This is here because my son Daniel wants to learn how to do this.  So I have put it here for him.

Unless this was your wall.

Wanna have some fun?  Here’s an idea!

I like Bible Study software.  It is fun to play with and use.  I like to learn how to get the most out of them.  It is just enjoyable.  Plus, for anyone who reads, studies, or teaches the Word, it is helpful to have and know how to use a good, powerful Bible Study program.

But sometimes I just want to find a verse fast, read it or quote it in a document or email.  And the big boys have become so large and powerful that they take a little while to load.  Some as much as a minute.  If you have lot of translations in some of them they take a long time to query which are there.  That is why I like Berean Bible Study Freeware.  It is simple, small, and quick.

There are not a lot of books and commentaries.  This is not for serious Bible students who want to consult commentaries and get original language definitions.  It also doesn’t have all the translations.  There are 11.  But unlike some of the free software you can read the ESV, NKJV, and NET.  No NIV or NASB though.  But that is one reason I like it.  It is not bloated.  I found it and installed in about five minutes.  I will put a link to it on the top of my start menu and when I need a quick verse I will not open QuickVerse.  I will open Berean Bible Study Freeware.

Frank-&-Hilda-Shilander, originally uploaded by kerussojc.

I recently had a computer snafu that caused me to lose all my pictures on my hard drive. Fortunately I had them backed up on CD and DVD. However, I found a disc my dad sent me that included this photo. It also had a ton of old pictures from my childhood and my parents’ childhoods. This pictures is significant because I didn’t know much about my grandfather and even less about my grandmother. She died when my mom was an baby and he died before my parents were married. My mom’s step mom was my grandmother growing up. I had never actually seen a picture of either of them until today, the day I am posting this.

Back in the dark ages of the computing we were told we would have dumb client computers that were connected by a network to a main computer with all the software on it.  People scoffed but while those days are not here, they are getting closer.

Today you can use a office suite online via Google Docs among others. You can edit pictures using services like Photoshop Express and others.  And you can even keep a database of your church’s membership and giving records online.  Want to do your taxes online or manage your checking account?  Want to keep your finances online?  All can be done.

Well, I just found a program that will let you do online bible research.  These have been available for quite some time.  You will find links to the right.  But Christianity.com has a software suite that is more comprehensive.  It has almost all of the major translations, a decent set of reference titles, and some nice articles and spiritual helps.  You can also do bible reading and devotions.  The commentaries are not the best or most up to date, but they are very good.  If you are a pastor then check out the sermon resources like articles, illustrations, and preaching improvement helps.

One of the great features that I have not seen in any of the other online bibles is the ability to add your own notes.  The interface is well done.  It connects to the translation or to a verse no matter which translation you use.  I am tempted to go online with all my note taking as this would make it available no matter which program I used locally.   Of course then it would not be available if I didn’t have Internet access.

What it doesn’t do is allow you to customize the behavior of things like notes.  I would rather have the add note feature always add notes to every version by default.  It wants to add notes to the translation presently viewed by default.  I could not find a way to change it.  There is a drop down "options" menu item on the Bible viewer.  But when you navigate away from the page and then return it doesn’t remember your options.  In fact there are a lot of little things like this that I would love to see improved.

Another glaring weakness is original language study tools.  My first thought was that they are not trying to reach an audience who would want such a thing.  Most Christians don’t want to translate Malachi from Hebrew or study the tenses of a Paul’s letter to Timothy.  But adding a tab for Sermon Helps proves this notion wrong.  Maybe they will add it later.  For now enjoy the Strong’s dictionary and Robertson’s Word Pictures.

Despite its weaknesses, I would have to say that this is really the BEST online bible I have used.  I put a link in my IE toolbar and plan to add it to my links on my site and my church’s site.

Found a great by a lay pastor and software creator by the name of Jerry Foster.  He has created a site with a very comprehensive Bible software review.  It is nicely done  with a chart listing the features of the major programs and ranking of the reviewer’s favorites.  It is well done.  The list leaves off BibleWorks one of my favorites, since it is designed primarily for original language study.  It also does not include PC Study Bible, which I reviewed recently for Christian Computing Magazine.  He said he left it off since it is not in a good state and even quotes someone from the company as admitting the program is not quite ready for prime time (my words, not his).  That makes the page a 3 star page instead of a 4 star page.  But it is still quite useful.

Took a break from sermon writing and other church stuff this morning and singed up for Twitter.  It is a silly site that is becoming hugely popular.  On Twitter you send short little updates about what you are doing.  You add people to your list and you follow what they are doing.  For some reason people are getting all excited about this.

If you want to follow me, go to Twitter and look for kapurcell.  Why would you want to do that?  I have NO clue.  But this thing is all the rage.

I sure do have a handsome pair of boys.