Long Story Short: Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God

Our family used this as the basis for our family worship/devotional time after supper 5 days a week in 2014-2015. Machowski walks through the unfolding story of the OT by boiling down the episodes into 5 day long examinations (78 Weeks in total). The first day of the week starts off introducing the particular story/episode with some concrete object lesson which is usually effective to grab the children's attention and engage their thinking and the author uses that to transition into the biblical story and the explanation of it for the next 5 days of devotionals/teaching times. Thankfully the object lessons usually involve minimal prep so it doesn't become onerous for parents. Each of the 5 days readings from Scripture are accompanied by a brief explanation of the text and the main themes highlighted are usually man's sin and need of God and God's gracious and faithful relationship with his people. Day three's reading takes a break from the main text and looks at how the week's story points forward to Jesus, often incorporating a NT reading. The fifth day's reading looks at either a Psalm or a Prophet to see how it points forward to Christ or speaks of salvation through Christ. The Psalm or prophetic reading chosen often highlights some theme or event from that week's story as well. After the readings and the explanations, there are usually 3 questions to help with comprehension and basic listening. There is also a question for the kids to ask their parents about a time where they may have done something or witnessed something related to the main focus of that day's reading. Sometimes also children are encouraged to recall a time when they committed a particular sin that is similar in nature to the sin a character in the story committed (more on this below). Each day's episode ends in a prompt to pray for or thank God for something themed according to that day's reading. I found that Machowski's discussion of the OT events or episodes sometimes missed some very important observations, either in the historical context, or in the way those events pointed forward to Christ. Obviously this is to be expected when a book is structured to be a 10-15 minute devotional or teaching time...you're going to miss a lot. However, sometimes it seemed to me it was a central thing that was missed, passed over for a point of lesser importance. But in fairness this didn't happen very often so this wasn't really a drawback. I also found that Machowski over simplified salvation and boiled it down to believing in Jesus, that his death on the cross forgives our sins so that we will go to be with him in heaven when we die. Not that he's wrong, just that it makes much of the discussion of salvation future-oriented (going to heaven instead of hell when we die) and leaves the present Christian experience of union with Christ or walking as God's children here and now often unexplored. Again, what he emphasizes is obviously of prime importance, but it does seem to focus on one aspect of the cross and leaves many significant aspects of salvation unexplored. Perhaps that is because this is meant to be aimed at the younger end of the spectrum, but I found that the point was all to often exclusively about "going to heaven to be with Jesus when we die". However, that is where a conscientious parent can step up and broaden or deepen the discussion depending on the ages of the children one is working through this with. So again, not a glaring weakness, just a heads-up to parents. The salvation we have through Christ's life, death, resurrection and reign is so rich, it would be good to bring in a more fulsome perspective on this in your discussion as a family. Now, about the author's encouraging children to think of a time when they sinned in a way similar to the character(s) in the story, or encouraging parents to recall a time when the children disobeyed in a particular way (see above) - while I understand that this is meant to both show our own sinfulness and need of Christ, as well as show that we are not so different from the flawed characters of Scripture, I would encourage parents to do this wisely, cautiously and sparingly, if at all. Scripture presents us with a vision of God as one who forgives and then doesn't impute our sin and guilt to us any more, who removes our sins as far as east from west, and we are likewise called to forgive and love in such a way that keeps no record of wrongs. What we don't want to do as parents is to repeatedly bring up our children's past sins in teaching times when we are focusing on God's salvation, forgiveness and grace to us through Christ Jesus. Of course to teach this we must talk about our sin and our children's sin, and sin is only theoretical if we never actually speak of specific ways that we sin, actual sins we sometimes commit. However, I would caution parents about bringing up past sins that have already been disciplined for, discussed and forgiven. Sometimes doing that can defeat or counter act the very lesson of salvation, grace and forgiveness we are attempting to teach. Overall however, I commend this book warmly.

Best resource I ever found for going through the bible with my kids. Keeps the gospel central throughout and has some great questions for the kids to think through. I now use this as a Sunday school resource so it hasn’t lost its usefulness as my kids have grown up.

We read through this book at the dinner table, taking a good two years to complete it. It was an excellent catalyst for theological discussion with our four grade-school kiddos and helped them learn to identify Christological types and shadows in the OT (though in some cases the author's links seemed a bit of a stretch). This book is probably best suited for parents who want to teach their children at a deeper level than simple Bible stories, yet don't know how (or don't feel equipped) to do so without a guide. For those who are natural teachers, this book might feel awkward at times.

These ten-minute family devotions are companion pieces to our current Children’s Church curriculum for ages 4 – 5th grade, and would be appropriate for children that age. Each week has five days’ worth of discussion topics, questions, illustrations, Bible passages, and ideas for discoveries to make as a family. The weeks line up with the Children’s Church story from Sunday, and the accompanying Bible passages help your family draw a connection between each story and the gospel. You could use this devotion without paying attention to the current Children’s Church lesson and without using the Gospel Story Bible. I like how the topics for family discussion give parents and kids a chance to share about struggles and celebrate joys together (For example, “Kids, ask your parents to tell you about a time when God provided something for them in a way that they knew it was by God’s grace, not their own effort.”). These devotions could be a springboard for great family conversations about the ways each person is growing with God.

love reading this with my family! kids enjoy it and its short enough to hold their attention but engaging.

Marty Machowski, pastor, father, husband and writer penned Long Story Short, a gospel driven, field-tested family devotional that pairs well with The Gospel Story Bible. The easy-to-use devotional features seventy-eight lessons from the Old Testament designed for busy, time-challenged families of preschool, grade school, middle school, high school or homeschooled youngsters. Readings and discussions take ten minutes a day, five days a week. Teachings feature biblical truth from the “cross-centered” Old Testament that point to Jesus Christ and salvation. Devotions begin with Genesis and end with Nehemiah and feature a single scripture theme that repeats for one week. The simple format includes a brief reading, an explanation with three discussion questions and a short prayer. The first two days concern the central teaching, while the third day connects a New Testament scripture to the message and the fourth day completes the story. Readings from Psalms or a prophetical book tie the weeks teaching to the main scripture theme on Friday. Since this book is text without pictures, The Gospel Story Bible I reviewed Monday adds a nice touch for younger children.

I love this family devotional book that can easily be made to work for a wide range of ages. The first reason being that it ties the Old Testament to the gospel! Too many family/kid devotionals just give stories rather then truly help kids connect with the Word of God. In this book, which gives you five, ten-minute devotions per week, there is at least one day when your reading a New Testament passage that connects to the Old Testament story line of the week. The next reason I like this family devotional is that it's easy. And very simple, too. There are some suggest object lessons, but they are simple and certainly not mandatory for the kids to get the week's lesson. If you don't do it everything will still make sense. And the third reason I like this book is because it's comprehensive. It incorporates reading Scripture, discussion and interaction, and prayer all together in an easy to follow format that really only takes ten minutes - if that. In the words of Emily: "This book is fun!" And our family loves it! BOOK OVERVIEW: Christian parents know the importance of passing the gospel story on to their children, yet we live in a busy world filled with distractions. Schedules collide, there is homework and yard work and dishes and laundry, the car's oil should be changed, there are phone calls to make and before you know it, everyone is getting to bed late again. The Bible can seem like a long story for an active family to read, but when you break it down into short sections, as Marty Machowski does, family devotions are easy to do. Long Story Short will help busy parents share with their children how every story in the Old Testament points forward to God's story of salvation through Jesus Christ. You won't find a more important focus for a family devotional than a daily highlighting of the gospel of grace. Clever stories and good moral lessons may entertain and even help children, but the gospel will transform children. The gospel is deep enough to keep the oldest and wisest parents learning and growing all their lives, yet simple enough to transform the heart of the first grader who has just begun to read. Ten minutes a day, five days a week is enough time to pass on the most valuable treasure the world has ever known. Long Story Short is a family devotional program designed to explain God's plan of salvation through the Old Testament and is suitable for children from preschool through high school