Turning Toward Joy by David Jeremiah

Turning Toward Joy
by David Jeremiah

Kindle ebook: 258 pages
Publisher: David C Cook
Released: March 22, 2013


Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
The apostle Paul's most personal letter was sent to the Christians of Philippi. This intimate and loving epistle was written to believers who lived in the shadow of the Roman tyrant Nero. Paul himself was in a Roman prison, facing an uncertain future. Surprisingly, he wrote to the Philippians of the importance of Christian joy. As they were together in a worshiping community, in the midst of their difficulties, they could experience the joy that Jesus promised those who follow him. In this pastoral and practical book, David Jeremiah will lead you through the book of Philippians so that you can learn to experience the joy of the Lord in your daily life.


My Review:
Turning Toward Joy is a commentary on the book of Philippians. The author worked his way through the verses in Philippians. He included word studies and background information to help readers understand the verses, provided his commentary, and quoted others that he thought made good points about the verses. His points weren't difficult to follow, so anyone who wants to study Philippians can benefit from this book. Overall, I agreed with his theology and gained some new insights from reading this book.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Action Bible: Faith in Action by Sergio Cariello

The Action Bible: Faith in Action
by Sergio Cariello

ISBN-13: 9780830787005
Hardcover: 832 pages
Publisher: David C Cook
Released: February 6, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
This engaging reimagining of the mega-selling The Action Bible combines 230 epic stories of biblical heroes with vibrant comic-book-style illustrations and an immersive online experience.

Young readers will explore seven dynamic attributes of God’s story, earn Faith in Action Badges representing those qualities, and discover even more through QR codes in every story that take them to a safe online adventure of games, videos, spiritual activities, and more.

Since its release in 2010, The Action Bible has received widespread acclaim for its high-energy engaging graphics and over 230 spiritually transformative Bible stories. Introducing the Faith in Action program that reinvents the bestselling comic book-style Bible with a systematic approach to experiencing the Word of God for the next generation.

In addition to a complete interior color redesign, the all-new features of this exciting edition: A Faith in Action Badge for each story that corresponds with one of seven Biblical courage, faith, hope, love, service, trust, and wisdom. Discoverable QR codes in every story that take readers to a safe online experience to explore engaging content such as videos, games, digital Scripture index, prayers, Bible facts, devotions, playlists, reading plans, interactive maps, Bible study sessions, and more. A reading challenge chart to spur young readers on to discover God's Word.


My Review:
The Action Bible: Faith in Action is a graphic Bible, comic-book style, for children of all ages. I've previously reviewed the Action Bible here, and since then they expanded that with more content. I also like the expanded edition. In this latest edition, they've added QR codes to link to online content. The stories are labeled as examples of courage, faith, hope, love, service, trust, or wisdom. QR codes are in many of the stories, and they connect to online videos, interactive games, devotionals, maps, prayer guides, and more. Unfortunately, there are no URLs for those kids who don't have access to a smart phone or who don't choose to use QR codes. The actual panels (illustrations and words) look the same as the previous edition of The Action Bible, but the title area for each story and some of the framing and background colors have been changed.

As for the Action Bible, I'd personally call this Biblical fiction rather than "a Bible" since extra-Biblical comments, commentary, and historical information was worked into the book's summary of Biblical events. Some Biblical events were left out. Sexual content and gore was largely smoothed over (using euphemism or implication) or skipped entirely. The author always indicated "based on Judges 16:1-20" or whatever verses and, overall, did a good job accurately summarizing the Bible accounts. While I wouldn't use this book as a replacement for the Bible, I'd certainly recommend this book over children's Bible story books.

I really liked that the events were in chronological order and shown in their historical setting. Several psalms were worked into David's life story and several proverbs into Solomon's story. The prophets gave their (summarized) prophecies during the actual events where they were given, and Paul's (summarized) letters were shown as written when they really were written during his travels. There were even some maps of Paul's missionary travels. Also, the Old Testament flowed into the New Testament through a brief (and clearly marked as not in the Bible) historical summary of the events that happened between the two. So the Bible came across as a continuous historical account of God relating to man with a redemptive plan in action (rather than as disconnected morality tales about heroes of the past).

I was also very impressed by the vivid, detailed illustrations. The illustrator did an excellent job of correctly showing the character's age, ethnicity, and culture. The Action Bible is an excellent foundational overview of the Bible. Overall, I'd highly recommend this Action Bible for use with elementary aged children as an engaging way to teach them about the Bible.

Here's a video showing the type of online content available through the QR codes.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.