Monday, January 29, 2007

The Eaglet



This isn't really a book review, I just wanted to inform you about a great tool to introduce children to Christ. "The Eaglet" is a small book written by Jim Elliff that I just received from my friend, Debbie. Jim came to our church last fall and I highly recommend his books as well as his articles that are on his ministry website Christian Communicators Worldwide.

"The Eaglet" tells the story of a newborn eagle who desperately wants to fly, but knows the warning of his father about dying if he does so too soon. It presents a great picture of God as our father and the saving work of Christ. The story is only 10 pages long (half of which are pictures) and then the book goes into a clear presentation of the gospel. Jim is very Reformed in his presentation, so don't worry about getting a "say a little prayer and you're in" gospel.

I have a lot of respect for the ministry of Jim Elliff. He publishes his own books and sells them at cost to him. His goal is not to make a profit from his writing, (in fact, most of his articles are free to download on the website) but to get the message into as many hands as possible.

At a later time I hope to write some posts regarding other books of Jim's that I have read. Until then, spend the $3.00 to get this one, and if you hope to combine shipping, ask me for those recommendations!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd be interested in hearing more of your recommendations.

Our Pastor did a series on the home last summer, and we borrowed some books from him for children. We've read through the abc Memory Verse Program and The Gospel for Children. We are re-reading that second book with our younger son.

Another idea we gleaned last summer was to read through the Bible with your children on a 7-year plan. The first year you can read through the Psalms and Proverbs, the second year add the New Testament, and so on.

We are currently reading Proverbs along with Wisdom and the Millers, which provides practical stories that are based on various Proverbs passages. Our boys have enjoyed it.

Gretchen said...

Sounds GREAT! We carry his books at Lifeway. I wonder if I could get The Eaglet through them, and save on shipping.

Thanks for the idea!

Donette said...

Morning Rose,
The only other resource about children is a 3 CD set entitled "How Children Come to Christ." He is interviewed by Family Life Today and it is well worth it to listen to. Especially since I came from a "say a prayer" background.

However, I can recommend his books "Wasted Faith", which deals with the topic of what false faith looks like (I hope to post on that book particularly) and also "Led by the Spirit" which deals with discerning the Lord's will for your life. All of his writing is very clear and he can convey in a few short chapters what other books would ramble on about for hundreds of pages!

As a complement to witnessing, his "Pursuing God" is great for unbelievers. It is a small book and we have it free at our church to give out. One of our good friends came to Christ after reading this great resource.

Currently I am reading a book about George Muller that Jim's publishing company reprinted. It was out of print and he got the rights to republish it. He lives very similar to Muller, who survived only on donations to the orphanage. Jim doesn't charge a fee to speak, and as I mentioned before, sells his books at little or no profit to himself. He lives off the Lord's prompting for others to give to his ministry. He has some amazing stories to tell about God meeting needs at the last minute or in unconventional ways.

So does that give you a good place to start? Maybe this response should have been a post in and of itself!

Name: Karen said...

Always looking for book suggestions! Oh, I've got a great blog for you to check out....its a book review blog on childrens books (mostly Spiritual or just good books)You may like this for the future!

Smiles and Hugs!
Karen

Name: Karen said...

oops! Forgot to post it!

http://childrenshourbooks.blogspot.com/

Name: Karen said...

Did I share with you yet, that I just love reading your "reformed" thoughts? I smiled when I read the "say a little prayer and your in" I do try to steer clear of that!

Im so glad to have "met" you sister!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all your recommendations. I will have to check out the web sites mentioned in this post. I'm always looking for book recommendations too, and am currently reading Jesus in Beijing.

Donette said...

Thanks for the recommended blog. I checked it out and already saved it under my "favorites." I love books so much and if I had the money would buy enough for my own library!

Anonymous said...

A fun way to start a home library for your kids is to host an Usborne Books home show. I did one last year with Sarah and got $200 in free books and $150 in half-price books.

Usborne is not a Christian company, though they do carry a line of Bible story books. They also have excellent educational books and learning tools for kids.