In 2015, a Bible mini-series aired called "AD - The Bible Continues" aired on network television, which gained quite a bit of popularity among both Christian and non-Christian crowds. Like all good television sagas that gather interest, marketing campaigns to promote the show began to rapidly multiply amidst the ensuing chatter about it's release. And one of the areas that inevitably evolved from the continuing propaganda was a couple of books that had been written, connected to the subject. One of those books by Dr. David Jeremiah, similarly titled "A.D. The Bible Continues, The Book Of Acts" was given to me for free to review, through the book review program for bloggers, which is available at www.tyndaleblognetwork.com.
Dr. David Jeremiah, the Pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, has authored numerous best-selling books in the past. This book, however, is somewhat unique, in that it is not specifically a teaching book. Instead, contained within it's pages is the entire text of the twenty-eight chapters of the Book of Acts, as found in the Holy Bible, along with some color photographs from the show and periodic character sketches of the main characters found in this dramatic Bible book. And, for those not familiar with the Bible or it's contents, Acts tells the historical tale of the first few decades of the Christian church, birthed after Jesus' resurrection from the dead.
First, the presentation of the book is outstanding. It is compact, fairly short by book standards and very classy in appearance. The translation for the text is the New Living Translation, which is very simple to read and understand. There is also a brief introduction, a prologue and an epilogue found in the book, written by Dr. Jeremiah specifically which highlight key elements of the Christian faith and challenge us on how to respond to the message presented by this historical story.
All in all, it was excellent. But, please don't be expecting detailed teaching in this volume. I think it would make a great gift for someone, and the packaging for the product is so well done that I actually think the publishers should consider if another volume might be marketable for a different book of the Bible, with or without a TV show to promote it. I do have to caution the reader, however, that two books with similar titles were written about this TV series. The book I reviewed is not to be confused with "AD - The Bible Continues, The Revolution That Changed The World", also authored by Dr. David Jeremiah. The Book of Acts is part of our Christian heritage, and it would do all of us good to study it, learn it and live it's principles as the early disciples did in their generation.
