I wanted to fill you in on an exciting contest that is currently being run and sponsored by the New Living Translation.  We’re highlighting three ministries, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Oasis International, and The Dream Center, (click on the link to learn more details about these ministries) and by voting for one of these ministries you’ll be entered to win one of many prizes.
 
To enter, visit the NLT Facebook page by clicking here.
 
There are several levels of prizes you can win, here are the details:
 
 
With the Give the Word Bible Contest and Giveaway:
    • Ministries win: Each time the NLT Facebook Page reaches a fan count milestone, votes will be tallied and the three ministries will receive cash donations from the New Living Translation and Tyndale House Publishers.
    • Everyone wins: Everyone who enters on the Bible Contest website wins a free download of Matthew West reading the Christmas story.
    • Daily NLT Study Bible winners: Vote on the NLT Facebook page and you will be entered to win two NLT Study Bibles—one to keep and one to give away. A new winner will be chosen every day.
    • Weekly Give the Word Locally winners: Tell us about a deserving local ministry on the NLT Bible Contest website and they could win five NLT Study Bibles and $250 worth of NLT products.
    • One Grand Prize winner will enjoy a unique trip customized just for them and their family (or three guests of their choice), to Wycliffe Bible Translators world headquarters and the WordSpring Discovery Center where they will experience firsthand the exciting world of Bible translation. The Grand Prize winner could also choose to donate the value of the trip–$2000–to Wycliffe instead.
 
 
Here’s how you can win instantly!
 
1.   Post information about this contest on your blog with a link to the NLT Facebook Page.
2.   After you post the information click here and enter your information.
 
The first 100 people to enter their information will win a free copy of the Life Application Study Bible NLT.
 
The first 10 people will win a free copy of the Life Application Study Bible NLT and a free copy of the NLT Study Bible!
 
I will contact the winners by email on December 29th.
 
Thank you for being a part of the Tyndale Blog Network!
 
For information on future contests or other fun stuff feel free to follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/adamsab or the Tyndale House Publishers account at www.twitter.com/tyndalehouse.
 
 
Adam Sabados
Tyndale House Publishers
Digital Media Coordinator

This Wednesday begins the marathon that we call fireworks season. Every year I take about 10 days off my regular job to run a fireworks tent for the church. This year I will be working at the Bethel AG youth tent in Garden City, MO (red and white tent on the corner of 7 and F highway).

Our tent actually opens on Friday, but it takes a couple of days to inventory and price things before we start moving stuff in on Thursday evening. From Friday on, I will be getting to the tent at about 7AM and leaving it around 1AM. These are very long days and frequently hard work, but the money we raise goes to support the ministries at the church.

If you are in the Garden City, MO area please drop by the tent and see me. Be sure to mention that you read my blog and I will give you an extra discount.

*** Please excuse the shameless self-promotion, but it is MY blog… ***

allen

The Influenza Bomb by Paul McCusker and Walt Larimore, MD is the story of a virus that has the potential to kill millions of people in cities around the world. The virus spreads fast and kills quickly. In some cases, a healthy person dies the same day that they are exposed to this virus. Experts from several organizations are called in to identify the virus, locate the origin, stop the spread, and find a cure before there is nobody left to save. 

Reading The Influenza Bomb was almost like reading two books at the same time. Each of these stories could stand by themselves as a good book. The combination of the stories into a single book resulted in an excellent novel. The reader should pay close attention to the dates shown on the opening page of each part and the location shown at the beginning of each chapter. The “prologue” (though not labeled as such) is essential to understanding the book.

One story begins with the sudden spreading of an unknown virus at Ft. Riley in 1918 and the other starts in modern day Russia where a flu epidemic is developing. As the book progresses, the relationship between the stories unfolds.

The events in The Influenza Bomb could be the headlines in tomorrow’s newspaper.

This book is one that is hard to put down. The events unfold and grab the reader from the first page. There is action, drama, suspense, and a small dose of romance throughout the book as the story unfolds in many exciting locations.

The combination of family friendly language and no “adult scenes” makes this book appropriate for all readers.

*** Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Glass Road Public Relations, LLC <www.GlassRoadPR.com> as one of their GRPR bloggers.  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”***

Don’t judge a book by the cover – I would have missed reading a really good book if I had. The cover of Almost Forever by Deborah Raney makes the book look like a romance novel. While there is some romance in the book, there is also a healthy dose of drama, suspense, and inspiration.

Bryn Hennesey works as a volunteer at the Grove Street Homeless Shelter in Hanover Falls. She is staying up late one night playing cards with one of the residents – Charlie – when a fire starts at the shelter. One of the firefighters responding to the fire is her husband. For many reasons, the fire spreads quickly and the shelter is destroyed.

Five firefighters died in the fire. Among those that died are Bryn’s husband, the husband of the homeless shelter director, and a female firefighter named Molly.

Bryn’s sadness over loosing her husband is multiplied by the fact that she thinks she knows something about the fire that nobody else does. As the town and families grieve their losses, Bryn struggles to decide if she should share her knowledge.

As months pass and things seem to be getting back to normal, new information about the fire comes out that changes many things.

Almost Forever tells the story of how the town and survivors deal with the tragedy. It also tells of how the faith of some of the survivors help them go on with life.

I did enjoy reading this book even though I normally prefer books with a little more action.  Some parts of the book seemed to move a little slow even for this type of novel.

 *** Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Glass Road Public Relations, LLC <www.GlassRoadPR.com> as one of their GRPR bloggers.  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”***

Instead of loading this blog with book reviews, I have started a new blog at: http://www.reallyrandomsite.com/thebookreview/ specifically for book reviews.

That blog will contain reviews of both secular and Christian books.

Until word gets out and traffic picks up on the new blog, I will be posting some book reviews on both blogs. Please accept my apologies in advance to those who are subscribed to both blogs.

In about a month, I will stop posting book reviews here. If I think a review post on The Book Review ( http://www.reallyrandomsite.com/thebookreview/ )is relevant to the readers here, I will post a link to it.

Thanks for taking time to read my “humble thoughts”.

God’s promises for boys by Jack Countryman and Amy Parker is a collection of over 30 promises from the Bible. Each promise begins with a short (usually about 4 lines) application of the promise that boys can relate to. This is followed by several Bible verses relating to the promise. The scriptures are quoted from the International Children’s Bible.

The promises are broken into 7 sections: God’s Promises When, God’s Promises About, God Wants You To, God’s Promises of Help When, God’s Promises about Making a Difference, God’s Promises About Jesus, and God’s Promises for You.

This book would probably be best enjoyed by ages 4 – 8. God’s Promises for Boys would be good for an extra thing to read with the Bible. This book would make a wonderful gift for a little boy.

As a children’s pastor, this book has earned a place on my reference shelf. With it there, I will have access to a list of God’s Promises. The way that the book is organized could lend itself to a series of devotions in Sunday School or Kids Chapel.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

There were other moments of pride and joy that night as many of her classmates that I had known (a few since birth) got their diplomas. These were youth that I had worked with at church over the years. I watched many of them grow both physically and spiritually. To these kids, I had been their church bus driver, Royal Ranger commander, children’s pastor, or Sunday school teacher at some time in their life.

After the ceremony was over, I was trying to make my way to the other side of the building to meet my daughter when somebody came running up behind me. I turned and did not recognize the young man standing there. He grabbed my arm and said that his brothers wanted to see me. It was then that I recognized him as the oldest of three boys that I had watched grow up in the church. The youngest of the three had graduated that night. We talked for several minutes about campouts, children’s church events, church bus “horror stories” and other things that we had shared together over the last 15 years. They thanked me for never giving up on them and always being a friend.

A similar scene was replayed many times as I walked across the parking lot to my family. With each family that I ran into, I realized that I had many “children” that graduated that night.

Two things kept coming up in every conversation – memories and relationships.

This post is not about bragging – it is about encouragement. 

As you look out at church and see various kids acting out – don’t give up.

Keep loving and praying for those children. Build a relationship with them and their family.

Create opportunities for making memories with them. They may forget the lesson that you taught on a special Sunday, but the memories you create and relationships you form will last a very long time.

If you remember nothing else from what I wrote today, take these two things with you:

• BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
• MAKE MEMORIES

***And don’t forget to pray for the kids that you work with.***

There are six different variations of the “jumble” puzzles: Jumbles, Double Jumbles, Mystery Person Jumbles, Word Search Jumbles, Super Jumbles, and Criss-cross Jumbles. All six variations require you to unscramble several words. The difference is in how the unscrambled words are used and the clues given.

My favorite puzzle type was the Super Jumble. These puzzles provided clues like most of the other jumbles, but all the clues were listed in random order so the puzzler didn’t know which clue went with which word. These were the puzzles I found most challenging and enjoyable.

This was a good collection of puzzles that I highly recommend.

***I received this book free from Tyndale Publishers as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”***

What do you get when you combine a little girl that see angels, an obnoxious nurse (with an MD), a single mom, a narrow-minded school psychiatrist, and a few other colorful characters? You get Wonders Never Cease – a book by Tim Downs. The simple plot of the book centers on a six year old girl that sees angels. Some people believe her and others do not. This plot by itself would make a very boring book, but Tim Downs combines some very memorable characters with many sub-plots to turn Wonders Never Cease into a book that you don’t want to put down.

The first two chapters of the book were a little slow, but needed to set up the rest of the story. The pace picks up at the end of the second chapter and continues through the surprise ending. There were several twists in the book that I never saw coming.

I would not consider this an inspirational book, but it was an excellent piece of fiction.  Wonders Never Cease was an enjoyable, easy read that contained well-measured parts of suspense, sadness, and humor.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

That started me thinking…

How many of the volunteers in our church that teach Sunday school, midweek groups, children’s church, etc could be accurately and truthfully labeled with this title?

I am aware of many churches that have excellent ongoing training programs for their teachers and leaders. I am fairly certain that for every church that has this training, there are at least two or three that have poor or no training program.

Why?

If the secular society sees a need to train their volunteers, why is the church not providing quality training for theirs?

If people doing a presentation about water filter systems are trained (not picking on them), then why shouldn’t our people that present the story of Jesus and His plan for us be trained just as well?

Any salesman will tell you that a poor presentation will make a sale difficult.

My challenge to you is this —

• If your church does not have a practical, quality program in place to train your teachers, start developing one now.
• If your church does have a training program in place – that is GREAT! But, after congratulating yourself a little, take some time to evaluate it and see if it can be improved.

I would like to see every teacher in the church honestly classified as a Trained Volunteer Presenter.

** I suggest that we take this idea one step further. Not only should those who teach in the church be trained, but also those that share the Gospel with others outside the church.