Technology to help your walk

There is a plethora of free technological tools available to help people get more into the word and get more out of the word. I thought I'd share a couple that I think are great:

1. Daily Bible Reading. www.youversion.com

This is an initiative of livechurch.tv. Accessible from the web and mobile phones (if you're web enabled), you can log in and get daily readings that will result in reading the bible in a year. You can also record your thoughts about the readings, and see what others have written. It's really a community of bible readers.

2. Wordlive. http://www.scriptureunion.org.uk/2981.id

This is similar to youversion, however it also provides the main points, questions to ponder etc to help you get the most out of your daily bible reading. This is another resource accessible from your web enabled phone.

3. E-sword. http://e-sword.net/index.html

I have been a big fan of e-sword for years. This software provides, from one convenient location, multiple versions of bibles, commentaries and dictionaries, maps and daily devotions. You can add on extras for a cost, but there are plenty that are free. The best part of e-sword is when you click on a verse, all of the commentaries and dictionaries that refer to that verse light up. Well worth the download.

4. Google Blog reader. http://www.google.com/ig

Many of the top speakers/leaders in the world put out blogs (including our own Ps Andrew Staggs and Ps Jillian Staggs). It can be tough keeping track of them all. If you have a google account, then you can load all of these blog feeds into igoogle so that, at a glance, you can see what new blogs have been loaded for you to read. I've attached a screenshot for you to see.



5. Podcasts. www.itunes.com

No doubt many of you have heard of podcasts. These are mp3 files of, amongst other things, sermons, that are available for free through itunes, regardless of whether you own an apple device such as an iphone or ipod. Once you have installed itunes, you click on "itunes store" and search your favourite speaker to see if they have a podcast that you can 'subscribe' to. My favourites are Joyce Meyer, Chuck Swindoll and Wayne Cordeiro, but there are so so so many more. Once you subscribe, then each time you open up itunes, it updates the podcasts with the next new message for you to save onto your mp3 player, or burn to cd.

For some, the above list of technology may seem daunting. However, don't be afraid to ask for help. Most techno-nerds will relish the opportunity to help out and help get you set up... me included.