CherylynK
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Homepage: http://OliveTree.com
Posts by CherylynK
Why Lenten Discipline is a Good Thing
Feb 21st
Tomorrow marks the beginning of Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter in which many Christians observe a form of self-denial as a way to identify with Christ’s 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. It’s easy to relegate Lent to a time of “giving something up,” maybe chocolate or Facebook or fast food. While our waistlines might affirm these Lenten fasts, our spiritual nature begs for something more. Throughout Church history, Christians have turned to classic spiritual disciplines during Lent. But human nature can’t seem to make up its mind about the virtues of discipline. Sure discipline is a good thing. I brush my teeth every morning and evening. I drive safely. I read my Bible every day. But let’s face it: Discipline is hard. Why do we need to practice discipline in a season like Lent anyway?
In essence, discipline helps us to be more like Christ. As Jesus himself taught, denying oneself is integral to the Christian life and necessarily tough. Even Jesus’ discipline of obedience to the Father led to Calvary. As Christianity Today’s editorial from March 1960 puts it, Lent is a time in which we “follow the battered path to Calvary” and recognize our need to “yield ourselves afresh to God…” Just like we discipline ourselves in the care of our physical bodies, we must also do the necessary work of discipline in order to be healthy spiritually.
In this Lenten season, we encourage you to spend time with God each day as we approach the heart of the Christian faith in the agony of Good Friday and the glory of Easter. Along with the Bibles and Study Bibles that Olive Tree offers, check out the Lenten devotionals 40 Days with Jesus by Sarah Young and Walk with Jesus: A Journey to the Cross and Beyond by Charles Swindoll at OliveTree.com. We pray that the discipline of reading a devotional and your Bible daily will help you become more Christ like this Lenten season.
Share on Facebook and Twitter in BibleReader
Feb 14th
We’ve got exciting news for iPhone, iPad and iPod users. BibleReader 5.1.5 is now available in the App Store with a brand new social sharing feature. From inside your favorite book or Bible, you can post a verse or quote to Facebook and Twitter or copy the text into an email or text message. Simply tap on a verse number and select the “Share” option.
You can also highlight selections of text to post as well. Once you’ve selected your text and tapped on “Share” you can choose to email, text or post your selection to Facebook or Twitter.
You will need to have a Facebook or Twitter account as well as have the Twitter app installed to take advantage of those sharing options. If you do not have the Facebook app you will be redirected to Facebook in Safari. If you are logged in to your account you will be able to preview your post and tap send to tweet the verse or post it to your Facebook wall.
Download the update and check out this cool new feature. Enjoy being able to share your Scripture reading and study with your friends quickly and easily inside of the Olive Tree BibleReader app for iPhone, iPad and iPod.
Happy Valentine’s Day
Feb 13th
Whatever your plans this week, Valentine’s Day is a wonderful time to celebrate the love you have for your family. It is also the perfect time to commit to growing deeper in your relationships. This Valentine’s Day, consider doing just that with one of the many resources available from Olive Tree. To help you out, we are offering 35% off all of our Marriage & Family eBooks.
While you are reflecting on the love you share with your friends and family, remember the love that God freely gives to you. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ”—Ephesians 2:4-5. God’s love is the greatest love of all, a never-ending and all-consuming love. “There is not a drop of love in His heart which is not yours; you may dive into the immense ocean of His love, and you may say of it all, ‘It is mine.’” —Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening.
We want to encourage you not only to spend some time with loved ones this February, but also to spend time reflecting on the love of God. So we are also offering 35% off Devotionals. No matter your place in life, whether you are a new Christian or a retired pastor, starting a relationship or celebrating years of marriage, we have resources that will speak to you. Look through the featured titles below and head to OliveTree.com to browse the sale.
Charles Spurgeon, sometimes called the “prince of preachers” because of the richness of his sermons, ministered to thousands in London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle for decades. His popular daily devotional Morning and Evening has been a source of spiritual encouragement to countless believers. Taking subjects directly from the Bible and focusing on Christ’s glory, Spurgeon ushers his readers directly into the Lord’s presence to enjoy the comfort only God can provide.
With devotions that reflect the concerns many couples face today, the Couples’ Devotional Bible Notes is designed to help you build your relationship on the one foundation you can count on: God’s Word. The devotions cover many topics including communication, work, money, setting goals, step-parenting, forgiveness and more. The devotional features 260 week-day devotions and additional weekend devotions that promote application of and interaction with the Bible text.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” — John 13:34
New Features in Mac BibleReader 5.0.3
Feb 5th
Hey Mac users, be sure to download the 5.0.3 update to BibleReader, now available in the Mac App Store. We implemented many of your requests in the update, and we think you’ll be as excited as we are about the new features.
Some of the features in BibleReader 5.0.3 for Mac:
Verses Start On New Line
Go to BibleReader: Preferences and select “Verses Start a New Line” to start each verse of the Bible on a new line.
Show/Hide Strong’s Numbers
Display the Strong’s information in your Bible text. You also have the option to hide the Strong’s numbers for uninterrupted reading.
How To Access the New Features
From inside Mac BibleReader 5.0.3, click on the “BibleReader” menu on the top Mac menu bar. Select “Preferences” to see the new feature options.
Simply check or uncheck the box for “Verses Start a New Line” to see the new display for Bibles. Check “Show Strong’s Numbers” to view Strong’s information in your Bible text.
Additional Features in this Update
- Improved window management with tear outs. Click on the “Window” menu to group all of your floating windows into one window.
- Adjust fonts for Greek and Hebrew independently. New “Original Language Fonts” option inside the font menu let you re-size Greek and Hebrew text.
Bible Maps
Jan 31st
Essential to a complete Bible study library is a good set of Bible maps or a Bible atlas. I find that in my study, looking at a map of the biblical landscape roots me to the reality of the Scriptures. I can follow the route of the Israelites out of Egypt, and see how the geography influenced travels, wars and so much more.
At Olive Tree, we carry several different sets of maps, and even recently released our own set of maps, produced by the Olive Tree team. We often get asked about the differences between each map collection. In particular, many customers have asked how Olive Tree Bible Maps differs from the other collections available in the Olive Tree Store. To answer this question, I turned to Brandon, one of the creators of our Olive Tree Bible Maps, to explain some of the advantages of our collection.
“With the Olive Tree Bible Maps, you get a dynamic product that will continually receive updates as scholars dig deeper into the archaeological world. Our maps are built on satellite imagery of the Holy Land and surrounding areas, displaying with clarity the geographical features that shape the landscape. We already have plans to add more maps to expand our existing product, taking your Bible study to an even further level—and our updates are always free! If the city, valley, or river that appears in your nightly Bible reading doesn’t appear in our maps, you can bet that it will be added soon.
“In my opinion, however, that’s not even the best thing about our Olive Tree Bible Maps. If you’re a fan of BibleReader’s Resource Guide (and if you’re not, you should check it out. Click here), then you can bet that any reference books that we produce under the Olive Tree name are going to be tailored for ease of use in the app. With Olive Tree Bible Maps, users will have the best maps product available for discovering geographic biblical places with our Resource Guide. Almost any place that is mentioned in the Bible (and also discovered by scholars and archaeologists with a reasonable amount of certainty) is on our maps, and with just a couple of clicks or taps in the Resource Guide, you’ll easily be able to find any biblical location.”
Brandon is right, the Olive Tree Bible Maps works wonders in your Resource Guide, ensuring that almost any city you search for can be found on a map. Keep in mind that, unlike some other atlases, the Olive Tree Bible Maps set is strictly a set of Bible maps. Currently there is no additional commentary or information about the maps. For a map set that includes commentary on the biblical locations and events, I’d recommend checking out the HarperCollins Atlas of Bible History or the Zondervan Atlas of the Bible.
Click here to find out more about the Olive Tree Bible Maps or see for yourself below. Click on an image to view samples of the maps in the set.
Preparing a Sunday School Lesson on BibleReader
Jan 26th
Developing the BibleReader apps and resources isn’t just a job for us here at Olive Tree. Like you, we are passionate about reading the Bible and we love using BibleReader to enhance our study of God’s Word. Now that BibleReader for Mac and PC is available, planning sermons, Bible studies and Sunday school lessons has never been easier.
We thought you might like to see BibleReader in action. Keith, an Olive Tree engineer and avid BibleReader fan, put together a step-by-step guide for preparing a Sunday school lesson on the PC BibleReader. Here’s Keith:
“I’ve been preparing Sunday school lessons on the “Lord’s Prayer”-Matt 6:9-13, and next Sunday’s lesson is on Matthew 6:11: Give us today our daily bread.”
“With the ESV Bible open in my PC desktop BibleReader, I type Matt 6:9 in the search bar in the upper right corner of the window and press enter. This takes me to this passage in the main window.”
“I’d like to make some text from this passage be my lesson title, so I highlight “Give us today our daily bread” in the Bible window and right click the highlight. This displays a menu from which I click “Copy” and now I can paste the text into my word program.”
“I want to know more about the word “bread” in the Matthew passage, so I right click on “bread” in the text which highlights the word and displays a menu with various search options. I select “Look up bread” from the menu.”
“From “Look up bread,” a list of articles, notes, images, etc. about “bread” will appear. I choose Easton’s Dictionary of the Bible from the “Articles,” which gives me a great article with some background information. I highlight the first two paragraphs in the pop-up window and right-click/copy/paste the section into my lesson document. Here’s what I find in the Easton’s Bible Dictionary:”
Bread–
Among the Jews was generally made of wheat (Ex 29: 2 Judg 6: 19), though also sometimes of other grains (Gen 14: 18; Judg 7: 13). Parched grain was sometimes used for food without any other preparation (Ruth 2: 14).
Bread was prepared by kneading in wooden bowls or “kneading troughs” (Gen 18: 6 Ex 12: 34; Jer 7: 18).
“The term “daily bread” reminds me of “manna,” so I look up manna by typing it into the search bar and hitting enter. In the right window, I now see headings that guide me to topics, articles, Bibles, images, charts, all about “manna”. I can simply click on a result to go to any of the articles and Bible passages that pique my interest. In “Search results in Open Books,” I choose the Bible I’m using for study to see a list of every time “manna” is mentioned in the Bible. I highlight and copy the verses I want to paste into my lesson plan.”
“But what does the word “manna” mean in the original Greek and Hebrew? I go back to my search results for manna and scroll to the “Search results in Dictionaries” to select Olive Tree’s “Enhanced Strong’s Dictionary” that comes with Strong’s numbered Bibles. Now I have information about manna in Hebrew and Greek:”
h4478. מנ man; from 4100; literally, a whatness (so to speak), i. e. manna (so called from the question about it): — manna.
AV (14)- manna 14;
manna the bread from Heaven that fed the Israelites for 40 years of wilderness wanderings means ‘ What is it?’
“Olive Tree has many original language reference works available, including many Bibles with Strong’s definitions that are tied to the words in the biblical text. In a Strong’s numbered Bible you can click the word “bread” and the Strong’s definition pops up with further options for searching deeper into the word right in the popup.”
“With this research under my belt, I’m well on my way to bringing an excellent and thought-provoking lesson to my Sunday School class.”
Thanks Keith! That was only an introduction to the basics of how BibleReader can help you prepare for Bible studies, Sunday School classes, sermons, and more. Sign up for one of our BibleReader webinars to learn even more about the features inside BibleReader.
Webinars for BibleReader
Jan 23rd
At Olive Tree, we are committed to “Live the Bible” in 2012, and we’ve made it a goal to encourage you to get deeper into the Word as well. One way we hope to make it easier for you to study the Bible is through our new live webinars. Led by our helpful Customer Support representatives, webinars are an interactive way to learn how BibleReader can enhance your Bible study. In them, you can ask questions and follow along on your screen and on your device.
Covering a variety of topics, Olive Tree webinars are designed around each operating system. Whether you have an iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android phone or tablet, Mac, or PC, you will learn how to use BibleReader on your device. Join Olive Tree for the “BibleReader Basics” webinar that features a short presentation on topics like using bookmarks, highlights and notes, and for the “BibleReader Intermediate” webinar that covers topics including advanced searching, the Resource Guide and Strong’s numbers. If you have any suggestions for topics you would like to see covered in a webinar, let us know at support@olivetree.com.
Take a look at our schedule and sign up for one of the upcoming sessions. The webinars are well worth the time and they’re free!
Lunch, Learning & Laughs (and a little competition)
Jan 19th
This week Olive Tree held the first-ever Employee Chili Cook Off. With six different varieties of chili, ranging from so-hot-it-will-melt-your-eyeballs to pleasantly mild, no employee went hungry. While a clear winner wasn’t crowned, one thing is certain, Olive Tree employees can cook!
After fellowshipping around our chili bowls, Olive Tree CEO Drew Haninger shared our company goals and achievements from 2011 and discussed the future of Olive Tree for 2012. 2011 marked great milestones for Olive Tree, including the release of BibleReader for Nook, Kindle, Mac and a beta for Windows. We also reached 1,000 titles (now over 1300) available on our Olive Tree store for Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad and Android. Our book formatters kept track of our progress, completing the “unicornometer” of titles at the end of August.
Our company lunches often include a time for our employees to learn more about the features and resources we offer. At this recent meeting one of our knowledgeable book formatters presented information about two original language resources: HALOT and Louw-Nida Greek Lexicon. HALOT, or the Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, is a new resource soon to be available in the Olive Tree store. Over 80 years in the making, HALOT is widely considered to be the standard scholarly lexicon for Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic. Learn more about HALOT and its extensive features by visiting the Olive Tree store.
A resource that has often led to confusion for our Olive Tree customers, Louw-Nida Greek Lexicon is a uniquely different Greek lexicon. Based on “semantic domains”, Louw-Nida groups similar words under contextual categories. Best used for advanced and intermediate Greek translators, find out more about this resource at the Olive Tree store.
As proud as we are of the achievements, resources, and software that we’ve produced in 2011, we look forward to 2012 as a year for even greater improvement. Olive Tree’s mission, however, remains the same: “Inspire people to connect with God and the Bible.” We strive to encourage everyone not only to study the Bible, but to “Live the Bible” in 2012 (Matthew 4:4).
BibleReader for Windows 7: Beta Preview
Jan 10th
After releasing BibleReader for Mac, the latest in our line of Bible study apps, we had an outpouring of requests from our Olive Tree users for a PC version. We’ve been keeping you updated on our progress with BibleReader for Windows 7, and I’ve got more exciting news for you: we are giving users a preview of the BibleReader beta for Windows 7 and you can download it here!
Sync your notes, bookmarks and highlights from your other devices, download your purchased books, and use the resource guide to dig deeper into the Bible. Most of your favorite BibleReader features are already available in the Windows 7 beta preview and our engineers are hard at work adding more tools to enhance Bible study. While this is just a preview of our software for PC, we are encouraged by the feedback from our users already testing BibleReader on their Windows 7 PC. If you have tried it out, let us know what you think on Facebook. Click on any of the images below to take a look at the Windows 7 BibleReader beta preview in use:
Live the Bible in 2012
Jan 5th
We want to wish our Olive Tree Family a blessed New Year! As a community passionate about the Bible, we know that God’s love and kindness brings us back to new beginnings, making commitments to grow in our faith.
With the start of a new year upon us, we want to encourage you to commit to live the Bible every day. For some that may mean connecting with God by reading the Bible and praying daily. For others, it might mean an even deeper commitment to understand and study God’s Word.
All of us need a reminder to take what we’ve read and put it into action. We encourage you to make a new beginning with God and Live the Bible in 2012. As we read in James 1:22: “…be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” We are cheering you on!
We are passionate about living the Bible in 2012 because we know that God’s Word changes lives. We are excited to share that passion with you through great Bible study software and resources in 2012. Together we can be partners in knowing God through his Word, making Him known in our communities and across the world.
Have a blessed New Year!
Olive Tree Team
p.s. If you have a story of how the Bible has changed your life in 2011 let us know here!