Welcome to day 10 of the 4th Annual 12 Days Before Christmas Book Giveaway! Today’s giveaway is sponsored by Bridge-Logos Foundation and Harvest House Publishers. We have three prize packs up for grabs, which will be explained below. The resources featured in today’s giveaway are:

From Bridge-Logos Foundation

From Harvest House Publishers

Today’s Prizes

This contest is now closed. Winners will be announced soon.

Many thanks to Dave Bartlett at Harvest House Publishers for sending along review copies of Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong:  A Biblical Response to Today’s Most Controversial Issues & Belief Matters:  Grappling with the Essentials of the Christian Faith.  Both of these titles look like great reads.  Be sure to give them a look.

Thanks to Dave Bartlett for sending along a review copy of Taking a Stand for the Bible by John Ankerberg and Dillon Burroughs.  This book is focused on equipping Christians with solid answers for the questions people are asking about the Bible today.  You can get an idea of the types of questions they’ll be answering from a few of the chapter titles:

• The inspiration of the Bible:  How can it be God’s word?
• Answering Bart Ehrman:  Did the Church Scribes Change the Text of Scripture?
• The Miracles of the Bible:  Did Supernatural Events Really Happen?

Compiler: Ed Stewart
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
Publication Date: September 1, 2008
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736921621
ISBN-13: 978-0736921626

I wanted to extend my sincerest thanks to Dave Bartlett at Harvest House Publishers for giving me the opportunity to review Jesus 365: Experiencing the Four Gospels as One Single Story.

It’s the beginning of the new year and I’m looking for some new titles to add the stack of devotional books I’ll be reading in 2009. If you judge this book by its cover, you may think it’s just another harmonization of the gospels divided into 365 daily readings. That was my initial thought before I started paging through the book and came across two short appendices at the end. If you start at the end of this book, you’ll find an interesting story behind this story. Johnston Cheney spent twenty three years of his life putting together this unique representation of the gospels. Stanly Ellisen, ThD worked closely with Cheney during the last three years of Cheney’s life to bring this work to completion. Their collaborative work was originally published as The Life of Christ in Stereo by Western Seminary in 1969. This work has gone through several more printings under various names with various publishers. This current devotional edition published by Harvest House was compiled by Ed Stewart and published with the assistance of Dr. Robert Meltebeke.

Jesus 365: Experiencing the Four Gospels as One Single Story, as the subtitle indicates, weaves the four gospel accounts together into a single story. While many authors may be selective when putting together this type of harmonization, the authors claim to have given a thorough and complete treatment of the text. During the twenty three years this work was compiled, Cheney and later Ellisen validated the quality of this work using twenty English translations and the Greek text of the United Bible Society of 1966. Another point of interest for the reader is Cheney and Ellisen’s conviction that Jesus’ earthly ministry covered a period of four years rather than the traditional three. The reader should note that this directly affects the chronological organization of the text. The four year chronology is based on the assumption that five Passovers take place during Jesus’ earthly ministry. The reader will want to consult The Gospels’ Four-Year Chronology at the end of the book for a full explanation.

From days 1 through 365, each devotional reading is only a single page in length. Following the gospel text, there is either a relevant quote or some commentary. Sometimes there are both. The specific verse and chapter references for the gospel texts included in each day’s reading are noted at the bottom of the page.

If you’re like me and in the market for some additional devotional reading for the new year, I’d strongly encourage you to give this title a look. The sheer brevity of each devotional entry will make a manageable addition to your current devotional reading regimen. Before you get started with the reading for day 1, please take the time to read the introductory and background material at the front and back of the book. It will give you a better appreciation for the decades of hard work that went into putting this gospel harmonizing devotional book into your hands.

Ed Stewart, a former pastor and church curriculum editor, has been a full-time Christian writer for more than 20 years. He has authored four novels and collaborated on nearly 50 fiction and nonfiction books with Christian leaders such as Josh McDowell, Neil Anderson, Steve Arterburn, and Henry Cloud. Ed and his wife, Carol, live in western Pennsylvania.

You may download this review as a PDF: 

Buy this book on Amazon: Jesus 365: Experiencing the Four Gospels as One Single Story

Author: Ron Rhodes
Format: Paperback
Page Count:  304
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
Publication Date:  August 1, 2008
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736921753
ISBN-13: 978-0736921756

I wanted to extend my sincerest thanks to Dave Bartlett at Harvest House Publishers for giving me the opportunity to review Ron Rhode’s Commonly Misunderstood Bible Verses:  Clear Explanations for the Difficult Passages.

When we study our Bibles, we often come across passages that are peculiar when taken at literal face value.  Perhaps there is a historic cultural context that will shed light on that particular passage.  Maybe there is a broader meaning to the Hebrew or Greek words than how they are rendered in our English translations.  When we are faced with these types of questions and concerns, it is wise for us to consult our study Bible notes, commentaries, and Bible handbooks.  Commonly Misunderstood Bible Verses by Ron Rhodes falls somewhere in between a selective commentary and Bible handbook.  This new resource that may be just what you’ve been looking for to help you better understand those difficult passages in the Bible.

In Commonly Misunderstood Bible Verses, Ron brings together his many years of experience sharing and interacting with his audiences.  During his travels and speaking engagements, it was not uncommon for someone in attendance to ask for further explanation of a Bible verse that they found difficult or troubling.  It’s the many questions Ron answered over the years that became the basis for this book.

The book begins with a section titled Understanding Hard Sayings.  While I know some of you may be inclined to skip introductory material, I’d encourage you to read this section first.  Here Ron lays the groundwork for the rest of the book by explaining eleven principles for interpreting scripture that have served him well over the years.  The eleven principles are as follows:

1.    When the plain sense makes good sense, seek no other sense.
2.    Submit all “preunderstandings” to Scripture.
3.    Pay close attention to the context.
4.    Make a correct genre judgment.
5.    Consult history and culture.
6.    Interpret the difficult verses in light of the clear verses.
7.    Interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament.
8.    Distinguish between the descriptive and the prescriptive.
9.    Realize that some Biblical truths are explicit; others are implicit.
10.    Distinguish between promises and principles.
11.    Affirm the benefit of proper interpretation.

Following the introductory chapter, the book is broken up into brief chapters, beginning with Genesis and in the canonical order of our English protestant Bibles running all the way through Revelation.  Each chapter has a select number of questions related to a difficult scripture passage or passages in that particular book of the Bible and it’s explanation.  Here are a few examples of the types of questions Ron answers throughout the book:

•    Deuteronomy 29:29 – What are the secret things that belong to the Lord?
•    Daniel 4:13 – What kind of angel is a “watcher” (KJV)?
•    Malachi 2:11 – What is meant by “the daughter of a foreign god”?
•    Luke 6:24 – Did Jesus teach that a rich person cannot be saved?
•    Romans 8:14 – What does it mean to say believers become sons of God?
•    Revelation 13:18 – Why are the numbers 666 used in reference to the antichrist?

Following the chapter on Revelation, there is a select bibliography and a very useful topical index.

I’ve enjoyed working my way through Commonly Misunderstood Bible Verses.  There are a number of ways one could choose to work through this sort of a book.  I chose to read the book straight through.  Others may want to keep it at hand as they are doing Bible study and consult the appropriate chapter to see the explanations given for difficult passages.  You could also use this book as a reference work for difficult topics in scripture.  The topical index allows the reader to selectively browse the material by subject matter rather than book, chapter, and verse.  Regardless of how you choose to work through this book, it would make a great addition to your personal library.

Ron Rhodes is the president of Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries.  He holds a Th.M. and Th.D. from Dallas Theological Seminary.  Some of Ron’s other publications include Christianity According to the Bible and What Does the Bible Say About…?  You can learn more about Ron’s ministry and other books at www.ronrhodes.org.

You may download a PDF of this review here: 

Buy this book on Amazon: Commonly Misunderstood Bible Verses: Clear Explanations for the Difficult Passages

Thanks are in order to Dave Bartlett at Harvest House Publishers for some new review books.  I had asked for a review copy of Understanding Intelligent Design and was pleasantly surprised when a box of five books showed up on my doorstep.  The titles are listed below: