In Come Ye Children, C.H. Spurgeon offers his advice on sharing the gospel with children and training them early in the things of God. It is filled with scriptural examples that demonstrate the importance of caring for those who are young in faith, and helping them develop their understanding of the gospel.

Get this great title for Free, to read in The Bible Study App, by clicking HERE.

Web site links in notes

Web site links now show as hyperlinks in the notes view and will open in the user’s default web browser. These links must start with “http://”, “https://”, or “www.”. To open one of these links hold down Ctrl and click on the link (Figure 2).

Figure 1

Figure 2

Multi-verse highlights

To access this feature click on a verse hyperlink (Figure 3) and select the highlight option. You’ll then see up and down arrows that allow you to select multiple verses to highlight (Figure 4).

Figure 3

Figure 4

Categories can be organized with drag and drop

In 5.3.1 the ability to drag annotations into a category was added. In this release that same functionality has been expanded to categories as well. From the annotation lists this allows you to move a category into another category (Figure 5).

Categories can also be organized from the managed categories view. In this view categories can be holistically managed. They can be moved into or out of each other to achieve the desired hierarchy (Figure 6).

Figure 5

Figure 6

Additional Changes

• The current search hit now displays with a different color to differentiate it from other search results.
• Search suggestions are now displayed when typing in the main search field.
• Right clicking on a resource in the library views now allows you to select where the resource will be opened. This include resources shown in the quick launch sections on the left sidebar.

The Bible Study App makes the NICOT/NICNT even more dynamic.  Here’s how:

Resource Guide

Open your preferred Bible Translation in the main window and have the Resource Guide open in the Split Window.  You’ll see relevant NICOT/NICNT commentary “hits” in the split window.

The Bible Study App also keeps up with the scripture passage you’re reading in the main window with sync scrolling.  This means that as you move along in the Bible text, the NICOT/NICNT syncs to exactly where you are in your study.  No more flipping pages back and forth.  No more holding the commentary text open on your desk in one spot, reading through your Bible text, and having to go back and find your place in the commentary. You’ll save an enormous amount of time with this feature alone.

Search & Look Up Feature

Search the NICOT/NICNT for words or passages.  Take “love” as an example.  You can search the entire NICOT/NICNT series for where “love” is mentioned in the commentary series.  You can also limit your search to the Old Testament, New Testament, biblical genre, or a specific book.

When your search hits are displayed, you can tap on the result to go directly to that passage. You can also copy the text to add to an existing note or add a note right from the search results.

Linked Reference Pop ups

One of my greatest frustrations in the hard copy world of biblical commentaries are the other biblical references within the commentary.  For example, when I’m reading in Matthew about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry there are multiple references to The Lord’s Chosen servant in Isaiah that are pertinent to my study.  With a hard copy, I have to open a different Bible and find each and every reference to read how the verse relates to what I am currently studying.  This is time consuming, slows down my study momentum, and requires me to keep all of my study materials out and open, spread out over a large desk space. With The Bible Study App, the scripture references are hyperlinked within the commentary text.  All I have to do is tap the scripture reference to read it instantly.

Related to this is footnotes/endnotes.  Since the NICOT/NICNT is a highly scholarly work, there are a lot of references to other materials.  In the past I would have to stop where I was in the reading, look at the footnote, then go back to where I was in the writing.  This also was a huge time waster, and I would often lose my train of thought.  With The Bible Study App, all of the footnotes are linked.  Just tap on the footnote, read it, and go back to where you were without losing your place.

As you can see, the NICOT/NICNT within The Bible Study App gives you the best in scholarly work, while saving you valuable study time and tremendous effort.  Get the NICOT and NICNT at 40% off the regular price this week through Monday, May 27^th.

One of my favorite features in The Bible Study App is the Split Window feature.  However, when preparing for a sermon or small group lesson, sometimes two windows just aren’t enough.  For example, when I prepare for teaching, I like to compare multiple Bible translations, study Bibles, commentaries, dictionaries, concordances, atlases, and my own notes I’ve taken on the Scriptures I’m studying. This is not a problem in The Bible Study Desktop App.  All I have to do is use the pop out feature in The Bible Study App.

I start with the split window feature in The Bible Study Desktop App (here’s a helpful video on split window feature in Windows) by clicking the split window button .  I then click the Pop out button  at the top right hand corner of The Bible Study App.  This opens a new pop out window in the resource that I’m already in.  I can accomplish the same task by hitting the drop down menu and choosing “Open this book in a new window”.

Next, I choose the resource that I want to view in this new window by choosing it from the drop down menu.

I continue this process until I have all of the Bibles, Study Bibles, Commentaries, etc. open that I want to view for this study.  With this option, I can view all of the resources I want at the same time and the multiple windows will sync with where I am in the main window of the app.

How do you utilize the pop out feature in The Bible Study App?

If you’re looking for influence and impact, don’t overlook the greatest leader who ever lived. He started a movement that has been growing ever since his birth and has now spread around the globe. Here are two statements that Jesus made that should be the foundation of our leadership and influence:

Matthew 23:11
The greatest among you shall be your servant.

Luke 22:26
But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.

In both passages Jesus takes the human picture of leadership and turns it on its head. In Luke 22:27, Jesus makes the most important leadership statement the world has ever heard: “But I am among you as the one who serves.”

Are you in a position of leadership right now? Here are three ways you can be an influential leader who serves:

1.  Learn to follow.
Being a leader is lonely because one of the definitions of leadership means you’re out in front, like a shepherd leading the way. But as followers of Jesus we’re not the chief shepherd. He is. Our ability to lead and influence is only as great as our dependence on Jesus. We never arrive in our process of becoming more like Him (in this life) and so we need to be expert followers to be good leaders. How does this affect our ability to serve those under our leadership? We need to be reminded that before God we are all sinners saved by grace and that our position before Him is the same.  This type of leading says, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”

2. Value everyone
In today’s culture, your position, title, and influence can often give you permission to separate yourself from others. Why should the CEO of a large company care about the individual factory worker who can easily be replaced? The farther you’re separated from those you lead, the easier it is to see others as a commodity as opposed to a uniquely created individual. As a Christian leader, if the vision or goal of your leadership becomes more important than the people you serve (lead) then you have a value problem.
The servant leader places high value on people by:

• Seeing people as God sees them
• Putting people over programs
• Creating a culture of listening – not just directing
• Being willing to extend grace and teach others, instead of creating rules that eliminate those with perceived weaknesses

3. Serving means doing
Do you remember the time when you had to stack chairs, clean toilets, or some other activity that you’re glad you don’t have to do anymore? While it’s true that roles change, leaders have to guard against the mentality of “I don’t do that anymore”. As a leader, people are counting on you and you do have to prioritize where you invest your time and energy. In light of this, how can you balance the unique role that only you can fill while still being a servant leader?
Do what you say.
Don’t preach anything you aren’t preaching to yourself and don’t recruit for a vision that you aren’t fully behind. Church leaders rely heavily on volunteers but rarely volunteer time themselves. Yes, practice what you preach.

The power behind our faith and our leadership is action, and leaders who shepherd like Jesus aren’t afraid to get dirty, smell like sheep, and serve with all their heart.

This week we highlight the free resource Of Justification by Faith and Works for use within The Bible Study App.

The idea of justification—the means by which a believer comes into right relationship with God— has been hotly debated throughout many periods of Christian history. Is it by grace? Is it through obeying God’s law? Is it by faith? Is it by works?

William Law, British theologian and prolific writer, adds his own perspective to the debate in his treatise Of Justification by Faith and Works. Get it HERE!

Tap on the ‘My Stuff’ icon.
Then tap Highlights> All Highlighters
Now tap and hold on the highlight you want to delete.

Want to know how to add a highlight? Click HERE.

This resource contains 140 full color maps key to biblical events:

and 140 full color photographs illustrating the land, sites, and archaeology of the biblical world:

The Holman Bible Atlas begins with an introduction to the geography of the biblical world emphasizing the major physical features of the Ancient Near East with special attention given to the geographical regions of Palestine.

There are also over 20 charts that give insight into the Biblical text:

With The Bible Study App, you can easily access the maps, charts, and pictures through the Table of Contents, by chapter, or Bible section.

Enhance your Bible Study with The Holman Bible Atlas, on sale now through May 20th.

The goal of this robust resource is to provide pastors, teachers, students, and devoted Bible readers a comprehensive and reliable library of information.

• More than 7,500 articles alphabetically arranged for easy reference, containing vital information on Bible lands and people.
• Hundreds of  illustrations, charts, graphs and maps for ready reference.
• Scholarly articles ranging across the entire spectrum of theological and biblical topics, backed by the most current body of archaeological research.
• 238 contributors from around the world.

Here’s how this great resource looks within The Bible Study App:

Easily navigate to key sections

Search articles alphabetically by topic

Great images and illustrations

The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible is on Sale this week only! Check it out HERE!