The Story: Church Campaign Kit Paperback – September 10, 2011

It is not exactly seamless, and it requires some fore knowledge to fully understand, but it is very close as advertised. Above all it is entertaining and helpful.

I have always had a hard time reading the bible and have tried many different versions. Each time I always get bored or fed up with it and don't pick it up again for a long time. I just cannot get into it. Again I decided to try a new version and bought The Story. I'm so thrilled with my purchase and that they have made this book. I read it every night and find it very hard to stop reading. The bits of the bible which have not been included in the text of The Story itself are included as summary snippets in between passages, so I find I can stop at one of those each time. I am half way through it already and will be sorry when there's no more to read. Maybe I'll have to start again, or maybe I'll understand the bible better having read The Story and could make a start on that. It's a great buy and well worth the money.

If you have had a desire to read the Bible and have even made attempts, but struggled to stick with it, the Story helps with its novel approach. (I think I read that on the cover but after reading it I agree) Anyway it was easy to read. It's pretty much the Bible told in historical order from creation through Jesus birth and resurection to revelations. Of course it includes all the classic stories from the old & new testiment, but as an ongoing novel. There was a few areas where I thought it slowed down a bit to keep the the story close to the Bible. For me it answered many questions I had because many of the stories I ve heard growing up never seamed to be tied together. But here it becomes all part of one big story and the connection between stories becomes clear. Many things just make more sense now.

The Story is a useful tool to get people into the Word of God. This is a day and age in which more time in it would make a profound impact in believers' lives.The Story is a condensed verson of the TNIV whihch covers the main stories, characters, and doctrines of the Bible in 31 chapters.I am currently preaching a message week to week from the chapters. I am encouraging students to read along and discuss it with me on Facebook. I have also made The Story available to all students for free to stir their participation.Thankfully, students have grown closer to God and are filled with excitement to study God's Word. I recommend this as a resource to bless your church or ministry.Please remember it is condensed and not word for word or a complete Bible.

I didn't expect this to be verbage taken right from the Bible. The print is very small and the color is a brownish on light tan paper. Each page is a different width, making it harder to turn. Don't really have anything positive to say.

Great book if you can't read and understand the Bible please get this book it really helps

I am sorry to say I was very disappointed with this purchase ... after reading the fabulous reviews I was so excited to get this book ... and I have to admit that I started reading it as soon as I could and it just was not the quality I expected ... I had trouble getting into it ... and keeping up reading it. I tried and tried and just could not do it. I have since purchased another easy reading story (type) Bible that I ABSOLUTEY love and enjoy reading daily ... it is so much easier to read and understand and it was well worth the purchase ... I guess it just goes to prove that there are different things for different people ... all the others can't be wrong but I didn't just give up ... I tried and tried and just could not get into it ... but when I started the other book I immediately LOVED IT ... if one is interest I feel uncomfortable putting the title in this review but feel free to go to my reviews and you will see it recommeneded with a 5 star rating ... Titled "The Bible in A Story Book".

I found it helpful to read and digest the stories of The Bible in this format. Hopefully readers will not assume that this compilation in any way takes the place of reading or referencing The Bible; it is merely a companion to the original verses. I enjoyed being able to form a better mental picture of the characters and story line, presentation was easily digested as an ongoing tale. I would recommend The Story to anyone who has wanted to read The Bible and never gotten around to it, those who have read The Bible and those who have no interest in delving into reading The Bible.

Easy to read

If you want a version of the bible told in chronological order and as near to a novel as is possible then you can't go far wrong with 'The Story'.It's an edited New International Version (NIV) of the bible and, as you might expect, concentrates on the narrative elements. Hence Genesis, Exodus, Kings and the Gospels are well covered whereas Leviticus, Psalms, Proverbs etc are not.At just under 400 pages it's an easy read and is presumably aimed at anyone who wants to get a broad understanding of the bible in as short a time as possible. What I liked about 'The Story' though was there was no sign of dumbing-down.The book included a couple of maps, a timeline, a list of characters, commentaries and discussion questions. I must admit I found the discussion questions a bit of a joke but the commentaries were mainly informative without being intrusive and sometimes helped bridge the gaps in the narrative. The maps were rather pointless, as they lacked any detail and seemed to be for decoration only. A couple of reasonable useful maps would have improved the book as would've a short index. However, none of these slight shortcomings should prevent you buying this book.If you want to have a look inside the book, then you can do so by visiting the publisher's (Zondervan) website.Amen.

I bought this book for my neighbour, who I've been encouraging for many years, and I hoped she might read this version as she has shied away from interacting with the normal bible format. Unfortunately the print is too small for her poor eyesight, particularly in the 'bridging' bits, and so far I haven't managed to locate a large print edition. However, I am also hoping other friends will read it as I think it will be particularly accessible to those people who are put off by the chapters and verses in the regular bible format.

Good book

Really like it now finally can read the Bible like I always wanted to. Thankx God!!!