Suzy Q Homemaker

Click here to read my review & an interview with the author of Letters to Darcy by Tracy Ramos.  Plus enter to win my copy!

Welcome to my little stop on the Eyewitness Blog Tour!  Below, you’ll find an interview with the author, Frank Ball.  To enter to win my copy of this interesting book, leave a comment on this post telling me why you’d like to read it.

About the Book:

Eyewitness: The Life of Christ Told in One Story by Frank Ball (WinePress Publishing)

Eyewitness reaches people who seldom go to church or read their Bibles.

Of the millions of Americans who don’t go to church, 56 percent consider themselves Christian. If they knew what Jesus said and did, they would know the importance of networking and reaching out to help others. While Bibles sit on coffee tables and bookshelves at home, gathering dust, people pick up Eyewitness and don’t want to put it down. Not only does it use language that is easily understood, it pulls readers into the story, almost like walking with Jesus in the first century.

The Bible has sold more copies than any other book and continues to sell year after year. Continuing in its footsteps is the Eyewitness series written for the average person.

Flash back to first century AD. One man appeared who shook up the world. Four men testified to what they saw and heard. The details of Jesus life were recorded by four of his closest followers. Each account is written from a different perspective and only one of the four tells the events in chronological order. Therefore, for centuries, the accounts have been told in out-of-sequence fragments.

Eyewitness compiles the information from the Gospels and hundreds of other Bible verses into one chronological story laid out like a story without reference or verse. The result is a seamless combination of the four gospel books that will appeal to customers across the board, even those who would not normally purchase a Bible.

1. The gospel stories have existed for some two thousand years. Why put them chronologically together now?

Nine out of ten Americans own a Bible, but the people who most need to hear the message don’t often read the book. They believe Scripture is outdated and too difficult to understand. Would they read the story of Christ if it were presented as a single story that is easy to understand? Most of them say they would, so Eyewitness answers that need.

2. Why do the Gospels appear to have conflicting stories?

At a crime scene, eyewitnesses always have different testimonies about what happened. Because each gospel writer had his own point of view and spoke to a different audience, the information is actually complementary, not conflicting. The apparent conflicts disappear when we use each viewpoint to compile a complete and compelling story.

3. How was writing and recording events different two thousand years ago?

We now use a computer keyboard to rapidly type and edit text that prints on our laser printers. In the first century, writers had only their parchment scrolls in which every word was hand written, one character at a time. Cut-and-paste editing and simple rearrangement of details into chronological order didn’t exist. Writers naturally put down information as it came to mind, giving us a flow of thought that isn’t always in date sequence.

4. What is the significance of John’s gospel being the last one written?

If John were to introduce his book to us today, he might say, “Let me tell you the rest of the story.” There wasn’t much need to repeat what had already been written, so he gives us clarification of events that were already being told and retold, as well as eyewitness reports that are found nowhere else. Unlike the other writers, who were not always chronological, John unfolds most of his story in date sequence in relation to the Jewish feasts. This gives us a chronological guide for putting all the biblical information in order.

5. In what way do you think the readers of Eyewitness will have a clearer understanding of the nature of God?

Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” If we can see what Jesus is doing and hear what he is saying, we become eyewitness of God’s nature. Because the words in Eyewitness are more like what we would read in a novel, readers are able to visualize themselves as present at the gospel events. It’s the next best thing to actually being there, walking with the other disciples.

6. How many different Bible translations were necessary to complete this project?

Hundreds of scholars have invested countless hours in the production of good translations. In the development of an easy-to-read wording for Eyewitness, translators’ handbooks and more than fifteen popular translations, as well as the Greek and Hebrew texts, were considered.

7. Is the Bible flawed in presenting the life of Christ in four separate books?

No, not at all. Each author’s report has its own perspective and meets a different audience need. Matthew points to the fulfillment of ancient prophecies to prove Jesus was the Son of God. Mark, the shortest of the Gospels, is the quickest to read. Luke, being a physician, gives many important details. And John adds clarity, chronology, and new information. Eyewitness was written for those who don’t read the Bible and for people who are helped by seeing how the story unfolded, chronologically.

8. Why do you think Eyewitness appeals to people who seldom attend church?

Even professed atheists and agnostics have questions about the meaning of life and what happens after we die. Eyewitness isn’t a book of difficult-to-understand rules that threatens punishment if we don’t do everything exactly right. The life of Christ is presented in a way so people can easily understand the value of loving our enemies and helping people in need.

9. Where can we find out more or purchase a copy of Eyewitness?

Please feel free to visit my web site at www.eyewitnesstools.com.

I’ll close comments and choose a winner on December 16.  Thanks!

I wanted to participate in Wordless Wednesday today, and I wanted to post this picture, but I couldn’t post it without words.  For one, it’s been a year since I lost her.  Yes, I lost her.  I lost my friend.  I lost my hippie, knitting, reading, natural parenting, red wine drinking, French-speaking friend.  I lost Dewey, a leader in the book blogging community and a leader in my own circle of friends.  She was the glue that held many internet communities together.  We all miss her and I bet she’s laughing her ass of because she didn’t know she would be so badly missed.

YOU SUCK, DEWEY!!

Just kidding–you know I love you more than anything.  And here’s a picture of my “nightstand”.  One cannot have a normal piece of furniture in our house without a book of some sort on top (or an orchid).  That’s just the way it is.  And I’m sure you can relate.  Ten points to the person who can name even one book from this picture.

I wish I could say I read all afternoon and late into the night.  But I didn’t!  I read The Sex Lives of Cannibals until it was finally finished.  The end gave me warm fuzzies.  Then I read the first few pages of Into the Forest, but abandoned it for several rounds of Cooking Dash on my iPod.  I didn’t read any more for the rest of the day.

But!

Last night we went to bed at 10:00, so I read some more of Into the Forest.  I was up until 1:40 reading and I was getting disappointed in myself for falling asleep since I was sure I could finish it.  It’s been a long time since it only took a day or two to finish a book.  Like, before-Corey.  I went to the library every other day when I was pregnant with Corey and would spend hours upon hours lying in bed reading.  Man, that was luxurious.  I’m not allowed to write about this book, though, because it’s for next month’s book club.  There’s so much I want to say!!!!

(three hours later)

I forgot I was writing a blog post.  Imagine I left you hanging there for a while.  I also forgot what else I was going to write about, so I suppose this will have to do for today.

To summarize:

1. I didn’t read a lot during the read-a-thon, but I did finish a book.

2. I read a lot last night/this morning and I really like the book I’m reading.

The end!

P.S.  Thank you to all the read-a-thon cheerleaders who stopped by my blog on Saturday.  It was a good reminder of how wonderful and supportive the book blogging community can be.  When I grow up, maybe I’ll actually be able to branch off a section of my feed for books. 

I wish my heart was in it, but because the morning was spent on the set of a documentary with Corey, I didn’t kick off the day reading like I thought I was going to.  In fact, I hadn’t put two and two together when I signed up for the read-a-thon.  So here we are well into the day and I haven’t picked up so much as one book.

Never fear!  I’m about to hole myself up in the bedroom and try to finish The Sex Lives of Cannibals.  I was supposed to finish it for my book club (COUGH) last month.  I also have a few books in my TBR/TBF pile–and it is quite literally a pile next to my bed:

• From Dead to Worse (book 8 in the Sookie Stackhouse series)
• When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris
• Belong to Me, by Maria de los Santos
• Into the Forest, by Jean Hegland

I’ll try to check in a little later this evening, so I hope the rest of you are enjoying the read-a-thon festivities!  I see there are plenty of mini-challenges and fun prizes to win.  Thanks again to everyone who put this together in honor of Dewey.  I sure do miss her and this event is bittersweet indeed.

~Lizzie