"A PERSONAL BOOK REVIEW AND CHALLENGE ANSWERS"

Good Evening to All!

I want to tell you about a fantastic book series that I'm involved in. One of my loving friends from church "got me hooked"! LOL! I wish I could do actual book reviews for it from the publisher, but for some reason, he doesn't do that. Anyway, The series is called "The Jesus Chronicles". You probably have heard me mention it before. It is written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Of course, you may know them mostly by their "Left Behind"series. (I'm hoping to get that one too.)

So far, in the series I have read "Matthew's Story", "The Story of Luke" and now I have started on Mark's Story.

Yes, they would be considered fiction, because the backgrounds about the men are conjecture. The books talks about when they were children growing up and their experiences of learning about Jesus. Of course this is in the writer's imagination, because we are not told of their childhood in the Bible.

This makes for very interesting reading and yet the authenticity of when they are grown and start traveling around with our Savior is there. It tells us about them following Jesus while he teaches to the multitudes.

In this specific book speaks of how Mark followed in Peter's footsteps. He and Peter were close because Peter took up with him after the loss of his father and befriended him and they stayed close through the years.

I have just started this book, so I really cannot give it justice in a book review, but I am merely telling you about this wonderful series. I don't usually care for "fiction" books, but because there is so much truth in the accounts of Jesus' travels, and I have checked out the scriptural parts I am really enjoying this series of books.

Tim LaHaye is also a minister in San Diego California, a nationally-known speaker of Bible Prophecy, President of Tim LaHaye Ministries, and co-founder of The Pre-Trib Research Center. Jerry B. Jenkins is former vice-president for publishing and current writer-at -large for the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. He also owns Jenkins Entertainment , a film making company as well as the Christian Writers Guild, which aims to train Christian Writers.

They are both accomplished authors in their own right, and have teamed together to write the
"Left Behind"Series and also the "Jesus Chronicles". Needless to say they both "wear many hats.

The reason I am posting about this is for the benefit of those who have trouble "really sinking their teeth" into the Bible. First, let me clarify that these books again ARE FICTION, so they definitely are not intended to take the place of reading the Bible. What I am saying is that reading these books can peak your interest into reading the Bible to read more of the true accounts of each of the disciples. While the stories are pure conjecture, they bring out the Biblical accounts. For example in Mark's story it accounts for the crucifixion. In Matthew's Story it gave the account of traveling with Jesus while He preached. Luke's Story had to do with He and Paul's relationship.

These are all wonderful books and if you get a chance to get them, I would would highly recommend them for teenagers on up.

It brought the disciples alive to me. I love reading the Bible, but the disciples are concentrating on bringing God's Word to light. It is not the intention of the Bible to go into detail about the disciples, so they are in the background. Their words are what is important.

In the Fiction books of the Jesus Chronicles, Mr LaHaye and Mr. Jenkins bring them to the foreground. They give them a story of their own, however congered up. It makes them more real. More tangible.

Just so everyone knows, this is a book from my personal collection. I was not approached by any publisher or did not contact any publisher to review this book, therefore I received no compensation or free copy for this review. I was just excited about this series and wanted to tell people about it.

The results of this past Sunday's Bible Challenge "Who Said That? Part 8 are as follows:


1. a) Jacob (Genesis 28:16)
2. c) Moses (Exodus 4:10)
3. d) Joshua (Joshua 7:25)
4. a) Nehemiah (Nehemiah 8:10)
5. b) Solomon (Proverbs 14:12)
6. a) a psalmist (Psalm 127:1)
7. c) Festus (Acts 26:24)
8. d) Paul (1 Corinthians 13:11)
9. c) Jesus (Matthew 12:30)
10. b) Pontius Pilate (John 18:36)

Good Night to All and May God Bless!