Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Gospel Story Bible by Marty Machowski, illustrated by A E. Macha

How important is God and His story in the midst of your family's busy schedule? Marty Machowski wants you to take time out from the daily grind to spend it with your family delving into Bible stories.
Beginning with Genesis and ending with Revelation, Marty uses 158 stories to present God's plan of salvation. The easy-to-read storybook was written for preschool children right through teen-aged youth. It is a storybook for the preschooler, a devotional for the grade school student, and a refresher for older readers.
Machowski has purposely connected each story with the larger gospel narrative of God redeeming His people by sending His Son Jesus. The intent is for parents and children to see the whole Bible as one story, with one hero, Jesus Christ.
Machowski admits that some of the “good” parts of a Bible had to be skipped over to get to the “best” parts. Reading the Bible with your children is still important. Perhaps reading the story from this book first will help your child understand the biblical story more easily. The Bible references for each story are included so you can later read the entire biblical account to your child. The text is based on the ESV so you may want to continue with that translation.
Included with each story are “Let's Talk About It!” questions. They are a great way to review the story with your child and begin a dialogue on its major points.

The illustrations by A. E. Macha are amazing. Each is a captivating combination of simplicity and detail. You would just have to see them to appreciate their attractiveness. The people are deliberately left without color so the child can imagine himself in the scene.
 You can see some of the work at http://aemacha.com/portfolio/1/ . Specific illustrations you can see online include Grieving Eve and Samson &Delilah.

The Gospel Story Bible focuses on the same Scriptures used in the forthcoming Gospel Story children's ministry curriculum, also from New Growth Press.

Marty Machowski is a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, a Sovereign Grace Ministries church in Glen Mills, PA. He has served on the pastoral staff there for twenty-three years. He, his wife, and their six children live in West Chester, PA.

A. E. Macha, BFA (Illustration, Arcadia University) is married with two children and lives in Philadelphia.  Anne teaches art at a local Christian school and has developed her illustration style through exploring art and design in diverse cultures.

See the publisher's product information here.

New Growth Press,313 pages, hardcover, $29.99  

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the B&B Media Group for the purpose of this review.


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