Scripture Union have recently published two resources, Diary of a Disciple (for children) and True Story (for young people). We sent them out to some reviewers to see what they thought and how they might be used in ministry. Diary of a Disciple Dr Luke has a story to tell. It's a super incredible, massively, mind-boggling totally AMAZING, absolutely awesome, epically HUGE story. Luke wrote down everything that happened because he wanted everyone, everywhere in the whole world to hear what he had to say. Luke's Story tells you who Jesus is, what he did, the people he met, all the super interesting things he had to say, and it has a pretty jaw-dropping twist right at the end... Written with doodles and drawings galore, this next chapter in the Diary of a Disciple series is a fresh, and fizzling as the first! Scripture Union have blessed the Church with good resources that can be used in a variety of settings. True Story fits in to the Christian apologetics stream and is based on a traditional model of questions like ‘Is there a God?’ ‘Is Jesus really God?’ ‘How do I know this is true?’ and ‘What must I do?’ Each question follows a pattern of introduction (based on a school lesson and an incident from the author’s school days), a Bible passage, space for reflection and then a summary of what you should have learned.

Well, hello there. How very wonderful to see you, my friend. I don’t know if we’ve met before, but in a way that doesn’t really matter because I’m meeting you now!” Messing about with names is another great way of engaging with children, the subtitle for Acts Chapter 18 is, “Tit, Crisp and Apollos” (no, really), Finally, another wonderful thing about both “Luke’s Story” and “Peter and Paul’s Story” is they just DEMAND to be read out loud. Great for all age worship (great anyway, next time I’m preaching from Luke or Acts I’m taking these bad boys in with me . . . ) Discover the dazzling and dangerous stories of what happens when these men travel all over the place, telling every kind of man, woman, and child about Jesus.

The setting of the material is part personal testimony from the author, within a school setting, and the reading demands a level of literacy from those engaging with the material. While it feels a little like an old English literature class, it is useful content, although it does feel like ‘yet another’ similar resource in the crowded marketplace and it may well get lost within it.

What Gemma Willis has created (with the fantastic, quirky illustrations from Emma Randall) is a series that could do for the Bible what Harry Potter did for children’s reading. I’m not going overboard here. I’ve a couple of wonderful children – one of them will read anything and everything, devouring books the way Smaug devours villages and treasure . . . while the other one WILL read, but often needs to be won over in the first sentence –“ Luke’s Story” has been read repeatedly. days after you killed him, he was completely ALIVE again, a real person, a real living, talking man who EVEN cooked me breakfast on the beach. It was the BEST breakfast EVER! Death can’t beat God, he’s too powerful! It is just like King David said so Long ago : I saw the Lord, he was always there, he was always with me and he was AMAZING, he gave me HOPE and showed me life to the FULL. He will make me happy when I am with him. Diary of a Disciple: Luke's Story is a contemporary retelling of Luke's Gospel. Written in a quirky, contemporary, accessible style, Diary of a Disciple offers a way into the Bible for the next generation. And, OFF he went. Well, he went NEXT door anyway – to Tit’s house. (Actually, his real name was Titus Justus, which sounds rathe posh to me, so I’m just going to call him Tit). At Tit’s house there was a man called CRISP. No seriously – there was! (His real name was Crispus!)

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What is great about doing Acts next is just how much there is in there about the birth of the early church, getting to grips with following Jesus now He has ascended, understanding and receiving the Holy Spirit, acts of great faith . . . it has it all! So to finish – get off my blog and go and buy “ Diary of a Disciple – Peter and Paul’s Story” now.* P.S. Either or both would make GREAT Christmas presents . . . I warn you though, put them out of reach – or buy more than one of each so you can keep em’ and bless someone else. Diary of a disciple: Luke's Story is a contemporary retelling of Luke's Gospel. Written in a quirky, contemporary, accessible style, Diary of a Disciple offers a way into the Bible for the next generation.pho

Luke's Story tells you who Jesus is, what he did, the people he met, all the super interesting things he had to say, and it has a pretty jaw-dropping twist right at the end...I think it’s great. Funny and engaging, it’s creative and beautifully put together. It has the right level between a children’s book and teenagers book. I would gladly give it to any of the older primary school children I know. It is a great way for the rising generation to get a taste for the excitement and action of the Bible.