Trigger warning for some: Christian content. Actually a newer Christian book review should have been here on Sunday. Well, this is the review that is here.
Title: Family Walk
Editor: Bruce H. Wilkinson
Date: 1991
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0-310-54241-3
Length: 276 pages
Illustrations: cartoons by Martha Campbell
Quote: “You’ll never run out of the riches of wisdom.”
In 1976, Bible teacher Bruce Wilkinson organized Walk Thru the Bible Ministries in Portland, Oregon. In 1978, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where his ministry really took off. In this 1991 devotional book, he reports that the organization has trained over 200 teachers to read the Bible with over a million students, in 21 countries, in 30 languages.
Family Walk is designed for short, simple family meditations. In between “New States” and “Christmas,” with strategically placed chapters on Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas music, parents are free to move around among Worship, Holiness, Leisure, Success, Angels, Love, Listening, Proverbs, Peace, Serving, Growth, Mankind, New Life, Prayer, Joy, Gentleness, God, Creativity, courage, (the Epistle of St.) James, Sin, Meditation, Humility, Money, Reading, Faithfulness, Heaven, Good News, Patience, Memory, Forgiveness, Church, Commandments, Learning, Peer Pressure, Honesty, the Holy Spirit, Suffering, Anger, Youth, Endurance, God’s Names, Contentment, Values, Goals, Fear of the Lord, and Giving.
Each of these chapters contains five one-page meditations on short passages from the Bible, suitable for use at breakfast or after dinner,. There’s a question, an answer, a short-short story, a Bible verse to look up, usually more verses quoted in the text, and a paragraph or two of commentary, which may include a song, poem, or cartoon.
Although it’s more Protestant than Catholic, the book is meant for interdenominational use, and one note to parents suggests, “If vacation travel permits, expose your family to the richness of worship experiences by attending a service at another church.”
Some of the stories are commonplace: a boy’s mother “watched him slam the gate, kick two garbage cans, and angrily shove his dog” and act surly all evening until “the truth came out. He was mad at himself for failing a math test.” Others are taken from history. Randomly flipping through my copy, I notice brief stories about George Müller’s orphanage ministry, Haralan Popov’s book Tortured for His Faith, Nicky Cruz’s conversion, Amy Carmichael’s mission, and Abraham Lincoln’s brainstorming process.
Few Christians will find anything really offensive in this book, although those who know that pumpkins are one variety of squash may chortle over the phrase “squash pie cleverly disguised as pumpkin.”
Family Walk is recommended to any family who would like to study Bible teachings without bogging down in the ancient history and genealogies. It is as suitable for adults who feel “young in the faith” as it is for children and teenagers.
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