Bible Study has come a LONG way. I remember when I got my first complete Bible. My pastor, Rev. Charles M. Barnes took me (I couldn't have been any older than 8) to the Woodall Bookstore in Waxahachie and bought it for me. I remember when I got my first Bible with a concordance. Iris Watson taught in Children's Church at Bethel in Arlington what a concordance was and how to use it. That Christmas, I received a Bible with a concordance. To say that it changed my life would be an understatement. You can find all the verses on a topic grouped together? Glory to God. Then I was in Bible Quiz with the Assemblies of God for several years as a teen and memorized many books (it involved competition...not spirituality) in KJV. Today I praise God for that experience. I received a New American Standard version from my church when I graduated high school....and then!....I went to SAGU and discovered the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance! Another praise went heavenward. So what? you say?
Today it has all changed. Now, thankfully you can get the word of God just about any way you want it. The Soldier's Bible, the Policeman's Bible, Baby's first Bible, a Bible for every age level and every demographic. May His Name be Praised! Lest I sound too much like an early morning infomercial.....wait....there's more!
Since the advent of the PC, everything has changed. Now concordance searches are instantaneous on every kind of word in any kind of version. Now maps, commentaries and greek and hebrew tools can be utilized instantaneously and produced in a report. Through the use of the PC, a pastor, teacher, or Christian worker can instantaneously keyword search through ALL their library of books.
The internet Bible search engines are amazing in and of themselves. http://www.bible.logos.com/ for example will enable you to concordance search ANY word in ANY version, copy to your word processor and topic search as well.
Now the good people at Logos have won in the Bible software war. I'm happy to tell today you can download Logos for the iphone for free as well as consider the benefits of Logos 4. What they are calling Bible Study, Reimagined is exactly that. No longer just the domain of religious professionals (pastors, teachers, missionaries) Logos has created a software that will literally take discipleship and personal Bible study to the next level. Take it from a person who gets excited about a concordance, you might want to give your personal Bible study habit a look, and see what you can do faster, smarter, and to a much greater depth.
Since we're talking about the Scripture, consider theses Scriptures that urge us to study:
2 Timothy 2:15
Psalms 119:11
2 Peter 1:19-21
Hebrews 4:11-13
May the Lord bless you as you sharpen your saw.
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