Bon Secours Center: VTS Faculty Retreat 2013

AppGuide for Bibles

There is a new App-Guide out comparing and rating the best iPhone Bible-Version apps currently available. My favorites are included: OliveTree, Bible Gateway, and the Glo Bible. To access the list, click here.
I do wish the YouVersion app would optimize for the iPhone5, no? Unfortunately, the company informs us that for the present they have no intention of doing this (huh?!). Instead of YouVersion, I highly recommend the Bible Gateway app. It is free, has all the great versions including CEB, ESV, Message, and NIV with audio, but unlike the YouVersion by LifeChurch.tv it is technologically up-to-date.

I think that this review could have done a tad bit more justice to the OliveTree app. The review makes reference to all the specialized-version apps that they sell (e.g., "Bible+ESV"), but these are just a marketing ploy. What you do is just get one of their apps, like "Bible+Maps," and then just add all the versions and resources you want to that one app. The real selling point for the OliveTree is the ability for advanced students to access and analyze the Hebrew and Greek; that, as well as the automated "Resource Guide" that pulls up all relevant commentaries, maps, etc., automatically synched to whatever verse you are on. OliveTree is really the way to go for the seminarian, scholar, etc.

Shiloh’s Destruction by the Philistines

 

New archaeological finds at Shiloh help confirm the destruction of the site by the Philistines (see Jeremiah 7:12, 14; 26:6; Psalm 78:60-61). The broken vase and remains of ashes from a fire shown above appear to indicate large scale destruction. The remains are from the same period in which the War of Ebenezer against the Philistines was waged (see 1 Samuel 4). Israel suffered a crushing defeat in that war, which is believed to have been waged near present-day Afek (biblical Aphek).

Happy New Year!