I love using Calvin Miller’s Devotionals. I found the first one I used, “The Christ of Christmas” when browsing in a local Christian bookstore in St. Louis. I bought it to help me really get ready for the spiritual significance of the holiday. It did just that. The next one I bought was “The Christ of the Easter” which helped me again zero in on what Easter is all about. Because I loved these books so much I also bought “The Christ We Knew: Eyewitness Accounts from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.” Even though I have had this book for several years, I am just now getting into it. It is thought-provoking and very helpful. The devotionals have really given me something to chew on for several days a piece. The format of this particular book is you first read the devotional on a particular passage of Scripture in one of the Gospels, then you read the entire chapter from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. This book includes classical art and explanations of each picture and gives a little information about the artist.

Calvin Miller’s writing is profound, yet easy to read and practical. The Christ We Knew takes you through the birth of Christ right to the Ascension of Christ. Each book is divided into 31 days of devotions. I usually spend about 5-10 minutes each morning before work reading them - that’s about how long it takes. I have gone back to reread several.

Calvin Miller is a writer and speaker. He worked with others on the translation of the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Miller is a career pastor and teaches at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. For more information on Calvin Miller visit his web site at www.calvinmillerauthor.com

I have been doing Beth Moore Bible studies on my own for many years. I buy the workbook and the CDs and go from there. Now I am just finishing up “Stepping Up - a journey through the Psalms of Ascent.” I am always challenged by these studies and Stepping Up is no exception. I do five days of intense study on the passages - in this case Psalms 120-134, then I listen to the accompanying teaching cd. The new feature is that now you can download each teaching session online through LifeWay. I will do this for the last session.

For the six week study, Beth has us read each psalm in two different versions of the Bible, then we “Say It, Work It, and Pray It.” After saying it and working it, you are very ready to pray it - praying Scripture in your own words. This has been very beneficial to me. By the way even though it is set up to be a six-week study, I take my time. I’ve been working on this since the end of January. So this six week study will take me 8-10 weeks.

The Psalms of Ascent were sung on the pilgrimage to the three great feasts - Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks, and Feast of Tabernacles. The pilgrims go through many situations which we can easily relate to and they and we can learn many truths about God and His Word to apply to our own lives in difficult situations.

I highly recommend this and all of Beth Moore’s Bible studies. It is available through LifeWay bookstores.