Joni Eareckson Tada: The Girl Who Learned to Follow God in a Wheelchair by Kristyn Getty. Illustrated by Hsulynn Pang. The Good Book Company. 24 pages. 2024
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This new book by Kristyn Getty is a part of the Do Great Things For God series from The Good Book Company, which includes twelve books about inspiring women such as Susannah Spurgeon, Amy Carmichael, Corrie Ten Boom, Fanny Crosby and others. This book is about Joni Eareckson Tada, one of my wife Tammy’s and my heroes of the faith. Paul Miller, in his book J-Curve: Dying and Rising with Jesus in Everyday Life, wrote that Joni combines the best of Martin Luther and Mother Teresa. High praise indeed.
This book tells Joni’s life story. She trusted Christ at a church camp at age 15. Just two years later, while swimming with her sister, she dove off of a float, but the water was too shallow for diving. Her head hit the bottom, breaking her neck. She would be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. She would go through emotions of sadness and anger.
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BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review…
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ Truths We Confess by R.C. Sproul
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Eventually, Joni would pray to the Lord to show her how to follow Him in her wheelchair. She began to paint, teach at conferences, write books, sing and eventually was married to Ken. She started “Joni and Friends”, which sends wheelchairs to people all over the world who can’t afford to buy one.
Joni has been in a wheelchair for more than fifty years now. The first thing she will do in Heaven when Jesus gives her new legs is to kneel down to worship Him.
The book includes a prayer to pray, questions to think about and a timeline of Joni’s life. It also includes free resources you can download to interact with Joni’s story.
I agree with Andrew Peterson’s endorsement of this beautifully illustrated book by Hsulynn Pang, “Joni’s story is amazing, and Kristyn tells it beautifully”.
- Gavin Ortlund Wants You to Become (or Remain) Protestant. On this episode of the Gospelbound podcast, Gavin Ortlund joined host Collin Hansen to discuss the best arguments for and against Protestantism as well as indulgences, persecution, and more.
- Should the Protest Continue? Andy Jones reviews Gavin Ortlund’s new book What it Means to be Protestant. He writes “This volume by Ortlund is clear and accessible. It is also positive, more focused on what Protestants are for than what they are against.”
- A Review of “The Widening of God’s Mercy: Sexuality within the Biblical Story” by Christopher B. Hays and Richard B. Hays. Thomas Schreiner reviews the new book The Widening of God’s Mercy: Sexuality within the Biblical Story by Chistopher B. Hays and Richard B. Hays. He writes “At the end of the day, the real criterion for their understanding of homosexuality isn’t Scripture but experience.” Here is Rebecca McLaughlin’s review of the book.
- Study, Savor and Share Scripture: Becoming What We Behold. My wife Tammy has published a book about HOW to study the Bible. The book is available on Amazon in both a Kindle and paperback edition. She writes “Maybe you have read the Bible but want to dig deeper and know God and know yourself better. Throughout the book I use the analogy of making a quilt to show how the Bible is telling one big story about what God is doing in the world through Christ. Quilting takes much patience and precision, just like studying the Bible, but the end result is well worth it.”
Won’t you read along with us? We are reading through Truths We Confess: A Systematic Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith by R.C. Sproul. From the Ligonier description:
“The Westminster Confession of Faith is one of the most precise and comprehensive statements of biblical Christianity, and it is treasured by believers around the world. R.C. Sproul has called it one of the most important confessions of faith ever penned, and it has helped generations of Christians understand and defend what they believe.
In Truths We Confess, Dr. Sproul introduces readers to this remarkable confession, explaining its insights and applying them to modern life. In his signature easy-to-understand style and with his conviction that everyone’s a theologian, he provides valuable commentary that will serve churches and individual Christians as they strive to better understand the eternal truths of Scripture. As he walks through the confession line by line, Dr. Sproul shows how the doctrines of the Bible—from creation to covenant, sin to salvation—fit together to the glory of God. This accessible volume is designed to help you deepen your knowledge of God’s Word and answer the question, What do you believe?”
This week we look at half of WCF 18: Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation. Here are a few helpful quotes from this section of the chapter:
- There is no time when we receive greater assurance of our salvation than when we are in the Word of God.
- The confession speaks about the assurance of salvation as being important, but not as being essential to salvation.
- Even in the midst of the travails and pains that come with age, many Christians find that the older they get, the more joy they have. It comes from an increasing understanding of who God is and what a wonderful assurance it is to belong to Him. That gives joy.
- The more certain we are of our salvation, the greater is our love and thanksgiving to God.
- Our obedience is not motivated by a desire to earn salvation, nor by a grim duty that is imposed upon us by the divine will; rather, it is rendered to God as a sacrifice of love.
