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Long Story Short: Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God
Transform Your Family with Ten Minutes a Day in the Gospel Story Christian parents know the importance of passing the gospel story on to their children, yet we live in a busy world filled with distractions. Schedules collide, there is homework and yard work and dishes and laundry, the car's oil should be changed, there are phone calls to make and before you know it, everyone is getting to bed late again. The Bible can seem like a long story for an active family to read, but when you break it down into short sections, as Marty Machowski does, family devotions are easy to do. Long Story Short will help busy parents share with their children how every story in the Old Testament points forward to God's story of salvation through Jesus Christ. You won't find a more important focus for a family devotional than a daily highlighting of the gospel of grace. Clever stories and good moral lessons may entertain and even help children, but the gospel will transform children. The gospel is deep enough to keep the oldest and wisest parents learning and growing all their lives, yet simple enough to transform the heart of the first grader who has just begun to read. Ten minutes a day, five days a week is enough time to pass on the most valuable treasure the world has ever known. Long Story Short is a family devotional program designed to explain God's plan of salvation through the Old Testament and is suitable for children from preschool through high school. Marty Machowski is a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, a Sovereign Grace Ministries church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, where he has served on the pastoral staff for more than twenty years. Marty leads Promise Kingdom, the children's ministry of Covenant Fellowship. He and his wife Lois and their six children reside in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
534 pages, Paperback
First published November 3, 2010
327 people are currently reading
890 people want to read
About the author
Marty Machowski
63 books125 followersMarty Machowski is a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, a Sovereign Grace Ministries church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, where he has served on the pastoral staff for more than twenty years. As leader of their children’s ministry, Promise Kingdom, he has worked for many years to develop curriculum and devotional material that connect church and home. His passion is equipping families to understand the Bible as one gospel story and help them share that with their children. He is the author of The Gospel Story for Kids series including Long Story Short: Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God (OT); The Gospel Story Bible; and the Gospel Story Curriculum: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament and the forthcoming Old Story New (NT): Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God and Gospel Story Curriculum: Following Jesus in the New Testament. He and his wife Lois and their six children reside in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
March 4, 2016
Our family used this as the basis for our family worship/devotional time after supper 5 days a week in 2014-2015. Machowski walks through the unfolding story of the OT by boiling down the episodes into 5 day long examinations (78 Weeks in total). The first day of the week starts off introducing the particular story/episode with some concrete object lesson which is usually effective to grab the children's attention and engage their thinking and the author uses that to transition into the biblical story and the explanation of it for the next 5 days of devotionals/teaching times. Thankfully the object lessons usually involve minimal prep so it doesn't become onerous for parents. Each of the 5 days readings from Scripture are accompanied by a brief explanation of the text and the main themes highlighted are usually man's sin and need of God and God's gracious and faithful relationship with his people. Day three's reading takes a break from the main text and looks at how the week's story points forward to Jesus, often incorporating a NT reading. The fifth day's reading looks at either a Psalm or a Prophet to see how it points forward to Christ or speaks of salvation through Christ. The Psalm or prophetic reading chosen often highlights some theme or event from that week's story as well. After the readings and the explanations, there are usually 3 questions to help with comprehension and basic listening. There is also a question for the kids to ask their parents about a time where they may have done something or witnessed something related to the main focus of that day's reading. Sometimes also children are encouraged to recall a time when they committed a particular sin that is similar in nature to the sin a character in the story committed (more on this below). Each day's episode ends in a prompt to pray for or thank God for something themed according to that day's reading.
I found that Machowski's discussion of the OT events or episodes sometimes missed some very important observations, either in the historical context, or in the way those events pointed forward to Christ. Obviously this is to be expected when a book is structured to be a 10-15 minute devotional or teaching time...you're going to miss a lot. However, sometimes it seemed to me it was a central thing that was missed, passed over for a point of lesser importance. But in fairness this didn't happen very often so this wasn't really a drawback.
I also found that Machowski over simplified salvation and boiled it down to believing in Jesus, that his death on the cross forgives our sins so that we will go to be with him in heaven when we die. Not that he's wrong, just that it makes much of the discussion of salvation future-oriented (going to heaven instead of hell when we die) and leaves the present Christian experience of union with Christ or walking as God's children here and now often unexplored. Again, what he emphasizes is obviously of prime importance, but it does seem to focus on one aspect of the cross and leaves many significant aspects of salvation unexplored. Perhaps that is because this is meant to be aimed at the younger end of the spectrum, but I found that the point was all to often exclusively about "going to heaven to be with Jesus when we die". However, that is where a conscientious parent can step up and broaden or deepen the discussion depending on the ages of the children one is working through this with. So again, not a glaring weakness, just a heads-up to parents. The salvation we have through Christ's life, death, resurrection and reign is so rich, it would be good to bring in a more fulsome perspective on this in your discussion as a family.
Now, about the author's encouraging children to think of a time when they sinned in a way similar to the character(s) in the story, or encouraging parents to recall a time when the children disobeyed in a particular way (see above) - while I understand that this is meant to both show our own sinfulness and need of Christ, as well as show that we are not so different from the flawed characters of Scripture, I would encourage parents to do this wisely, cautiously and sparingly, if at all. Scripture presents us with a vision of God as one who forgives and then doesn't impute our sin and guilt to us any more, who removes our sins as far as east from west, and we are likewise called to forgive and love in such a way that keeps no record of wrongs. What we don't want to do as parents is to repeatedly bring up our children's past sins in teaching times when we are focusing on God's salvation, forgiveness and grace to us through Christ Jesus. Of course to teach this we must talk about our sin and our children's sin, and sin is only theoretical if we never actually speak of specific ways that we sin, actual sins we sometimes commit. However, I would caution parents about bringing up past sins that have already been disciplined for, discussed and forgiven. Sometimes doing that can defeat or counter act the very lesson of salvation, grace and forgiveness we are attempting to teach.
Overall however, I commend this book warmly.
I found that Machowski's discussion of the OT events or episodes sometimes missed some very important observations, either in the historical context, or in the way those events pointed forward to Christ. Obviously this is to be expected when a book is structured to be a 10-15 minute devotional or teaching time...you're going to miss a lot. However, sometimes it seemed to me it was a central thing that was missed, passed over for a point of lesser importance. But in fairness this didn't happen very often so this wasn't really a drawback.
I also found that Machowski over simplified salvation and boiled it down to believing in Jesus, that his death on the cross forgives our sins so that we will go to be with him in heaven when we die. Not that he's wrong, just that it makes much of the discussion of salvation future-oriented (going to heaven instead of hell when we die) and leaves the present Christian experience of union with Christ or walking as God's children here and now often unexplored. Again, what he emphasizes is obviously of prime importance, but it does seem to focus on one aspect of the cross and leaves many significant aspects of salvation unexplored. Perhaps that is because this is meant to be aimed at the younger end of the spectrum, but I found that the point was all to often exclusively about "going to heaven to be with Jesus when we die". However, that is where a conscientious parent can step up and broaden or deepen the discussion depending on the ages of the children one is working through this with. So again, not a glaring weakness, just a heads-up to parents. The salvation we have through Christ's life, death, resurrection and reign is so rich, it would be good to bring in a more fulsome perspective on this in your discussion as a family.
Now, about the author's encouraging children to think of a time when they sinned in a way similar to the character(s) in the story, or encouraging parents to recall a time when the children disobeyed in a particular way (see above) - while I understand that this is meant to both show our own sinfulness and need of Christ, as well as show that we are not so different from the flawed characters of Scripture, I would encourage parents to do this wisely, cautiously and sparingly, if at all. Scripture presents us with a vision of God as one who forgives and then doesn't impute our sin and guilt to us any more, who removes our sins as far as east from west, and we are likewise called to forgive and love in such a way that keeps no record of wrongs. What we don't want to do as parents is to repeatedly bring up our children's past sins in teaching times when we are focusing on God's salvation, forgiveness and grace to us through Christ Jesus. Of course to teach this we must talk about our sin and our children's sin, and sin is only theoretical if we never actually speak of specific ways that we sin, actual sins we sometimes commit. However, I would caution parents about bringing up past sins that have already been disciplined for, discussed and forgiven. Sometimes doing that can defeat or counter act the very lesson of salvation, grace and forgiveness we are attempting to teach.
Overall however, I commend this book warmly.
July 16, 2022
perfect length for family devotions!
We loved the hands-on object lessons, the right-sized devotional passages, and the Jesus-centered questions. This devotional ensures that you really cover the Old Testament. (It’s a 78 week devotional that took us about 2 years to finish in reality!)bBut I loved that it didn’t just stick to the classic stories but got us reading in the prophets almost every week, seeing Jesus in every passage, and really spending time in lesser known passages. It’s pretty comprehensive overview of the OT that my kids (ages 4-10 when we started) could all understand.
We loved the hands-on object lessons, the right-sized devotional passages, and the Jesus-centered questions. This devotional ensures that you really cover the Old Testament. (It’s a 78 week devotional that took us about 2 years to finish in reality!)bBut I loved that it didn’t just stick to the classic stories but got us reading in the prophets almost every week, seeing Jesus in every passage, and really spending time in lesser known passages. It’s pretty comprehensive overview of the OT that my kids (ages 4-10 when we started) could all understand.
May 19, 2020
Highly, highly recommend. We started this devotional at breakfast times when my kids were about 4 and 7. It's taken us a little less than three years to get through it. We have had hundreds of conversations because of it. My kids have been introduced to the overarching story of the Bible because of this book. They've been introduced to all the main characters and stories of the Bible as well as all the major biblical doctrines, not in a dumbed down cartoony way stripped of context and power, but in a real life conversational way that trusts the Holy Spirit speaks to little ones through the actual words of Scripture. Each week also includes passages from prophecy and/or the New Testament that relates the Old Testament stories to Jesus.The activities, supplemental stories, and questions work to bring light to each day's passage. Scripture is the star of the show. The book supports parents in sharing the actual word of God. It's been a huge blessing to us.
June 16, 2019
it took us five years and three houses to finish but it was well worth it and I use it everyday and second grade for my classroom devotions.
July 30, 2019
Okay.... I haven’t really ‘finished’ the whole thing but we have used sections of the book for family devotions off and on for several years. This summer we started in Joshua and jumped off into rabbit trails through 2 Samuel. One of the things that I love about this devotional is the way it understands the underlying story theme of the Bible and how the Old Testament is fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus. The method has become a habit as our family works our way through Old Testament stories and we ask, “where is Jesus?” The other thing I love about the devo is that you are reading straight from the Bible in manageable portions, with a short accompanying explanation.
December 8, 2011
MY REVIEW:
Fabulous!
I love this family devotional book that can easily be made to work for a wide range of ages. The first reason being that it ties the Old Testament to the gospel! Too many family/kid devotionals just give stories rather then truly help kids connect with the Word of God. In this book, which gives you five, ten-minute devotions per week, there is at least one day when your reading a New Testament passage that connects to the Old Testament story line of the week.
The next reason I like this family devotional is that it's easy. And very simple, too. There are some suggest object lessons, but they are simple and certainly not mandatory for the kids to get the week's lesson. If you don't do it everything will still make sense.
And the third reason I like this book is because it's comprehensive. It incorporates reading Scripture, discussion and interaction, and prayer all together in an easy to follow format that really only takes ten minutes - if that.
In the words of Emily: "This book is fun!" And our family loves it!
BOOK OVERVIEW:
Christian parents know the importance of passing the gospel story on to their children, yet we live in a busy world filled with distractions. Schedules collide, there is homework and yard work and dishes and laundry, the car's oil should be changed, there are phone calls to make and before you know it, everyone is getting to bed late again.
The Bible can seem like a long story for an active family to read, but when you break it down into short sections, as Marty Machowski does, family devotions are easy to do. Long Story Short will help busy parents share with their children how every story in the Old Testament points forward to God's story of salvation through Jesus Christ. You won't find a more important focus for a family devotional than a daily highlighting of the gospel of grace. Clever stories and good moral lessons may entertain and even help children, but the gospel will transform children. The gospel is deep enough to keep the oldest and wisest parents learning and growing all their lives, yet simple enough to transform the heart of the first grader who has just begun to read.
Ten minutes a day, five days a week is enough time to pass on the most valuable treasure the world has ever known. Long Story Short is a family devotional program designed to explain God's plan of salvation through the Old Testament and is suitable for children from preschool through high school.
Fabulous!
I love this family devotional book that can easily be made to work for a wide range of ages. The first reason being that it ties the Old Testament to the gospel! Too many family/kid devotionals just give stories rather then truly help kids connect with the Word of God. In this book, which gives you five, ten-minute devotions per week, there is at least one day when your reading a New Testament passage that connects to the Old Testament story line of the week.
The next reason I like this family devotional is that it's easy. And very simple, too. There are some suggest object lessons, but they are simple and certainly not mandatory for the kids to get the week's lesson. If you don't do it everything will still make sense.
And the third reason I like this book is because it's comprehensive. It incorporates reading Scripture, discussion and interaction, and prayer all together in an easy to follow format that really only takes ten minutes - if that.
In the words of Emily: "This book is fun!" And our family loves it!
BOOK OVERVIEW:
Christian parents know the importance of passing the gospel story on to their children, yet we live in a busy world filled with distractions. Schedules collide, there is homework and yard work and dishes and laundry, the car's oil should be changed, there are phone calls to make and before you know it, everyone is getting to bed late again.
The Bible can seem like a long story for an active family to read, but when you break it down into short sections, as Marty Machowski does, family devotions are easy to do. Long Story Short will help busy parents share with their children how every story in the Old Testament points forward to God's story of salvation through Jesus Christ. You won't find a more important focus for a family devotional than a daily highlighting of the gospel of grace. Clever stories and good moral lessons may entertain and even help children, but the gospel will transform children. The gospel is deep enough to keep the oldest and wisest parents learning and growing all their lives, yet simple enough to transform the heart of the first grader who has just begun to read.
Ten minutes a day, five days a week is enough time to pass on the most valuable treasure the world has ever known. Long Story Short is a family devotional program designed to explain God's plan of salvation through the Old Testament and is suitable for children from preschool through high school.
February 11, 2014
These ten-minute family devotions are companion pieces to our current Children’s Church curriculum for ages 4 – 5th grade, and would be appropriate for children that age. Each week has five days’ worth of discussion topics, questions, illustrations, Bible passages, and ideas for discoveries to make as a family. The weeks line up with the Children’s Church story from Sunday, and the accompanying Bible passages help your family draw a connection between each story and the gospel. You could use this devotion without paying attention to the current Children’s Church lesson and without using the Gospel Story Bible. I like how the topics for family discussion give parents and kids a chance to share about struggles and celebrate joys together (For example, “Kids, ask your parents to tell you about a time when God provided something for them in a way that they knew it was by God’s grace, not their own effort.”). These devotions could be a springboard for great family conversations about the ways each person is growing with God.
May 1, 2019
Helpful devotional book that takes you through most of the narrative of the OT. It's set up to take 78 weeks if, if you practice family worship 5 times a week. Ours is tied to being around the dinner table together, so 3-4 times a week is more common. Thus it took 2 years to work through.
The summaries of the passage being read are helpful, especially for younger kids. The discussion questions are generally good, and useful for people like myself who sometimes struggle to relate things to kids under 5.
I think the real gold of this book is the simple framework it gives for a devotional time. If you are intimidated by trying to lead your family in devotions, this book can give you the "training wheels" (I mean nothing derogatory by that) which could help you get moving down the road. Do what they have laid out, sing a Hymn, and you're in fantastic shape. I passed my copy along to my little brother to use with his family.
The summaries of the passage being read are helpful, especially for younger kids. The discussion questions are generally good, and useful for people like myself who sometimes struggle to relate things to kids under 5.
I think the real gold of this book is the simple framework it gives for a devotional time. If you are intimidated by trying to lead your family in devotions, this book can give you the "training wheels" (I mean nothing derogatory by that) which could help you get moving down the road. Do what they have laid out, sing a Hymn, and you're in fantastic shape. I passed my copy along to my little brother to use with his family.
September 10, 2019
The kids joke that this book should actually be called “Long Story Longer”. In the just over three years it took us to get through this, we are sure we could have read through the entire Old Testament. Maybe even twice. It took us so long in fact, that the two older kids “aged out” as i don’t think the material was designed for kids younger than teenagers.
But we persevered. It did generate some pretty lively conversations some nights but these veered well off the path of the questions which could usually be answered with either (a) because we are sinners; or (b) Jesus.
So much of the rating is due to the fact the kids were a bit too old for the material. Regardless, I feel like there must be better material out there for children 12 and under.
But we persevered. It did generate some pretty lively conversations some nights but these veered well off the path of the questions which could usually be answered with either (a) because we are sinners; or (b) Jesus.
So much of the rating is due to the fact the kids were a bit too old for the material. Regardless, I feel like there must be better material out there for children 12 and under.
June 1, 2024
We just finished this as a family, going through this slowly over the past three plus years. It’s meant to be done in a year and a half. Our slow pace has nothing to do with the content and everything to do with the real struggle of maintaining consistent devotions with four kids under 10. What Machowski has provided for families here is phenomenal. My kids have been shown so many gospel connections to Jesus through the Old Testament. Sometimes it’s a little repetitive and some of the Scripture readings are a bit long for a ten minute devotional (emphasis on “some”…typically he gives several verses or a short narrative passage rather than full chapters). But all in all, this is an excellent resource for families, especially for those with kids under 10.
November 13, 2020
This family devotional has taken us a looooong time to get through, because it is a very thorough, deep dive into the Old Testament. It provides 78 weeks worth of material, broken into 5 days of study each week, with each day taking 5-10 minutes. I loved how it is gospel-centered, always pointing ahead to Jesus. I didn’t feel like it was always particularly engaging to my kids, but now that we’ve finished it, they have asked to start the follow up New Testament book, so I guess they liked it well enough!?
August 16, 2025
Did this with the family. The things we liked were primarily the way it broke up Bible readings into appropriately sized chunks to complete reading and discussion in about 15-minutes. It also covers a large number of books and significant stories from the Ild Testament.
Downsides were it sometimes had less than helpful lead-ins and tended at times to connect everything forward to NT themes and Jesus. Not always a bad thing, but sometimes it’s ok to just understand the story in the context of that book/part without jumping ahead.
Downsides were it sometimes had less than helpful lead-ins and tended at times to connect everything forward to NT themes and Jesus. Not always a bad thing, but sometimes it’s ok to just understand the story in the context of that book/part without jumping ahead.
July 20, 2018
I love these devotionals. They take you though one story or passage over the course of a week. I like the way they divide them up. The paragraph devotional is simple and well written for kids. The 3-4 questions at the end generally are good, but sometimes I find the sentence structure a little confusing for kids 6 and under. Not matter, I just rephrase it. On occasion I think they read more into the text then is actually there. I did not find that to be the case in the NT one.
April 20, 2020
It took us a year and a half but we finished this 77 week devotional of the Old Testament and loved the journey! Highly recommend this devotional. It is solid. Love that it provides me a framework for reading the actual Bible with my children. Its commentary is never overwhelming and it points back to Jesus every single week. It does a great job showing how the OT fits together with the NT and God’s big story of redemption. We will be starting the New Testament one next school year!
August 21, 2019
Excellent resource! It's taken us about 5 years to work through this during our morning time for homeschool. My kids and I have learned a great deal from this old testament survey. Pairs well with the Gospel Story Bible by the same author (we still read the scripture readings from the actual Bible, but use the GSB is a great intro to each story).
September 15, 2018
I love this book! I really think the questions drive the important points home for kids and some make them think. Often we will do a few at a time, but it depends on how long we have before bed. This is a great resource to read through the Bible with your kids in bite size chunks.
March 29, 2019
We'd been looking for a devotional to use as a family and this one worked really well! The lesson and questions were well written and allowed us to discuss and pray, even with our young kids. I think it will work well when they are older as well.
July 7, 2019
This is family devotional, split into units that take you through the Old Testament. Not just the usual passages, but deep texts. It’s good, but it took us a long time. We read it in three different houses; it took us eight years. So for us it was more like “long story long.”
March 1, 2020
Everyone with kids needs this devotional! I even learned some things along the way. This book is so great to introduce the Old Testament in depth, make sure your kids understand what was read, how it points forward to Jesus, and teaches them how to pray.
May 27, 2020
This was a good devotional book, but it took us a long time to get through it! I think by the end my kids were ready for something else other than the simple questions. Geared toward lower elementary kids. I do like how you actually read Scripture. We never did the supplemental activities.
November 3, 2021
Best resource I ever found for going through the bible with my kids. Keeps the gospel central throughout and has some great questions for the kids to think through. I now use this as a Sunday school resource so it hasn’t lost its usefulness as my kids have grown up.
November 15, 2021
Our family worship time was completely transformed by this book. Perfect for families with kids of all ages. It is a great tool for taking your family through the Old Testament. Includes discussion questions and a prayer guide for each lesson. I cannot recommend this book enough.
April 7, 2023
great kids devotional
Our family really enjoyed this devotional. I appreciate how each day we work through a passage of Scripture. It does a good job highlighting Jesus in the Old Testament each week. We had many good discussions as we went through this as a family.
Our family really enjoyed this devotional. I appreciate how each day we work through a passage of Scripture. It does a good job highlighting Jesus in the Old Testament each week. We had many good discussions as we went through this as a family.
December 4, 2018
Pretty decent family devotional. Everything is pre-made. But some of the questions are a little oversimplified observations.
October 1, 2019
Wonderful to go through with the kids!
June 3, 2021
Starts strong but looses some steam towards the middle. Makes it through rebuilding Jerusalem temple and wall. Good overall but kinda long. Some sections get tedious. Most conclusions are solid.
August 25, 2022
Fantastic family devotion for tweens.
August 9, 2021
Whew. We finally finished this. I think we started four years ago-ish? It's hard to remember. It's supposed to take 1.5 years at 5 days per week, which would be perfect for most families. We have ministry interruptions, so don't quite get 5 days per week, but you could combine two days into one if the Bible readings weren't too long. Some are quite long with a whole chapter, some, only a handful of verses. We also took breaks from this to do other devotional books and ideas. So it certainly doesn't have to take as long as we did.
This is an excellent family devotional. I love the basic organization of it, especially to help families get started with young-ish kids (not too young) with actually reading the Bible, talking about it, and praying through it. Our children are now old enough to read the Bible passage aloud with us.
Positives: a fair representation of the OT, decent survey of the main stories. I liked how he tried to point forward to Jesus. (Some of these seemed contrived or repetitive at times in order to fit the book organization. Some could have been done better. But still, great idea, and overall, well-done.) I love that this is not a Bible retelling; you are actually reading the Bible and then a little devo on it with review questions. Charlotte Mason says children should read/hear the actual Bible, not retellings, so this checks that box. (I do like some good retellings for the younger set. I love Catherine Vos's retelling.) No theological concerns, seemed very sound biblically.
Negatives: We got tired of the hands-on demonstration at the beginning of the week, especially since day 1's opener was also a picture or story. It sometimes turned out to be two illustrations or object lessons in a row, and that was too much or weird or sometimes disconnected. I think he could have cut one or the other. We also felt that the prayer suggestion could have been much richer spiritually. Often it was a bit lame, like thanking God that He worked sovereignly in this or that OT situation. We preferred prayer suggestions that asked for help in a certain sin area or were praising God for some theological truth that the story taught. But parents can just do this themselves. As a model, it's still valid and helpful. Some of the questions also might be not what we would have chosen, but that's not a big deal.
Overall, very well done, and I'm so happy I got it free on Kindle years ago. What a blessing. I wanted to go right on to the NT book, but it is a little intimidating, since this one took soooo long. So we are going to do Catherine Vos's Bible first, just to do a full Bible review. Then maybe we'll go to Machowski's NT book or to one of the books published by Apologia (Who Is God? etc.). :) Praise to the author for a job well done.
This is an excellent family devotional. I love the basic organization of it, especially to help families get started with young-ish kids (not too young) with actually reading the Bible, talking about it, and praying through it. Our children are now old enough to read the Bible passage aloud with us.
Positives: a fair representation of the OT, decent survey of the main stories. I liked how he tried to point forward to Jesus. (Some of these seemed contrived or repetitive at times in order to fit the book organization. Some could have been done better. But still, great idea, and overall, well-done.) I love that this is not a Bible retelling; you are actually reading the Bible and then a little devo on it with review questions. Charlotte Mason says children should read/hear the actual Bible, not retellings, so this checks that box. (I do like some good retellings for the younger set. I love Catherine Vos's retelling.) No theological concerns, seemed very sound biblically.
Negatives: We got tired of the hands-on demonstration at the beginning of the week, especially since day 1's opener was also a picture or story. It sometimes turned out to be two illustrations or object lessons in a row, and that was too much or weird or sometimes disconnected. I think he could have cut one or the other. We also felt that the prayer suggestion could have been much richer spiritually. Often it was a bit lame, like thanking God that He worked sovereignly in this or that OT situation. We preferred prayer suggestions that asked for help in a certain sin area or were praising God for some theological truth that the story taught. But parents can just do this themselves. As a model, it's still valid and helpful. Some of the questions also might be not what we would have chosen, but that's not a big deal.
Overall, very well done, and I'm so happy I got it free on Kindle years ago. What a blessing. I wanted to go right on to the NT book, but it is a little intimidating, since this one took soooo long. So we are going to do Catherine Vos's Bible first, just to do a full Bible review. Then maybe we'll go to Machowski's NT book or to one of the books published by Apologia (Who Is God? etc.). :) Praise to the author for a job well done.
February 13, 2013
Marty Machowski, pastor, father, husband and writer penned Long Story Short, a gospel driven, field-tested family devotional that pairs well with The Gospel Story Bible. The easy-to-use devotional features seventy-eight lessons from the Old Testament designed for busy, time-challenged families of preschool, grade school, middle school, high school or homeschooled youngsters.
Readings and discussions take ten minutes a day, five days a week. Teachings feature biblical truth from the “cross-centered” Old Testament that point to Jesus Christ and salvation. Devotions begin with Genesis and end with Nehemiah and feature a single scripture theme that repeats for one week.
The simple format includes a brief reading, an explanation with three discussion questions and a short prayer. The first two days concern the central teaching, while the third day connects a New Testament scripture to the message and the fourth day completes the story. Readings from Psalms or a prophetical book tie the weeks teaching to the main scripture theme on Friday. Since this book is text without pictures, The Gospel Story Bible I reviewed Monday adds a nice touch for younger children. Review: www.examiner.com/list/the-gospel-stor...
We live in a busy world of schedules that conflict with work, home and school responsibilities. Parents and children are exhausted by days end with little time for family relationships or fellowship. Still…Full Review: http://tinyurl.com/cmx45b5
Readings and discussions take ten minutes a day, five days a week. Teachings feature biblical truth from the “cross-centered” Old Testament that point to Jesus Christ and salvation. Devotions begin with Genesis and end with Nehemiah and feature a single scripture theme that repeats for one week.
The simple format includes a brief reading, an explanation with three discussion questions and a short prayer. The first two days concern the central teaching, while the third day connects a New Testament scripture to the message and the fourth day completes the story. Readings from Psalms or a prophetical book tie the weeks teaching to the main scripture theme on Friday. Since this book is text without pictures, The Gospel Story Bible I reviewed Monday adds a nice touch for younger children. Review: www.examiner.com/list/the-gospel-stor...
We live in a busy world of schedules that conflict with work, home and school responsibilities. Parents and children are exhausted by days end with little time for family relationships or fellowship. Still…Full Review: http://tinyurl.com/cmx45b5
April 20, 2014
We read through this book at the dinner table, taking a good two years to complete it. It was an excellent catalyst for theological discussion with our four grade-school kiddos and helped them learn to identify Christological types and shadows in the OT (though in some cases the author's links seemed a bit of a stretch). This book is probably best suited for parents who want to teach their children at a deeper level than simple Bible stories, yet don't know how (or don't feel equipped) to do so without a guide. For those who are natural teachers, this book might feel awkward at times.
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