The Voice is a new translation of the Bible that seeks to bring together biblical scholars alongside talented writers to present a biblically sound yet easily readable translation.  This is the New Testament edition released by Ecclesia Bible Society, which is headed by Chris Seay at Ecclesia in Houston, Texas.

The translation of the text itself reads very similar to another translation, such as the NIV or ESV,  in most places.  The editors have added italicized portions within the text itself that serve as a commentary within the verse to explain the original author’s intent.  A clear example of this is found in the second Beatitude from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:4, which reads:

“Blessed are those who mourn, who weep about sin and long for how things are supposed to be – they will be comforted.”

These italics additions within the text itself help readers to be able to understand the textual meaning that has a tendency to get lost in a mere superficial reading of the text.  These commentary notes flow easily through the narrative and are seen as an aid to readers rather than a distraction.

I would be hesitant to term this version a translation since there are clearly commentary additions to the written text.  The purpose and place of this work can best be described by looking back at the Jewish rabbi’s commentaries on Jewish writings.  These scholars desired to produce a commentary along with the written text to aid in studies.  This is the purpose of The Voice project.

This project is off to a great start and is producing Bibles that will function well for a devotional reading of the text but should be avoided when seeking to do an in depth study of a particular passage due to the commentary elements getting mixed with the text itself in the minds of the reader.

In A Million Miles in a Thousand Places: What I Learned While Editing My Life, engaging author and masterful storyteller, Donald Miller, invites his readers into the realm of story.  This memoir, which journeys with Miller through the past few years since his last book, To Own a Dragon, brings the idea of living your life as a story that matters to front and center.  This book uses Miller’s personal journey to show his readers the importance of living a life that becomes a story that makes a difference in the world.

The book’s premise focuses around the opportunity that Miller had to edit his life in working to produce a film based off of his first book which made him famous, Blue Like Jazz.  Through the writing and editing experience of this film, Miller realizes that the life that he finds himself living is anything but the epic and exciting stories that good films are made of.  This causes him to seriously evaluate his life to see what living a life that counts for something would look like for him.  This personal evaluation led him to start a ministry to children and students in the inner city called the Mentoring Project and to also take a bike journey from one side of America to the other to raise money and awareness for clean water in Africa.  Through these experiences, Miller realized that living a good story is found in living for a bigger story outside of yourself.

This hilarious, touching, and honest memoir calls readers to seek their own story.  A story that makes a difference in the lives of others and calls them to take risks to be able to have a large impact on the world.  This book will inspire you and encourage you to step into a larger story that you cannot even imagine.

In Fearless, Max Lucado brings to life Jesus’ teachings on fear throughout the gospels.  The is a timely book considering our current cultural fears raging from economic to health to political fears.  Lucado does a biblical job of addressing fears not using the popular techniques of self-help and prosperity preachers who take advantage of people’s fears and believe in the power of positive thinking to overcome your fears.  Instead, Lucado addresses our fears by pointing us to Jesus Christ who is the centerpiece of our faith.  In Jesus, we find a God who is not foreign to our fears and who does not sit idly by in our times of fear.  Lucado, through the vehicle of the gospels, paints a picture of a Jesus who not only understands our fears but who wants to be the peace in the midst of our storm.  The chapters in this book address different storms that Jesus desires to be our peace in the middle of.  These storms include: the fear of not mattering, the fear of disappointing God, the fear of running out, the fear of not protecting my kids, the fear of overwhelming challenges, the fear of worst-case scenarios, the fear of violence, the fear of the coming winter, the fear of life’s final moments, the fear of what’s next, the fear that God is not real, the fear of global calamity, and the fear of God getting out of my box.  The most amazing part of this book is the fact that after addressing all of the potential earthly fears that Lucado addresses in this book he brings us to see that a healthy fear of God as God brings all of these fears into proper perspective.  If God is God and He is on the throne, our fears look as large as they really are because we see them from an eternal perspective.  A God-sized view of God is the ultimate comfort in the midst of fear.  God is sovereign and He is good despite how ever dark our fears may look.  Lucado does an excellent job of bringing this powerful scriptural truth to life to encourage his readers to not fear!

In Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God’s Spoken World, author, N. D. Wilson takes readers on a seemingly random journey of exploring snapshots of the world while making theological observations and discovering timeless truths along the way.  This is a book that is unlike almost anything that I have ever read.  The randomness of the topics addressed and the lack of transitions between the concept being portrayed and the illustration to make the concept come to life makes this book a difficult read.  It is difficult in that the reader has a hard time following what N. D. Wilson is trying to communicate.  The interesting and insightful part of this book was the author’s ability to bring different individuals’ perspectives to the table when an issue was being addressed.  This skill shows that the author was well read and knew well the theological stances and positions on age old apologetics issues such as the problem of evil.  This book does a brief job of addressing these issues drawing short conclusions with little to no backing and no scriptural support.  I think in reading this book that I may have missed the point.  One thing, however, that I know for sure is that this book was not written for people who think and learn best through logic and reasoning because the artistic transitions and themes in this book are likely to lose you like they lost me.

In The Principle of the Path, Andy Stanley brings to life the key truth that your current direction in life will determine your destination.  This is what Stanley terms as “the principle of the path.”  This is an idea that in being a principle happens naturally as a result of our life decisions.  This is not something that we have a choice in whether or not it will happen.  Our current decisions, whether good or bad, leading toward our goals or straying away from our goals, or reflecting our convictions or denying our convictions, will determine our future destination in life.

This book does an excellent job of driving this simple yet profound point home to the reader.  Through Andy Stanley’s usual mix of biblical principles and practical, real life examples, the truth is seen illustrated both with positive effects and negative effects in the lives of real people.  The common misconception that “the principle of the path” confronts is that our intention will lead to our destination.  The problem that the principle points out is that action determines results not intention.

In the final chapter, Stanley addresses how to deal with the struggles that arise when we realize that our destination which we desired to achieve is unattainable.  For a biblical picture of dealing with this reality, Stanley turns to 2 Samuel 15 where David takes his army to face his son Absalom.  The passage finds David going to confront his rebellious son who wants to overthrow David.  The High Priest at the time, Zadok, prepares the Ark of the Covenant to go with David into battle.  This Ark going into battle signifies that the Lord is with the army carrying the Ark and is on that side of the conflict.  David approaches Zadok and refuses for the Ark to go with him.  David does not want to try to manipulate God to get David’s desires.  He wants to by faith trust God for God to do “whatever seems good to Him.”  This biblical truth of trusting God to do “whatever seems good to Him” is the driving point that causes our seemingly disappointing moments on the path of life to become moments where our uncertainty in our life’s direction drives us to a deeper trust in God who is certainly there.

The Principle of the Path is an encouraging book that challenges the reader to prepare for the future through the decisions made today.  It also stands as a reminder of the faithfulness of God to be there in the midst of the journey of life even if that journey is not going as you had planned for it to.

In Contend: A Survey of Christian Apologetics on a High School Level, Jason Dollar and Bradley Pinkerton lay out an excellent introduction to the study of Christian apologetics.  This book focuses on placing the study of apologetics centered first and foremost on the glory of God and secondly driving the focus of apologetics to be evangelism.  Dollar and Pinkerton do an excellent job of arguing the person of Jesus with a very well presented argument for the resurrection.  Apologetics are constantly brought back to Jesus, as the living picture of God and the center of our faith.

The seemingly difficult apologetic arguments are presented clearly through real life illustrations that make the presuppositions of the arguments come alive.  Arguments in this volume are primarily made using scripture as the ultimate source which equips and provides students with truths directly from the Bible that they can share with their friends.

Dollar and Pinkerton do an excellent job of raising objections to Christianity and responding to them in a concise and convincing manner.  The authors also provide a simple survey of other worldview systems which provides an excellent introduction for further study.  Contend is an excellent resource for introducing students to the seemingly complex arena of apologetics.  Dollar and Pinkerton help bring this subject to life and to equip students to defend and share their faith with others.

For more information about Contend or to purchase your copy of this excellent resource, click here.

In Eyes Wide Open: See and Live the Real You, Jud Wilhite raises some very relevant questions which each Christian must come face to face with.  This is a book that is clearly written to an audience that is already Christ followers and seeks to engage them with the truth that bad theology leads to Christian living and thinking that is not biblical.

The book addresses four critical categories of issues where American Christians have a tendency to embrace bad theology.  These areas are theology about God, theology about ourselves and our position in Christ, theology of the process of change in becoming like Christ, and theology of mission.  Jud builds a logical argument throughout the book starting with a theology of God as the bases.

One of the most attractive parts of the book was the fact that the truths of scripture that were communicated in a clear and biblically sound way using both illustrations and personal testimonies of the people who Jud has had an opportunity to minister to.  The biblical passages were used clearly throughout the book.  The only annoying thing was that the references for the passages were not in the text of the book itself but were buried in the notes pages that corresponded to that chapter.

The section on a theology of change was the best segment of the book.  Jud highlighted that change into becoming more like Christ, also known as sanctification, is a life long process.  This section emphasized the importance of having somewhere to be real.  Somewhere to take off your Christian mask and to be yourself – struggles and all.  The importance of growing in Christ through the context of a local community of faith was also highlighted.  These are very important truths that the American church tends to not address.

The final section on being a missional person who influences culture was a great ending point for the book.  The Gospel should never stop with you or me.  We should always seek ways to embody and proclaim the grace of God through Jesus to the world around us.

Jud Wilhite’s new book,  Eyes Wide Open: See and Live the Real You, releases in stores today.  Make sure and grab a copy because it is well worth your time to be encouraged with the timeless truths from scripture. Embracing good theology strengthens both our relationship with Jesus Christ and empowers us to make a difference in the world.

In Put Your Dream to the Test: 10 Questions to Help You See It and Seize It, John C. Maxwell leads the reader through ten helpful steps for taking your dream, testing the dream, and making the strategic plan to make the dream become a reality.  Maxwell’s book contains the following ten questions to be used in defining and planning to pursue your dream:

1. The Ownership Question: Is my dream really my dream?
2. The Clarity Question: Do I clearly see my dream?
3. The Reality Question: Am I depending on factors within my control to achieve my dream?
4. The Passion Question: Does my dream compel me to follow it?
5. The Pathway Question: Do I have a strategy to reach my dream?
6. The People Question: Have I included the people I need to realize my dream?
7. The Cost Question: Am I willing to pay the price for my dream?
8. The Tenacity Question: Am I moving closer to my dream?
9. The Fulfillment Question: Does working toward my dream bring satisfaction?
10. The Significance Question: Does my dream benefit others?

These questions form a very good filter for strategic planning to make dreams a reality.  Maxwell has a great ability to break each question down into individual questions and surveys that allow you to further explore the critical issues that he brings to light when preparing to pursue your dream.  This book contains many quotes and stories of people who have succeeded in achieving their dreams.  This is a great resource for filtering your dreams and ideas.  It leads you to begin to ask the questions that will form the pathway to your dream becoming a reality!

Walter Martin’s The Kingdom of the Occult does an extensive job of covering the issues regarding cultic practice.  This book is similar to Martin’s classic work, The Kingdom of the Cults, with a major difference being that this book was not published and compiled by Walter Martin.  It was rather compiled by one of his children from his various writings on the topic of the occult.   The book contains helpful case studies from Walter Martin’s notes and journals that make the philosophies and ideologies, which fill the book, come to life in ministry situations with real people.  This book is a very helpful reference work but is very dry to read through.  Covering various topics of the occult including: Kabbalah, New Age Movement, physic phenomena, astrology, Satanism, Wicca, and demon possession.  These are all relevant philosophies that many Christians could have some interaction with in the course of their lives and ministries.  Martin presents the main ideologies of these philosophies and contrasts them to the timeless truths from the Word of God.  The Kingdom of the Occult also provides a scriptural response to the issue being addressed which would be very helpful in biblical counseling situations and when dealing with spiritual warfare.  This book will soon become a classic work as a reference tool when dealing with the occult.

Kingdom People has compiled an interesting list of the best books of 2008.  This list is worth checking out.  I have unfortunately only read The Reason for God and the ESV Study Bible, but I have heard good things about some of the others.  This blog is also giving away these top ten books on Christmas day.  So if you are a reader like me, you may want to check it out.