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8 CD New Testament Bundle Review by Ta’Neisha Kemp

Bible StorySongs, Inc
(972) 313-1152
1515 Hard Rock Rd. Suite #309
Irving, TX 75061
http://www.biblestorysongs.com

Bible StorySongs, Inc is known for creating new musical masterpieces from old children's classics. In doing so, they have created several music compilations featuring their new hits. We received the 8 CD New Testament Bundle which can be purchased solely from the website for $79.92. This bundle includes the Go Jesus! Go Jesus, Go!, Matthew Volume 1, Matthew Volume 2, God's Design, God Made Me Wonderfully!, The Heavens Declare the Glory of God!, Vessels unto Honor, and The Acts of the Apostles CDs. We listened to each disc entirely approximately three times during the review period. We play music often throughout our homeschool week during independent study time, computer time, reading time, and art time.

The Go Jesus! Go Jesus, Go! CD features music created from scripture in the book of Mark. These 27 songs also focus on the servitude of Christ. Each song begins with a recitation of scripture from Mark or a quick bible fact that explains the song. The mentioned facts include definitions of words used in the song or information about Jesus Christ's walk. Our family's favorite on this CD was "Jesus Came Proclaiming" because it reveals the message of repentance and believing. The lyrics even include spelling the word repent and remind us that every Christian must come to God humbly. We also liked the songs that told bible parables of Christ healing people and encouraging others to help the poor.

Matthew, Volume 1 includes 30 songs from chapters 1-8. This CD is 55 minutes long and covers the foretelling and birth of Jesus, baptism, the Sermon on the Mount, and The Lord's Prayer. The music on this CD was my overall favorite because of the melodies of the songs. Some melodies were unique, but others were remakes of old songs from my childhood. For example, "God with Us, God with Us" was created using the melody from "This Old Man". I also appreciated that these songs focused on giving to aid others, treating people right, and not worrying about anything.

Songs in Matthew Volume 2 were created from chapters 9-28 and covers the rest of the ministry of Jesus along with lessons to his disciples. These songs talk about growing in God and being fertile ground. This CD is 61 minutes long and featured a lot of slower songs which would be great to play softly during school time or nap time. "I Wanna Be Good Ground" stood out to me because it explained living holy in a concise way that young children can easily understand. 

God's Design is the first disc within their series that covers creation. These 18 simple songs include lots of repetition and I thought this one had the best lyrics. My favorite song was the title track, "God's Design" because the simple words were so powerful as it described how creation "fills us with wonder we're wowed every time." This was my family's favorite CD and I heard positive feedback from the parents after I played it at our homeschool co-op book club.

God Made Me Wonderfully! features 20 songs that discuss how God created everything and his power. This is the second disc within the Creation series. As with most of the CDs, this one had many titles with new lyrics set to familiar childhood melodies. This song also included a cute science ditty about the earth's position, axis, and rotation called "We're 93 Million Miles From". This was the most cheerful disc within the collection, and we enjoyed listening to this one during art time.

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God! is the third album in the Creation series. There are 17 songs on this disc along with the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness". The lyrics to all the songs are available for download via the company website. Each track begins with a scripture and most have familiar melodies from old songs. The hymn at the end was a nice, familiar bonus to us because we sing it in worship. 

Vessels unto Honor provides 20-character themed songs about sowing good things, cleaning up, sharing, loving your neighbor, and much more. This disc has a lot of variety with the music styles which we enjoyed. The "Seatbelt Song" had an island feel which was fun to hear and the lyrics remind children about the importance of buckling up. This CD featured songs with the most interactive lyrics of this full collection. 

The Acts of the Apostles focuses on the disciples learning and subsequently sharing that Christ has been resurrected. These songs walk your child through the book of Acts and the importance of sharing the message of Christ with everyone. We thought all 24 tunes were cute, inspirational, easy to sing along with, and very motivational. Each one kept the children's attention and I often found them singing the lyrics even when we were not listening to the CD. 

Overall, we genuinely enjoyed listening to these songs over and over. This collection includes over 180 songs with a wide variety of music styles and topics, so we never got tired of listening. I appreciated how the music within this collection focused on the character of God, the life of Christ, as well as offering thanksgiving and praise. We learned that God is wise, eternal, present yet invisible, and ultimately worthy of our praise. The songs about our character translated well to my younger children, especially the ones about not being anxious, giving, being thankful, and treating other people kindly. This 8 CD New Testament Bundle was enjoyed by our whole family. We recommend this for families with children ages 0 to 10 years old and Sunday School classes for young children.

-Product review by Ta'Neisha Kemp, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, December 2019

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