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.

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!

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:

A few of the PC features we are excited about include a full Resource Guide, multi-window reading, and free sync capability from the PC to mobile devices and Mac. As always, the Olive Tree BibleReader software will be completely free. Look for more news and release information for the PC BibleReader in January and February.

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For over 12 years Olive Tree has dedicated it’s time and resources to providing premier Bible study tools to your mobile device. With the advent of the iPhone, Olive Tree quickly became a leader for Bible study in the app world. And the iPad…Olive Tree brought you one of the best looking and best study tools available on a tablet.

Now, after meeting everyone on their favorite mobile platform, Olive Tree is stepping it up once again.
Olive Tree is excited to bring you a desktop app for Mac (PC coming soon)!

Taking the concepts from our iPad and iPhone app, we’ve brought a whole new experience to desktop Bible Software. Whether you just want to read with no distractions, study with the Resource Guide, take notes while you’re reading, or searching your library, you will find Olive Tree’s desktop app to be just as simple and beautiful to use as the app on your phone or tablet.

For more information about the BibleReader on Mac you can look here. 

To keep up with our latest news please follow us on Twitter or become a fan on our Facebook Page

For believers, more than failing physical bodies, growing older brings its share of challenging questions: What is God’s purpose for this time in my life? How do I serve God with my growing limitations? How do I remain hopeful when I’m surrounded by pain and loss?

These concerns are addressed honestly in Billy Graham’s Nearing Home: Life, Faith and Finishing Well. Written for more than just the elderly, Graham teaches readers of all ages how to prepare for the challenges of growing old. At ninety-three Billy Graham is no stranger to the difficulties of advanced age, but he doesn’t let it keep him from faithfully ministering to people around the world. His new book shows that old age is “not a time to be despised or a burden to be endured with gritted teeth.” Instead, Graham uses examples form Scripture to show how God continues to work through His people, no matter their age.

No one knows God’s plans for the future, but we can know for sure that whether or not we live to be ninety-three, someday all of us will be called home. It is Graham’s desire and ours here at Olive Tree that we would learn to grow older with grace and, like our mentors before us, find the guidance needed to finish well.

But here’s the concern: all these valuable resources can focus us so much on what the Bible says that we can neglect to focus on what the Bible says to do. Even beyond Bible study, our passion here at Olive Tree is going into all the world to make disciples. In fact, one of our mottos is “ Mobilize Your Bible Study,”  reflecting the value such portability gives when you are doing just that: going into all the world.

That’s why I’m excited to announce that this week we’ll be exhibiting at Catalyst Inland Northwest.  The featured speakers are Luis Palau, Ajay Pillai, and George Verwer.  Do you know how rare it is to be able to hear these three dynamic and missions-minded speakers in the same place, let alone the same continent? Millions have been touched through God’s use of these brothers and the people in their ministries.

And Olive Tree Bible Software will be there.  If you’re in the Pacific Northwest, stop by and see our display at Calvary Church in Spokane, Washington.

I bet you’re not thinking about what are probably the greatest thinkers among Biblical scholars. But that’s who is gathering to the city by the bay in the coming weeks.

Why all the Biblical discussion? It’s time for the Society for Biblical Literature (SBL) and the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) annual brouhahas.

At SBL you’ll find out about the latest in Biblical research. There will be books and digital resources and of course, that’s where we come in with Olive Tree Bible Software.

If you’re around on Sunday, November 20 be sure and check out the Bible software shootout. Along with Accordance and Logos Bible Software we’ll be demonstrating the usefulness of our software in the classroom with a 35 minute presentation followed by questions. The goal is to demonstrate how easily software can be used in the classroom for English Bible classes and/or original languages. Why not plan on attending the Shoot Out and stopping by our booth to see Daniel, or one of our other fine representatives?

The MacInites, the PCites, Tabletites, and Phone-ites discuss Bible software platforms

We’ll also be proudly displaying our digital prowess at ETS. “Founded in 1949, the Evangelical Theological Society is a group of scholars, teachers, pastors, students, and others dedicated to the oral exchange and written expression of theological thought and research.” Their theme this year is “No Other Name,” and promises to have presentations that will definitely challenge your thinking in this complex world. So if you’re headed to ETS definitely come by and see us.

I know what most of you are saying: “Finally!”

Well, if you’re from Norway, this is actually a really big deal. Olive Tree Bible Software is the first to offer the Bibelen 2011 for mobile devices!

Out of necessity, most translations of God’s Word in Norwegian have been idiomatic to a greater or lesser extent.

On the other hand, “Bibel 2011″ is based rather upon a concordant translation principle, where the translators aim to reproduce the Biblical texts as close to the original as possible.

The language used is good and makes biblical text understandable for today’s people. This version comes in two dialects: The Bokmål and the Nynorsk. We also have the Bibelen 1978/85 Bokmål.

Another thing we, at Olive Tree are excited about is that since the translation is based on the oldest manuscripts it’s very reliable.

To view all Norwegian Bibles Click HERE.

We’ve updated the interface for Android users!
Our new Android tablet interface is designed to make your Bible study experience seamless and intuitive…letting you focus on God and the Bible instead of technology.
Discover how in-app purchasing can expand your mobile Bible Study Library

We will soon be posting a public beta and hope to have the market release follow as soon as possible.
Make sure to let us know how these features enhanced your Bible Study experience!
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Click on the thumbnails below to see actual screen shots of the popups in action.

Tablet Cross Reference

Tablet Strong's Number with Notes open

Phone with Cross Reference Popup

Phone landscape with verse hyperlink popup