Zondervan Blog

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:

The Sacred Echo by Margaret Feinberg

“Don’t Listen For the Voice of God. Listen for His Echo.”

When God really wants to get your attention, he doesn’t just say something once.

He echoes.

He speaks through a Sunday sermon, a chance conversation with a friend the next day, even a random email. The same theme, idea, impression, or lesson will repeat itself in surprising and unexpected ways until you realize that maybe, just maybe, God is at work.

According to author Margaret Feinberg, the repetitive nature of a sacred echo gives us confidence that God really is prompting, guiding, or leading. The Sacred Echo reminds us to pay close attention – something important may be going on here. The sacred echo challenges us to prayerfully consider how God is at work in our life as well as in the lives of those around us. The sacred echo is an invitation to spiritual awakening.

Margaret writes, “I want a relationship with God where prayer is as natural as breathing. If God is the one in whom we are to live and move and have our being, then I want my every inhale infused with his presence, my every exhale an extension of his love.”

If that’s your desire too, let The Sacred Echo be your guide to a deeper, more rewarding relationship with the God of the universe.

Below is a video clip of Margaret speaking about The Sacred Echo:

The Storykeepers Catacomb Rescue & Ready, Aim, Fire!

Enjoy two stories on one DVD for sixty minutes of action-packed Storykeepers adventures!

The year is A.D. 64… and in Rome, the church faces fierce persecution. Driven into hiding, Christians gather wherever it’s safe. At secret meetings, they learn about Jesus of Nazareth—thanks to courageous leaders known as the Storykeepers.

Catacomb Rescue - In Catacomb Rescue, Ben, Helena, and the kids help their friend Ephraim escape the evil wrath of Nero through the catacombs. But their escape route is discovered and capture seems certain. When there’s a cave-in in the catacombs, a Roman centurion is trapped and he’s at the mercy of Justin and Anna. Will they help him?

Ready, Aim, Fire! It’s excitement, laughter, and white-hot action when Ben and his family find themselves the object of Nero’s latest neighborhood renovation … firebombing by catapult! This harrowing adventure is punctuated by three stories of Jesus told only as The Storykeepers can tell them.

Dr. Kwame Bediako In Memory

Dr. Kwame Bediako passed away this week. Kwame was one of the most remarkable senior African leaders I have ever met. He had a surpassing level of scholarship (two doctorates - one in English and one in French). He had a range of knowledge of the history of the church in Africa (and Europe) that could keep us spell-bound for hours just listening to his stories. And he had a most profound understanding of the relationship between the gospel and African culture. He also had a huge passion to bring African Christians together to affirm their Christian identity in authentic ways that would overcome some of the worst legacies of the colonial era. And yet he wore all this learning with such a light touch. His twinkling eyes and sparkling humour and laughter were a constant tonic. It has been such a joy and privilege to know him for many years.

The Akrofi Christaller Memorial Centre for Mission Studies, that he established at Akropong, Ghana, has a fine record of research and publication in African Christianity and contextual theology, and just recently got its charter from the government of Ghana for the awarding of degrees including doctorates.

So we shall miss him greatly. He is a sad loss to Ghana, to Africa, and indeed to the world church.

Please pray for his wife (known to some as Gillian and to others as Mary), who has been totally involved in all the work that Kwame did, and is herself a writer and editor of immense experience.

It is hard at a time like this to understand the ways of the Lord. But the legacy that Kwame Bediako leaves is simply enormous, and we pray that his ministry and contribution will now be multiplied even further through those whom he has mentored and inspired over the years.

Rev Dr CHRIS Christopher J H Wright
International Director
Langham Partnership International

Dr. Kwame Bediako graciously spoke at Zondervan on May 7, 2008.  Below is a video of Dr. Bediako speaking on the topic of "Understanding the Unity of the Church."

Dr. Kwame Bediako, a historian and theologian from Ghana, was one of three theological advisors for the Africa Bible Commentary. Dr. Kwame Bediako held doctorates from the Universities of Bordeaux (French Literature) and Aberdeen. He was an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Founder/Director of the Akrofi-Christaller Memorial Centre for Mission Research and Applied Theology, Akropong-Akuapem, Ghana, and Founder Secretary of the Africa Theological Fraternity. He was a Director of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies and Honorary fellow of the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World, New College, Edinburgh. He was also Honorary Professor in the School of Theology, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Dr. Bediako was author of Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion; Jesus in Africa: The Christian Gospel in African History and Experience; and Theology and Identity: The Impact of Culture upon Christian Thought in the Second Century and Modern Africa.