Bible.Is is a new iPhone Bible app that reads the Bible to you. It is not like many of the Bible apps that have introduced audio. Instead of computer generated Bible reading, it uses dramatized Bible readings. They get the audio from Faith Comes By Hearing, a ministry that supplies the Bible in 400 languages and free for download. Thanks to Bible.is you get it on your iPhone or iPad. It is also available on other platforms, like Android and hopefully Windows Mobile, Blackberry and Symbian OS in the near future. Until then you can subscribe to the SMS version which sends a text message with links to the MP3 of that day’s reading. They say it will take you 40 days to listen to the entire New Testament.

I really like the iPhone app and think it is well worth the price, which is Free. But it would be worth it if it costs even more. Below is a video of the app reading from 1 Kings.

As you can hear it is high quality dramatized Bible reading. But that is not all Bible.is can do. You can of course read from a few different translations, including the ESV, one of my favorites. It doesn’t have as many modern translations as some apps, but it is free.

The app also lets you highlight text, take notes, and bookmark your favorite verses. Notice from the screen shots below that you can listen to the Bible by simply opening to a verse and hitting the play button. You choose to read from several English translations including ASV, BBE, CEV, ESV, KJV and NRSV. The audio is available only for some translations and sometimes only for the NT.

Dramatized Available: ESV OT & NT, KJV OT & NT, NRSV NT only

Non Dramatized Available: KJV NT only, NRSV NT only

These will have to be downloaded via the More option in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen (see bottom left row of screen shots).

If you want to get through the NT in just 40 days there is an audio listening program available for that (see above right).

You can search the Bible and add bookmarks, highlights, and notes. To add these just tap and hold the verse and the screen above center will appear. Tap the first icon on the top toolbar to add a bookmark. The center icon brings up the highlighting color options. And the third icon is for sharing the verse on Facebook. I wish it had Twitter, but maybe in a future release.

Once the verse is highlighted it will look like the upper left screen shot. The bookmarks list is in the center above and the right is for changing the text size or the language.

Below you will see the More screen options. Share is for sending verses via email. The settings screen is the one on the upper right. Download is for adding translations and audio Bibles. Support and About are what you would expect. The screen shot below on the right is for changing the toolbar icons. You can change the default to include other things as you wish.

I think Bible.is is a great Bible listening app. My only complaints are that it doesn’t have my favorite translations, the HCSB and it doesn’t share via Twitter.  Other than that it is a wonderful app well worth your time to download and use to listen to God’s word. I plan to listen to the program on the go via my car stereo (cassette adapter).

Holy Bible HD is another simple Bible reader app that has some very nice features.

When you open the app you will see the beautiful splash screen that goes away quickly on the iPad due to the device’s speed. It opens in a simple reader mode but can be used in dual pane mode, as you see below.

The app has some of the nice features that I believe all apps should include like note taking, highlighting, low light mode, and bookmarking. To get around in the Bible you can scroll through a chapter, move back and forth a chapter at a time using the arrows in the upper right, or you can tap the icon that looks like a Bible with its ribbon hanging out in the upper left. From there you can scroll through the list of books and chapters. You also choose your versions there using the Version Selector.

With the version selector open, you can add a second pain by selecting a version in the second scrolling list. The available versions are mostly public domain works or foreign language.

If you want to add translations, choose the Manage Bibles item. At the top of the window is the list of what you already have installed. Below that are available translations to download and install for free. You won’t find modern translations like the NIV, NASB, ESV, or HCSB. The developer says that they are too expensive to include in a free app and that is understandable.

Finally, to follow a daily Bible reading, open the window using the same icon in the upper left that you use to jump to another book or translation. The calendar icon reveals the Daily Reading window. There you can choose from the list of plans and then keep track of your progress.

If you don’t want to move around using the book and chapter scrolling wheel, then tap the location button which lets you type in a reference to instantly jump there. It is  in the upper left next to the Book/Chapter icon.

On the bottom left are icons to control your bookmarks, view the history of where you have been in the Bible, add or edit chapter notes, search the Bible or control the automatic scrolling mode. More on auto scrolling in a moment.

Bookmarks can be organized into folders. To add a bookmark simple tap and hold the verse number till the popup window appears. That menu lets you do a number of other things too, including copying the verse to the clipboard for pasting into another app. You can also add highlights of different colors and see what verses you have already highlighted.

There is a history button that shows you the list of where you have been in the app. Tap the passage and it takes you there.

To add a note, tap on the pencil icon. Notes are attached to chapters, not verses. You can then email the notes. This could be a handy way to get notes off the iPad and into a desktop app; just email them to yourself. To view a list of all your notes, from the editor, tap the notes list icon in the upper right end of the toolbar.

To search the app, hit the search icon on the toolbar. It has searching in exact mode which finds exact matches or what is called “close” for when you have a good idea of what you want to find but cannot remember the exact word or phrase. That “fuzzy searching” is a nice feature that some desktop apps don’t handle well.

Holy Bible HD has one really cool feature for reading the Bible. It is called the auto scrolling mode. Tap the down arrow button and the content starts scrolling. You can control the speed via the settings menu button on the lower right hand side.

Speaking of the settings, there are a number of nice customizations you can do to the app. They include changing the font and paragraph modes. You can also change the colors of the font and background. This is how you get low light mode. Simple change the background to a dark color and the font to a light one like white. I wish it was a one tap process but at least it is there.

Bible Reader HD is another simple reader app that is not designed for serious Bible reading. It lacks modern translations but it is also free in the app store. Don’t expect modern translations in the future either. The developer says they are not coming. But for the simple reader apps, it has a lot to offer and should be given serious consideration by users who want a free reader app and don’t need anything but public domain translations.

One of the best modern Bible translations is the ESV. I have chosen to read through it this year in my devotionals. The publisher is Crossway and they are aggressively pushing it into the digital realm. If any of the free Bible apps on the iPad have a modern translation available it is often the ESV.
Crossway has their own Bible Reader app too. The ESV Bible is a simple Bible Reader app and little more. With it you can read only the ESV. You can do a few other things as well.

You navigate through the Bible by scrolling or to quickly jump to a passage you choose the strangely named Browse button.

If you are a Twitter user, you can post verses online for your followers to read. And you can also email right from within the app.

The app also support personal note taking and highlighting via the more button on the right end of the toolbar. Or you can press and hold the text of a verse to open a dialogue box. From there you can access reference notes, post to twitter, send the verse by email. highlight the verse or add it to your favorites.

To search tap the search button.ESV Bible is a very basic Bible reader. It doesn’t have a lot of frills. It does not have the ability track Bible reading plans or a low light mode. And there are no other books or translations in it. But if all you want to do is read and share the ESV Bible then the free app cannot be beat. It is a  univesal app too, so it will work on both the iPad and the iPhone/iPod Touch.

Below is a video that I shot to show you the interface of the program.

HANDiBIBLE is a simple to use Bible Reader for the Apple iPad. It does not have a lot of features, but that is by design. Jerry Beers is a responsive developer who is always willing to listen to the requests of his customers. There are a few different versions. The cheapest has the KJV for only $1.99, but you can also get The Message, a German Bible and a Romanian Bible as well.

The interface is much like Windows Explorer with the books of the Bible along the left while the actual Bible is on the right. Above the list of the books of the Bible are buttons for entering your verse to jump to a new passage or for searching to find words and phrases in the Bible. You can easily share Bible passages with the button on the upper left of the Bible pane. Unfortunately it jumps out of the app into the Mail app. You have to manually go back into the app afterwards if you want to continue to read.

To zoom in or out you simply use the pinch gesture. I wish every Bible reader/study app had this feature. Another feature I wish they all had was the one demonstrated below:

One of the best features is the low light mode, seen above. This is handy for reading in dark rooms either at night or if your church lowers the light during the worship service. The mode is toggled on/off with the light bulb button on the toolbar.

The two arrows in the upper right are for advancing or going back a chapter at a time.

Found this over on Warner Crocker’s personal blog. It is hilarious.

Over at Notebooks.com we have a video posted that … well … is amazing if it is authentic. It shows a guy putting an iPad into a heavy duty blender. The result is pretty amazing. Hit the link. It is worth it!

When I saw this video I thought, iPhone? No more! And all those Franklin Digital Bibles don’t hold a candle to this. The iPad will never be able to do all that this thing does. I give you the iBible!!

You can now order them from me. I am an official reseller and I’m not taking a commission, so just send me $500 and you will get one before Easter.

Here is this Sunday’s worship service stream from my church, High Peak.

The sermon was on Psalm 127 – Unless the Lord Builds It…

Brit Hume used to be the anchor of the Fox News Channel’s nightly news broadcast. He still takes part in the network as an analyst and probably other things.  He was on one of their programs Sunday and said Tiger Wood should become a Christian to restore himself and his life. In the face of some conflict, you might have expected him to back down and retract his words. Instead he offered these words of wisdom on Bill O’Reilly’s program.

Here is the stream of last Sunday’s worship service. The sermon was part of the series on David Jeremiah’s book The 12 Ways of Christmas. This week’s ways were Charity and Giving.

Wednesday Night will be on Humility.