Rich & Diane's Place

In an effort to promote some outstanding mobile Bible software, I would love to post a whole series of videos that demonstrate capabilities of Olive Tree’s BibleReader app. This is a kick off post towards that effort; we’ll see if time permits for others to follow – I have several ideas for more advanced tutorials.

To call BibleReader an “app” might be a bit misleading. It has such powerful and complex features, calling it “software” seems a bit more appropriate. Despite it’s complexity, it’s very intuitive to use as demonstrated by the video. After viewing the video, be sure to take a look at the companion remarks that follow.

If you’ve ever given a speech, you may have found yourself reviewing your thoughts afterward. If so, inevitably, you will find yourself saying: “Man, I really wish I had done that differently!” Likewise, in the video above, I wish I had done a few things differently. However, having no notes and speaking impromptu … the video serves it’s purpose. It demonstrates the overall capabilities of the software.

Here are a few things were not mentioned, or should have been explained a little better:

• The general display can be highly customized – far more than any other mobile Bible app to date.
  Not only can custom fonts be chosen, but different colors can be assigned to different parts of a window’s display:(text, background, words of Christ text, verse numbers, publisher’s cross-reference letters, etc …) Although these images are prior to BibleReader version 5.0, they demonstrate color schemes that can be reproduced in BibleReader 5.0. ¹




• I never mentioned this software has Bibles in many different languages; not to mention the rich ancient Hebrew and Greek parsed text and morphology tools.
  Please see Dr Stephen Cook’s article highlighting this capability.




• I should have introduced annotations ( notes, highlights, and bookmarks) where they are normally used and created – in the text.
  In the video, I first mentioned them in relation to the “my stuff,” suit case icon. This is really a place to navigate them collectively according to optional organization features (folders and tags).




• When creating a note, typing any Bible verse reference, such as Mat 5:3, will become a hyperlink.
  When reading your note, taping the hyperlink will open a pop up window at that location, using the last opened Bible translation.

• Olive Tree shows future release updates.
• Zachary Klein wrote an excellent article.
• Dr Stephen Cook has shows some really nice Hebrew screen shots.
• Jason D. Jordan discusses his experience with BR software.

1. Currently in BR 5.0, the pop up window’s default background can not be changed as it could in version 4.x. We are hoping this will change in the future. [↩]

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:




Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

- Matthew, chapter five, verses two through twelve, ESV

These scriptures are so very powerful. They can connect so much in scripture, that they can be considered some of the most foundational truths of the Bible! In this article, I’d like to capture a thought that I’m processing more fully. These teachings shed much light on total transformation vs the idea of working to enter heaven.

We love to say we are not saved by works. And, technically, this is correct. But when a life is transformed by God, works should definitely become part of the resulting “new nature.” So how is Christianity different from any mere religion? How does one become transformed on the inside – apart from cleaning up external behaviors through works? How does one become operated on by God, as opposed to laboring to make one’s self acceptable before Him?

Here’s the distinction: Everyone focusing on religion ( morality alone, or morality mixed with some false god behind it – not the True God ) can only strive at “being better” through works. But, everyone who finally “get’s it” … everyone who starts to see the absolutely beautiful, marvelous, absolutely pure nature of God Himself, – revealed to us, ( just because He wanted to reveal it to us ) – revealed to us by His sent, only begotten, precious, Son, Jesus Christ – everyone who understands this, (it seems to me) are receiving glimpses of stark reality. The result is, ( since they are being shown this from God, because they will appreciate it ), that they are developing a longing to be made different, a homesickness for His kingdom, a hunger and thirst for His righteousness. And they continue to stand in awe of Christ – and see themselves as spiritually bankrupt! This is what it means to be “poor in spirit.” From seeing that we are poor in spirit, we start to mourn for who we are, and what we must appear like unto Him. Then, the response affects how we live. We start to live differently. We see things differently, we understand things differently. Our behavior follows this internal change, we become meek in our thinking and our nature. We develop a strong desire for real righteousness to become part of our nature, (2 Pet 1:4), and He allows us to partake of His nature. Do you see how these teachings are progressive? The first one: Blessed are the poor in spirit, becomes the start of a person being transformed, a person who has started the process of becoming fit for the kingdom of God. The important thing to remember is, these teachings are not about “doing” … they are about “being”. They are internal changes which, if made, will effect our behavior as a natural process.

These revelations from Christ’s lips become saturated in meaning; they become very rich. Remember, if these things are true for those in His kingdom, then those final characteristics of righteousness, mercy, peace making, etc … are also characteristics of Christ Himself – the King of the kingdom. We are able to understand and agree with the words that came from the Father from heaven:

This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.

People in the kingdom of God see that they are already undone before Him, and at the same time, they can do nothing but admire Him. This starts the process of change from within them. The idea of “works” for the sake of entering the kingdom of God is left meaningless in the light of understanding these teachings. Works is definitely a part of a Christian’s life, but the motivation is so different, it’s not really “works” at all … rather, it’s just a response, a natural process – perhaps it should be called “growth,” or “maturity,” – perhaps it should just be called “receiving spiritual understanding from God through Christ.”

There’s some wonderful sermons¹ that are digging into the teachings of Christ, as recorded in Matthew, chapter five.

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:




Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

- Matthew, chapter five, verses two through twelve, ESV

I must admit, I never gave much thought to these teachings when I was growing up. In fact, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I started to consider just how rich these teachings are. At first glance, it might seem easy to put them aside – they seem so simple, and perhaps even a little ambiguous. But, what a gross misconception. What a tragedy it would be to not understand these gracious revelations from our Creator. It is in these teachings that Christ is describing the citizens of the Kingdom of God. This kingdom is not of this earth; it’s a kingdom that’s being built by God in the hearts of men who recognize who the King of Glory is. It’s a kingdom that’s being made of people that have been transformed from the inside out – everyone in this kingdom has had undergone major spiritual heart surgery – starting with the way they think about God, the way they think about themselves in relation to God, and the way they respond to God’s greatest revelation of Himself in the form of Jesus Christ, His Son.

I used to think that these teachings were talking about selected special people – that will receive selected special rewards for characteristics of their developed lifestyle. But, now I am being challenged to understand that these declarations are internal radical spiritual transformations taken by all Christians. As one person put it, the Beatitudes are not talking people who “do” … the Beatitudes are talking about people who “are”. You can’t do anything to become one of these blessed people, but, these people exist because they have been transformed by God, and boy are they blessed! It’s reminiscent of the verse in Psalms, “Blessed is the man to whom the LORD will not impute iniquity against him” (Ps 32:2).

1. From Grace to You Ministries, John MacArthur, To hear all to these sermons, go here [↩]

One of the biggest complaints from long-time users of Olive Tree’s software update, Project Glacier, comes from not being able to find that ever-so-handy verse chooser! May I be very quick to assure you … IT IS THERE! However, after upgrading, it’s not easy to find. By default, a “List Viewing Mode” is used behind the curtains of the Go To button.

The company decided to implement this List View, initially, (this may change at some point in the future) as the default mode for two reasons: First, it’s more user-friendly for those that might be new to the Bible – users that might not be familiar with book abbreviations and book order. Secondly, since seasoned users will see this mode at least once, they will know it’s available – and they need to know it’s available. Why? The “List Viewing Mode” has it’s place – it’s necessary for navigating a plethora of non-verse-driven materials. Even some Bibles will contain wonderful study material that’s not verse-driven – one example is the ESV Study Bible. The “List Viewing” mode is necessary in accessing these articles, or any Table of Contents associated with eBooks.

Now, I could describe how to access that classic, faithful, one-two-three, verse chooser – but, why read instructions when you can watch a video? Olive Tree is doing an excellent job in building a repository of tutorial videos. These can be found on their YouTube Channel. Or, better yet, you may opt to view the videos straight from the software itself. Just tap the suitcase icon at the top to enter your “My Stuff” items. From there, the first thing listed is the Learning Center. If you continue drilling down in the Learning Center, you’ll run into this same video. These videos are a great way of understanding how to use the software.

• Working in the default List View Mode
• Working in the Grid View Mode (aka Verse Chooser)
• Using the Go To Verse text field
• Accessing the Table of Contents of Non-Verse-Driven eBooks
• Working with Verse-Driven Bibles that have Non-Verse-Driven Articles
• Working with Bible Dictionaries in TOC Mode
• Working with Bible Dictionaries in Word Look Up Mode

One final point the video did not mention, – the interface will “remember” its last used configuration state. Therefore, the verse chooser, can become the “default” configuration for most users.