Description
Transform Your Family with Ten Minutes a Day in the Gospel Story
Christian parents know the importance of passing the gospel story on to their children, yet we live in a busy world filled with distractions. Schedules collide, there is homework and yard work and dishes and laundry, the car’s oil should be changed, there are phone calls to make and before you know it, everyone is getting to bed late again.
The Bible can seem like a long story for an active family to read, but when you break it down into short sections, as Marty Machowski does, family devotions are easy to do. Long Story Short will help busy parents share with their children how every story in the Old Testament points forward to God’s story of salvation through Jesus Christ. You won’t find a more important focus for a family devotional than a daily highlighting of the gospel of grace. Clever stories and good moral lessons may entertain and even help children, but the gospel will transform children. The gospel is deep enough to keep the oldest and wisest parents learning and growing all their lives, yet simple enough to transform the heart of the first grader who has just begun to read.
Ten minutes a day, five days a week is enough time to pass on the most valuable treasure the world has ever known. Long Story Short is a family devotional program designed to explain God’s plan of salvation through the Old Testament and is suitable for children from preschool through high school.
Marty Machowski is a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, a Sovereign Grace Ministries church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, where he has served on the pastoral staff for twenty-two years. Marty leads Promise Kingdom, the children’s ministry of Covenant Fellowship. He and his wife Lois and their six children reside in West Chester Pennsylvania.
Endorsements
Long Story Short is the best material for family devotions I’ve ever seen. If you’re looking for something careful, creative, and Christ-centered without being corny, confusing, or condescending look no further. Pastors would be wise to buy this book by the boxful and get a copy into the hands of each family in their church.
Justin Taylor
Blogger (Between Two Worlds); managing editor of the ESV Study Bible
This is simply an outstanding book, and Christian families need it right now. I have never seen a devotional book that is so well suited to family devotions and to children, even as it is faithful in relating biblical truth. This book will help any Christian parent lead family devotions that will be memorable, faithful, and practical for Christian living. I’ll admit this too, parents will find that they love the stories, illustrations, and learning suggestions along with their children. Marty Machowski has written a wonderful book.
R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
I love the simplicity and practicality of Long Story Short. Marty Machowski gives parents a valuable resource to make disciples in our homes by highlighting the gospel story and the Hero of Scripture. I plan to strongly encourage the use of this book throughout our entire network of churches.
Scott Thomas
President, Acts 29 Network
Parents, you know that teaching your children God’s Word, especially with children of varying ages, is never easy. But Marty Machowski has just made it easier. Long Story Short guides your family through Old Testament stories, each one highlighting the love and faithfulness of God and the hope of a Savior to come. To use this guide is to have an experienced father and pastor assisting you every night. These moments together, informed by Marty’s book, will help your children understand and be amazed by the grace of God as revealed in the Old Testament.
C.J. Mahaney
President, Sovereign Grace Ministries; author of many books, including The Cross Centered Life
In Long Story Short, Marty Machowski provides what my wife and I needed when we were struggling to find good tools to disciple our young children. We got by, but this resource would have helped us so much. I envy the parents who will have it available to them. It is simple, interactive, and faithful to Scripture. It avoids the pitfalls of moralism that is prevalent in much of the children’s Bible literature today. Marty insists that you and your children meet Jesus and see the gospel of grace in every story. I can’t recommend this resource enough.
Dr. Timothy S. Lane, Executive Director,
Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation; coauthor of How People Change and Relationships: A Mess Worth Making
