which I used faithfully for about three years teaching in my Adult Bible Study classes and I loved it. My pastor's father has be
598184
I first received the New Testament Commentary by Warren Wiersbe as a gift from my pastor's father, which I used faithfully for about three years teaching in my Adult Bible Study classes and I loved it . My pastor's father has been a pastor himself for sixty plus years before retiring and recommended these books so strongly as a great tool that he had personally used as well for years. He has been my mentor, is a wealth of information and has provided me with so many suggestions for both studying and teaching the Word. These commentaries are right at the top of the list.  I am finding the Old Testament Commentary to be just as great of a study tool as my New Testament Commentary.  I use the outlines from both Commentaries for every class I teach, along with the study materials provided. Using these commentaries has opened up a new world to me in my personal studies as well as in my class preparation. . These books have become an absolute treasure to me.  I recommend this commentary highly for both personal study and use for classroom or sermon preparation as well.
4181527
I'm a pastor and teacher of a mission ministry that houses over 500 adult men in 4 different cities, all dealing with drug and alcohol addiction or either just being released from a correction facility. We have a six month, 100% Bible based program for overcoming chemical dependencies which means myself, associate pastors, counselors, bible teachers all must prepare for new and fresh sermons as well as interesting Bible topics and studies 5 days per week, year round. We do not want to misled, bore or burn out these men at this stage of their Christian walk and life or any other time for that matter and that is why I wanted to share with anyone needing accurate easy and quick references to Bible questions, studies and ideas, this is a very effective program and money well spent. Two of my students bought this program for me for Christmas 2001 and ever since I first used it, I have counted on it everyday without any disappointments.
4269366
I have been using this translation for my personal devotional practice for over two years now, and believe me it has been a Godsend. The language is dignified,clear,concise and understandable, and the notes illuminating and helpful. The binding in black leather is solid and beautiful for the eye, as well as to hold in the hand. I started with the REB in the hardback Oxford Study edition, but found a copy of the Oxford-Cambridge edition (sans the exhaustive commentary) for sale in Britain and ordered it. I have never looked back, or needed another. It is a joy to read and has deepened my personal understanding of God's Word. The Baker publication is exactly the same as the one i use.
 I own many translations of The Bible, but this is by far and away my favorite.
1907841
Out of the many Study Bible's I have had this is one I have consistently turned to and one I recommend and have bought and given a copy to a dear friend whom I hope and pray he turns to in some time and builds his relationship with God and learns whatever of God that he may need or be commissioned to do in life. May he have a childlike curiosity and find grounding in it as I have as well.
3582306
Let me start by saying I'm 29 and I bought this for myself. I've always been a Christian and attended church and Sunday school. But recently I've found more of an interest in reading the Bible and understanding thing for myself! I love this version and it's helped me along in my journey.
3430792
First of all, thanks go out to Tyndale House for this review copy of Hebrews, Life Application Bible Studies (NLT).

I took my time with this book study, and am glad I did. Hebrews points out the supremacy of Christ and the need for the body to persevere  corporately and individually as they follow him. Using a bounty of Old Testament Scripture to firmly cement Christ's mission and person, it stands out as a powerful encouragement to trust in Christ alone. As for this study, I really enjoyed the insightful questions that challenge the reader to do more than just regurgitate the text. The lessons were reasonable in length; I would estimate I spent about half and hour on each lesson (not counting the "in-depth" questions), and then more time on my own in Hebrews on the side.

This book covers the book of Hebrews in 13 lessons. It is made up of two parts. Part 1 is the full text of the book of Hebrews, with footnotes at the bottom of each page, and scripture references in the gutter. Footnotes that will be assigned as reading in the lesson are marked with a dot. Part 2 is the lesson questions, with space for notation. Each lesson is divided into 5 basic parts:

  1. Introductory questions that do not require reading of the Scripture, but introduce the topics to be addressed. These could be used as warm-up questions if this study was done in a group setting.
  2. Scripture assignment, with specific footnotes assigned for review to reinforce and support the reading.
  3. Questions that deal with the content of the Scripture
  4. Questions that require personal reflection and application of the principles found through part 3. This section has an introductory remark that highlights the major theme of the reading.
  5. Additional questions for more in-depth study.

I thought that the reading was divided well, and that the questions were well written to make the reader go back over Scripture and apply it. The fact that the entire text of Hebrews is provided in the text make this a very portable Bible study for someone who is on-the-go. However, this comes with a price. There are many scripture references in the gutter - Hebrews is full of Old Testament references - and if you go the route of only carrying this study with you, deeper study will be impossible at the time. And there is no way of getting around double book-marking with this study if using the provided scripture text, since the lessons are not inline. I'm torn as to whether this is good or bad. Having scripture chopped up throughout the lessons makes me cringe. Overall, I think multiple markers is the lesser of two evils.

I would gladly suggest this study to individuals and groups. Hebrews is a great book for personal study in its own right, and the lesson authors do a great job of bringing the richness of the book to the forefront.
2066464
Love it , had it for three years, very comprehensive study bible.
4200592
I have purchased almost twenty of these Bibles (when on sale), and given them as graduation gifts to students at my church. They love them -- as do several adults who now have them. It is easily my favorite to read from, for the tactile pleasure of holding and opening it, and the proper font type size inside. I ordered this recently one for a student who's backpack (and Bible) was stolen, and they wanted this version again most of all.  I hope Crossway does more along these lines in the future. pastor d b
1513019
I had to find a series of bible studies for my small group and came across these on Amazon and went to the You Teach Skit Guys website and saw a sample video and that made me decide to get this.  It's sometimes touching and sometimes very funny.  I and my small group have enjoyed the studies on this dvd and I recommend it to anyone looking for an easy way to lead a bible study.  The dvd also comes with files that you can print out from a dvd-rom drive that goes along with the videos with a leader guide and study questions for the participants.  The next time it's my turn to teach the small group, I am definitely going to get the second dvd in this series.
2873157
Have been using it as a series for my adult Sunday School class.  I shared it with our Pastor and he made sermon series out of it.
1080244
It is good to know that there are young Pastors who adhere to the historic orthodox Church.  As an older Lutheran, when I hear a speaker who doesn't accept Scripture as God's Word, there seems to be no spiritual power to help me.  I don't know if I am correct, but I have always believed that the Holy Spirit may not honor a speaker who doesn't honor Scripture.  This book encourages us all, laymen and Pastors to get back to our roots and that is simply using the Word of God to order our lives individually and as a church.  It seems fairly evident that Churches who don't will die.  In fact, much of the Western world is dying, I believe, because we have abandoned God's Word.  So thank all of you faithful pastors.  Maybe if we heed Pastor Hale's advice, we can all agree "how firm a foundation you saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent Word."
2927189
Our Sunday School class has used this wonderful book as a study in the past and will be using it again this spring.  Although Kemp passed away last fall, his insights will live on through this book and the folks whose lives it touches.
2287506
Ive been volunteering in the childrens ministry at our church for several years.  Ive taught in AWANAs, in Sunday school, worked in VBS, volunteered in Junior Church and spent time in preschool classes.  However, the more time Ive spent working in these classes, the more discouraged Ive been about how often children don't seem to be absorbing anything or experiencing God in their lives.  So, it was with much interest that I began reading 7 Family Ministry Essentials: A Strategy for Culture Change in Childrens and Student Ministries by Michelle Anthony & Megan Marshman.

In this wonderful book, Anthony and Marshman outline seven key components of effective children and students ministry.  These are:

Empowering families to take spiritual leadership in the home
Forming lifetime faith that transcends childhood beliefs
Teaching Scriptures as the ultimate authority of truth
Understanding the role of the Holy Spirits power to teach and transform
Engaging every generation in the gospel of Gods redemptive story
Making God central in daily living and every biblical narrative
Working with the community to further Gods will.
This book is a book that writes down so many of the ideas that I intuitively feel after spending time volunteering in childrens ministry.  It was nice to see that my ideas were similar to ideas that others had been having.  I enjoyed seeing how their efforts played out in practical real-life examples in their various ministries.

I especially loved hearing the ways that they had attempted to invite response to God into their ministry.  One of these ladies had taken out the video game consoles in their student ministry and replaced them with a prayer wall for students and parents to come and pray and to write down their prayer requests.  I love this.  I love seeing that space is made for exercising a personal response to God and their attempts to equip the parents in their ministries for more effective discipleship of their children.

This is a book that is valuable for helping your children and students teams in equipping parents to disciple their children, listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit and teaching the Bible as a continuous story of Gods redemptive plan.  This is a book that Im going to directly give to my husband for his feedback and recommend to the childrens ministers I know.

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of this book from Litfuse Publicity Group.  I was not required to write a positive review.
634523
This is the 4th version of the Bible I've used in my lifetime and I like it a lot. It's the one my church teaches from.
959112
I liked it, really liked it.  The teaching/theology is spot on and the length of each devotion seemed right.  I also enjoyed the little stories at the beginning of each day to introduce the topic.  I especially liked how Richie interweaved other verses in order to broaden and deepen the study.

Some of my favorite quotes/insights in the book were:
In other words, our faith is in Him, not in our faith.
understanding we can be bold but not brazen"
Necessary and sufficient
"Condemnation vs. Conviction"
They were commended because their faith motivated them to do what they did
I know that my faith pleases God, and yet I find it easy to slip into believing that somehow my actions are more important.
not only is He involved with His people, but Hes also personally involved with me

Highly recommended.
1251808
It has been almost a decade since I left the pastorate for a teaching position in theology/bible and the only book I regret getting rid of was this incredible tool.  Now, having said that, it has been ten years and I don't recall all that was in this text, but I do recall that the handouts, parent resource tools and legal/medical release forms were an invaluable help.
781256
Boyd Brooks was the Director of the Bible School I attended in Argentina. He was the most influential person in my life. His response to the everyday life situations ignited in me the desire for excellence and commitment in whatever I purposed my mind to pursue. He taught with his example, his actions always backed up his words.
Even though I had a father, he was pretty much absent because of his addiction to alcohol, so in those years I looked up to Boyd as my father (he probably didn't even know) I always found the presence, support and guidance needed. More than once not a conversation was needed, just listening to his teaching and observing his behavior was enough.
I highly recommend his book #ResponsiveParenting because is packed with wisdom from his own experience of being a father -and a very good one- and from the Word of God, our utmost Father.