Book Review: "New Spirit-Filled Life Bible: Kingdom Equipping Through the Power of the Word" NIV

This is a review of the NIV version of New Spirit-Filled Life Bible: Kingdom Equipping Through the Power of the Word, published by Thomas Nelson.

This is a different sort of review for me. This isn't the kind of book you sit down and read cover to cover and then tell how it affected you. This is the Bible! I've used a variety of Bibles before, but this is one I have never used. (According to the book's introduction, the original Spirit-Filled Life Bible was first printed in 1991.) There are a few things that make the New Spirit-Filled Life Bible different than other Bibles I have and regularly use.

Kingdom Dynamics - These are brief articles written around recurring themes in the Bible that are "essential for the dynamic spread and effective advance" of the gospel of God's kingdom on Earth. There are 41 articles grouped into nine related topics throughout the Old and New Testaments. They are linked together in "chains" with the preceding and following Scriptures cited at the end of the article.

Word Wealth - As a lover of etymology, these little pink boxes are probably my favorite part of this Bible. They are basically mini word studies on words taken from a nearby Scripture verse. The study gives insight on the Greek/Hebrew origins of the word and what a more accurate translation really means to the verse being studied.

Truth in Action - This is an interesting part of each book of the Bible. There is a summary of a truth being offered in the preceding book, as well as scripture references for the location of where the author found it and why it was included. Alongside of that is the Action section, giving the reader a list of actionable items based on reaction to the truths just presented.

Study Notes - My regular Bible is an NIV Study Bible, so I compared several of the notes in that Bible to the notes in this one. Hands down my old NIV had better notes. They were much more comprehensive in scope for what I am looking for. Having said that, the notes in the New Spirit-Filled Life were pretty good. They are user-friendly, and easy to read and understand.

And as a lover of books, the actual feel of this Bible in my hands was another plus. The font was a little bigger than my old NIV, which, the older I get the more I appreciate it. I really like this version of the Bible and will definitely add it to my NIV Study Bible and use the two together.

Book Review: "The God First Life: Uncomplicate Your Life, God's Way" by Stovall Weems

Note on this review - I received an Advance Reading Copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review of the book. My review is based on the ARC. I don't know what things may be different in the published version.

For such a small book, there is a ton of helpful information in here. The God First Life: Uncomplicate Your Life, God's Way by Stovall Weems took me by complete surprise. Truth be told, I was not expecting all that much  when I started this book. I figured it would be just another "7 Steps to [fill in the blank]" book, but it really wasn't that at all.

As opposed to a checklist of how to live God's way, this little book was really more of a hand-holding (in a good way!) guide to HOW to put God first in your life and what that practically looks like. For me personally, practical advice is so much more helpful than theory. And this book was full of practical, down-to-earth, do-able advice.

While I was reading this book, I kept having the thought that it would be a great read for a fairly new believer. One of the things I struggled with as a new believer was how to approach the Bible. I didn't know where to start or what to make of it. Weems offers great advice for how to read the Bible and get the most of out the time you spend there.

The God First Life would also make a great class/discussion group book. I was hoping that Weems would write a study book to go along with it, and what do you know? In looking up the cover image for this post I saw that he does, in fact, have a study guide and a DVD.

I wouldn't want someone who has been a believer for a long time to think this book doesn't have anything to offer them. In my own reading, I found that my decision to join a church and be involved in the life of that church was confirmed in a powerful way. I also learned how to change my way of thinking about God in order to give him top priority in my life in a way that I have not been doing. I may pick up a copy of the study guide and see about approaching my church about running a book study...