church Archives | Little Book, Big Story

God is like an apple.

When put like that, the Trinity sounds simple. Suspiciously simple. In fact, it sounds almost as though the author is shrinking a profound truth into a cute metaphor, reducing a mystery into a comfortable object that we can hold in our hand. I had my reservations about that, but this book received such consistently glowing reviews on Amazon that I decided to take the plunge and see how, exactly, God is like an apple.

Prepare yourself: this is yet another glowing review of 3 in 1. Of the books we’ve purchased recently, this is one of the best—a crystal clear picture of God and the Gospel that loses nothing in the telling but instead added to my own understanding of the Gospel by explaining the way that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit interact when a person comes to faith in Christ.

This is theology for kids in the best sort of way. Marxhausen doesn’t talk down to kids, though the language she uses is clear and simple. The illustrations are simple as well, but the images the artists use are somehow just right for illustrating the unseen, successfully using color and shape to depict God in a way that doesn’t flirt with breaking commandments.

That said, I want to close on a very clear note: I heartily, heartily recommend 3 in 1. I’m sure you can think up some excuse to go buy it right now, right?

3 in 1: A Picture of God
Joanne Marxhausen, Ed Koehler

What is the church? If church is a place that we visit once a week—to see friends, sing favorite songs and listen—then we don’t need a book to tell us what it is. Even the smallest of us can discern that the church is a physical place that exists to meet our needs—even when our need is, simply, God.

But if the church is a part of something broader, something global that doesn’t terminate at the outer walls of our own church, something that wasn’t given to entertain and serve us but that we are meant to participate in and give ourselves fully to—well. A deeper explanation might be in order.

What is the Church? | Little Book, Big Story

What is the Church? is an unassuming book, not much bigger than a pamphlet, really. It’s rhyme-y and cute, with fun illustrations by Tessa Janes, but at its heart is a deep truth: the church is a family of folks who serve Christ together, who get into each other’s lives and are unified not by our own blood ties, but by our ties to the blood of Christ.

The church is a body of missionaries and servants, who go out into the world or across the street to find folks who need Christ and to share Him with them. The church is full of learners and worshippers. But more than anything the church is a living building. A thriving body of disparate parts brought together and made whole.

The church, as this book so aptly puts it, is not a “what” but a “who”: not a building, but a set of believers whose lives are intertwined. That’s the sort of thing that is tricky to explain to little ones, but this book does it so well that I’m looking forward to reading the other books in the series, What is the Gospel? and Our Home is Like a Little Church.

What is the Church?
Mandy Groce and Bill Bell, Tessa Janes (2011)

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3 in 1: A Picture of God

What is the Church?

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