Some people think of mobile devices (i.e. cell phones) as an annoyance in Church. I prefer to think of them as an opportunity to extend the Word! Yes, they do tend to go off during the sermon. (Have you posted any signs or notices in the bulletin like Please mute your cell phone during worship?) But many people have the Bible on their smart phones. Why not ask them to follow along in their Bible on their smartphone or on paper? You might be surprised by how many people are already doing that!

Rather than seeing all of the technology as a hindrance to worship, look for ways to leverage it into worship. That way, people will download apps that are Biblically oriented. And that means they will be more likely to include Bible Study in their typical day. After all, who goes anywhere these days without their smart phone? One Church even makes the sermon notes available during worship for people to download, read, and take notes on their mobile device. Actually, that would mean that the preacher doesn’t have to publish their notes a week in advance; they could do it that morning, 15 minutes before the service!

There are lots of Bible study programs available now for smart phones. When smart phones got sufficient memory (i.e. megabytes), Bible study applications started coming out. Here are just a few, along with comments:

QuickVerse PDA

Based on the PC program QuickVerse, this version is designed for the Palm OS. It allows you to have multiple translations, as well as commentaries and dictionaries. You use a hierarchical search tool to find a specific verse, i.e. select the book, chapter, then verse. It allows you to attach personal notes to specific words in specific verses.

For more information, see Quickverse.com.

AcroBible

Available on the iPhone, this Bible study program takes advantage of the finger based user interface. To find a verse, you start with an alphabetical list of the books – i.e. just like the contacts list. You select a book, then you get an outline showing chapter numbers and section titles. You then select a chapter and you go to the beginning of that chapter. You can then easily scroll down through the text to find the verse in question.

Acro Bible takes advantage of the iPhone’s user interface. It actually works quite well, allowing you to keep up with even a preacher citing verses rapid fire. And the text is easy to read even in low light, given the iPhone’s backlit display. But note that if you want to add a personal note, the note is attached to the whole verse, not the individual word.

For more information, see AcroBible.