Old Story New: Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God

My 9 year old granddaughter is loving this book. She even set a timer so she won’t forget.

It is a wonderful and Biblically accurate New Testament suitable for all the family to read together or separately, perfect for family devotions, too.,

Grateful for all the work put into making the New Testament readable for whole family.

We are using this church-wide and we have found it to be a great book for both new and mature believers. It appears to do a nice job of working through the entirety of the New Testament. Would recommend.

super nice and fun for kids!

These are great for our family’s dinnertime devotions. Our kids range in age from 8 to 16, and they all learn from this.

An excellent daily devotion to do with your kids. It’s Bible-based but with great illustrations and questions about the text.

I think we’ve done every devotional by machowsky and we all love them. He engages the kids well and its perfect for our family and the kids’ ages (6-14). My only criticism is that he misses large chunks of scripture or stories, but we can supplement ourselves and I don’t know how he could possibly add the entirety of the NT. It takes us about ten minutes in the morning before school. Well pleased and highest recommendations.

One of the best resources I have found for sharing the bible with my kids. I now use it as a Sunday school resource. Love the gospel focus.

It's a great book but not something I do every day with my family. We choose different books to read every night. I will keep this in my bookshelf for continued reading.

We used the first book, Long Story Short, and our families found it very accessible. It was an easy decision to also order and use Old Story New. The selection of Bible stories is comprehensive and hits on key characters, events, and themes from throughout the whole Bible. The illustrations and explanations for the main ideas of each Bible story are very plain, clear, and helpful for the average Christian family. The discussion questions offer a good balance between asking about what happened and examining how the story applies to the lives of children and parents today.

Excellent, simple, usable family devotion. We've used them in our home for years.

My family has loved reading these devotional by Machowski. We have learned so much and had such rich conversations with our children.

This has been my favorite for family devotions and/or Bible in homeschool. I love the depth you get in 10 minutes. It’s the proper challenge for my 8 and 5 year old and they are hearing the heart of the Gospel everyday. I learn new things as well! Sometimes us adults need it simplified too!

You can easily modify the lessons to meet the ages of your children. I do this study with my 2 1/2 year old and am able to use the tools they give to make it interesting for her. It will also be great as she gets older and I truly feel that it has no age limit. It is Gospel centered and very well put together. I would highly recommend it if you are looking for a bible stidy that is not too complicated but still full of truth and meat.

My daughter is 10 yrs old and this is a great devotional for us while we wait in the car at her bus stop each morning. I let her read the scripture, I'll ask a few questions, and we pray together before she gets on the bus.

e are just finishing week 4 of this devotional and just love it! I have a 4, 3, & almost 1 year old. Some things are a little over the older ones heads, but I'm able to explain in a way that they can understand. My 3 year old has a difficult time sitting still to begin with, but my 4 year old is really retaining what he has learned from day to day. And, he's asking lots of questions. I really like how there is a basic lesson that you work through for the week, and it shows how events in the old testament point straight to Jesus. Each lesson takes about 10 minutes, so we're able to do it at breakfast, and is short enough that they don't lose focus. I would highly recommend this for all ages, as it's clarified a few things for me.

love this devotion! it is something we can do in the morning that isn't too long, but gets you reading the bible with your kiddos and talking through scripture as a family. highly recommended!

My two oldest and I are 95% of the way through this book. The amount of time required on a daily basis is just right for us. Once we complete Long Story Short, we'll be moving to Old Story New.

ByJon Carron Apri
Great Jesus-centered devotional for the family. Not just moralistic teaching or Bible stories detached from the gospel. Short and sweet lessons.

WONDERFUL devotional book
We used for our morning devotions before school with our 12 & 13 year old. Good, thought provoking questions which sparked our interest in the kings! We just spent all summer studying the Kings as a result of this book. THANK YOU!!

This is perfect! It doesn't take a long time to go through each night. The kids (7,5 & 3) all enjoy it. I like how it has you read a passage out of the bible to get them involved. Highly recommend.

oing through this devotional has been such a blessing to my family. We have all learned something. The devotional is chronological, theologically sound, and continually points to Jesus tying the Old and New Testaments together in one book. Devotions can be completed in 10-15 minutes with minimal prep but are made rich with thoughtful questions and a final prayer.

This is a good tool for Bible Study with elementary age crowd, especially ones that know many of the stories. Bible readings are reasonable and questions are related to and require some thought for answering. I have enjoyed using this. See Old Story New for the companion New Testament study

My family and I are through the first week of this devotional and I love it. I love how it guides me as the parent to ask thought provoking questions centered around the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I would highly recommend it.

After buying the kindle version, I ended up buying the book as well. This is an awesome devotional that takes kids and parents through the Bible and asks questions for review and reflection. I was impressed with this book tying the stories to Jesus and including the Psalms. Each week is split up into 5 daily chapters. We are able to go at our own pace. My son (7 yrs old) brings this to me before bed and enjoys it as well.

In some ways, reviewing a book like Old Story New is quite difficult. After all, it's a year long devotional guide for families. So, if you wanted to do an experimental review, you'd walk through it with your family...over the course of a year. And that defeats the purpose of doing a timely review coordinated with the release of this book.

On the other hand, doing a review for a book like this is quite easy: you jump in all over the place, reading various days devotionals and then sit back and say, 'Families, use this book; especially if you have young children, use this book.'

In November of 2012, I'd reviewed Machowski's first devotional book for families: Long Story Short. That devotional guide was based upon the Old Testament. In Old Story New, as you could guess from that set-up and the title, is a devotional guide about the New Testament. This is such a helpful tool for families. If you have young children, I can't think of a better book to help in family worship than these two accompanying books. If you have a wider age-range of children, you could involve the older kids in the readings, while the younger ones get involved through age-appropriate questions and prayer. You could also supplement the times of family worship with some singing or the occasional object lesson connected to each day's reading.
The book is arranged by the week. Each week features five days worth of devotionals that will walk you through the entire New Testament in a year. Each day begins with a 'Remember It' question so you're always reviewing what's been learned. Then, there is a passage of Scripture to be read, followed by the 'Think About It Some More' section. This provides Mom or Dad the explanation of each text being examined, put in such a way that all can understand it. Next comes the 'Talk About It' portion, which usually consists of 3-4 questions to draw out from each person present what they've just heard. It also helps solidify that passage into their heart and mind by thinking about it more. Finally, there is a closing time to 'Pray About It'.

My heart's longing would be to get this book (and it's predecessor) into the hands of young families. I'd exhort each of them to take the 15-20 minutes it might take each day to gather everyone around the dining table or in the living room. I'd sit with them and help them get started, making this a 'ritual' that no one wants to miss. Of course, I can't really do it that way. What I can do is recommend this book...highly. Begin the God-honoring habit of family worship, using God's Word and let it transform your whole family.

Of all the family/kid devotionals I have seen, these are the most Gospel-centered. My second choice (Max Lucado's Growing in Grace) is pretty far behind this one. This book is even better if you attend a church that uses these in the kid's curriculum, so the kids can get an extended introduction into the main lesson, and then the weeknight devotionals supplement. Highly recommend.

I use these devotions with my two sons, ages 10 and 7. I have tried many different devotionals and I really like this one. The devotions are quick and easy, but they take passages of scripture and dig deep to find the significance. It gives you a short bible passage to read, explains it, and then asks a few questions to help the story sink in. I like that it actually provides the answers to the questions. Of course, some are straightforward but I do like knowing that I am on the right track with understanding the message and not just guessing at the point there are trying to make. I like that they are not too long so that my kids do not lose interest and are absorbing the word of God each day.
Top critical review
See all 4 critical reviews›
6 people found this helpful
3.0 out of 5 starsGood for the young ones, not so much for older kids
ByHamoncanon June 26, 2014
Good for your younger kids but not quite so good for a mixed group. The kids 12+ tend to tune out as it really doesn't challenge them.