Starr Meade

was first introduced to Star Meade by a pastor who was encouraging me to engage my family in some strange activity called "family worship". Apparently, some families would sit together nightly, or multiple times a week, and pray together, sing together, read scripture together and even study something called a "catechism" together. Huh?!? Seemed weird to me, but I became convinced that there could be something to what he was saying. So I picked up a copy of Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by show more Starr Meade and we began to blaze our path down the Family Worship trail. It turned out that, while a great resource, my boys were just a bit too young for Training Hearts, Teaching Minds. We settled on the modified catechism for the kids and used a great story Bible (The Jesus Storybook Bible) to begin our journey.

That was a couple of years ago and I was incredibly excited when I found out that Starr Meade would be releasing another book along the same lines, but this time utilizing the Heidelberg Catechism. I cannot overstate how much I love the Heidelberg Catechism. If I had to pick one book outside of Scripture to have as my only book, I would pick the Heidelberg Catechism without hesitation. (I might pick Ursinus' Commentary on the Heidelberg, since it includes the Heidelberg...but that is probably cheating.)

Since my kids are older and we have a more established, if still sporadic, family worship schedule, I decided that we would give this new book from Meade a try for family worship.(A decision to own a copy was never made...making a decision seems to imply the possibility of an alternate outcome, and there was never a chance that we wouldn't possess a copy of this book!)

My family loves it. My children enjoy the short devotions with the questions and are in love with catechism-based learning. My wife loves it. As do I. Comforting Hearts, Teaching Minds has become a staple in our family worship routine and I cannot thank Starr Meade enough for putting together some great, clear, Biblical devotions to accompany The Heidelberg Catechism, already itself a gift to the Church. This book should be read and enjoyed by families all over the world.

And it is not just for parents and children. The devotions are not prepared simply for a 6 year old to grasp it all. This is not lowest common denominator writing. New believer and seasoned believers, 6 year olds and 96 year olds, kids, teens, adults...everyone can enjoy and benefit from this book. Case in point, it was my mom's birthday a couple of weeks ago. What did we give her? Without hesitation I said, "I want to give her a copy of Comforting Hearts." Why? Because it is a great book that really makes accessible to everyone a catechism that many are unfamiliar with or who may simply be turned off or confused by the term "catechism".("Heidelberg" as well, for that matter)

Two concerns to consider. The Scriptures in the devotions are very short. If using this for personal devotions, or family devotions even, I would consider supplementing with some of the Scripture proofs from the catechism. Those are not included in the book, and I am not sure why. It seems like it would be beneficial, and I would have enjoyed the convenience of having those in Comforting Hearts, especially for those I give the book to who may not have the ability or desire to seek out the Scripture proofs outside of the book on their own. And I do wish that this book would be made available as an ebook. I would love to have it on my phone or tablet to take with me everywhere I go.

*Nevermind...I do not know if it was recently published or not, but there is an ebook version available!! Even more reason to get this book!

Get this book. Get some extra ones to bless others with. You will not be disappointed. At all!! show less

With the abundance of children's Bibles and Bible story books, many of these books focus on the stories as wise lessons in morality. A few highlight the overarching theme of redemption in Scripture. But even fewer books focus on what each of these stories teach about the author of the book, God himself. In Mighty Acts of God, Starr Meade attempts to take well known stories of the Bible and emphasize what each one teaches us about an attribute or characteristic of God.

Each story is roughly show more three, sometimes four pages long and is accompanied by colorful illustrations picturing what is happening in the story. The stories are interpreted through the lens of reformed theology, each one containing a colored summary statement of that particular teaching. At the end of each story is a box titled "As for me and my house" that gives parents ideas for further discussion with their children.

Perhaps the most helpful feature of the book is in the title of each story. Each story opens with the title and then a subheading telling what we should expect to learn about God from that story. It's helpful knowing what to look for in a story from the start and watch for evidences of the main point. For example, the story of God calling Abraham is subtitled "God Chooses People to Belong to Him;" the story of Jonah is subtitled "God's Power to Save Has No Limits;" the story of how Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind is subtitled "God is the Supreme King over All Kings;" and the story of Paul's conversion is subtitled "God Conquers His Enemies by His Grace."

While the book's target audience is elementary school-age children between four and ten, the book seems a little heady for the younger end of that spectrum. Even though all children are different in their levels of understanding and comprehension, in general I definitely think this book is better suited to older children, perhaps ages 7 through 10.

In a market surrounded by man-centered tales of morality and sage advice, the concept of the book is needed and refreshing. With this book, children can learn to look for what Bible stories teach about God himself rather than what earthly examples to follow in order to be good. I would recommend this book.

(Thanks to Crossway for providing a copy of this book for review through their Homeschool Book Review Program.) show less

There is an abundance of children's books that talk about the various aspects of creation. These books usually go something like this: "On day 1, God created this, on day 5 God created that, etc. What a wonderful world we live in!" Illustrations abound picturing the different things created on different days. More often than not, what is missing is turning a child's focus from the creation back to the Creator. When asked to review Starr Meade's book God's Mighty Acts in Creation, I thought show more this would simply be another book along those lines.

However, from the first chapter in the book, I realized that this book was very different from other stereotypical creation books. Meade does follow the Day 1, Day 2 pattern seen in Genesis 1, but that's as far as the similarities go. Each two-page chapter discusses something created on a particular day and how that created thing illustrates an aspect of God's character. For example, for Day 1 Meade points us to the holiness of God, illustrated in the creation of light ("God is light and in him is no darkness at all" - 1 John 1:5); or to Jesus, the Light of the World. We see the mountains pointing us to the eternity and unchangeableness of God. God's goodness is seen in the abundant variety of foods that were created. The vastness of space points us to a God without limit. Additionally, for each thing created, we are told about a time when God overruled how the created thing usually operates, showing that God is owns every part of creation and can do what he pleases with it. For example, he showed his power over the sun and moon when he made them stand still for Joshua and the children of Israel. Meade starts with an aspect of creation and beautifully draws our attention to the One who created it.

While the book is rather small (only 109 pages), it is jam packed with wonderful truths about God as illustrated through creation. Because each chapter is a short two pages long, it is perfect for family devotions or for middle aged children to read on their own. Very few children's books have left me excited to start using it for our family Bible time, but God's Mighty Acts in Creation certainly does have me looking forward to reading with our children the many ways God's beauty is seen in creation.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Crossway's Homeschool Book Review program for providing a review copy of this book. I was under no obligation to write a positive review. show less

Author Starr Meade takes kids through the Bible emphasizing God's plan for redemption rather than just stories about bible characters. Grandpa tells the two kids (aged 8 and 10) stories from his box of carved characters. This is great theology in a way that kids can understand it, but not dumbed down. This would be great for homeschooling, or reading together as a family.