A Great Bible Application for your Cell Phone

September means back to school and back to the hectic realities of living. Even if you don’t get a long summer vacation, things just move more slowly during the warm July and August months. But for some of us September means busy schedules and that can mean less time for things of a more eternal nature – like reading the Bible. Luckily, in this technology age, if you have a smart cell phone, you need never be without your Bible or inspirational reading again. A couple of years ago I discovered Olivetree.com which have a wonderful FREE Bible Reader application for almost any kind of cell phones. I have uploaded this particular application on various phones from my little Nokia, to a Palm Centro and now to my iPhone.

For those of you who are not terribly technologically savvy don’t panic. It isn’t difficult. If you get the internet on your phone you can go to Olivetree.com and select the free download for your type of phone and it will automatically do it for you. If you don’t have the internet on your phone you can locate the download on your computer and have it sent to your phone via a text message and download it that way.

So what does this little app have that makes it so special? It has several different translations of the Bible including the ASV, the King James and the Modern King James. It has Matthew Henry’s Concordance for cross-referencing. You can search on book, chapter and verse quickly when looking for a particular scripture. And while looking at the scripture you can simultaneously look at the concordance. You can highlight and save special verses that you might want to memorize. It has a function that lets you comment on verses so that when you are reading your Bible you can see your notes on specific passages. All these functions alone are pretty spectacular for a free application. But wait …. there’s more! Also included are a number of wonderful spiritual books to read when you have those moments where you have to wait in a doctor’s office or in line somewhere. My favorites are The True Vine by Andrew Murray and The Practice of the Presence by Brother Lawrence. Other free books that are tucked into this little free app are A Short and Easy Method of Prayer by Madame Guyon, All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon, and How to Pray by R.A. Torrey.

Of course for more bells and whistles you can pay for additional applications including other translations and more books, but I have been very happy with the free Bible Reader version addition to my technological world. If you are interested in this and have the cell phone but don’t have the media savvy, then have one of your kids, or grandkids help you download it.

Truthfully, technology will never replace the solid feel of my favorite Bible in my hands as I turn it’s well worn pages and look at my underlines and notes. But technology can put me in touch with God’s word any time I have that spare moment and my phone is with me (and my phone is with me all the time).

Isn’t it time we used our computers and phones for something more than video games and random text messages? With the Olive Tree Bible Reader you won’t have an excuse for not reading your Bible!