New Bible releases took centre stage at Christian Art Media’s (CAM) recent sales conference in Johannesburg which was attended by bookstore owners, Christian music distributors, and media practitioners, as well as CAM partners such as the Zondervan group and Capital Music.
Zondervan is releasing the Jesus Bible which is spearheaded by Louie Giglio of the Passion Movement. The visionaries of the Jesus Bible argue that Jesus has always been in every book of the bible.
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Giglio says: “Before He was laid in a manger He was Jesus who laid down the foundations of the universe. Before Jesus split the veil in two He split the sea in two. Before Jesus made a promise to His disciples, He made a promise to Abraham. Before He walked in the garden of Gethsemane He walked in the Garden of Eden.
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“Jesus is in Genesis; Jesus is in Exodus; Jesus is in the Proverbs and the Psalms. Jesus is in Romans and Revelation. There was never a moment before Him and there will never be a moment without Him. There is no BC! That is why we created the Jesus Bible. 66 Books! One story, all about one name.”
With over 1 000 articles and essays from the likes of Max Lucado, John Piper and Randy Alcorn, the Jesus Bible is a rich in-depth NIV study bible that anyone can read, understand and enjoy.
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Profound, yet accessible study features are designed to help readers meet Jesus throughout scripture,and to get to know Him more intimately, love Him more passionately, and walk with Him more faithfully.
Zondervan has also published a new Cultural Backgrounds Bible that delivers much insight into the historical context of biblical passages that would have been understood by ancient Hebrew readers but are lost to modern readers.
This bible is aimed at traditional bible readers and students, fans of the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, National Geographic — those interested in the ancient customs of bible times, say the publishers. Old Testament expert John Walton is a contributor to the Cultural Backgrounds Bible.
Christian Art Media is also distributing the Amplified Study Bible. This first-of-its-kind translation has study features, more amplifications in the Old Testament and refined amplifications in the New Testament. It is a Joyce Meyer Bible. There is a 73% female to 27% male breakdown of people who are using the Amplified Study Bible, conference attendees were told.
Two other books that were highlighted were No More Faking Fine by Esther Fleece, and Cherish by New York bestseller Gary Thomas.
We can all relate to giving the redundant answer of “I am fine” when asked “How are you?” Fleece argues against being fake with how we really feel and being honest with ourselves about the state of our lives.
She asks: “How many times have you met someone and they will ask you ‘How are you doing?’ Chances are you really are not. Have you ever felt alone? Utterly and completely alone! When one person stops faking fine it gives permission to the next person to do the same. Honest lament gives us the gift of being real before God. No matter what you may be going through you are never truly alone.
New York times bestseller Gary Thomas who has written books such as Sacred Marriage which sold well over 250 000 units has written the book Cherish. What he says is that, love is the foundation of every marriage. It is the only balance that holds everything down. You can love without cherishing but you cannot cherish without loving.
“My life changed when I realised that King David felt cherished by God. The Lord God loves me because He delights in me. The notion that God cherishes who I am changed the way that I relate to God and I just want to bring that same idea into marriage, that love is important and should be celebrated.” says Thomas.
“My prayer for this book is that couples could have a new vision of what marriage could be. It is not just about love, it is about cherishing! This is a perfect gift for all types of married couples, whether newly-weds or a couple that has been married for long.”
A representative of Capital Christian Group, which has been named Billboard’s top Christian distributor 16 times in the past 18 years, said: “We are very excited to partner with Christian Art Media in South Africa. It has always been a priority and a great importance to us to give our artists and songwriters a way to get their music into the hands of the people all over the world.
“Over the years many of our artists have toured and played events in South Africa and we could not have been more excited to such a partner in Christian Art Media to help get the music to the great people of South Africa. Thank you to all of you who have supported Capital titles over the last couple of years and will continue to do so.”
