Zondervan Blog

NOOMA Special

With the holiday season approaching we want to help you make a difference in people's lives with gifts that bring inspiration and the message of the gospel.

"Jesus lived with the awareness that God is doing something, right here, right now, and anybody can be a part of it. He encouraged his listeners to search, to question, to wrestle with the implications of what he was saying and doing. He inspired, challenged, provoked, comforted, and invited people to be open to God’s work in this world. Wherever he went, whatever he did, Jesus started discussions about what matters most, because for Jesus, God is always inviting us to open our eyes and join in." -Rob Bell

Many people have been touched by the NOOMA series and NOOMA is currently featuring many of these stories on Flannel. Consider giving a unique and inspiring gift to people in your life this year. Right now on zondervan.com use offer code 980646 to receive a FREE NOOMA when you purchase any two NOOMAs.

About NOOMA
NOOMAs are short films between 10 and 14 minutes long, about God and our lives. NOOMAs are appropriate for personal and small group settings, congregational meetings, and much more. Like parables, they use the experiences of our lives to communicate the fullness of life through Jesus, tackling issues like forgiveness, discipleship, and unconditional love. The study materials accompanying each NOOMA encourage meaningful discussion with relevant questions and biblical references.

Jesus Storybook Bible

Learn More | Read Excerpt

The Jesus Storybook Bible website has been featuring videos each week from the Bible. Also available is an extended excerpt of four stories from the Bible on Scribd. The video "He's Here," featuring the Christmas story from the Bible has been made available on YouTube here.

The Moonbeam Award Gold Medal Winner in the religion category, The Jesus Storybook Bible tells the Story beneath all the stories in the Bible. At the center of the Story is a baby, the child upon whom everything will depend. Every story whispers his name. From Noah to Moses to the great King David—every story points to him. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle—the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together. From the Old Testament through the New Testament, as the Story unfolds, children will pick up the clues and piece together the puzzle. A Bible like no other, The Jesus Storybook Bible invites children to join in the greatest of all adventures, to discover for themselves that Jesus is at the center of God’s great story of salvation—and at the center of their Story too.

Don't miss the opportunity to preview this inspiring and beautiful children's Bible.

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.