Trailblazin Ministries Blog

Tech Stuff

All I Want for Christmas

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
Filed under: Ministry, Tech Stuff

Every year comes around and I can hardly decide what I want for Christmas. Well, this year, I think I have figured out what I want, although I know it's probably too expensive for me to get. No, it's not an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, not even a Nintendo Wii; instead, I want Bible study software. Sure, I have WORDsearch 8 and have a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips, but I am starting to recognize that WORDsearch has its limitations and is designed for a particular kind of study. In WORDsearch I have a wealth of biblical and Christian literature, dictionaries, commentaries, sermon/study helps, and topical aids; but, it is sorely lacking in its original language resources. Sure, it has word dictionaries (that I love and have come to use quite a bit), but that is about all I can do in regard to the original languages. In a way, this is by design since what I mentioned above is where WORDsearch is equipped to excel; they aren't heavily focused on original language resources by choice.

It is with that in mind that I recognize that I now need more. Now that I am serious about my ministry training, which includes language studies, I need software that is going to be of help to me in that particular area. Since arriving at Austin Bible Church, my pastor (and nearly every other member who uses Bible study software) has used Logos Bible software and I have gotten a display of its depth on a weekly basis, especially in regard to original language studies. Knowing that I want to have that same level and depth of study, I can clearly see that software like this is going to be what I need if I want to excel.

I sat down this afternoon and watched a 22 minute demonstration of some of their language tools, and I must admit that I was extremely impressed with the feature set and tools that I would have never thought of being able to use. The main thing now is figuring out how to fit the software package into my budget, which means that it'll have to at least wait until tax time, if that. Regardless, I know that if I get it or not, the Lord will provide a way for me to be able to adequately learn and study His Word.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that WORDsearch is an inadequate application; it's great and I use it everyday. For my everyday needs, it's the application for me. It's only when I need to do intense language study, which is what will be coming up soon for me, that a program like logos is what's needed.

So yeah, if and when I'm able to get the Logos Bible software, I'm looking to get either their Original Languages Library or their Scholar's Library package, both of which are very good. I've already emailed my pastor to see what his recommendation would be. So, keep that in prayer if you would, since this will probably soon become more of a need than a want for me.

That's all I want for Christmas...