The Life

Binding: Softcover
ISBN: 978-1-4143-9636-1
List Price: $4.99
Release Date:
September 2014
Page Count: 112

 The Life is a compelling way for teens to discover who Jesus is and why it matters. Through it, you will get to know Jesus and what it means to follow him. The Life includes 112 full-color pages with John, Acts 1:1–11:26, James, 1 John, five excerpts from Luke, and dozens of images, with tweetable quotes about who Jesus really is. The Life is designed to immerse students in the story of Jesus. It features the clear and accessible New Living Translation, all in a fun and attractive magazine-style design you can easily throw in your backpack. Plus, get free access to downloadable images, featuring content in the Bible, to share with your friends.

The Life was collaboratively developed in partnership with Youth for Christ, whose mission is to bring the message of Jesus to young people across the world. Youth for Christ has more than 160 chapters impacting thousands of communities.

The New Living Translation breathes life into even the most difficult-to-understand Bible passages, but even more powerful are stories of how people’s lives are changing as the words speak directly to their hearts.

My Impressions: 

This is a small portion of the new testament laid out in a magazine style format aimed at teens in a NLT translation. It kinda has a Wired magazine type of feel to it that is familiar and comfortable as you browse through it. Its not anything that my teens would pick up and read cover to cover, but they glanced through it and read things that caught their eye visually or by title.

Each book has a brief introduction, some illustrations that would appeal to a teen to get them wondering what the "article" was about.The book tackles topics such as:

 1. Jesus encounters with others: divine power and teachings
 2. Jesus' message isn't about easy religion: religious leaders, spiritual blindness and God's heart for the lost.
 3. Jesus' death and resurrection: challenges, understanding and assurance
 4. Learning what it means to remain in Jesus: trial, death, resurrection, preparation for followers
 5 . The Holy Spirit coming onto ordinary people: sharing His love, opposition, spreading the message, living as a follower
 6. The Choice: making the decision to follow

The things my kids like the best about this book was that it was compact, light and laid things out in simply terms that were easy to follow and understand.  They also both liked the intro pages that gave a simple ven diagram of how Gods story intersects with ours and others. My daughter also appreciated that the images were not typical "christian" images, but instead you saw a toe tagged body, a boxer, road symbols, old buildings etc that drew you in and got you to wonder how those images related to Gods word. Oddly enough they both really liked that no where on the cover did you see the word "bible". They both seemed to think that made the book easier to read in public and more approachable for teens that might be interested in learning more,but not wanting everyone to know what they were reading.

For the price this is a great resource that you can hand out to teens, leave laying someplace teens frequent or let your kids give out that wont impact your budget too deeply and has the power to change someone's life for eternity.


Disclaimer: I received this book free from the publisher, through Tyndale Reviews. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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