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A quick update from ETS
Nov 16th
I’m in San Diego right now standing at the Olive Tree booth at the annual conference for ETS. We were excited to see user responses to the new Unicode HMT. We talked to and helped a lot of happy Olive Tree users – this was my favorite part of this year’s ETS. Now it’s off to downtown San Diego to get set up for SBL. More later…
- Stephen
Early Release of Unicode HMT Available at ETS/SBL
Nov 12th
This week we are headed to beautiful San Diego, CA for the Evangelical Theological Society’s (ETS) national conference and for the Society of Biblical Literature’s (SBL) national conference. We would love for you to come by our booth at ETS and/or at SBL. We will be at booth 517 at ETS and booth 419 at SBL. We will have an early release version’s of the new Unicode HMT available for sale at both of these conferences. For those who have already purchased the HMT you can drop by our booth and we will upgrade your files for free 
Stephen
An Author Everyone Should Know
Oct 15th
Few Christian writers, from the present or the past, have affected my life and the lives of other Christians I know as much as Andrew Murray (1828-1917). His books are the kind you come back to again and again, savoring every line, reading slowly and prayerfully, drawing near to the Christ he knew and loved and expressed so well. It’s hard to read very far without stopping to pray, for the Spirit of prayer seems to be the very atmosphere of Andrew Murray’s books; moreover, the author speaks so directly to you, the reader, that it’s sometimes hard to believe you don’t know him; of course, in the Spirit, as a fellow member of Christ’s body, you do.
Andrew Murray grew up in South Africa nearly two centuries ago, both his father and grandfather being Scottish missionaries to that vast, untamed land. After attending school in Aberdeen, Scotland, and receiving theological training in the Netherlands, Andrew returned to South Africa as an ordained minister of the Dutch Reformed Church. This author almost never refers to himself in his books, so it’s surprising to read a biography of Murray and to find out about the trials he endured and the burdens he bore. Once, as a young pastor, serving remote farmers in the wide-open landscape, he was surrounded by wolves. After his horse threw him and ran away, Murray walked by faith the rest of the way to his parishioners’ farmhouse, many miles it was, wolves snapping at him all the while but never touching him. Though a man of much practical experience, it seems that Murray focuses every book on one thing only: the indwelling Christ.
Olive Tree Bible Software is privileged to be able to publish in electronic format several of this beloved writer’s books (which number some 240), a few of which I’ll describe briefly. In The New Life: Words of God for Young Disciples of Christ Murray addresses new believers concerning the wonderful life they have received, his clear intention being to establish firmly their faith in Christ and to encourage them on the path of life and fruitfulness in Him. In With Christ in the School of Prayer, the author presents thirty-one lessons on prayer, one for every day of the month, echoing the disciples’ plea, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Reading this book, one is infused with faith that God wants to answer our prayers even more than we want them answered; in fact, He put the desire within us to begin with. In The Deeper Christian Life, Murray relates that the first and chief need of our Christian life is fellowship with God. Indeed, this theme, and the blessedness of abiding moment by moment in Christ, in absolute surrender, trusting Him to accomplish all that He has promised to do in us and through us, is the essential message of Andrew Murray’s fervent ministry to the body of Christ.
“I have learnt,” he says, “to place myself before God every day, as a vessel to be filled with His Holy Sprit. He has filled me with the blessed assurance that He, as the everlasting God, has guaranteed His work in me. If there is one lesson that I am learning day by day, it is this; that it is God who worketh all in all. Oh, that I could help any brother or sister to realize this!”
The 100 Milestone
Sep 20th
Recently Olive Tree Bible Software surpassed a significant milestone. We now offer over 100 Bible translations! Olive Tree strives to provide you with resources for you to grow in your Christian walk, and we know Bible translations are a fundamental part of that effort. We will continue to provide you with Bible translations in English and other languages. When we have fully supported Unicode format (currently in beta), we will be able to offer Bible translations in many of the world’s languages, in addition to the non-English translations we already offer.
We have just added several Bible translations that pushed us past the 100 milestone, including William Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament and parts of the Old Testament, a Tagalog (Phillipines) translation, and a Swahili New Testament. Of course, we have had for many years the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the New International Version (NIV), the King James Version (KJV), the English Standard Version (ESV) and other English Bible translations. We also offer numerous non-English translations of the Bible as well as an extensive set of Greek and Hebrew language Bible materials.
The 100 milestone also applies to our free resources. We have over 100 free resources, and roughly a third of those are free Bibles. And we have more on the way! We often post New Releases every week and you can look for more free resources and free Bibles in the future.
Olive Tree is a growing company with a great future. We seek to provide you with the best resources and the most useful BibleReader possible. No small part of that is the free resources and free BibleReader we provide to our customers. May they be a blessing to you in your walk with the Lord.
Job Opening for a Java Programmer at Olive Tree!
Sep 11th
We are currently looking for a Java Programmer that could help us develop the BibleReader for Java platforms. The number of BlackBerrys and J2ME enabled phones is rapidly growing. Olive Tree strives to support as many popular mobile platforms as possible. To provide customers with the best experience on BlackBerrys and J2ME enabled phones we need another programmer who can take charge of the Java BibleReader.
The job posting follows.
Software Developer – I (Java/J2ME/C++ Programmer)
- Olive Tree Bible Software is looking for a part/full time engineer in Java J2ME.
- We have several Java BibleReader platforms and need to do more development.
Ideal Requirements: 3-5 years professional experience with Java, J2ME, and C++.
- Experience as part of a multi-person software development team.
- Experience in developing applications for the BlackBerry or J2ME cell phones.
- Locations: Greater Northwest (states of Washington, Idaho, Oregon)
- Most work will be done from home.
- Self motivated and productive when not constantly supervised.
Additional Useful Experience: (not required)
- Linux C++ programming, PHP, and MySql database.
- Experience in Biblical material or Bible Software.
- Experience in Biblical Greek and Hebrew.
- Experience in the field of information retrieval.
To apply for this position, please email your resume to drew@olivetree.com with the subject line: Resume
Unicode on Palm
Aug 29th
Many of you may have seen the post a few weeks ago about Hebrew and Aramaic developments on the Pocket PC. I am happy to let you know that we have been working on these features on Palm as well Unfortunately, the Palm OS is still in the dark ages when it comes to font support. To make Hebrew look the best we needed to support Unicode and take advantage of technologies that have been developed for rendering complex scripts. Since Palm does not support this we had to create our own Unicode solution for Palm.
You may be wondering just what is Unicode and why is it important. Unicode is a character encoding that is used to represent characters in most of the world’s scripts. So by supporting Unicode on Palm we now have a way to render text from most languages! See the screen shot below for an example (we have not applied any cursive joining rules on this screen shot).
The first book we are working on with Unicode support is the HMT. Here is a screen shot of the beta version of HMT with Unicode support. The display and rendering of the Hebrew is much improved with this new Unicode HMT.
The Complete Word Study Bible Integrates Several Tools in One
Apr 16th
If you’re looking for a one volume Bible study tool that combines a solid translation (KJV) with Stong’s numbers, inline grammatical data on every word, extensive cross-references, book introductions, footnote commentaries on key passages, Hebrew and Greek dictionaries, word studies, and more, the Complete Word Study Bible, published by AMG and available for your PDA or Smartphone from Olive Tree, may be just what you need. This work is the fruit of 46 years of research by noted scholar Dr. Spiro Zodhiates. Available in bookstores as a four-inch thick hardback, this treasure can now be held in your palm or stored in your pocket.
Let’s take a look briefly at how we can use CWSB to investigate a word, phrase, passage, or book from the Bible. Turning to John 1:1, we read “In the beginning was the Word…” We see the title John, the subtitle The Word Became Flesh, and two links, one to an introduction explaining the authorship, uniqueness, style, and contents of the Gospel of John. The other link pulls up a commentary on the subtitled section, John 1:1-17. In this footnote/commentary, we learn about the eternal existence of Christ as the Logos or “Intelligence” Who originated everything that exits, and we read about His becoming the expression of that Intelligence as a man. We also learn that the first of two Greek verbs for to be used in the passage indicates His eternal pre-existence while the second indicates His entrance into a new state and His continuation in that state. Hyperlinked cross references give us the opportunity to search out these observations. By the time we have read the introduction to John’s gospel and the commentary on 1:1-17, we have an understanding of the context in which John writes “in the beginning.”
Now we can go deeper by looking at the word beginning by tapping on Menu, Display, and Toggle Strongs. Here we see inline grammatical codes and Strong’s numbers in parentheses following each and every word. Tapping on the grammatical data, we see that the word beginning is anarthrous (that is, without an article) and that it is a noun. Rather than being left to ponder on our own what these grammatical facts mean, we can follow hyperlinks to clear and complete explanations of the significance of each fact. Tapping on the Strong’s number, we now see an extensive definition of the Greek word for beginning, including nine points about its usage in various ways in the Bible (complete with hyperlinked references). We also find an explanation of the word’s derivation, a list of synonyms with hyperlinked Strong’s numbers, and a list of antonyms, also with links. There is too much lexical information in this entry to go into in this article. Suffice it to say that the reader is given a rich impression of the eternal pre-existence of the Logos and His overwhelming pre-eminence in this universe along with a thorough knowledge of the word beginning as it used throughout the New Testament.
I hope these comments on the CWSB give some impression of its value to serious Bible students. With a mimimal knowledge of biblical languages, or even no knowledge at all, we can use the CWSB to lead us into a deeper understanding of the wonderful truths about Christ and the Church in the Bible.
How Do I Get a Concordance for My PDA or Smartphone?
Apr 2nd
Every serious student of the Bible appreciates the value of a concordance, not only for finding a verse one can’t seem to locate, but also for searching out the various places in the Scriptures where certain terms and topics are addressed.
Many users of Bible software for PDA’s and smartphones ask us to include concordances among our product offerings, not realizing that their BibleReader software already contains, in essence, copies of the great concordances by Strong, Young, and Cruden as well as the Englishman’s Hebrew and Greek Concordances. “I don’t remember buying them,” you say? That’s because you didn’t need to. Olive Tree’s search engine does everything any kind of printed concordance can do—actually, far more—and it does it much faster.
Searching for a particular verse? Just select a Bible, any Bible. (You can’t do that with the printed concordances because they are translation-specific.) Type in a word or phrase from the verse you are trying to find. Keep it short and simple because, unless you have the exact wording, you may not find what you’re looking for. I would like to use the New King James Version, NKJV, to look for the verse that says, “The Spirit is life because of righteousness.” I set the search engine to look for an exact match, limit the range to the New Testament, type the words “Spirit is life,” and away we go. In a second, literally, I’ve discovered that the verse I’m looking for is Romans 8:10. By selecting that verse and tapping “Go to,” I’m there in an instant, ready to read. Try doing this with a printed concordance. You’ll probably find that it takes much longer.
Or maybe you would just like to look up the word “faith” in the entire New Testament. Suppose you want to use The New Testament in Modern English by J. B. Phillips. I doubt you’ll find an exhaustive concordance in print for this translation. With your PDA or smartphone, select the translation, go to the search window, type in the word “faith,” choose the “Exact” option again, and search. A split second later you have 304 results. You can read through all of these in sequence, scan the list and find the results that pertain to the aspect of faith you are looking for, or try another search that is more limited. Suppose you want to study the relationship between faith and Christ. Type in both words and select as your search option “All Words Any Order.” You now have 51 results, all pertinent to what you are studying. It might take hours to do this with a printed concordance, and you’d be limited to the King James Version and a very few others.
Can you do this with Greek or Hebrew words? Yes, but you can also search using Strong’s numbers, which is often the best way to search in Hebrew and Greek since these languages are highly inflected. In other words, a single word may appear in many different forms. Assuming you want to see every instance of a Greek or Hebrew word, regardless of its form, just use KJV Strongs or NASB Strongs; find the Strong’s number of the word you want to search for by going to a verse that contains it and toggling the numbers on (if they are not already on); type that number into the search window; and immediately you have the results you’re looking for.
Although printed concordances are wonderful tools in their own right, none of them enables you to do everything that I’ve just mentioned, and I’ve only pointed out a few of the options possible. Moreover, your electronic Bibles, which automatically come with all these search capabilities and more, enable you to do in seconds what may take hours with printed Bibles and a printed concordance. One more very important advantage to the electronic medium is this: all these Bibles and concordances fit in the palm of your hand or, when you’re not using them, in your pocket. Wow!
For additional suggestions on Bible searches, see “The Why and How of Bible Searches” in Olive Tree’s article series Explore the Bible on Your PDA or Smartphone.
Words of Comfort, Strength, and Inspiration by Amy Carmichael
Mar 26th
For months I have enjoyed Amy Carmichael’s daily devotional Edges of His Ways on my PDA. The selections are penetrating and comforting expressions of the author’s genuine experiences of the Lord. Olive Tree has now added three more books by this endearing writer — If, Mimosa, and Gold Cord.
As a young woman called by the Lord, Amy Carmichael journeyed from Ireland to India around 1900. Born out of her many years of abiding in Christ in faithful service to the people of south India, a community of believers called Dohnavur Fellowship thrives to this day. Amy’s many books reflect her rich faith and love for the Lord and His Body, wrought through the fires of suffering.
If is a series of pithy conditional sentences that cut to the heart of what it means to be a Christian. This little book is all about the real essence of Calvary love, reminiscent of 1 Corinthians 13. As readers, we would do well to take each small portion and ponder it, confessing our lack of this genuine love and asking the Lord to be our All, as only He can be.
Mimosa is a the remarkable true story of a young Hindu girl who visited Dohnavur with her father and older sister, and, despite only a few minutes time in fellowship with Amy and others, received a personal revelation that God is love. For years little Mimosa had no further contact with Amy and Dohnavur, and she didn’t even know that the God she served and loved had a name, Jesus. Carried by God’s love through experiences of persecution, ostracism, toil, and personal loss, Mimosa grew closer and closer to her Lord; then, finally, as a grown woman, mature and wise, she returned to Dohnavur and told her story, to the astonishment of Amy and the rest. This book is so touching, and the story so beautifully told, that I have had trouble keeping a copy because I always want to give it away for someone else to enjoy.
Gold Cord is the story of Dohnavur Fellowship. A gold cord, in contrast to wood, hay, and stubble, is Amy’s symbol for the bond of love that unites this group of believers and, according to the author’s hope, extends to her readers.
I trust you will enjoy all of these wonderful writings by Amy Carmichael.
Bible Biographies by F. B. Meyer
Mar 21st
Did you ever wish someone could take you back to Bible times to view in detail the lives of outstanding figures in the Scriptures, like Moses, David, and Paul? F. B. Meyer has done that, and Olive Tree is happy to announce the publication for your PDA or smartphone of three new eBook Bible biographies by this outstanding writer and dear man of God. These include Moses, David, and Paul, and there are more on the way.
Having thoroughly enjoyed all of these books, I can’t say enough about how much I benefited from reading them. Every point the author makes is rooted in the Bible, and yet I found myself saying frequently, “I never thought of that before!” Surprisingly vivid descriptive details are interwoven with the narrative. Relevant historical elements are pointed out to enhance understanding.
Most importantly, though true biographies, these books are devotional in character. They draw a reader’s heart to Christ, and they help explain our experience of the Lord as it is portrayed in the lives of Moses, David, Paul and the other characters that surround them. It is not too much to say that these books are life-changing, for one comes away with a sweeter, deeper appreciation of the love and sovereignty of God viewed again and again in the lives of these saints.