Saturday, April 19, 2014

Epic Grace: Chronicles of a Recovering Idiot


Epic Grace: Chronicles of a Recovering Idiot is the journey of Kurt Bubna, a recovering idiot, and his experiences. We all make mistake, we all do stupid things, but few of us write a book about it to share with the world so that others may learn from our mistakes. Well that’s exactly what Bubna has done. His experiences ranging from work problems, parental problems, church problems, marital problems and everything in between is bound to make you relate and help you avoid some serious mistakes in the future.

Bubna’s life is no glamour story; instead it’s an honest account that points always to Jesus. If you’ve fallen into the same potholes as Bubna then you’ll be able to find comfort, if not, then you’ll be able to learn valuable life lessons and how to turn any situation into a testimony and a way to grow a deeper relationship with Christ.

There may be other books like Bubna’s that tell of a life and how Jesus has used that life or transformed mistakes into testimonies but Bubna’s is unique to him. The way he presents his stories are comical but the lessons are life changing. A very nice, light read, I’d recommend to particularly young people and anyone that has ever messed up at some point sometime.

Thank you to Tyndale publishers for blessing me with a copy of this book.

The Chronological Study Bible NIV by Thomas Nelson


As one who owns other chronological study bibles and is currently more than half way through a one-year chronological bible reading plan I feel I can give an accurately opinion about this Chronological Study Bible by Thomas Nelson and compare it to others.

It’s a chronological bible, what does that mean? It means that rather being arranged in the traditional canonical way the books are integrated with each other, so for example you might see 1 Kings 2:36 followed by 1 Chronicles 21:1. The bible is rearranged to give a flow of the events as they happened. Rather than reading about King Hezekiah in 2 kings then reading Isaiah’s account on Hezekiah weeks or months later, the stories are put together giving a deeper, richer understanding to the stories. How accurate is the chronology? I’ll use the editor’s words to answer this: “…an honest effort has been made to acknowledge another plausible arrangement to present its case friendly. This allows readers to decide the issues for themselves… It takes with equal seriousness the views of traditional, conservative Bible students and those of Modern, critical scholarship.”

Among other chronological bibles and plans, I have to say the way this one is arranged is by far my favourite.

If I were to talk about all the other features in this bible (commentary, epoch introductions, historical overview, background notes, time panels, time capsules, time charts, maps, references, cultural and historical notes, glossary, concordance, and chronological plans) this review would end up being an essay. I will say this however, as a history student I love their notes and I love the mountain of contextual and cultural information throughout the pages. Did I mention its in colour?


This bible is stunning! I have around 20 bibles and this has got to be one of the best put together and informative bibles I have. I love it. Highly recommend it. If you’re looking for a new way to read the bible, if you’re looking to further learn and grow in you’re spiritual walk you wont be disappointed with this bible.