The Saints Devotional Bible

When Our Sunday Visitor sent me a review copy of this lovely edition of the New American Bible revised edition (NAB+), I welcomed the opportunity to get better acquainted with inspired Christian writers, who became known by the early church as saints because of their strong faith and exemplary lives. With the inspired writings of 200 saints highlighted in the front pages and their bios in the back of The Saints Devotional Bible, I discovered Christians with whom I identified and connected as though being introduced to timeless friends I now look forward to meeting in person in eternity.

Meanwhile, we have the good company of saints on earth as the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) refers, about 100 times, to those who love Jesus Christ, while the Douay-Rheims provides 119 such references, according to my search on Bible Gateway.

So, how do we become more recognizable as the saints we’re intended to be? Or, to put it another way, what do “The Saints and The Bible” want to tell us today? In the article by that title, we see these headings to headline our quest:

Saints Study Scripture.
Saints Memorize Scripture.
Saints Pray Scripture.
Saints Use Scripture in Spiritual Warfare.
Saints Seek Guidance in Scripture.
Saints Proclaim Scripture.
Saints Apply Scripture.

To further guide us, this highly recommended edition includes “Readings from the Saints,” a list of 94 key topics or themes, helpful footnotes throughout the text, and additional inserts, which provide “a mini-course on understanding, praying, and applying Scripture drawn from the teachings, writings, and examples of the saints.”

In the section inserted for “Saints On Scripture,” for example, I met and fell in love with St. Ephrem (306-373), who said, “The Lord has colored his Word with many kinds of beauty, so that everyone who scrutinizes it can contemplate what he loves. And he has hidden all treasures in his word, so that each of us might find a treasure in what we ponder.” Yes! Then, as St. Ephrem wisely cautions, “Let him who discovers one of the riches of his Word not think that there is nothing else in the word of God but what he has found. Let him rather realize that he has been able to discover only one thing among many others.” Again, amen!

As the Living Word, the Bible continually has more to offer to those who seek. Another favorite, St. John Cassian (360-433) put it this way: “In order to keep God always in mind, you should frequently pray this verse: ‘Come to my help, O God. Lord, hurry to my rescue’ (Ps 70:2). With good reason this text has been selected from all of Scripture as a method of continual prayer. It encompasses all the emotions that human beings can experience. We can effectively apply it to any circumstance and use it to resist every temptation. “ For example, “When a headache or drowsiness interferes with my spiritual reading, I must say, ‘Come to my help, O God. Lord, hurry to my rescue.’ When I cannot fall asleep at night, I must sigh and pray, ‘Come to my help, O God. Lord, hurry to my rescue.’” And, “When anger or envy threatens to disturb my peacefulness and embitter me, I must force myself to pray, groaning, ‘Come to my help, O God. Lord, hurry to my rescue.’” Amen, amen, and amen.

Although space and publishing rights prevent my including all of the wonders found in the “Saints on Scripture” section, the headings let you know what early Christians wrote about with saintly wisdom and inspired words unbound by time or space:

Experiencing the Power of the Word of God
Reading Scripture: Essential for Christian Living
Pursuing God in Scripture: Practical Advice on Reading the Bible
Scripture Leads Us to Eternal Life
Understanding Scripture Through Faith in Christ
The Inexhaustible Richness of God’s Word
We Need a Guide to the Bible
Scripture and Tradition
Understanding the Spiritual Sense of Scripture
Putting God’s Word into Practice
Scripture as a Mirror of the Soul
Finding Her Way in Scripture
Patterning Their Lives on Scripture
Minding Our Thoughts with Scripture Meditation
The Benefits of Mediating on Scripture
Meditating on a Scripture Verse
Praying With Scripture
The Psalms and the Christian Life
The Gospel and the Christian Life
A Method of Continual Prayer
When God Speaks to Us in Scripture
Using Scripture in Daily Life
Formed by God’s Word
From Study to Action

© 2014, Mary Harwell Sayler, reviewer


The Saints Devotional Bible, paperback




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Selecting Bible stories for toddlers

The Bible contains a wealth of stories for parents, grandparents, and church school teachers to read and discuss with very young children, so deciding which ones to include and which to omit can be a hard call, but then, a Bible lover and reviewer who’s agreed to give an honest review might have a hard time too!

In The Rhyme Bible Storybook For Toddler, I found much to recommend in the quality of this sturdy kid-sized book with its lively writing and colorful artwork. I also liked the evidence of God’s love and care as shown in the stories from Creation through Moses but found other choices either odd or inappropriate for toddlers.

For example, there’s no story of the beloved Patriarch of the Jews, Muslims, and Christians – Abraham, whose examples of faith foster faith and open lines of communication among religious peoples. So I was perplexed to see The Rhyme Bible Storybook For Toddler skip from Moses to David – but not David the shepherd with loving example of the Good Shepherd, nor David the poet and Psalmist, nor David the good king who united God’s people. Instead, the storybook chose to focus on David’s slinging a rock at Goliath and bringing down a bullying giant. Is that the message we want to give toddlers – to solve problems by throwing a rock?

Older children can understand the context of that story and also the story of Jonah, where the disobedient missionary gets swallowed by a large fish, but do we want toddlers fearing the ocean more than they naturally do?

Do we want them to have nightmares about being locked in a den of lions as Daniel was in this short book? Again, older children would find that story adventuresome and faith-building, but with so little space for age-appropriate stories for toddlers, I would much prefer telling very young children how Daniel chose to eat good food, rather than how lions might eat him!

Like all of my reviews, this one must be honest, so I have a couple of confessions to make: 1.) When I don’t feel comfortable giving books a 4 or, preferably 5-star review, I usually do not review them at all. However, this one came from BookSneeze, so I have to do an Amazon review too, which I’m sad to say will be 3 stars because of the stories selected. Obviously, I would have made other choices, which brings me to the second confession. 2.) I would love to write a Bible storybook, in rhyme or out.

I’m very happy to say, though, that this storybook ends with the point to which a wealth of Bible stories lead: Letting readers of all ages know, “Jesus Is Alive!”

©2014, Mary Sayler, poet, reviewer, lover of Christ, children, and the Bible



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101 Bible Stories: From Creation to Revelation

When I first approach the review copy of a new Bible storybook produced by any publisher, I look for several important features:

. Bible stories appropriate to the age group

. language children can comprehend

. pleasing artwork to illustrate the text

. sturdy quality to stand up to actual usage

In addition to the above, ZonderKidz provided a poetic text to retell the creation story in 101 Bible Stories: From Creation to Revelation. For example, “Let There Be Light” retells the story in Genesis 1:1-5 with these words:

“Long, long ago, God created the heavens and the earth. But the earth was blacker than black with darkness. And there was nothing but emptiness.”

Into this lonely place, “God said, ‘Let there be light!’ And there was light!” Then “God gently made the earth to spin so that there could also be darkness. He called the dark ‘night,’ and the light he called ‘day’.” And God “spun layer upon layer of fresh, clean air around the earth, wrapping it in every shade of blue.”

As layer upon layer of biblical insights reveal our Creator’s care, the stories progress from God’s encounters with Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and other character-building favorites to “An Angel’s Visit” where a young woman named Mary hears “God is happy with you.” Later, in “Joseph’s Dream,” the angel brings news that Joseph need not fear taking Mary as his wife, “For God has chosen her and blessed her to give birth to his very own Son.”

The remaining half of the book focuses on the life, teachings, parables, and healing work of Jesus to “The Darkest Hour” where “The earth grew deathly silent, and the sky remained hopelessly dark” as it had in the beginning of time until God spoke.

This time, however, Jesus speaks as He rises from the tomb to tell Thomas and all to “stop doubting and believe. After giving every follower “A Job to Do” in telling others the Good News, “Jesus Sends A Helper,” Who brings Holy Spirit power to do that work until Christ comes again.

With its use of slick quality paper, a sturdy binding, and colorful artwork by Dan Andreasen, this well-done Bible storybook lives up to its front cover label “Perfect for Independent Readers.” Nevertheless, we moms, dads, grandparents, and church school teachers will undoubtedly enjoy hearing again these 101 Bible stories with the children God has created to bless our lives.

©2014, Mary Sayler, reviewer

101 Bible Stories: From Creation to Revelation, hardback




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Global Study Bible

In any translation, the Bible begins with God, the story of creation, and the intersection of heaven and earth in the Garden of Eden. In that ideal beginning, all mankind – male and female – were meant to remain in close relationship with God as caretakers of the earth or, to put it another way, to be divinely appointed Gardeners. Unfortunately, that career careened off track, but the original intention remained: to fill the earth with Gardeners for God.

Similar to the Gospel Transformation Bible, the Global Study Bible from Crossway turns our thoughts and study to the original purpose of creation, giving us insights, from Genesis to Revelation, into God’s ongoing plan for cosmic redemption and restoration. To further emphasize this purpose, the Global Study Bible includes comprehensive coverage of key Bible topics written by scholars from Cameroon, South Korea, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Zambia, the USA, and other countries.

In addition, highly informative introductions, footnotes, sidebars, profiles, maps, and charts have been interspersed throughout this edition of the English Standard Version (ESV) which contains much of the scholarly information found in the ESV Study Bible, also published by Crossway, but, perhaps, with a more reader-friendly tone that draws us into the Bible story as our story.

As explained in the introduction to Exodus, for example, “God’s main purpose in delivering the people of Israel out of Egyptian oppression was so that he ‘might dwell among’ them (Ex. 29:46).” And, in “The Global Message of Leviticus” we see that the “purpose of Leviticus is to instruct Israel concerning how to maintain holiness within the community, so that the Lord would continue to dwell among them.”

In the Book of Numbers, we learn that the original Hebrew title of the book, “In the Wilderness,” describes “the essence of the book” as the “original purpose of Numbers was to warn the second generation of Israel not to lapse into the rebellion and unbelief of their first-generation parents…. Yet its deeper purpose was to encourage them that the Lord was with them.”

Again and again, this highly recommended study edition emphasizes God’s desire to be with us as expressed, for example, in the mosaic law and then the Davidic covenant, which instituted the monarchy and the temple. Or, we see God’s calling us to prayer and praise and wisdom in the Psalms, Proverbs, and other “wisdom books,” then re-calling us to fellowship through the sages and prophets, ending with John the Baptist who prepares the way of repentance before the coming of the long-awaited Messiah.

As we await Christ’s coming again, the Gospels (Good News) and Epistles (Letters) give us strength and courage as individuals and as the church Body of Christ with the Book of Revelation reminding us that “in the cosmic war currently being waged between the forces of good and evil, the outcome is secure.” Even though “the church faces internals squabbles, difficult cases of church discipline, or afflicted consciences due to sin, we remember that we are under the Lordship of the one who shed his blood for us.”

Forgiven, we can now forgive one another and ourselves.

With spiritual life rooted and revived in the Garden of Gethsemane, this Bible shows us a cosmic landscape where we’re to cultivate our lives in Christ as we await the arrival of our Global Gardener Who’s been waiting for us and loving us since the beginning of time.

©2014, Mary Sayler, reviewer


Global Study Bible, paperback


Mobi-ESV Global Study Bible, Kindle e-book edition

Spanish-English Parallel Bible

The RVR/ ESV Spanish/ English Parallel Edition from Crossway brings together the English Standard Version (ESV) and the Reina-Valera (RVR) Bible, loved by Spanish-speaking readers the way the King James Version (KJV) has remained a perennial favorite among English-speaking readers for generations.

Both translations first saw print in the 16th century with the RVR arriving about 40 years earlier than the king’s English version. In this parallel edition, however, both translations have been updated with accuracy and literary excellency sometimes lacking in versions using a thought-for-thought translation, rather than word-for-word.

This edition provides side-by-side readings of scripture in Spanish and English, keeping the verses aligned well on each page. With that consistent format, study notes were not included at the bottom of each page but at the back with RVR and ESV Notes. That’s what I suspect anyway, but this confused me as I found no asterisks or other marks in the corresponding text to match one with the other.

Maybe I missed something, but looking at the notes in the back pages now, they appear to be alternate readings such as those that usually occur in translating one language to another. Since the Bible text came to us in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, rather than Spanish or English, neither version gives us the original words but only the closest approximations that would be understood in our respective languages today. Therefore, each translation of the Bible could have used other words than the ones chosen, so notes often address those possibilities.

Without a doubt, though, the back pages of this recommended edition include “God’s Plan To Save You” with clear explanations and counsel for either Spanish or English-speaking seekers to become well-grounded in the Gospel and ready to grow in Christ.

©2014, Mary Harwell Sayler, Bible reviewer

The RVR/ ESV Spanish/ English Parallel Edition, hardback edition



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The Jesus Bible for children

An eye-appealing format and two-color sidebars that interact with young readers make this edition of the New International Version (NIV) a good choice for children 8 and up to read by themselves but also for teachers to use in small churches where Sunday School classes cover a range of ages or varying number of children. The color maps and thorough concordance will aid learning too. More exceptional though, The Jesus Bible from ZonderKidz includes an “Index of Hints of the Savior/ Jesus Revealed,” which marks the theme of this edition that highlights the many references to Christ throughout the Bible.

Other unique features include glossy insert pages that nicely highlight key concepts in the Christian faith. For example, “The ‘I Am’ Statements of Jesus” help young readers begin to see Christ as the Good Shepherd, Who guides them, and The Way, The Truth, and The Life to call upon in their own lives. However, I wish that important page had been placed in the Gospel of John, rather than the book of Daniel. Similarly, “Jesus in the Psalms” might be placed more effectively in the book of Psalms, rather than the OT book of Second Chronicles.

Hopefully, such publishing matters can be addressed in future editions and possible errors corrected, such as one found on page 28. In the sidebar to a story in Genesis 20, Abraham made the mistake of tricking King Abimelek, but the “Live Like Jesus” insert mistakenly says Moses did the trickery.

Therefore, in reviewing this review copy which Zondervan kindly sent, I’m a little concerned about the publisher's effort to do too much or hurry to publication, but I’m also greatly impressed by the earnest desire to find ways to reach people of all ages and backgrounds for Jesus Christ. That’s what the Gospel should do – must do to reach the ends of the earth as the Lord commands.

Clearly and correctly, this edition demonstrates we can and will “Discover Jesus in Every Book of the Bible.” Amen! Yes, for in every page of God's Word, Jesus Christ is there, and, as we read the Bible, Jesus is here. Wherever we are, Jesus Is God with us.

©2014, Mary Sayler, reviewer


The Jesus Bible, hardcover


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The Jubilee Bible

As an ecumenical Christian eager to promote, not uniformity but unity in the church Body of Christ, I began to read the foreword of The Jubilee Bible with trepidation. This translation published by Aneko Press resulted from ten years of studious work by Russell Stendal, a missionary to the people of Columbia, including the very people who once held him hostage!

As impressive and loving as that it, I really didn’t want to review a Bible with any slams against any particular church – especially over murderous debates and family feuds a few hundred years old that I pray will soon be put to rest! However, the “To The Reader” section pointed to those terrible times only by way of introduction to a Bible translation that got caught in the crossfire.

But why bother to translate that ancient Spanish Bible into English now when new translations seem to be cramming the shelves? Actually, that is why!

New versions range from contemporary (even faddish or slang) English that lessens the rich vocabulary of the Bible to easy-to-read versions that lose connotations important to the context to “politically correct” versions that seem more interested in pleasing people than conveying what God inspired.

Leafing through The Jubilee Bible, however, one might think it’s another King James Version with its use of “Thee” or “Ye and “Thou,” and in many ways, it is. Unlike KJV though, this translation aimed for consistency in the many synonyms translators can choose to say the same thing.

As the publisher explained, this translation “has each unique Hebrew word matched and mated with a unique English word so that the usage (number of occurrences and number of verses where the word occurs) sets forth a meaningful number pattern and a complete definition of what God means by each word.”

If you’re a Bible student or lover of God’s Word, as I am, who likes to compare texts to deepen your understanding, as I do, you might want to order a full copy as shown below.

©2014, Mary Harwell Sayler, reviewer

The Holy Scriptures Jubilee Bible, paperback

Jubilee Bible, imitation leather


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