From the Book Cover: The Bible keeps up with you, to help you keep up with God! As an on-the-go teen, you’re moving fast. God is moving faster! The NIV Teen Study Bible will help you keep in step with all he has done, is doing, and will do in the world—and in your life. This bestselling Bible will also help you discover the eternal truths of God’s Word and apply them to the issues you face today. Features include:
- “We Believe”—Unpacks the Apostles’ Creed to reveal the biblical foundation of faith
- “Panorama”—Keeps the big picture of each book of the Bible in view
- Topical indexes—Help with in-depth Bible study
- Book introductions—Provide an overview for each book of the Bible
- Bible Promises—Highlighted Bible verses worth memorizing
- Q & As—Test Bible knowledge
- 4 full-color pages—Includes a presentation page and information about the Apostles’ Creed
- 8-page, color map section
- Biblical advice about friends, family, school, and other issues
- Easy-to-read font size
- Complete text of the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible.
My Review: Being a mom of 4 children, 3 of them teenagers, in today's secular world is no easy task. The temptations, distractions, constant reminders of things they could be doing with all the electronics on the market rather than read are many! To have a wonderfully written book like the NIV Teen Study Bible available to them is a wondrous thing!
The NIV Teen Study opens with The Apostles Creed and it's history, which unifies us as believers of Christ and unites Christians around the world. I know you might be thinking there are many of these on the market. What makes this one different from all the other ones? Well, there IS a difference! The Teen Study Bible is 1,614 pages BIG! In between pages 1-1614 is a multitude of information that teens NEED to read. This book gets down in the trenches, it's straight talk with topics and hits home on more levels than I have read in other additions. For example, one of my teen daughters has acne, so pronounced that we take her to a dermatologist who has worked with her and put her on several medicines to help her heal. Neither her pastor or Sunday School teacher have ever brought up pimples! But page 346 does exactly that - it talk about 'zits'! Imagine! From a Godly perspective, God said to Samuel in the anointing of the King, "Do not consider his appearance or his height .. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." Straight talk, people. Things kids want and need to hear. They don't want lectures, or sermons that drone on, they want to hear what is relevant to them in their daily walk, and that walk includes talks of God on their level.
One amazing feature in this NIV Teen Study Bible is the "Dear Jordan" sections through-out the chapters where kids/teen have asked a variety of questions and Jordan answers them in matter-of-fact, non threatening ways. Such as, what I argue, what if I'm at a party and there is drinking, what if one of my parents like me better than my siblings? Sometimes, it is not easy to ask adults the things that kids have on their minds and lay heavy on their hearts. The quick reference questions which are quick-fire style "Why did God kill Uzzah?" and answer "Uzzah put his hand on the ark of the covenant, which no one was allowed to touch." Love the quick reference pro quo! In addition, the Instant Access spiritual reference is a great tool for kids to look up the references and have explanations in addition to their entire bible, book by book.
The pages are a little thin, almost like onion-skin, so this book needs to be treated with some delicacy but it's absolute perfection in style and written with the true teenager in mind. From open discussions of virginity, sexual promiscuity, drinking, drugs, bullying, shop-lifting, divorce, idolatry of stars, and so much more, this book just brings home all the topics you can imagine that you need to discuss with your teen and have on hand for those 'need scriptural reference' moments. In addition to the worrisome topics, it's jam packed with the goodness as well, like serving as a Christian teen, witnessing, service projects, reaching out to others, and many more.
I'm so blessed to have had the chance to review this teen study bible and will use this as a definite guiding tool with my own children. This book would also benefit those working in the Christian field of teaching, Sunday schools and ministries. It would also make an excellent gift!
I was given a copy of this book to review. The opinions expressed within are purely my own for an honest review of the book.
~Kelly Santi
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