SubscribeLoving my Blackberry Bible
My Blackberry, a so-called Smartphone, just got better. It drew me deeper into the intersection of technology and faith, and I I am loving it. While exploring my Blackberry applications for the first time since I purchased the phone nearly five months ago, I came across a free app for the Bible. I downloaded it, and now I have easy and ready access to Scriptures wherever I go.
Yes, I could carry one of my paper-bound Bibles with me all the time, but I don’t outside of taking one with me to church and on out-of-town trips. Now in the palm of my hand are several different versions of the Scriptures and a new connection, if I want it, to a community of people who also find the Bible relevant to their daily lives. I decided to read The Message Bible on my Blackberry; it’s a modern vernacular Bible version that I do not have at home. I have several versions of the printed Bible, including the African American Heritage Bible and my trusty King James Version.
Over the years, I have often used the Internet to search for and research Scriptures. One of my favorite online places is www,Biblegateway.com, which has been an enormous help when I have had to prepare to teach Bible studies or conduct women’s retreat workshops. I could quickly read several different versions of the same Scripture, from King James to the New International Version to the Amplified version, to better understand what was being said. I also found useful commentaries there.
But I wasn’t thinking about having a mobile Bible until I stumble upon the YouVersion.com Bible for my Blackberry. I really was looking for a free Scrabble app, but I am delighted I found the Bible. So now instead of playing a game on my Blackberry, or crackberry as it is jokingly called, I can read Scripture while waiting at the doctor’s office, in a restuarant or in a long line somewhere.
When I noticed that I also would be able to follow a one-year through the Bible reading plan, I had a flashback to more than 30 years ago. I was newspaper reporter in Tampa and became fast friends with a hotshot television reporter. We shared lots of good meals and greats laughs together and discovered that we both loved the Lord. One Christmas, Peggy gave me my first One Year Bible and launched me a on journey through the entire 66 books. There were some fits and starts along the way but I completed it. Peggy, now a journalism professor, and I continue to share our love for the Word every chance we get. She always reminds me of what a sustaining and calming presence the Word of God is in her hectic life.
As I move forward with my new mobile Bible, I do so knowing the Word of God is same now as it was more than 30 years ago. To reap any benefits from this new technology, I have to click on it and read it as often as possible. My Blackberry as a productive tool increases in value for me every time it allows me to connect to my faith in hectic times like these.
”Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalm 119: 105 (KJV)
“By your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path.” Psalm 119:105 (The Message)
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