I have to admit, I rarely study the Bible without my smartphone in hand. Sometimes I use my husband's iPad AND my phone side by side. I prefer to do my Bible study on the couch or somewhere comfortable.
That said, here are five ways I use my smartphone for Bible study:
1) Merriam-Webster Dictionary App: This is a wonderful app to use for Bible study. We use an inductive style Bible study worksheet to go through books of the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter. One of the sections in our study asks us to interpret scripture by finding out the meaning of words. I love this aspect of scripture study as it helps me really dig into what God is showing me through. Phone in hand, I look up word after word and make notes. This app makes this an incredibly simple process.
2) YouVersion Bible App: If you haven't yet heard of YouVersion, you've probably been doing missions work in Africa for the past 20 years. With millions of people worldwide reading the Bible on their digital devices, YouVersion is here to stay. Read 100 different versions, in multiple languages, share verses in an online community, bookmark pages, the features and uses go on and on.
3) Evernote App: Evernote is a helpful tool to sync your notes and tasks between all your devices – from your phone to your computer to your tablet. I type in notes during sermons on my phone, make notes on the run, and even write blog posts on the go with this wonderful app. If you want to learn to use Evernote in more detail, I highly recommend Evernote Essentials or Evernote for Pastors.
4) MyStudyBible.com Mobile Site: Instead of lugging around a study Bible, concordance, and several commentaries, get them all right at your fingertips with this amazingly easy mobile Bible study site from the folks at LifeWay Christian Resources. The primary version is the HCSB, and the commentaries are very helpful and accessible anywhere you have your phone (even when the Starbucks internet access is down).
5) YouTube App: It occurred to me today to search the YouTube app on my phone for Ephesians 2, the scripture I'm studying this week. I found a plethora of resources from John MacArthur to John Piper to random everyday people who have set scripture to music. Very cool and worth checking out if you have the time.
So there you have it. The five ways I use my smartphone for Bible study. If you have additional suggestions or ways you use your phone to dig into God's Word, I'm all ears!
“RememberMe” is an Android app to help memorize scripture. It has some tools I have found very useful. I am not sure if it is available for iPhone/iPad.
Hi Sally, Thanks for reading CTT and sharing your bible study software preference. I think the Olive Tree free option could be a great addition. There are others in the market that are very expensive and so only ministry professionals would probably be willing to spend so much. Thanks for your input! –Lauren
Do you think Remember Me would be a good tool to “require” middle school kids to use their phones for scripture memorization? I’m thinking through how to get my two tweens to use their phones to encourage and grow their faith. Any thoughts?
I have used the Olive Tree bible study software for many years. It has desktop, iphone/ipad, and android versions that sync to each other. The basics are free and there are many free and for pay additional resources.
P.S. It also syncs to Evernote!
I use an Evernote note Bible Study template I created and access on Phone or iPad. Notes sync across Mac and Windows thanks to Evernote. The template’s available to anyone else from here…. http://bit.ly/yqOeMu
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With the advent of multiple mobile devices, including tablet, phone and computer, I think a really good Bible Study notes word processor with buit in templates and a few bible versions would be awesome. We need some multiplatform app. Evernote meets youversion meets onenote (for hnadwriting).
Love your ideas, Kevin! I often struggle with where to keep all my notes and have a shelf of binders . . . would love to one day get all my notes into one application.
See today’s post on MMM; should answer how to get notes into one place, amongst other items which extend the points Kevin states.
Is Sketchnotes only available for Nokia smartphones or all Android phones?
@Peg: sketchnotes are a means of writing notes by mixing words and quick drawings. I tend to do mine with my iPad, but you could essentially pull off doing them on any mobile/tablet/PC which has a drawing application. My sketchnotes sit publically on Nokia’s Share photo service (similar to Flickr, Photobucket, etc).
@Lauren: will take you up on that. I’ve already written something for MMM; will have something a bit more of an evolution from this article to come your way (time willing). Thanks for the invite.
I don’t know… there’s reading and writing notes. And then there’s a bit more…
http://share.ovi.com/media/ARJWright.Sketchnotes/arjwright.11492
Nokia N8 mobile: self-created Bible reader (NET Bible source text)
iPad tablet: Adobe Ideas + Penultimate + Evernote + Safari Browser (Wikipedia)
Will take this further in an MMM post. You’ve got folks started, I’m aiming to get beyond reading/writing 😉
Hi Antoine, If you’d like to write a more detailed post about using mobile for Bible study, I’d love to publish it here! Let me know – you have my email.
Cheers,
Lauren
Great summary, Lauren….thanks! I’m pinning this on Pinterest!