Off the Shelf

My Blog Has Moved!!

Many of you may be wondering why I have not posted any new articles. It's because my Blog has moved. Just go to waynehastings.com and you'll find fresh, new posts.

Here's the link for Feedburner.

I look forward to seeing you at my new home...

 

Wayne

Farewell Thomas Nelson

Last Friday was my last day at Thomas Nelson. I can still remember Sam Moore, during a conversation in his office, saying, "Hire him!" That was six years ago and the beginning of what I believe to be a calling from God and unbelievable privilege to work with a team of committed people who want to help people find's Gods voice through His word. I'm humbled and deeply grateful for my time there.

We were able to develop some incredible products and concepts over the last six years:

Million Bible Challenge. We all thought that the goal of 1 million Bibles in twelve months was staggering. Little did we know that between Nelson, retailers and local churches we'd surpass that goal in FIVE MONTHS. To date, I think nearly six million of these Bibles have been given away. Incredible.

Word of Promise. When Carl Amari came to us with this idea we were excited and thrilled to have him as a partner. After an incredible launch of the New Testament two years ago this multi-award-winning product came alive again this year with the release of the full Bible. Over 600 actors, award winning score, 5.1 sound. At times we felt like we were docking the Queen Mary, but the team pulled it all together and it's a certified best selling product that gives people a new way to experience God's word.

Chronological Study BIble. This idea was a combination shower idea and retail experience. When I presented the concept to the team, they dug deep and developed a beautiful, 4-color product that's been at or near the top of best-seller lists since its release a little over a year ago. Like Word of Promise and many other of our products, it served as another way for people to seek and discover God's word through a unique and different format.

Felt Need Merchandising. This was an inside and outside team challenge.  My retail experience combined with Barna research and the folks at cult branding developed a system that helps customers find bibles by how they want to shop, instead of terms they don't understand. Nelson's Bible marketing and sales teams did the rest and most every retailer who adopted the system experienced double-digit growth. Not bad.

Expanded Bible. Yet another shower idea that the team took to a new level. I knew many people who used the Amplified Bible, yet the base translation is dated. The scholar team led by Trempor Longman helped us develop an outstanding alternative that not only has alternate meanings, but helps the reader understand culture, other uses of the words, context and much more. I'm excited to see the full Bible.

The Voice. Perhaps the freshest and most intriguing translation of the BIble in many years. The Voice works from the original manuscripts and, unlike most Bibles, keeps the text in the original "voice" of the writer. It is typeset in screen play format for easy reading during worship and presents compelling commentary and help for the reader. It's truly a partnership between artist and scholar and the final work received rave reviews. 

The authors. What a privilege to work with Max Lucado, John MacArthur, John Maxwell, Charles Stanley, Henry Blackaby and other pastors and teachers. These men of God truly love God's word and helping others discover it.

There were other products, milestones and campaigns that we accomplished. Each one designed to help people find God's voice more easily and more directly.

I'll miss working with this team of professionals (sorry, I'd list names, but know I'd forget someone, you know who you are and you know your contribution).

God's called me to a new chapter in my life. I feel as strongly as I did six years ago of that calling. Since 1992 my life mission has been to put life changing materials into the hands of people who need them and I appreciate Thomas Nelson giving me an opportunity to continue that mission through the BIble Group.

New Expanded Bible Coming Soon

No, Thomas Nelson hasn’t added new books to the Bible. We are, however, trying hard to meet our customers’ need to understand God’s voice as shown in His word.

We have a wonderful customer. They desperately want to know, understand and apply God’s word to their daily lives.  From church pastors and leaders to the person who encounters the Bible for the first time, this need is the same. The challenge for the vast majority of them is that the Bible represents an intimidating, time-consuming book full of ancient characters, places and languages.

 

To overcome this need Bible Publishers like Thomas Nelson try to develop products that give the customer help and hope in their quest to “hear” God’s voice. For example in the last two years Thomas Nelson has released three landmark products – The Chronological Study Bible, The Word of Promise Audio Bible and The Voice New Testament. Each one in it’s own way helps meet this universal customer need.

On August 11, 2009, Thomas Nelson will release a new product especially designed for our customer. Developed by a trusted team of Bible scholars The Expanded Bible New Testament, like the three titles I mentioned above, gives the reader help to reach their goal of hearing God’s message to them directly from the Scriptures.

Why is it different?

•              It meets the needs of the contemporary student of the Bible by combining devotional reading and in-depth study in a completely new way. Users can now study the Bible while they read with study aids and resources placed in-line with the text of the Bible.

•             It joins Bible text with traditional wordings, explanatory comments, additional wordings, literal meanings and expanded word definitions, all integrated within the text of the Scripture. 

•          It offers readers a unique Bible study experience by making them a part of the process and decisions made by scholars while developing a translation 

The end result is a Bible that is highly readable for devotions or study purposes that includes a richer in-text explanation of the Scripture. The experience will help customers grasp all that God is saying and give them a complete meaning of words and their alternative wordings. It’s like having a robust Bible reference library at your fingertips without having to flip a page or grab another book.

You can try this exceptional new product now. Simply go to this site and download a free PDF file and enjoy the experience first-hand.

Post your thoughts on your personal blog, and share the comments in the review sections of a few online retailers and send me the link so that I can hear your thoughts about The Expanded Bible New Testament. The Thomas Nelson team will send the first 200 responders/commenters a free paperback copy of the Bible (a $19.99 value) as soon as they hit our warehouse as a thank you for your input.