Heaven is for Real

Tim Challies offers up a wonderful review of Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo. Here is a brief quote:

Embarking on a short tour of the afterlife is all the rage, it seems. Don Piper got it started with 90 Minutes in Heaven, a really bad book that sold millions of copies. Then there was 23 Minutes in Hell, another bestseller and another awful book. And now hot on their heels comes Heaven Is For Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back. It’s currently sitting atop the New York Times list of bestsellers and has over a half million copies in print. I wonder if I’m the only one who finds it a mite suspicious that now that these books are selling like proverbial hotcakes, more and more people find that God wants them to tell their stories of heaven and hell. Probably not.

And what does the Bible say? Tim adds,

First, the Bible gives us no indication whatsoever that God will work in this way and that he will call one of us to heaven and then cause us to return. It is for man to die once and then the resurrection. To allow a man (or a boy) to experience heaven and then to bring him back would not be grace but cruelty. The only biblical example we have of a man being caught up to heaven is Paul and it’s very interesting that he was forbidden to tell anything about it. And the reason he even mentioned this experience was not to offer encouragement that heaven exists, but to serve as a part of his “gospel boasting.” He saw heaven and was told to say nothing about it. This was a unique experience in a unique time and for a unique reason.

The second ground refers to the reason each of these authors offers—that through their experience we now find confidence that what God says is true. This kind of proof is exactly the kind of proof we should not need and should not want. Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe. Don Piper insisted that he was called to be the Minister of Hope. If hope is to be found in any person, it will be found in the person of Christ. It is the Spirit working through the Word who will give us confidence in our faith. And what is faith? It is simply believing that what God says in his Word is true. We do not need tales of heaven or stories of those who claim to be there.

You can read the entire review here. Its is worth looking at!

The Soapbox Continues

The latest on my soapbox has to do with Ken Ham being uninvited to two homeschool conventions because he simply spoke the truth. I will link the posts, they are very interesting to read.

I understand that all homeschooling parents don't agree on specific theology. That is OK and part of what makes homeschooling so wonderful. But when someone speaks out about truth, truth as defined in God's word, and he is uninvited because he stood up for the truth....I find that so sad.

To sum up....Ken Ham was supposed to speak at two homeschool conventions (one of which is in Cincinnati near the Creation Museum). When he saw that Peter Enns from Biologos would be speaking, he made a blog post warning parents about Dr. Enns views on Genesis. Here is his original post.

I didn't find anything wrong with the post. I think he did a very good job at explaining the situation at hand. It was after that post that Ken Ham was uninvited.

Even more troubling is Jay Wile, who was an author for Apologia (science curriculum that I use) wrote this blog about Ken's blog. He also wrote this review of Peter Enns.

Peter Enns has had the debate before with theologians regarding his views of Scripture. Albert Mohler addressed the problem with Enns' theology in August, you can read it here. Dr. Mohler's blog post was started because Peter Enns questioned the speech Mohler gave at Ligioner's national conference in Orlando, FL last May. You can read Enns open letter to Dr. Mohler here.

Just like Ken Ham is being criticized and poked fun of...so was Albert Mohler over the summer. All either of these men did was to stand up for the truth, inerrant and supremacy of God's word. They defended the truth and both faced incredible backlash because of it.

Recently, with the Rob Bell controversy, Albert Mohler responded to Bell's book here here and here.

Emergent pastor, Brian McLaren, responded to Mohler's critique of Rob Bell's book here. Which
prompted a very well thought out response from Albert Mohler here.

Ken Ham also weighed in on the Rob Bell book.

Anyway, my point is that truth is really under attack. The Ken Ham controversy is sure to continue as homeschool parents support Ham or support Enns, which by the way, Enns has curriculum to sell that is evolution based!

I am disappointed with the way Ken Ham has been treated by other homeschool heavyweights. It makes me uneasy to see Apologia and Summit Ministries taking sides with Enns simply because Ken Ham tried to make people aware of what was happening.

First Rob Bells book, next evolution in homeschool conventions. So while I'm dishing out bad news, check out this video on "America's Pastor," Rick Warren. Another very enlightening video on exactly how truth is under attack.

A Tribute to my Mother-in-law

It is my turn to post over at Laced With Grace. My devotion today is about our family dealing with the passing of my mother-in-law. You can read the devotion here.

Tennis Lessons

So I completely stepped out of my comfort zone and signed up for Tennis Lessons with our homeschool group! This is a moms only cardio tennis class at 8am! Yes, 8am!

Today was my first lesson and I had so much fun!! I feel like I had a wonderful workout and had fun doing it. It was a little intimidating getting out in front of other moms working on a backhand, front hand and serve - - but I did it anyway. My serve needs some serious work but I'm getting the concept. Making my 36 year old body coordinate enough to do is another thing.

Delena is also taking lessons. Her first lesson was today as well. She worked on some basics and has to write a paper on the History of tennis. I love this instructor already!! Maybe the additional cardio will finally help take off some weight. I am still struggling with weight loss. If I could just get these 15lbs off, I'd be so much happier!

In other news....my husband shot and killed our first snake this year! Yep, its springtime in Florida! I'm going to keep a tally on how many we end up killing. It could be quite scary!

Love Wins

Kevin DeYoung wrote a very thorough and extensive review of Rob Bell's new book "Love Wins." You can read it here.

Here is a quote from Rob Bell in the book:

Millions have been taught that if they don’t believe, if they don’t accept in the right way according to the person telling them the gospel, and they were hit by a car and
died later that same day, God would have no choice but to punish them forever in
conscious torment in hell. God would, in essence, become a fundamentally different
being to them in that moment of death, a different being to them forever. A loving
heavenly father who will go to extraordinary lengths to have a relationship with
them would, in the blink of an eye, become a cruel, mean, vicious tormenter who
would insure that they would have no escape from an endless future of agony.
If there was an earthly father who was like that, we would call the authorities.
If there was an actual human dad who was that volatile, we would contact child
protection services immediately.
If God can switch gears like that, switch entire modes of being that quickly, that
raises a thousand questions about whether a being like this could ever be trusted.
Let alone be good.
Loving one moment, vicious the next. Kind and compassionate, only to become
cruel and relentless in the blink of an eye.
Does God become somebody totally different the moment you die?
That kind of God is simply devastating. Psychologically crushing. We can’t bear it.
No one can. . . . That God is terrifying and traumatizing and unbearable.

Very sad departure from the truth by someone who influences so many.

This is a perfect example as to why we need to know and understand the truth of God's word.

Ephesians 4:14
so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Writing Fiction and Other Good Books

I received my FPEA Almanac yesterday and found a very interesting article on teaching children to write fiction. It was written by Felice Gerwitz and had some great ideas.

I haven't worked too much yet on teaching fictional writing. We have focused on expository writing, newspaper articles and journal writing. Mainly because this is what Tapestry of Grace's Writing Aids assignment was or the writing assignment in Shurley English. The idea of fiction writing appealed to Delena though. She has played around with some fiction just on her own. So a good book to help her work through developing characters, plot and setting would be good.

That is exactly what "Reach for the Stars, A Young Fiction Author's Workbook" does. Down loadable as an E-book, the workbook takes students grades 3-8 throughout the creative story developing processes. I am really excited to get started, as evaluations are coming up soon and I (of course) worry that we don't have enough writing samples. Anyway, here is a link of Susan Marlow's writing website. There are some free samples to download as well.

While reading through her website, I discovered a series of books from the Circle C Adventures series written by Susan Marlow. There are 6 books and a free downloadable literature guide with each book. Delena loves to read Little House on the Prairie books so I thought she might enjoy these. Plus, time wise they are just a bit ahead of where our Tapestry of Grace unit study is at. So they would be a nice addition to our TOG. I printed out the sample of the first chapter of the first book for Delena to sample. She loved it! She ran in the homeschool room all excited and ready to read more. This is really encouraging because Delena doesn't enjoy reading all that much. I will gladly cultivate an interest in reading! Here is the link to the Circle C Adventure series.

I will update later how the workbook and the fiction series work out for Delena! The wonderful thing about the ebook, it can be used again with Caleb & Taya!!

E-books

Today is a cool, brisk morning in Florida. Spring is in the air! The sun is rising earlier and setting later. The birds are singing outside and my husband and the kids are planting the first part of their garden in the ground.

I am sitting in my bedroom, curled up under the covers with my laptop and iPad. A cup of chocolate/caramel mocha latte sits strategically next to me on my Rooms To Go nightstand. I just completed my favorite part of the day - Bible Study.

And it was all done on e-books.

I have to admit, I was very hesitant at first to embrace the whole ebook idea. Sure, I heard Dr. Mohler talk about how convenient it was to have a bunch of books on one little device - especially for travel. I just don't travel that much, especially on an airplane. So for me, it didn't make sense. I even recall seeing a TV news report at the homeschool convention last year where High Schools were issuing Kindles instead of books because backpacks were so heavy. I thought the idea was crazy.


My boss purchased an iPad for me as a Christmas gift (most of my 2 readers know that). I began reading books online with the iPad in December and have become hooked on e-readers. They are convenient and I can carry several books with me at one time. This has been such a nice feature when sometimes I am just not in the mood for a particular book - I have plenty more to choose from.



My awesome and wonderful husband bought me Logos Bible Software for Christmas. Most of this is done on the laptop, although I do have the Logos app on my iPad and do use it along side of the laptop, specifically for reading the Bible and a commentary side by side. I have about 276 resources on my Logos library to aid in Bible study. I just studied today 1 Samuel 17 - David and Goliath. It is really a handy tool to simply click on a word and see the original language, definition and transliteration. The media resources are really nice too because it helps place you in the context of what is happening in the text. They give wonderful insight. Plus the software has some really great features. Since I love to study using the Precept inductive method, Logos actually has the markings built in it. So, I can read and "mark the text" the same way I would do it with my bag of colored pencils and my New Inductive Study Bible. Logos even sets up reading plans, making staying on track easy!


I now even only take the iPad to church. Between the ESV app from Crossway that was free and my Logos app, I have several Bible translations and commentaries available very easily. This is helpful in Sunday School conversations sometimes.

So with that, I just wanted to share a few books and links I am reading and working through.

First, the books. I get most of my ebooks from the Amazon Kindle store. And here is a secret....they are free or really really cheap! You can even sample the first chapter of most books to see if you really want to purchase it! So here are the books I am sampling or reading through.

Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate by Jerry Bridges
Crazy Love by Francis Chan
Riven by Jerry Jenkins (fiction)
Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
Doctrine: What Christians should Believe by Mark Driscoll
The Centurion's Wife by Janette Oke (fiction)
Valeria's Cross by Kathy Macias (fiction)
What the Bible Says about the Doctrines of Grace by Nathan Pitchford
Tempted and Tried by Russell Moore

I also read all of Six Ways to Keep the Little in Your Girl by Dannah Gresh on the iPad.

Now, some links. I already mentioned that Amazon's Kindle store has plenty of free resources. You can get a lot of books and sermons from Martin Luther, Calvin, Jonathon Edwards, etc for free or really really cheap!

I also found a link to Monergism's selection of ebooks. You can see those here.
You can view the list of ebooks from Christianbook.com here.

So between my iPad and Logos, I have become an ereader fanatic. With the iPad app, I can access a large portion of my Logos library because it interfaces with their server/website. Now, some books are not available because Logos has not worked out an agreement with the publisher to allow the books in the library to be available through the app. However, all in all, I am very happy with both.

Spurgeon Devotion

Here is today's devotion from Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon on my Logos software. I'm totally loving this software! :)



Before destruction the heart of man is haughty.”
— Proverbs 18:12


It is an old and common saying, that “coming events cast their shadows before them;” the wise man teaches us that a haughty heart is the prophetic prelude of evil. Pride is as safely the sign of destruction as the change of mercury in the weather-glass is the sign of rain; and far more infallibly so than that. When men have ridden the high horse, destruction has always overtaken them. Let David’s aching heart show that there is an eclipse of a man’s glory when he dotes upon his own greatness. 2 Sam. 24:10. See Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty builder of Babylon, creeping on the earth, devouring grass like oxen, until his nails had grown like bird’s claws, and his hair like eagle’s feathers. Dan. 4:33. Pride made the boaster a beast, as once before it made an angel a devil. God hates high looks, and never fails to bring them down. All the arrows of God are aimed at proud hearts. O Christian, is thine heart haughty this evening? For pride can get into the Christian’s heart as well as into the sinner’s; it can delude him into dreaming that he is “rich and increased in goods, and hath need of nothing.” Art thou glorying in thy graces or thy talents? Art thou proud of thyself, that thou hast had holy frames and sweet experiences? Mark thee, reader, there is a destruction coming to thee also. Thy flaunting poppies of self-conceit will be pulled up by the roots, thy mushroom graces will wither in the burning heat, and thy self-sufficiency shall become as straw for the dunghill. If we forget to live at the foot of the cross in deepest lowliness of spirit, God will not forget to make us smart under his rod. A destruction will come to thee, O unduly exalted believer, the destruction of thy joys and of thy comforts, though there can be no destruction of thy soul. Wherefore, “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”


Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening : Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

Healthy Eating

Ever since we started the Perfect 10 diet back in October, we have been on a mission to eat healthier. Not just eating healthier by eliminating processed foods, but watching where we get our food from.

Today, we picked up the meat from the first cow we ordered. I am very excited to try it. But it was nice to meet the farmer and talk to him awhile. It was a nice change to see his concern for how he raises his animals - as opposed to what we get in the grocery store. He spent a lot of time today educating us on the difference in free roaming farm raised animals and how the animals mass produced for grocery stores are raised. He explained the politics behind "organic" food. It was quite interesting. I feel confident we will enjoy the 1/16th of a cow we have (we split this with my friend, Betsy's family). Tonight, we are grilling a sirloin roast from the cow. I will have to blog about the difference once we have eaten the meat some.

Betsy also started ordering chickens through a food co-op. She gave us a couple of whole chickens to try. Next time she orders, we will order some too. Otherwise, still getting chicken at Publix when it goes on sale.

Another thing we do with Betsy's family is purchase wild fish from a restaurant depot. We have gotten Tilapia, Salmon and Tuna. We didn't enjoy the Tuna as much but the Talapia is pretty good. There is a noticeable difference in the fish cuts from the restaurant depot and the cuts at Publix. Much the same as the difference in cuts at Publix and Walmart. Really makes you most people think that sounds disgusting and not safe. We have researched the farm we buy the milk from and trust they are handling the milk safely.

There are lots of good articles online about some of the myths surrounding raw milk and pasteurized store bought milk. It was very eye opening!

Eating this way does take time and money. I used to get some amazing deals with couponing. I have pretty much given it up because most of the savings come from buying processed foods that we are trying not to eat. We haven't given up all processed foods yet but we are working on it. Now if I could just learn to make bread that actually tastes good that doesn't come from a bread machine box!

I would love to hear any other ideas and suggestions!

Homeschool Funnies and Teaching Greek

Sometimes if I don't laugh at some of this stuff, I will go crazy! So here is an example of how today is going with homeschool.

For our Bible curriculum lesson, I asked each of the kids their birthday's and where they were born. This is the conversation with Taya, my youngest:

Me: When is your birthday?
Taya: September 1st.
Me: Where were you born?
Taya: Disney World.

Not sure if that is good or bad that the child actually thinks she was born in Disney!

In math, Delena is struggling to understand the concept of division. I asked her how many times does 8 go into 8. She responds "4" And this is just an example of how math is going....

Time for a Shurley English test. Delena has to classify the sentences. For some reason she marked the word "read" as a Subject Noun. I asked her to show me a read, pick up a read or otherwise touch a read. She replied you can't because that doesn't make sense. I asked why does that not make sense to which she replied "because it is an action, it is something you do." Ok, we are onto something. So I ask her, "if the word is an action, what do we call it?" She replies, "A noun!"

Yep, that has been my day. This after I get the kids up early to be out of the house by 8:45 to get Delena to tennis lessons that turned out to be cancelled because - of all things - it decided to rain this morning!

Moving on....I was so excited yesterday to learn about a curriculum that teaches Biblical Greek and designed for homeschool children. It is called, Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek. From what research I have done, it appears as though I can start Delena in level 3, where she will begin to do copy work and read out of an interlinear Bible. I'm excited because I want to learn it too, so I am going to attempt to do the work along side her as I teach it. I think it would be really neat to learn to read the New Testament in the Original Language!! Now I have to decide if I want to start this now or wait until the new school year.

That is the one thing I love most about homeschooling.....