4 Stars Out Of 5
4 out of 5
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(1)
(0)
Quality:
3.2 out Of 5
(3.2 out of 5)
Value:
3.2 out Of 5
(3.2 out of 5)
Meets Expectations:
2.6 out Of 5
(2.6 out of 5)
67%
of customers would recommend this product to a friend.
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  1. Dr JSK
    Age: 45-54
    Gender: male
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Book Review, "Believe"
    February 2, 2015
    Dr JSK
    Age: 45-54
    Gender: male
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    This review was written for NIV Believe.
    Believe: Living The Story Of The Bible To Become Like Jesus, General Editor: Randy Frazee, Published by Zondervan, is a publication designed to advance its readers' relationships with Jesus Christ.

    Believe utilizes carefully selected scriptures from the NIV version of the Bible to take its reader on a unique spiritual journey in an attempt to help them think, act, and be more like Jesus. This is done as Randy introduces and carries them through key beliefs, key practices, and key virtues.

    Believe seeks to help its readers understand the answers to three important questions: What do I believe? What should I do? and Who am I becoming? The answers to these questions serve as a definitive description of the manner a person wants to live and serve Jesus.

    This publication has the potential to enhance the walk of any Christian, thus it is worth taking a serious look at what it has to offer.

    Dr. Jeff Krupinski
  2. Rickey
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Believe
    April 13, 2015
    Rickey
    Quality: 0
    Value: 0
    Meets Expectations: 0
    This review was written for NIV Believe.
    This book is bringing me closer to God, and Jesus. I really like the book. So glad I bought this book. Highly recommended!
  3. Floyd Johnson
    Upstate NY
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: male
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Doing Theology For Yourself
    January 6, 2015
    Floyd Johnson
    Upstate NY
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: male
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    This review was written for NIV Believe.
    Believe is the third book I would recommend to the individual wanting to study theology without being spoon fed by an author. The older of these is nearly (sadly) out of print, Gordon R. Lewis Decide For Yourself. The second book was published more recently, Darryl Aarons Understanding Theology in 15 Minutes A Day. Randy Frazee has now published a similar book that allows the reader to do theology for herself or himself.

    The book, as a whole, is divided into three sections. The first covers the topics most commonly found in a systematic theology text. The second examines what might be termed practical theology - answering questions about how our beliefs influence how we live. The third section, using the Fruit of the Spirit as a guide, focuses on how faith effects who we are, i.e. a heart theology.

    The three sections are further divided into chapters discussing major topics. The chapters are divided into sub-topics, each beginning with a brief one paragraph discussion of the questions being addressed. My only complaint with the entire book is that these sub-topics are only delineated by the use italics - no bold print, no dark lines, no icons separate the end of one sub-topic and the beginning of another except that the following paragraph is in italics.

    This paragraph is followed, not by lists of scriptures as found in the earlier books, but by the scriptures (using the NIV) themselves. Scriptures may be a single verse (rarely), a pericope, or a chapter or two related to the current topic. Because the scriptures are quoted, the current book is substantially longer than the earlier volumes, though the information detail remains about the same.

    The current book is recommended for the lay Christian seeking to understand why and what they believe. In the local church, it could easily serve as the basis for a year long Sunday School or Bible Study discussing similar topics. The two more practical sections of Believe would make it a welcome addition to this audience. It may also have a place in a Bible College or Seminary course where denominational indoctrination is of less importance than personal spiritual growth. I would also recommend this book for the pastor or established Christian looking for a fresh way to explore ones faith and its application to life.

    ______________

    This review is based on a free copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.
  4. revmattsherro
    4 Stars Out Of 5
    Believe: A Brief Review
    February 5, 2015
    revmattsherro
    Quality: 4
    Value: 4
    Meets Expectations: 1
    This review was written for NIV Believe.
    Believe: Living the Story of the Bible to become more like Jesus is not what I originally thought it was. My first thought was that it was along the lines of The Story, which is an abridged chronological narrative of the Bible. Instead this is a selection of what General Editor Randy Frazee calls the 10 Key Beliefs of the Christian Faith.

    While this is a good idea in theory, it is not without its problems in practice

    The General Editor is Randy Frazee, who is the Senior Minister at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, TX, where well-known Christian Devotional Author Max Lucado is Minister of Preaching. This, in and of itself, is problematic because many will not make the distinction between the Senior Pastor and the Preaching Pastor, since in the majority of American Churches, they are the same person. The major problem, is that the church is part of the Church of Christ denomination, a group known for teaching the heretical idea of baptismal regeneration. The following quote came from the Oak Hills Church of Christ official Internet web site -- updated 7/15/95; copied 7/12/96; and re-verified 2/98. (The Oak Hills Church pulled this statement from their web site in 1999, apparently due to complaints from evangelicals, and replaced it with a rather generic statement.):

    "It is necessary to respond to God's free offer of salvation by faith, repentance, and baptism. As we confess Christ as our Lord and are baptized by immersion, God meets us, forgives our sins and gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit that empowers each of us." (Emphases added.)

    Without belaboring the point, salvation is by faith alone and baptism is simply an outward display of what faith has already done.

    By and large, this is not a bad book. Each chapter starts with a key idea followed by a key passage of Scripture and then a treatment of the point. It covers topics ranging from the Lord God to Stewardship to Salvation, all of the essentials. At the end of the book, there are discussion questions for small group study.

    If I were to recommend this book, it would be with the following caveat: A very seasoned Christian who as walked with the Lord a long time should guide the reader so as to avoid strange doctrine.

    I say 4 out of five stars. Its a good primer but I would not use it as my sole guide to discipleship.

    Disclaimer: This book was provided by Zondervan free of charge and I was not asked to give a positive review only an honest one.
  5. mojo
    Texas
    Age: 35-44
    Gender: male
    3 Stars Out Of 5
    It's primarily a Bible
    January 9, 2015
    mojo
    Texas
    Age: 35-44
    Gender: male
    This review was written for NIV Believe.
    When I was in seminary, one of my favorite classes was systematics its basically why you believe what you believe. or more accurately what it is you actually believe. When I saw this book BELIEVE by RANDY FRAZEE. It appeared to be a scaled back, more reader-friendly every day person systematics text book.

    Eh. yes and no.

    The editors of BELIEVE describe it as: Believe, NIV is a unique spiritual growth experience that takes you on a journey to think, act, and be more like Jesus. Each chapter uses short topical passages from the New International Version to help you live the story of the Bible. Using this edition of Believe, church families around the globe can now embrace a full ministry year through worship services, small group studies, and family activities.

    When you open the book and look inside the front cover, the table of contents IS broken down just like a systematics book. It starts with God, Salvation, the Bible, Jesus, the Church, Humanity and so forth. then it breaks down into personal growth like worship, prayer Bible study etc

    The book is broken down into three main areas:

    Beliefs: What do I believe?

    Practices: What should I do?

    Virtues: Who am I becoming?

    Which is great! I was kind of looking for a simplified discipleship program that I could implement with people or new believers. When I got the book in the mail, it was. HUGE. Its as big as a BIBLE.

    Well, thats because it kind of IS a Bible.

    This book has a lot of padding. And sadly its a BIG book that talks about a BIG BOOK! I assume the publishers wanted to help new readers by including in full, every supporting passage. Which is great, but misleading. If the Bible portions were stripped out, youd be left with a much smaller book.

    Plus, then within each chapter, the Bible has been stripped of all its chapter and verse references and strung together more in a Message-style.

    Again, let me repeat for a target audience of New Believer. This is a great resource and I would highly recommend it, in fact I know exactly who I am going to give it to. But I dont see using this as something to base curriculum or sermon prep or a discipleship program from.

    Thank you to Zondervan Publishers for sending me this preview copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
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