found in children’s religious material, I particularly appreciated how the author embedded a biblical worldview into each devotional.

Ultimately, I love the author’s encouragement to parents feeling the pressure to raise godly children. In her introduction, she writes:

“…we can educate our children with a biblical worldview, we can enroll them in church activities and teach them principles to the best of our abilities, and we can pray for them, discipline them, and love them well. But there is nothing like the Word of God being planted in their hearts, taking root, and producing genuine spiritual growth. Ultimately, the spiritual well-being of our children rests in the hands of God – He will form and strengthen them through His Word and His Spirit.”

Overall, this is a wonderful devotional for families just starting to carve out time together in God’s Word, as well as for families with children ages 5-12. My only criticism is the illustrations are not available as Scripture cards or printable 8×10’s for framing. Now THAT would be fun!

Thanks to Tommy Nelson for providing a copy for review. You can purchase I Can Learn the Bible at the link. And psst, the kindle version is only $1.99 right now!

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Meaningful Christmas gifts: 7 ESV Bibles for Kids

November 25, 2014 By: demingglobal12 Comments

With Black Friday looming, the gift-buying frenzy is upon us! But this Christmas, considering making some of your presents to your children reflect the full meaning of the season.

During a time when we celebrate the Word becoming flesh, what better gift can you give your child than the written Word of God?

Give your child a Bible this Christmas, especially if they are just beginning to read or they are transitioning into a new stage of life.

Here are 7 ESV Bibles from Crossway for pre-readers through teens. Any one of these Bibles would make a meaningful Christmas gift.

Kid’s Compact Bible

Recommended ages: 7-12

Price point: $18-32

Features: full ESV text, glossary, maps, OT & NT timeline art, dictionary, words of Christ in red.

The ESV Kid’s Compact Bible works for both boys and girls. Its slim body is easy enough for little hands to carry and slip into a backpack.

This is a no-frills Bible. There are very few textual notes and added information in the body of text, but it does include a helpful index for subjects like “God’s Word for Me When…” and “God’s Word for Me About…”

The Kid’s Compact Bible comes in a variety of colored leathers with embossed designs like owls, swords and shields. My six-year-olds loved the swords!

Overall, the size and simplicity of this Bible would make it an excellent first Bible for readers as they learn to discover and navigate God’s Word by looking up verses – even if the text is a little small!

ESV Seek and Find Bible

Recommended ages: 5-9

Price point: $20-28 (hard and soft cover)

Features: full ESV text, 130 full-color illustrations with accompanying Bible story summaries, short book introductions, over 50 character profiles, fun and colorful facts highlighted throughout the text.

The ESV Seek and Find Bible was my son’s (Jonah) favorite because he loved the illustrations and colorful graphics. Because he’s just beginning to read, the illustrated Bible objects, structures, and places really captured his imagination.

But here’s what I loved.

Each illustration is paired with a story, key memory verse, additional readings, and reflection questions giving parents lots of tools at their fingertips to help their child understand and apply God’s Word.

It is ideal as a first “study” Bible and very usable for homeschool, family Bible study, or fun interactive activities involving Scripture.

ESV Holy Bible for Kids

Recommended ages: 9-12

Price point: $13-15

Features: full ESV text, 24 pages of special content, illustrations of major scenes in the redemptive story, and maps.

If you’re looking for an illustrated Bible without all the bells and whistles of other Bibles (and within a great price point), then the ESV Holy Bible for Kids might be your best bet.

Some of the full-page pictures are the same as those found in the Seek and Find Bible, and it has a clean double-column design.

Overall, I think the cover artwork might appeal to a younger age range than the publisher’s recommendation (ages 9-12).

But out of the seven Bibles reviewed in this post, my 6-yr-old son (Zach) picked this Bible as his favorite. The lack of extra notes or artwork in the body of the text made it easy to find a verse or passage. My only complaint is that the text is a bit small.

ESV Grow! Bible

Recommended ages: 8-12

Price point: $20-30

Features: full ESV text, key comprehension questions, application sections, charts, maps, short book introductions, and articles on Christian doctrine.

Out of all the seven Bibles in this post, the ESV Grow! Bible was my favorite because of its rich content and emphasis on understanding and applying God’s Word.

Almost every page contains a “W” question (who, what, when, where, why) helping children frame the central theme of a passage or story as well as understand the significance of God’s Word for daily life.

Also included are 45 “Cross Connections” to help children connect-the-dots between Christ and the rest of Scripture.

The Grow! Bible also contains 90 “4U” sections geared toward textual application as well as helpful articles on Christian doctrine and practice. Subjects include: the sacraments, What is the Apostle’s Creed, and The Whole Bible is Really About Jesus.

It also breaks the Old and New Testaments by division (Law, History, Wisdom, Gospels, etc) and outlines each genre in simple terms. (Can you tell I really like this one?)

Because the publisher recommends the ESV Grow! Bible as a second step after the Seek and Find Bible, we will definitely be hanging onto this Bible as the twins grow in their reading comprehension skills.

God Guy Bible

Recommended ages: teen boys

Price point: $13-32 (hard and softcover)

Features: full ESV text, character profiles, “Quick Relief” indexes and glossary, devotions written by longtime student ministers Michael and Hayley DiMarco, in-depth book introductions, and must-know terms and verses for each book of the Bible.

At heart, the God Guy Bible is a devotional Bible, but it’s a Bible geared toward teens who desire to know and apply God’s Word for themselves.

Per the publisher description, the God Guy Bible points “guys to the Bible as the foundation for all of life, fostering a love for God’s Word and a desire to know him better.”

The “Know This” devotionals and “Ask Yourself” sections highlight passages and themes and how to apply them to daily living. Plus, daily reading plans encourage the reader to engage their Bible daily.

God Girl Bible

Recommended ages: teen girls

Price point: $29-50 (Hard and soft covers)

Features: The features for the God Girl Bible are essentially the same as the God Guy Bible. They include: full ESV text, character profiles, “Quick Relief” indexes and glossary, 200 devotions written by author Hayley DiMarco, in-depth book introductions, and must-know terms and verses for each book of the Bible.

What separates the God Girl and God Guy Bibles? In the God Girl Bible, there are 26 full-page profiles of women in the Bible called “God Girl Stories.”

Additionally, the God Girl Bible has a uniquely feminine design to appeal to its target readership.

Both the God Guy and God Girl Bibles would make a worthy gift for challenging for any teen or tween to start 2015 off in Christ.

If I had to pick a favorite for my boys (age 6), I’d pick the Seek and Find Bible and ESV Grow! Bible simply because they pack the most bang for buck, offer the most tools for study, and are geared toward helping children become self-sufficient students of God’s Word.

Despite being really heavy, these are Bibles that I know the twins will grow into for years to come.

Special thanks to Crossway Bibles for sending me these Bibles to review for you! And a big thank you to Zach and Jonah, who were so excited about their very own Bibles that they even agreed to help me review them!

May 2015 be a year you grow in your knowledge of our beloved Savior!

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Sharing His Light with the Lighten Up Challenge

November 20, 2014 By: demingglobal12 Comments

Today, I’m launching a new series – Making Christmas Meaningful – to give you some new and fun ideas for sharing Christ’s love this holiday season. As the celebration of Christ’s birth, Christmas is already full of meaning.

But sometimes we have a tendency to dim the light and love of this special time of year as we cast the spotlight on lesser realities – presents, parties, and more. This year, take some time to be intentional to enjoy and share the true meaning of Christmas. Make it meaningful.

The Lighten Up Challenge

Last month, I had the honor of meeting Rachel Lovingood, women’s ministry speaker and the author of numerous resources to train women in evangelism and discipleship. I fell in love with her great sense of humor and passion to see women mobilized to share the gospel.

Rachel’s resource, Lighten Up: Reclaiming the Holidays, is a 25-day challenge to talk about Jesus to those around you – all in a flipbook format you can put by your kitchen sink, bathroom vanity, or even your mantle.

Each day includes a key Scripture verse centered around the “He is the light” theme, a short devotional thought, and a daily challenge to share a specific message with a friend.

Challenges include:

–reminding friends of their value in Christ

–sharing Jesus with specific people in your sphere of influence

–confessing sin to a friend you’ve wronged

–inviting your neighbor to take a walk with you

–serving the unloved

–speaking kindness

–ideas for blessing others

–seeking opportunities to live as His light

Also included in each day is a note of accountability with a place to write in the name of the person you shared Christ’s love with that day. Do this challenge by yourself, but for even more accountability, try it with a friend or your ladies small group. You can check in with each other on your social media and post instagram pics of Christmas lights (with your favorite verse) to encourage each other along the way.

Throughout the flipbook, Rachel shares helpful hints for telling others about Christ, tips for sharing your personal story, and even fun holiday recipes to help you savor the Joy of Christ this Christmas.

Want to challenge yourself to share the light of Christ this Christmas? Order a copy of the “Lighten Up Challenge” Flipbook at Rachel’s site. Just look for the Paypal button in the left column! Or you can email her directly at rachel@rachellovingood.com.

“For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor. 4:5-6