Zondervan Blog

Reaching Out to Your Mormon (LDS) Neighbors

What does the Book of Mormon teach? How does it compare to the Bible? Why does this book appeal to many people? Former Mormon Ross Anderson addresses these and other questions in Understanding the Book of Mormon, guiding readers in an exploration and assessment of the Book of Mormon and offering a Christian response to its teaching. In the video below, Ross explains how his book can help you reach out more effectively to your Mormon neighbors.

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Technorati tags: Ross Anderson, Understanding the Book of Mormon, Mormon, former+Mormon, Latter Day Saints, Book of Mormon, LDS, Zondervan

What Makes a Church Sticky?

See why Larry Osborne wrote the book Sticky Church and how he believes it can help you make your church stickier.

Larry Osborne on Sticky Church @ Yahoo! Video

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Technorati tags: Larry Osborn, Sticky Church, Zondervan

The New Testament in Antiquity, Interview with the Authors

The aims of The New Testament in Antiquity are simple: to assist students to become alert, capable readers of the New Testament. The authors Gary M. Burge, Lynn H. Cohick, and Gene L. Green explain their approach and the need for this new book in the video that follows.

NIV Holy Bible Testimonials

The New International Version (NIV) of the Bible marks three decades this year. Today, the NIV is recognized as the world’s most read and most trusted English Bible translation. Over the last 30 years, 300 million NIV Bibles have been sold, touching countless lives, including Carla’s.

“I am a drug addict and an alcoholic. I did not live on the streets but in a beautiful home with expensive cars, a swimming pool, and my attractive family. It all looked great on the outside but what was happening on the inside was not. Housewives use drugs too, and soon enough, I found myself in jail. While incarcerated, I received a beautiful NIV Bible as a gift. After reading this Bible, I now have hope - for today Jesus Christ lives and he lives in me. Philippians 4:13 says I can do everything through him who gives me strength. I prayed for strength and now I know God has a great plan for my life and I am excited about living for Him. I want to obey, serve and please Him and raise my daughter to love Jesus Christ. Now I know that God wants nothing but good for me - to bless me, to care for me in my times of trial and in the future. I wanted to let you know that you’ve touched many lives on this unit including my own. Thank you and God is smiling on you. I’ll keep you in my prayers.”

Love in Christ,
Carla

The New International Version (NIV).
Most Read, Most Trusted.
Celebrating 30 Years.
Visit WWW.30NIV.COM.

Symtio Industry’s First Digital Merchandising System

Zondervan recently introduced Symtio, a proprietary digital merchandising system designed to respond to the changing needs of consumers and help CBA retailers compete in the fast-growing digital world.

Zondervan President and CEO Moe Girkins introduced Symtio before an audience of several hundred CBA retailers at the International Christian Retailer Show in Orlando, Fla., the annual trade show for the industry.

“We live in a digital world and shopping preferences are changing as many consumers now want to buy their books the way they buy their music,” said Girkins. “The question has been: how do we satisfy everyone? How do we meet consumers’ needs by offering our content in a digital format without turning our backs on the CBA? We believe Symtio is the answer.”

Symtio is the publishing industry’s first patented digital merchandising solution for retail, allowing consumers to purchase digital content at a bricks-and-mortar store. Symtio functions the same way as downloading music online. Consumers purchase a merchandise card in store for a specific audio book or ebook title. They take the card home and go to www.symtio.com where they enter the code on the back of the card. The book immediately begins downloading in the format of their choice. Ebooks can be read on a computer, or an epaper device like the Sony Reader. Audio titles can also be used on a computer or transferred to CD or uploaded to an MP3 player.

“Symtio is going to do for the printed page what iTunes did for music, but will take it to the next level by combining the ease and simplicity of iTunes with a bricks-and-mortar retail experience that many consumers still desire,” said Moe Girkins, president and CEO of Zondervan.

Zondervan expects to have 100 titles available at launch, including several of their bestsellers, with more going digital shortly afterwards. Baker Publishing also plans to feature a number of Baker titles on the Symtio program at launch and Zondervan is currently talking with other publishers about coming on board.

“In addition to offering retailers a simple, low-tech entry into a high-tech format, Symtio is really changing the economics for the retailer as there are no significant inventory costs, they get the inventory up front but are only billed once a purchased card is activated,” said Girkins. “It allows retailers to enter and compete in the digital space with no technology investment. All they need is a point-of-sale system.”

Beta testing for Symtio will begin in stores immediately following ICRS, with the official launch of the program coming this Fall.

The Promise-Plan of God by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.

What is the central theme of the Bible?

Given the diversity of authorship, genre, and context of the Bible’s various books, is it even possible to answer such a question? Or in trying to do so, is an external grid being unnaturally superimposed on the biblical text?

These are difficult questions that the discipline of biblical theology has struggled to answer. In this thoroughly revised and expanded edition of his classic Toward an Old Testament Theology, Walter Kaiser offers a solution to these unresolved issues. He proposes that there is indeed a unifying center to the theology and message of the Bible that is indicated and affirmed by Scripture itself. That center is the promise of God. It is one all-encompassing promise of life through the Messiah that winds itself throughout salvation history in both the Old and New Testaments, giving cohesiveness and unity to the various parts of Scripture.

After laying out his proposal, Kaiser works chronologically through the books of both testaments, demonstrating how the promise is seen throughout, how the various sub-themes of each book relate to the promise, and how God’s plan to fulfill the promise progressively unfolds. Here is a rich and illuminating biblical theology that will stir the emotion and the intellect. Click here for more information on The Promise-Plan of God by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.

Trion Rising by Robert Elmer

When the mysterious Jesmet, whom the authorities brand as a Magician of the Old Order, begins to connect with Orianon, he is banished forever to the shadowside of their planet Corista. Click here for more Information on Trion Rising by Robert Elmer.

Look Unto Me: The Devotions of Charles Spurgeon by Jim Reimann

Look Unto Me by Jim Reimann features 366 of Charles Spurgeon’s great classic devotions updated and expanded in today's language. Jim Reimann is editor of the bestselling updated editions of Streams in the Desert and My Utmost for His Highest. Based on the classic Morning by Morning, the new devotional now includes comments, applications, and prayers developed for today’s reader. More Information.

Rob Bell Featured in Two New Releases NOOMA Shells 020 and The Gods Aren’t Angry Tour DVD

NOOMA Shells 020 | Rob Bell DVD

Do you often find yourself saying, “I’m so busy” or “I just have so much to do?” It’s easy to get overwhelmed with appointments, gatherings, to-do lists. But what are we really doing with our time? Many of us are running from place to place and it seems like life is just passing us by. We’re doing so many things, a little bit of everything, and yet it doesn’t feel like much of a life. But most of us find it hard to say no. We feel obligated. There are so many good things to do. So many good causes to join. But while we’re busy doing all these good things, are we missing out on something great? More Information

The Gods Aren’t Angry Tour DVD

Taken from the 2007 tour with the same name, Rob Bell explores the following questions:

Where did the first caveman or cave-woman get the idea that somebody, somewhere existed who needed to be worshipped, appeased, and followed?

And how did the idea evolve that if you didn't say, do, or offer the right things this being would be upset, agitated, or even angry with you?

Where did religion come from? More Information

Sin Boldly by Cathleen Falsani

Justice is getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. And grace is getting what you absolutely don't deserve.

Award-winning author and columnist Cathleen Falsani says, “People regularly ask me why I believe in God. The simple answer … is grace.” In Sin Boldly: A Field Guide to Grace, Falsani explores the meaning and experience of grace through story and song, quotes and photos.

Falsani says, “Grace makes no sense to our human minds. We're hardwired to seek justice, or our limited idea of what that means, and occasionally dole out mercy. Grace is another story

Below is a video clip of Cathleen speaking about Sin Boldly: