Bible Study Tools and Apps

                May of 2016, Lynne and I did something radical.  We had our cable turned off.  Yes, we did.  We still watch television using our Roku and our Amazon Fire Stick.  Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Video have become our sole sources for television.  With no cable television, we found ourselves with lots of free time.  We really felt led by God to “cut the cable.”  Our $100 plus cable bill was no more, and we began paying about $21 a month for the services to which we subscribe.    God had plans for that time.
                I was beginning to prepare for the Precept Upon Precept study on 2 Timothy that I am now leading on Wednesday nights.  At the beginning of the summer I was knee deep in a Precept Upon Precept study of Romans 1-5 with a friend.   If you have ever done Precept Upon Precept, you know the amount of work that goes into those studies.  If you have never done a Precept Upon Precept study you should, and let me tell you it is 4-6 hours per week (average) for each lesson.  Lynne and I both spent the summer studying God’s Word.  Not bragging or boasting, just rejoicing in the time and ability to do that.  So where am I going with this blog post?
                Through the summer I discovered and used a lot of free Bible study resources to complete my studies.  If you have a computer, these resources are simple and easy to use.  The best part is that they are all free.  Most teachers will tell you that free is the best way to acquire resources.  I hope this is helpful to someone.  I am willing to help you use or find any of these resources.  Some of them are online resources, and some are downloadable resources. 

Discipleship Materials
                I am currently using the IMPACT Discipleship (www.impactdiscipleship.com) material with my small group.  There are 4 books and the entire series takes about a year.  Each lesson takes form 1-2 hours per week and is broken into daily assignments.  The material was written by Ken Adams at Crossroads Church in Newnan.    This material is not free, but well worth the cost.  You can buy it online (shipping is steep) or drive to Newnan and buy directly from them (this is what I do).

                In the past I led a group using The Multiply Movement (multiplymovement.com) material developed by Francis Chan and David Platt.  It is free and can be downloaded and read on a tablet or printed.  I enjoyed leading students through the material and the weekly assignments are not very involved.  The depth of the material depends on the students and the leaders.  The longer I did this material with my two disciples the longer we met and the deeper the discussion were.

                The Navigators ministry has free discipleship material that you can down load and print.  Navigator Church Ministries wrote the Design for Discipleship Series is for small group discipleship and is free.  I am currently using it for personal Bible study.  Each lesson takes about 1-2 hours and starts very basic and increases in complexity through each of the four books.

Bible Study Materials
                Most people used to access the world wide web via a computer.  Now, almost everybody has a smartphone, tablet or iPad.  Below are some resources that are online, free and easy to use.    Most of them have resources that pastors would envy.  The name of each resource is a hyperlink, so you can click it and it will take you to the resource.

Bible Study Tools.com  This is a free resource I use daily.  There are multiple versions of the Bible.  At the bottom of the page there are commentaries you can reference for the specific chapter, verse or passage you are studying.  If you create an account, you can add notes and save them.   The only thing missing on this web site is The Amplified Bible, but I have a place to find that.  One particular tool on this web site is useful for me.  You can look up the Strong’s numbers for words in a verse.  How do you do this?
1.        Beside the words “The Bible” type in a Scripture reference.
2.       Below that it says “Translation”.  Select New American Standard Bible.
3.       Click “Find It!”
4.       Scroll down to the passage you requested.  Above and to the right you will see
this symbol Image result for gear icon.
5.        Click the gear symbol.
6.       Select “Strong’s Numbers” and “Cross References.”
7.       Click “Close.”
8.       Now you will see that some words of your Scripture passage are in blue.
9.       If you click one of those words, you will open a page that tells you the Strong’s Number
for that word, and the meaning of that word in its original language (Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew)
10.   When you are finished with the Strong’s you can close the window.
Pretty cool huh!  In the Strong’s Numbers window you opened it also had a list of verses that use the word you selected as it is used in the passage you are reading.  Bible Study Tools is also available as an app for iOS and Android phones.

My Study Bible.com   Free!!!  This is an app and a web site.  There are study materials that you can buy, but you don’t have to buy anything to take advantage of the platform.   It reminds me a lot of Logos Bible software.  It was recently taken over by WORDsearch Bible which is a Lifeway company.  I haven’t used it since Lifeway took it over and change the web site.

Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words  Free!!  Some people have this book on their shelf gathering dust.  This goes beyond the Strong’s Numbers and discusses historical uses of the word in question, and show all uses of the word throughout the New Testament.  There is a print option for the article on the word you are researching.

Vine’s complete expository dictionary of old and new testament words  Free!  This is an online PDF of the complete book.  This is the only place I have been able to find the Vine’s articles for Old Testament words.   You will have to copy and paste to a MS Word document to print an article.
Grace Bible Church Bible Studies   This is a site that offers in-depth Bible studies for FREE!  Download.  There are several inductive Bible studies that you can download for free and print.  I have lead the Grace Bible Church study on Philippians.  Someone put a lot of sweat and labor into putting these studies together.

Bible Apps
                I have had several people ask me what Bible app I use or recommend.   I rely on two Bible apps:  Tecarta Bible and YouBible.

YouBible  (www.bible.com).  FREE! Nothing fancy here.  There are many versions of the Bible including my study favorite, the Amplified Bible.  They also have Bible reading plans and will send you reminders on your phone to read your Bible.   This is a great site for reading the Bible on a laptop, tablet or desktop computer.

Tecarta Bible   This app is not free.  However, I use it all the time.   They have several Bible translations you can download to your phone (NLT, NIV, NIV Study Bible with Notes, NASB with Strong’s, etc.).  I use this app in church for Scripture and to take notes on sermons.  If you have a tablet this is a great app for sermon notes or Bible study notes.  You can create folders, highlight/underline text or passages, and add notes to specific passages or words.    I find it very beneficial to be able to go to www.tecartabible.com and access my notes that I have entered in my phone.

GLO Bible   I had never heard of this app until a young lady in  the pew in front of me one Sunday used her Bible phone and it was the GLO Bible.  I only have the ESV in my GLO Bible.  I like to layout and big buttons for ease of use.  App is free and comes with the ESV I believe.

Olive Tree Bible Software Logo    I have friends who use this app and love it.  It is flexible and expandable with in-app purchases.   Like most Bible apps it comes with a Bible.

Find the Bible app that works for you.  Download, use and stay with the one whose functionality meets your needs. 

     That is what I use.  I hope this is helpful for you to find Bible study resources that are mostly free but provide the tools you need to study God’s word.  Please let me know if you have difficulty with any of the resources.  Also let me know if you find this blog post helpful.  God bless!!
      I will be writing a blog soon on Bible study methods that have worked for me.


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