Note Takers Bible

NASB Note-Taker's Bible

Age Range: Anyone 

Genre: Bibles

Hardcover: 1072 pages

Publisher: Zondervan

Source: From publisher via Booklook Bloggers

My Rating: 3 of 5 stars

About the Book:

Finally, a hardcover Bible that has plenty of room for taking notes during public or private worship, small group fellowships, or any other time or place readers feel the need to make comments in their Bible. No more cramped writing in tiny margins—the NASB Note-Taker’s Bible makes it easy to stay organized and neat. Readers will be able to personalize the text of God’s Word to their lives like never before and will treasure it as a record of their spiritual journey. Includes the complete text of the popular New American Standard translation.

Features:

• Deluxe wide margins for note takers
• Complete NASB text
• Double column text for easy reading
• Words of Christ in red letter

My Thoughts:
    
I have read many different kinds of Bibles all through my life. I have at least three that I use on a regular basis. That is becuase they are different  versions. I gravitate towards NLT, NIV, and ESV versions. When Book Look Bloggers had the NASB Note-Taker's Bible available for review, I decided to give it a shot. One reason is because I have been taking more and more notes in my Bible and found the Bible Journaling Community, and the other reason is to see how different it is compared to the other versions I have.

I found that the margins in the Bible, each page had at least 1.5 inches of space for notes. The space is on the left, right and bottom of the pages. The pages are thin, like a normal Bible and I was worried that if I started drawing and scribbling, painting, and gluing,  the pages would rip. 

The other thing I found was that I didn't really like the style of the wording in the Bible. I may be biased beacuse I use the the other versions, but this version of the Scripture was not to my liking. If you like NASB and like note taking then this Bible is for you. 

I recieved this Bible from Book Look Bloggers for free in return for my honest review. 

The Ecstasy of Surrender

Now...from the looks of the cover, you may be thinking that it is about sexual ecstasy. However, it is not.

If you have read "The Secret" or the "The Power" from Rhonda Byrne, this book is in a similar genre. A lot of the concepts I read in "The Power" are in this book. But Dr. Orloff goes a little deeper in depth.

Dr. Judith Orloff, MD, writes twelve ways of how letting go can empower your life. When we hear the word "surrender", we think about submission or giving up. However, that is not the case here. Surrender means of letting go...letting go of things that are holding you back from your full potnetional in life. Situations that have caused you great pain, and they have crippled your belief, esteem, spirit, and more.

The book is divided in to five sections: Power and Money, Reading People and Communication, Relationships/Love/Sensuality, Mortalitiy & Immortality: Cycles of Light, and Embracing Ecstasy. From there, the 12 surrenders are broken down into their correlating   parts.

What I also like about this book is that Dr. Orloff gives examples from her life as well as some from her patients. It shows that no matter where you are in life, no matter what you are struggling with, surrender really can be attainable.

NOTE: I received this book for free from Blogging for Books with the intent of giving my honest review. All reviews are mine, and my opinion of the book. 

10 Days Without....

What would you do if you went 10 days without something you thought to be essential? Would you be able to survive without your phone, iPad, computer...? What about shoes? Or a coat?

Daniel Ryan Day did just that...amongst many other things. He went 10 days without shoes, 10 days without furniture, 10 days without a coat....to help raise awareness for many of the world's problems. Things we take for granted. He shared his story with us and he challenges the reader to take that step and go 10 days without something.

Sounds pretty simple doesn't? I tried it and I didn't even make it one day without my shoes. JUST THE FIRST CHAPTER ALONE! It's not as easy as it sounds. In the 1st World...we are spoiled. We take so much for granted....we are so dependent on so many things.

This book should be a regular in churches, businesses, etc....to challenge people to open their eyes and help humanity.

Passion

I will never forget the first time I ever heard Louie talk. It was on the Indescribable Tour with Chris Tomlin. His message still lingers in my soul, reminding how small I truly am in this vast universe, but how much more I am loved by this great God of the universe.

I've always wanted to go to Passion Confreneces. Every year I told myself I would go. I had a friend that went every year. The only thing holding me back was money: traveling to GA seemed like a bit of a stretch for me when I was having barely any money to live and pay bills as it was.

I've listened to all the Passion artists from Chris Tomlin to Christy Nockels. I have been involved. It was great to see that they streamed this years conference I think that I know of for the first time. It had so many wonderful artists and speakers. One of my favorites: Beth Moore.

Now she is one of the speakers that are included in this book. When I first got it, I didn't realize it was going to be a bunch of different speaker/artists talking about the passion movement for younger generations. While I'm an "older" younger generation, I was still moved by what these stories had to say. It gave me inspiration on how to involve the generations to come. These people have really made an impact for Christ in younger hearts and I want to be one of those people too.

The Daniel Plan

Without God’s power in your life, you are just running on your own energy. God never meant for you to do that. It’s like having a laptop that’s unplugged; the battery will eventually drain and shut down the computer. Why would you live like that when God created you for so much more?

This is an excerpt from the book "The Daniel Plan" by RickWarren, Daniel Amen, and Mark Hyman. I have read "The Purpose Driven Life" and "40 Days in the Word" by Rick, so I was looking forward to reading this.

For the most part, it's very similar to other healthy "plan" books. The exercises and diet regulations and advice are all very similar to so many other books out there. But it adds another element: God. God created us, God created food we eat. He did not create all the trash that most American's put in their bodies. So having this parallel with a lifestyle plan helps. I liked some the recipes that were in the book and I'm looking forward to trying it. The plan seems overall pretty easy to follow.

Lovology

What does love really mean?

"Love is a noun and a verb."
"'Love' is a junk drawer we dump all sorts of ideas into, just because we don't have anywhere else to put them. Example, I 'love' God, I 'love' fish tacos. See the problem?"

John Mark Comer has a way to reach the human heart and mind. Some might find some of the things he says as crass (example would be when talking about the desire for porn he says "jacking off"), but honestly, he is using lingo that many people use in every day talk.

He helps us see what love is. From God coming to Earth as a human, to gay relationships. And everything else in between during a relationship about a man and his wife. They are your friend, partner, and lover.

I love when "Christian" authors aren't afraid to talk about sex and marriage and how they are so important and entwined. GOD MADE IT. It's NOT a taboo. After all, Song of Songs is a love poem dedicated to a man and a woman and their romance and desire for each other. I grew up in a home where sex was NOT talked about and was told how 'bad' it really is. I have a very open relationship with a man that has become my best friend and we have a long distance relationship. While we may not have the physical implication between us, we do have very intimate talks about sex. He is the only one that I have felt safe talking about things like that. I don't feel embarrassed. I think that is what God wants for us when we find our mate.

Also, I love how John Mark talks about singleness as being a gift. I remember for the longest time wanting to get married and have children. I still do, but at the same time, that intense waiting was the WORST! But, the waiting brought a very special man in my life as well a stronger relationship with God.

This book is for everyone: single, engaged, married, gay/straight. We are all in need of love. And this book reminds us what it is to love and be loved.

On the down note, the only thing that I had a hard time with was the pink pages with white writing. once my eyes adjusted to it, it was a shock to switch from the pink to a plain page! But over all, this was a very quick read and suggest it to everyone.

31 Days...

I started reading this book at the beginning of October, (so, two days ago.) and I've only read the first couple chapters. Maybe this book wasn't for me. Maybe I didn't try hard enough to try to "get" something from it. Maybe it just wasn't my style of writing that was in it. I don't know. But I wasn't captured by it. That's just me personally. Others may find this book to be fascinating. Hence the reason God created us all with different views. Life would be pretty boring if we all thought the same. I hope that my review doesn't deter you from reading. It might be something you might be interested it. As for me, I just didn't click with it.

Accidental Pharisees

My pastor read this book and presented it to our congregation. He said this was a challenging book. This is coming from a pastor who has read lots of different types of material. So I was happy to see that this was a BookSneeze selection. 

I agree with Pastor. It was a challenging read. It got right to the heart of things and dug in deep. Deep into scripture, deep into your heart, deep into your soul and really made you think about things. I liked the Discussion sections at the end of the each Part. This is a real eye-opening book and if you are ready to take a deep breath, jump off the cliff and learn more about God, yourself, your faith...then I suggest reading this. If you are ready to look in the mirror and acknowledge who you are, then this is the book for you. No turning back. 

Finding God in the Dark

Who hasn't been hurt by someone? Who hasn't felt the sting of doubt, fear, condemnation, guilt? I'm sure all of us can relate to something that has happened in our life where we have felt lost, alone, and in despair. I'm sure there have been plenty of times where you have felt like God wasn't around- especially when you needed Him to be.

Finding God in the Dark is a great book about learning to seek God when things don't seem to be going the way that you had your life planned to be going. I appreciate the men sharing their personal life struggles and feelings in the book. I enjoy reading books like this; it helps "bring it home" and make it more personal. The writing is easy and is a fairly quick read. It is written in a way that anyone would be able to understand. You don't need to be a philosophical genius to be able to read this and understand what God wants for you. 

Dirty God

Grace.

Dirty God from Johnnie Moore is a story of grace and how Jesus came to be one of us. I love how real he gets with the story and how relatable he makes the Scripture. This is an easy read in the sense that there are no difficult understandings to try to follow. But it is also a hard read emotionally and spiritually. This book really digs down into the soul and makes Jesus a person. A real person that you can confide in, understand, and talk to. He is not some historical figure that seems unattainable. He is real. And Johnnie does a wonderful job explaining how much God really does loves us and what he sacrificed for us. Grace. No matter how horrible we think we are, it's grace that covers us. 

The Respect Dare

I may not be married, but I think as a woman and as a Christian woman as well, it is very important to learn how and understand the respect it takes in a relationship. Whether it be marriage or in a friendship or family relationship. I think so many people have forgotten what it means to be respectful to others, myself included. We are so concerned about our needs that we forget about others feelings and putting their needs above ourselves. After all, isn't that what it means to serve?

The Respect Dare is about what works. It is based off many relationships of what works and what doesn't. Nina makes a few suggestions to help soak in what you will read about and learn in this book:

*Take one day at a time.

*Have no expectations of your spouses behavior, or you will experience discouragement and resentment.

*Measure your progress in terms of spiritual growth. 

*Keep a journal.

*Remember that this is a journey.

*Do the book with a few friends, and meet once a week to encourage each other.

The journaling comes in handy with the questions of meditation and thought at the end of each section. Now, I'm a journaler and I love to keep record of my thoughts so I can go back and see how I've grown or not grown and where I can improve. I think journaling is a very important part of learning and growing and I would highly recommend it as well, just like Nina did. This book covers a lot of subjects and supplies a lot of thought provoking questions. 

 I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com  book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255  “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Who Do You Think You Are?

To be honest, I was so ready to read this book. I have loved Mark's videos I've seen on Mars Hill Church website as well as the videos from Right Now Media. I also thoroughly enjoyed reading his previous book "Real Marriage".

The beginning of this book crept very slowly for me. I have a very hard time getting into it and was almost ready to put it down. There was a huge history lesson about Ephesus and the people of that time. I'm not saying that was bad. But, I just finished a Bible Literature class for college that was more exciting and engaging than the first couple chapters. But, I pushed through.

The final chapters are broken down into descriptions of your identity in Christ: a saint, blessed, appreciated, saved, reconciled, afflicted, heard, gifted, new, forgiven, adopted, loved, rewarded and victorious.

The thoughts and ideas expressed in the book were not really anything that I had never heard before. For someone that has been struggling in their faith, or have never read any books on "Who are you in Christ" kind of thing, this would be a good read. This would also be good book for someone that is starting out in their faith and they have no idea where to begin in the Bible or in their walk with Jesus. For those of us that have been in this faith journey and have read many "Jesus-help" books, this is a good refresher and reminder. The text is easy to read and easy to follow.


 I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com  book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255  “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I am Second

Hi. I'm Mindy. And I....am second.

" This book may not always soothe your soul, but I think it will always inspire your reflection and challenge your daily routine" How true. This is a statement made at the beginning of the book "I am Second".

God's plan for us isn't supposed to always soothe the soul, right? We are supposed to grow and change and learn from the experiences He so lovingly gives us. Those are not easy words to come out of my mouth. For I, as I am writing this, am going through a very difficult struggle.

So grateful to have gotten this book at the beginning of a new year. And so grateful to see where God will be leading me on this new 365 day journey and into many more 365 day journeys.

I love how each session begins with a video. If you have a digital edition like I have, you just click and it brings you to that video. If not, thanks to technology, you can use your barcode scanner to jump to the link (call me silly, but I get uber excited about silly little things like that. I was jumping in my seat and used the scanner to watch the video on my phone, rather than click on the link to go to the video on my Nook. Yes, yes, I know....) Back to the videos. I don't want to give too much away, but what amazing testimonies from these people! There are some surprises along the way too from certain people I've never heard of and from people I ahve heard of and was inspired by the story.

I also love how much interaction and participation is involved. This is not an easy read. This is a book that will challenge your heart and bring you closer to God. I enjoyed as well the use of social media like Twitter as suggestions to interact with others and share your own personal message and how Jesus is being put first and how you are letting yourself be second.

Thomas Nelson has been pumping out some amazing books the last year. But this? This one I can't get it out of my head. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

New Blog

Well, well, well....

I have decided to bring over my book reviews to Blogger. Hmm....me thinks that Google has found itself a new little minion. :)

The purpose of this blog, it to give honest reviews of books that I have received for free in return for the honest reviews after I had read them. I've done book blogging for a few years now and I have come across some AMAZING reads!

I just got the following book today (I ordered it on the 13th from BookSneeze and it came today!) and I've SOOOO been waiting to read this! I love his stuff.

So, look for a new review of this bad boy in the next couple weeks. Along with a few other goodies!

Cheerio for now!

~Mindy