A Review...I Believe

February 05, 2015

A Review...I Believe

Believe, NIV: Living the Story of the Bible to Become Like Jesus and it's companion book, Think, Act, Be Like Jesus (both by Pastor and author Randy Frazee) are two new discipleship tools that some churches may want to use to help new followers of Jesus to deepen their walk.

Believe, NIV is divided into 30 chapter readings that address one of the following three questions: “What do I believe?”, “What should I do?” and “Who am I becoming?” and is read more like a story than a typical Bible. I would suggest using it along with a tradition translation so that context connections can be made. Still,this can help someone who has had no previous exposure to the Bible gain a solid understanding of what a walk with Jesus is all about. The book is divided into three ten-week sections that are divided as follows:

10 Key Beliefs of Christian Faith (What Do I Believe?)
10 Key Practices of a Follower of Jesus (What Should I Do?)
10 Key Virtues that Assist in Becoming More Like Jesus
(Who Am I Becoming?)

The Companion book, Think, Act, Be Like Jesus works hand-in-hand with the Believe, NIV . It includes the same key verse and key idea as Believe, NIV. But Think, Act, Be Like Jesus also includes a key question and key application for each subject.

For instance, the key question in the chapter “God” is “Who is God?”
The key application is “What difference does this make in the
way I live?”

I think using both of these resources together, reading one chapter in one and the corresponding chapter in the other, will effectively challenge and educate the reader. The goal is to engage the reader and encourage thought and prayer about these key elements...extremely important for all disciples of Christ, new or otherwise.

Good tools, good resource...you should check them out.

Jay Cookingham