The Bible Story Family

On account of a life-long interest in Evangelist Billy Sunday, I was pleased to be asked for resource materials for a senior paper on Ma Sunday. Johanna Huebscher graduated from Bob Jones University this spring with a B.A. in history and a B.S. in Multimedia Journalism. The research into the life of Mrs. Sunday was part of a graduation requirement for her history degree. Billy Sunday died in 1935. His wife outlived him by several years, and during that time she became involved in the work of Bob Jones University. “I chose her as a research project,” writes Johanna, “because I wanted to study the life of a woman involved in the beginnings of BJU.” The research paper is titled “Ma Sunday, What Did It Mean to be Her?” Johanna draws some comparisons between the parental choices made by Nell Sunday, Mary Gaston Jones, and Ruth Graham. Each of the husbands, Billy Sunday, Bob Jones, Sr., and Billy Graham, traveled in evangelism, but the decisions concerning child-care varied. One of the s...

 I met James Matteson at the recent New Testament Association meeting. But I immediately felt as if I had known him for a long time. His father, Dr. Earle Matteson, and my father, Dr. Arthur Allen, were fellow pastors and great friends out west. And I came to know his father Earle when I was teaching at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College and Dr. Matteson served as interim president. James has a podcast called the Bible Bard. But it is not just any podcast. The Bible Bard is available not only in English, but also in Spanish, Swahili, Urdu, Bengali, and Chechewa. The programs can be accessed on Spotify, Soundcloud, and Amazon podcasts as well as the website www.BibleBard.org. “The Bible Bard podcast presents only what the literature of the Bible directly says about a subject,” writes James. “Whether you are a Muslim listener, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Presbyterian, an Anglican, or an atheist, the Bible Bard is not interested in discussing what any Christian denomination or religious teach...

  True story! A thirteen-year-old girl desperately wanted a horse. When that wasn’t possible, she wrote a book, Appaloosy . The story was written from the viewpoint of a horse involved in the Nez Perce Indian War. The book was published when she was sixteen and became the first in a series of five Horses in History volumes. Appaloosy (The Nez Perce Indian Wars) Dusty’s Trail (The Pony Express) Golden Sunrise (The Battle of the Alamo) Day and Night (The Civil War) Blue Skies West (The Oregon Trail)   The girl was Mattie Richardson. She says, “I started writing books I wanted to read but couldn’t find.” The books are targeted for children 8-12, but have been enjoyed by plenty of younger and older folks as well. Mattie works as library director in Enderlin, North Dakota. Early in her writing career she traveled the country selling books at various events and festivals, speaking at schools, libraries, and other organizations. Getting married and adding two ch...

  “Place everything you need for the week inside a backpack. We start walking as soon as we get off the airplane in Europe.” Eleven young people and sponsors from Fourth Baptist Church of Plymouth, Minnesota, will be walking100km of the Camino Santiago starting this weekend. One of the great challenges will be living out of a backpack the entire trip. Another will be the reality of sore feet and aching bones as they traverse the Camino in Portugal and Spain. Why would they choose such a journey? Walking the Camino Santiago is one of the ways Missionary Seth Grotzke and his family seek to evangelize. They join pilgrims on the trail and share the love of Christ as they walk alongside fellow travelers. That’s what the group from Minnesota will be doing as well. Their purpose is to partake in evangelism and worldview training. They will also participate in worship with national believers who attend the church Grotzke’s are starting. This creative journey will help them grow in th...