The Whole Bible Story – a book review

I really dislike giving negative reviews of books, especially when it’s a book that has been “gifted” to me by a publisher. Unfortunately, I have to warn people away from The Whole Bible Story. An equally distressing fact is that I lost the note card I was using to write down places where the author presented information contradictory from the Bible.

The three biggest contradictions that I can recall:

1 – The author writes that “because the people had worn flashy jewelry and clothes while worshiping the golden calf, Moses said they were prohibited from ever dressing like that again” (pg 49). This instance is referring to Exodus 33:5 and 6 where God tells Moses to “‘say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.’ And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.”

Nowhere in this text does God or Moses say it is a permanent ban on jewelry and flashy clothing. As a matter of fact, God talks in Isaiah about dressing Israel in jewels as a sign of His favor.

2 – The author implies that the Bible itself commands a change of worship from Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday. Nowhere in the Bible does God or the early Christian church advocate such a change. The change to Sunday worship began several hundred years after Christ died (Council of Laodicea, Canon 29, 363–364 AD).

From the book: “In Troas, the church met on Sundays to honor the day that Jesus rose from the dead. They shared a meal together, which included the celebration of the Lord’s Table, also known as Communion” (pg 281).

This meal, and Paul’s sermon, was actually on the Sabbath and last until after midnight on Saturday evening/Sunday morning. The Bible does not state that Sunday is the Sabbath, nor does it state that worship should be on Sunday to honor the day Jesus rose from the dead. The Sabbath was instituted at Creation, as a memorial to the work God completed. It was established as an everlasting covenant with God’s people, not a day that could be changed at will by man.

3 – The author states that “David eventually married Saul’s oldest daughter, but he fell in love with Saul’s other daughter, Michal” (pg 94).

However, the Bible says: “but it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul’s daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife” (1 Samuel 18:19). The Bible never states that Merab and David were married, only that they were supposed to have been.

The premise of this book is interesting – “The purpose of this book is to tell the story of the Bible” (pg 11). It is not a paraphrase or a translation. It merely attempts to tell the story of the Bible while leaving out Old Testament laws, Psalms, Proverbs, the epistles, and the book of Revelation. The purpose of the book is to allow someone who is not familiar with the Bible stories to become acquainted with them while avoiding getting bogged down in some of the “more difficult” sections. That’s all well and good, but in stripping the Bible of the Psalms, the epistles, and other books, The Whole Bible Story lacks a soul. The reading was extremely dry, “just the facts, ma’am.”

Thank you, Bethany House, for allowing me to read and review this book. However, I cannot in good conscience recommend it.

This week’s menu

On Friday morning, we are headed to Portland OR for nine days. Our first vacation! A dear college friend of hubby’s is getting married the second weekend we will be there. We are really excited! In light of being gone, we are spending the week trying to clear out our fridge.

Sunday
Breakfast – Smoothies
Lunch – Avocado Sandwiches
Dinner – Pizza

Monday
Breakfast – Smoothies
Lunch – Homemade ramen – This was REALLY good. Definitely a keeper.
Dinner – Macaroni and cheese

Tuesday
Breakfast – Fruit
Lunch – Leftover mac&cheese
Dinner – Sloppy Joes
*soak almonds for tomorrow’s tuna salad sandwiches*

Wednesday
Breakfast – Company Oatmeal (Newstart, pg. 20)
Lunch – Tuna Salad Sandwiches
Dinner – Spaghetti

Thursday
Breakfast – Smoothies
Lunch – Tofu Cutlets (Newstart, pg. 117) made into sandwiches with BBQ sauce
Dinner – Burritos

Friday
Breakfast – not sure what to eat before the flight (10am and lunch won’t be until 2)
Lunch – SushiBen2Go – Japanese food!
Dinner – Portland, tbd

Sabbath
Breakfast – Cold cereal and fruit, picked up from Food Fight Grocery on Friday
Lunch – A picnic lunch. We’re spending Sabbath on the coast!
Dinner – ChixStix – Japanese food!

30 day challenge – get dressed!

I find it interesting how timing works. You see a mention of something specific in an email and then again a day or so later in a blog post. The two information sources are completely unrelated and yet they mention the same specific idea.

First my brother emailed me this video:

Then, I read a post on The Modest Mom about a 30 day Get Dressed! challenge. What a perfect start to the idea of 30 day challenges. I don’t know about you, but being a housewife and not being required to see anyone most days allows me to dress down as much as I want. Fun, yes. Attractive, no. I spend most days in workout clothes or a denim skirt and t-shirt. I’m sure my husband would appreciate it if I looked nicer!

So, my first 30 day challenge – get dressed! Every day. All day. I will wear a skirt and a sweater/blouse, or a dress, and take a few minutes to style my hair. Some days I’ll even put on some lipstick.

Want to join me?

The Get Dressed Challenge!

Quilting update – two rows complete

My quilt top is finally coming together. Last week, I completed the last of the 20 blocks.


Today I sewed the first ten blocks into two rows.


I want to sew the other half of the blocks into rows before sewing these two rows together. The quilt is coming out a bit smaller than I had hoped. I think it was a problem with my seam allowances not being exact and having to cut each block down to the same size. If I have enough of the dark pink fabric or can find more at Joann, I will add a small border before putting together the quilt sandwich.

Hopefully I’ll finish the top this weekend. I can’t wait to finish this quilt and move on to my Christmas projects – table runners!

Menu Plan Monday

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Monday
Breakfast – Smoothies
Lunch – Leftovers
Dinner – Garbanzos A La King (Newstart, pg. 106)

Tuesday
Breakfast – Cereal; raspberry muffins
Lunch – Tofu Cutlets (Newstart, pg. 117)
Dinner – Spaghetti; garlic bread; salad

Wednesday
Breakfast – Smoothies
Lunch – Toasted Avocado Sandwiches
Dinner – Macaroni and cheese (Newstart)

Thursday
Breakfast – Company Oatmeal (Newstart, pg. 20)
Lunch – Homemade Ramen
Dinner – Eating out with brother and family for our anniversary/hubby’s birthday

Friday
Breakfast – Potato Pancakes (Newstart, pg. 31)
Lunch – Easy Vegan Pad Thai
Dinner – Spaghetti; garlic bread; salad

Sabbath
Breakfast – Smoothies
Lunch – Unsure; brother will be eating with us
Dinner – Homemade pizzas

Last week’s successes:
Pumpkin pancakes
Macaroni and “cheese”

First spelunking trip – in photos!

Starting up the trail

We’re hiking up there?

Almost to the cave!

Climbing down through the cave entrance

Hubby looking amazing

Tiny tunnel I was crazy enough to crawl through

What’s on the ceiling?

Cool formations!

Massive stalagmite

It’s taller than I am!

Most of the spelunking group

Light at the end of the tunnel

Colorful bug

Hubby and I at the top of the trail

View from the top

Hiking back down

Souvenirs!

Menu Plan Monday – a failure and a few successes

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I’m excited to do some real cooking this week but I’ve been feeling run down the last two days. Frustrating! My brain is active but my body is tired. We’ll see what I can accomplish.

Sunday
Breakfast – Waffles with homemade Strawberry spread
Lunch – Quesadillas
Dinner – Mac & cheese (Newstart, pg. 107)
*Make pumpkin pie! (Newstart, pg. 57)*

Monday
Breakfast – Smoothies – banana/strawberry
Lunch – Subs
Dinner – Better Burgers (Newstart, pg. 114); mashed potatoes; brown gravy (pg. 86)

Tuesday
Breakfast – Cereal and raspberry muffins
Lunch – Grilled avocado sandwiches
Dinner – Pasta with the yummy, yummy sauce; garlic bread; vegetable or salad

Wednesday
Breakfast – Smoothies – banana/raspberry
Lunch – Subs
*Make beans for dinner, pg. 118*
Dinner – Haystacks (Newstart, pg. 119)

Thursday
Breakfast – Cereal; toast; apple or orange
Lunch – Leftovers
Dinner – Pasta with the yummy, yummy sauce; garlic bread; vegetable or salad

Friday
Breakfast – Smoothies – banana/strawberry
Lunch – Subs
Dinner – Homemade ramen
*make Zucchini Spinach Lasagna for Sabbath, (Newstart, pg. 128)*

Sabbath
Breakfast – Smoothies
Lunch – Zucchini Spinach Lasagna
Dinner – Pizza!

Last week’s successes:

Yummy Pad Thai

Hubby – “You said put the salsa and chips on the salad, right?”

Sexi Mexi Salad
My Sunday bummer:
Pumpkin pie
It looked really good. It smelled good while baking. But it tasted nasty. The entire thing was tossed out. It was a new recipe, one that used dates to sweeten the pie instead of brown sugar. It also had different spices than I’m used to (cardamom?). It was just an big failure.

Oh well! I still have these beauties to cook up.

October reading challenge – Maud Hart Lovelace


I found an event I have to participate in, the Maud Hart Lovelace reading challenge. I have seen Lovelace’s books praised on a number of blogs but I have not yet read any of her books!

It looks like my library has at least the first three books, so I aim to read those three.

  • Betsy-Tacy (1940)
  • Betsy-Tacy and Tib (1941)
  • Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill (1942)

I believe we are visiting the library on Tuesday evening so I will pick the books up that evening. I can’t wait!

Today’s productivity

Hubby informed me last night that he’d be out all day today. Normally, he’s home working all or part of the day so this was unusual. I decided to embrace the quiet house and get a ton of stuff done. I promised hubby that he’d be impressed by my productivity when he got home. I think I succeeded, though he’s not home yet to confirm.

Today, I…

vacuumed,
swept the kitchen and the kitty box room,
washed dishes,
cleaned out the fridge,
tidied up the entire apartment,
finished a memoir I was reading,
studied Japanese for over an hour,
made a more fancy lunch than normal,
made huge progress on my quilt,
returned some emails,
updated the budget,
completed two loads of laundry,
and a few other small things.

Whew. And since hubby is still not home, I’m writing a blog post. I love productive days! Once I’m done with this post, I’ll either spend some more time with my Japanese studies or keep working on my quilt. Hubby is working way up north today so when he calls to tell me he’s on the way, I’ll still have enough time to prepare dinner.

Bruno under the ironing board

4 blocks complete!
8 more D9P blocks to sew together. There will be 12″ solid blocks of the dark pink fabric between each of these D9P blocks. I haven’t cut those out yet, so I can’t show what it will look like. This is a new pattern for me and I think I like it. I’m not sure about all the fabric choices, but the pattern is fun.

Here’s to a day of great productivity!

What’s on My Nightstand?

What's On Your Nightstand
I’ve read a lot this month and I finished the majority of what I aimed to finish in September. This month I took to heart some advice to grasp even the 5 minute periods available for reading instead of waiting until a chunk of time comes available. I’ve been amazed at how much more I’ve been able to read, even if some of it is in snippets!

COMPLETED (links are to my full reviews)

Biography

  • Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff – 3 stars. Interesting book, but not much detail about Cleopatra herself.

Classics

  • Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe – 3 stars. Vivid, but depressing. Not my cup of tea.
  • The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas – 3 1/2 stars – I couldn’t put it down. Did you know there are SIX books total in this series? And of course, the one I most want to read is also the last. I’ll be busy for awhile.

Christian Fiction

  • Stray Affections by Charlene Ann Baumbich – 3 stars. A quick, fluffy read. A good counter to The Hunchback of Notre-Dame!
  • The Noticer by Andy Andrews – 2 stars. An inspirational speech disguised as a short novel. Did not like, do not recommend.
  • Kelly’s Chance by Wanda E. Brunstetter – 2 stars. Cheesy. Boring. I won’t be continuing the series.

Memoir

  • Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson – 3 stars. I struggled through this one even though the story was fascinating. Not sure why.

Secular Fiction

  • Fantastic Voyage by Isaac Asimov – 3 stars. A quick read, very unique plot line!
  • The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett – 3 stars. I’ve seen all the movies and decided to read the book. It’s not as good as the movies, unfortunately.
  • When We Were Strangers by Pamela Schoenewaldt – 4.5 stars. Excellent novel by a first time author. I can’t wait to see what else she writes!

IN PROGRESS

Upcoming
What I am particularly excited about:

  • Lady Susan by Jane Austen
  • Thicker than Blood by C. J. Darlington – I’ve heard such good things about this book!
  • Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff – I’ve also heard great things about this memoir.
  • John Adams by David Mccullough – Hopefully I can squeeze in this chunkster. I had no idea it was such a huge book until I grabbed it from the shelf. My father-in-law sent us the movie and, of course!, I have to read the book first.

Happy reading, everyone!