TouchBible: a Bible iPhone web app

Thanks to John Bennett (via Twitter) I learned about TouchBible, a web app providing searchable access to the Holy Bible for the iPhone and iTouch from iBibleZ. This is a preview of the application on YouTube:

TouchBible does not offer as many translation options as The Bible Gateway, but does offer the following versions currently:

English

  • King James Version (KJV)
  • American Standard Version (ASV)
  • English Standard Version (ESV)
  • Bible in Basic English (BBE)
  • Darby Bible Translation (Darby)
  • Webster’s Bible (WEB)
  • Youngs Literal Translation (YLT)

Chinese

  • Chinese 汉语/漢語
  • 和合本 – Chinese Union Version (CUV)

Have you found and tried other online searchable Bible web apps for the iPhone? I used a searchable Bible program on the Palm I used a number of years ago, and have REALLY wanted to have a searchable Bible on my iPhone. The downloadable NT Bible which iBiblez offers is actually just an html attachment you can view using the iPhone’s mail feature. It does support selection of individual NT books and chapters, but not keyword searching. Hopefully developers with iBiblez or other groups will use the iPhone SDK to create an actual application which runs entirely offline and permits Bible searches with multiple translation versions. I’m sure we’ll see that before long!

Technorati Tags:
, , , , ,

Give the gift of a goat

Ever since I saw the water buffalo movie, it helped bring alive the power of tangible giving to third world countries. Our family has been supporting children through World Vision for years but it really isn’t something we consider. Yes we get cards from our sponsor children but it’s still distant.

Goat Gift

The water buffalo movie started me thinking differently. This year, our family decided to give each other this kind of gift. I gave a goat and after watching The Story of Stuff, it makes sense. I showed my own kids the story of stuff movie and while consumerism and materialism will always be a struggle for those of us with means, it does open up conversations, thoughts and spiritual questions that can produce change.

Podcast7: 10 year old reflections about Jesus on Christmas Eve

Our 5th grade Sunday School class of 10 and 11 year old students recorded a seven minute podcast today, which is going to be played during our family Christmas Eve service at church this year.

[powerpress]

This podcast is available in several formats:

  1. As an audio-only mp3 file
  2. As an enhanced podcast (requires free QuickTime Player software or iTunes software)
  3. As a YouTube video (published later in 2010)
  4. As a VoiceThread digital story

 

You are welcome to leave feedback for our students on the VoiceThread or here as comments. Merry Christmas!

An amazing video from Casting Crowns

A friend showed me this video from a concert by Casting Crowns today. Wow.

This is a completely unique take on musical interpretation than I’ve seen previously in videos or live stage performances. Very creative, as well as moving. I love this song. I first learned of Casting Crowns several years ago, listening to Air1 Radio when we lived in Lubbock. (Here in Oklahoma, I listen to K-LOVE more than Air1 now, when I listen Christian radio.) I think the band started as a youth group praise team, and they continue to serve in that capacity as well as play concerts. Their music is definitely inspired by the Lord.

Their official website is www.castingcrowns.com. They have more YouTube videos linked from their website. I think it is great Casting Crowns has embraced the use of new media sites, like YouTube, to share their music and their gospel message with the world. Seeing this video adds a different dimension to the experience of listening to their music and allowing the message to penetrate my mind and spirit.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , ,

5th Graders speak: “Who Is Jesus?”

5th grade students in the Sunday school class I’m co-teaching this semester contributed to this four minute audio podcast on the theme, “Who Is Jesus?” Some of these recordings were made during our Sunday school class last week using Audacity and an external microphone, but most were made by students and teachers from home using their phones and the free Gabcast service.

Lots of online discussions!

Our 5th grade Sunday School class is using Group Publishing’s “Grapple” curriculum this fall, which includes an online “walled-garden” social networking environment for students. This is a screenshot of student and teacher postings in the discussion board to date. (We just finished our sixth week.)

Lots of Grapple Discussions!

If I’m doing my math correctly, we’ve had 34 total posts and replies in the first 3 church-related categories, and 121 posts and replies in the “Let’s Talk” category which is open for students to appropriately discuss whatever they want. We’ve had lots of polls about school, favorite singers, TV shows, and other topics. These formative results show the importance of providing an open forum for students in a distance learning or distributed learning context.

Technorati Tags: , , , ,

Podcast6: Grapple Digital Curriculum and Technology Integration with 5th Grade Sunday School Students

This podcast is a mid-semester review of the “Grapple” digital curriculum package from Group Publishing which we are using to co-teach 5th grade Sunday School in fall 2007 at my church in Edmond, Oklahoma. In addition to reviewing the elements of Grapple I address different ways I am integrating technology into our weekly Sunday school lessons, and discuss in detail the different elements of the online social networking and discussion board area provided by Group Publishing as part of the Grapple curriculum.

[powerpress]

Subscribe to “Eyes Right Podcasts!” Podcast RSS Feed

It matters how we worship

raise-handsI heard a great sermon this summer by my brother-in-law who pastors Cedarview Community Church in Newmarket, ON. It was one in a series of messages dealing with New Testament worship.

As someone who has grown up in a charismatic church, I’ve seen a lot when it comes to worship. Some of it very powerful and some of it didn’t seem very authentic. I’ve concluded that in many cases, worship is a matter of personal preference and taste. I realize now that God, while allowing us to be individuals does require us to follow some principles and guidelines. Most Christians sing hymns of praise. Why? Is it tradition? Partly but mostly because the Bible shows us time after time that singing and music are pleasing to God and is one way we can express ourselves to Him. Another practice which I’ve always been comfortable with was raising my hands. Until this message, I didn’t really know why.
As Christians, we see the teachings of the New Testament as the fulfillment of the old. When it comes to how we live, we understand the many ideas of the Old Testament were made obsolete (Hebrews 8:13) Part of how we determine what is and isn’t to be practiced from the Old Testament is checking to see if the ideas or practices are encouraged or reinforced in the new. The lifting of hands is mentioned several times in the New Testament. 1 Tim 2:8.

So here’s why we lift our hands in worship and what it means:

  • To remind us of our covenant with God.
  • To show our reliance on Him.
    • Exodus 17: 8-16
    • We need to physically see and demonstrate our reliance on God to each other
  • He likes it
  • To show surrender
    • Psalm 141:2
    • When someone is captured, they often are asked to put their hand up in surrender

So this isn’t about what church you go to or what style of worship you prefer, it’s something God has asked us to do because he desires worshippers. So the next time you raise your hands in worship, perhaps, if you’re like me, you’ll know better why you do it. If you don’t, why not?

Image:Worship During a Vertical Set
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrismoncus/281928443/

FPC Edmond Sermons online

This past weekend I worked to format and publish about 15 sermons from mid-April through the present from our church in Edmond, Oklahoma, as podcast recordings in a new podcast channel submitted (and now approved) by iTunes. Anyone who is interested can either download sermon podcasts as mp3 files separately, or subscribe to the sermon podcast channel in iTunes.

Sermons from First Presbyterian Church in Edmond, Oklahoma

Many of these sermons are fantastic, and I commend them all to you. David Leard’s treatment of the often challenging verses from Ephesians 6 in his July 22nd message, “Everything in Its Place” was particularly good. (Those are very challenging verses to preach on and about.) I also really enjoyed John Gruel’s message on June 24th titled “Twelfth Man.” (Even though I’m not a big fan of Texas A&M!)

It is WONDERFUL, from a personal standpoint, to now have asynchronous access to audio recordings of these these inspired words from our pastors. This past weekend after I published these and our family was driving back from Lubbock to Edmond, my wife and I were able to listen to two of the sermons she had missed this summer because she had been taking care of children’s ministries needs and missed worship.

We are VERY blessed to have four gifted pastors at our church, and I’m thrilled their weekly messages are now available as a globally accessible podcast channel. Listening to a sermon at church (or somewhere else) is certainly just PART of the experiences and the community into which we are called as Christians to live each week, but it can be an important part– especially if it inspires us to change our thinking and our behavior in positive ways in the week that follows! 🙂

podcast

Compatibility between science and faith

I attended a wonderful Christian men’s conference at Mo-Ranch in south Texas this weekend, and emerged from the weekend with 22 pages of handwritten notes! To begin the work I need to do in processing and reflecting on many of the ideas shared at the conference, I recorded a 30 minute Gcast podcast this evening with my cell phone, which was automatically posted to the web.

Subscribe Free for future posts  Add this player to my Page

The Sunday School lessons of Dr. Dan Foster, who was our conference keynote speaker, are available online.

1 47 48 49 50 51 53