Recommended Reading

This is the place where I will put books I highly recommend as Christian reading (aside from the number 1 book the Bible), as well as a brief description of each book, and the place where you can either read it online, or buy it cheaply.


1) "Final Authority" by William P. Grady
This is a wonderful historical text on the making of the King James and other Bibles. I will warn you, it is very in depth reading and will take some time. You can listen to it HERE for free online. You can buy it online at Amazon HERE for about $4 used. 4/5 stars (I gave it a 4 because it takes time and concentration to understand. Otherwise it is a fantastic and historically accurate book with a lot of relevant research!)

2. "His Needs Her Needs" by Dr. Willard F. Harley Jr.
I love this book. Christian Dr. Harley writes this not only for married couples with problems, but also for those that want to get the most out of their marriage and get a step up on problems before they have the chance to happen. This book describes the top five most important needs for men, and the top five for women, how to meet these needs for your partner, what happens if the needs are not met, and why these specific needs are the most important. The book consists of 14 concise chapters. If you and your spouse dedicate 10 minutes a day to reading this book, you can have it finished in 2 weeks. The book is well written, and easy to understand. I give it 5/5 stars. You can buy it used HERE at Amazon used for about $6.

NOTE: Harley writes a special version of this book just for parents, found used on Amazon HERE.

3. Chick Tracks
I love these little tracts! Not only are they cheap and great to hand out as a witnessing tool, but they give you scriptures as well as other scientific and historical evidence to back up your claims! You can read the tracts for free HERE on the official Chick page, and can buy them for 15 cents each at the same site. 5/5 stars.

4. Nelson's Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts
You cannot go wrong with this book. This is a wonderful study aid to have by your side when going through the Bible. It is easy to understand and well written. It gives a brief overview of each book in the Bible, the main events in each book, as well as an overview on characters of the Bible. It also gives easy to understand charts, outlines, and timelines of events and other major Bible concepts. This is a great thing to have around when you just want to look something up quickly. You can buy this book used on Amazon HERE for $1-$5. 5/5 stars.

UPDATE: August 22, 2010

I have a lot of new books to add to this list!

First we'll start with any book by Jane Kirkpatrick.  This is an inspiring Christian author who writes Christian novels, mostly centered around women, and marriage.  All have a historical basis, and most are set in the pioneer days.  Each book will leave you satisfied, and yet, craving more.  I recommend starting with "A Sweetness to the Soul."  Be sure to read her Memoir "Homestead" as well.  You are sure to be touched and lifted up by all of her works.

Next we'll move on to "What Hath God Wrought?" by William P. Grady.  This is one of those wordy books that takes a little while to understand, but is well worth the effort!  This book gives a detailed history of America's beginnings and how the values America holds today, including the Constitution, are founded deeply in Christian beliefs and Biblical values.  This book takes us into the edgy world of the truth.  We learn about persecution of varying faiths, the values our founding fathers and pioneers held, what was once right in America, and what has gone wrong since then.  We have traveled a very slippery slope since the beginning of our country, and Grady takes us down a well documented path to the truth, one that you won't be likely to find in the history books of most public schools.

More to come! Check back to this list every once in a while for new entries!

God Bless!

-CBSB

Read More

Noah's Ark Was Plenty Big Enough

I have heard claims recently that Noah's Ark was not big enough to support all of the necessary life, and food the Bible said it did. Just from the description of the ark's dimensions in the Bible we can know that the ark was indeed big enough to house all that it needed to. It was also a very stable boat that would weather the storm and flood nicely. I'd like to direct you to an article on the web that discusses the topic nicely and answers many questions posed by people.

Click here for the article.

In the mean time before you read the article here is the scripture from the KJV dealing with Noah and the ark, as well as a few facts about the ark.

Scripture (KJV as always):

Starting at Genesis Chapter 6 verse 8:

8: But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
9: These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
10: And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11: The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12: And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13: And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14: Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
15: And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
16: A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
17: And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
18: But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
19: And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
20: Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
21: And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
22: Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Genesis Chapter 7
1: And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
2: Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
3: Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.
4: For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
5: And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.
6: And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7: And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8: Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9: There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10: And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11: In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12: And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
13: In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
14: They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
15: And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
16: And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
17: And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
18: And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
19: And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
20: Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
21: And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
22: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
23: And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
24: And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
----
As you can see I've highlighted some important things from scripture about the ark. Noah was to take the animals on board after their kind and sort... it is possible that "kind" and "sort" are different from species, meaning that Noah didn't have to take every single variation of Dog onto the ark... just two dogs, one male and one female. Also note that God does not command Noah to take only adult animals onto the ark... most likely to save space only young, small animals were taken onto the ark.

Facts about the ark:
From the scriptures above we see the ark:
- Was 3 stories high
- Was made of gopher wood
- Was supposed to have rooms
- Had pitch on the inside and outside
- Was made 300 cubits long
- Was made 50 cubits wide
- Was made 30 cubits high
- Had a window
- Had a door set in the side

A cubit is the measurement from the elbow to the tip of the longest finger on that hand. If the average (smallest) cubit was 18 inches (although it varied from man to man) then:
300 cubits = 450 feet
50 cubits = 75 feet
30 cubits = 45 feet

That means that if the smallest cubit was 18 inches, the ark would have been 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Not only that, but it was three stories tall! That means that combining the space on all three decks would have left over 100,000 square feet for animals, food, and Noah and his family.

Now that you have read the sections in Genesis pertaining to the building of the ark and the collection of animals on the ark, please read the article (which will restate some of this information). Click here for the article again.

Read More