NOVEMBER 2011 NEWSLETTER

November is a reminder of all that God has done for us. It is a time to stop and respond in thanksgiving for God’s loving kindness, provision and protection. The Apostle John gives us a glimpse of four areas for which we are to be grateful: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all; the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin; He is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness; He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world. That in a nutshell is the entire gospel message that we hope to portray through the ministry of bible.org to the world. This is the primary reason bible.org exists. Our prayer is that others who may otherwise enter a Christ-less eternity might come to know Him and His resurrection, His forgiveness, His love and may choose to follow Him.

The Help Bible.org Get a New Look Logo Contest

We have been using the above logo for years now but some are encouraging us to move on. We praise God that Bible.org is growing and we are looking to become a "Kingdom" class organization; one that reaches world wide with "Trusted" content and growing as a leader in Biblical technical development. As a team we feel that the current logo does not project that mission. Therefore, we are having a contest and we are asking YOU, the heart and soul of our organization, to help us design a new logo. If you are an art student, graphics expert, or just a pencil sketcher, send us your idea (s).Your idea can be an icon, the bible.org name or any other idea that lets people know who bible.org is when they see the logo.

If we use your logo, not only will we tell the world that you came up with the idea, that is if you want us to, we will also give the winning person a free NET Bible First Edition, a Readers Edition, a Compact Edition ( all in their choice of color) and a year of free access to the Theological Journal in the NET Bible Study Environment.

The Contest will run until Nov 30th. To enter submit your drawing to us and we will review and hopefully we will pick a winner. We can take the following images .jpg, .gif, .png, .psd, .tiff

We are looking forward to seeing what kind of ideas you have.

In this newsletter we thought we would reflect on why we are here and why we do what we do and how you can assist us.

Why does bible.org exist?
Bible.org exists to freely share the good news from God to the entire world so the world and you can KNOW the Truth about life and eternity. To do that bible.org provides FREE access on the Internet to the finest, most trustworthy biblical truths materials and bible study tools ..

Why does bible.org give the NETBible and the study environment away for free?
Jesus said: Freely you received, freely give. (Matt 10:8) As obedient servants we follow the principle of Lev 23:22 … you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner....

Why are you focusing on an Internet Ministry?
We think that the creation of the Internet is as significant as the invention of the printing press. Why? The Internet can distribute material globally at a faster pace and much lower cost. The Internet allows us the ability to give everyone on earth the NET Bible and authors for the first time in history the ability to give everyone free access to the finest, most trustworthy biblical truths and materials. With this distribution of God’s truths we can literally reach everyone and complete the Great Commission in one generation as Christians around the world make their life count for eternity as they become equipped for global impact. Praise the Lord!

- - -Now How can you assist us?

We at this time ask for your special intercessory prayers. We can honestly report to you that we are sensing spiritual attacks on several fronts. Would you spend time in prayer and fasting for the staff and the volunteers and the ministry of bible.org? Without you as our blessed faithful prayer warriors and donors we will not be able to defeat Satan and reach the millions who are dying apart from Christ. You are our daily, momentary link to the treasures that God has prepared for us to utilize. We ask that you continue to daily, moment by moment and be obedient as our Illuminating Teacher Holy Spirit speaks. (If you would like to get our detailed prayer letter weekly email Sonshine )

NEWS WE THOUGHT YOU MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW!

JOBS:

We would like to expand our mobile app development team. If you have experience in Iphone or Droid development email us
We also need a drupal and PHP developer. IF you have experience in these areas email us

Is the NET Bible The Ultimate Study Bible?

We think so. Did you know that the NET Bible has 4 types of notes (translator notes, study notes, map notes and text critical notes) the most notes of any other Bible?

Net Bible – 60,932 notes
EVS Study Bible ~ 20,000 notes
NKJV Study Bible ~ 15,000 notes
NIV Study Bible ~ 20,000 notes

Did you also know that when the NIV, TNIV and the ESV translation teams were working on their study Bibles they used our NET notes? Don't believe us? Read this:

“The translators’ notes, study notes, and text-critical notes (over 60,000 notes altogether) alone are worth the price of the NET Bible. In our work on the fully revised NIV Study Bible of 2002, the TNIV, and the TNIV Study Bible, we consulted the NET Bible notes and were often helped by them. Kudos!”

Kenneth L. Barker
General Editor, NIV Study Bible and TNIV Study Bible

And this:

“The extensive and reliable notes in the NET Bible were a wonderful help to our translation team as we worked to prepare the English Standard Version.”

Wayne Grudem

Member, Translation Oversight Committee, ESV

If our notes can assist an entire translation team, think how they can assist you in your studies.

The NET Bible First Edition - The Ultimate Study Bible

Path to Spiritual Maturity (Beta Testing continues!)

The Path To Spiritual Maturity is a creative and intentional way for an individual, group, or church to move along in spiritual growth. Selected articles, audio, and video, along with assessments, Bible reading/study, application, interaction, and more have been drawn together to provide a helpful framework. The first version of the foundation stage has been completed and has entered testing. Check it out, more slots are available for beta testing!
For more information and to help beta test this discipleship environment: Path To Spiritual Maturity—Foundation Stage Note the MUST READ info links for fuller explanations.
If you are willing to start under these conditions and provide feedback. Tony Tucci, the project manager, will assist and interact with you through the process in this Bible.org Users Group For questions contact Tony here.

Disclaimer: This program is in Beta Testing. It has not yet received its full “Bible.org Ministry Seal of Approval.” It needs to be tested in real life discipleship situations.

NET Bible Mobile App

Our NETBible iPhone mobile app will start beta testing this month and we prepare for it's initial release to the AppStore. This new app will go far beyond a simple bible reader, and will bring a true study environment to your mobile devices. There are many features being developed that will work to bring Christians from all walks of life and all corners of the globe together; so stay tuned for exciting things coming soon.

PARTNER NEWS

Bible.org would like to take a moment and thank the following ministries for partnering with us to focus on growing God's Kingdom

Frank Reynolds and Company whose motto is “Helping Christian Families Manage Wealth Wisely”. Frank and his company are located in Daytona Beach, Fl.

Church Now Network’s mission is to spread the love and life changing message of Jesus Christ by networking churches in a Christian Community using today’s technology tools and the ALL NEW ONLINE Church Network Programming.

Christar exists to glorify God by establishing churches among the least-reached Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and other Asians worldwide.

If you think your organization would benefit from being part of our team contact Michael at partners@bible.org

FINANCIAL STATUS UPDATE

It is fitting that this month we stop and share with you how God is using your precious and sacrificial offerings for the work of bible.org. As your editor, I am often looking and listening. This week as the phones rang, I was pleased to hear our Admin share this note of praise: please accept my humble gift which in fact totaled a sizable donation. How grateful we are to receive your blessings so that in turn we may bless others. It is because of you that we are able to work on projects such as the new mobile apps program, to add new resources, add new partners, attend conferences, do this newsletter and other projects.

Note-** All income (Donations and Bible sales/revenues) are accounted for. The store has outstanding NET Bible debt and sales are being used to meet debt and store expenses. When there is a future profit those profits will be reported as a donation to the foundation. As you have noticed we have turned on limited Google ads to help in the revenue side (no ads on the bible study tool) and we appreciate you telling us the links to inappropriate ads which we immediately block!

MAILROOM EXPRESS:

From Esta in South Africa: I just want to thank you for this program. I accidently came across this site and am a new member now. I have just started on this site and found it very user friendly. I have been looking for a site to do bible study with and using Glo and e-sword. Your site is a refreshing addition to my study guides.

From Mike: Amazing! I really love this! I found Job 36:5 in God's wisdom page and am really HAPPY about it [because] I never knew such a scripture existed. Thank you guys!!!!! Will be back to read more.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

BLOGS: Lately we have been bombarded with the term “diversity”. But, what does it really mean when we are speaking of the family of God? Read Jody’s new blog: Discovering God's Divine Diversity in Your Classroom

Speaking of Sunday School, how about lessons that are tailor made for learning about the richness of God’s divine plan for the Israelites as they built the Tabernacle. Follow Hal’s blog on this topic and if you have missed the first 3 parts you can just click on Hal’s name and read what he has already taught. : The Tabernacle of Moses – God’s Heavenly Pattern for our Spiritual Transformation (Part IV)

FORUM: A place to share your heart, your prayer needs, your praises, ask your questions and just reflect on who you are as a child of God. We have noted that the traffic to this marvelous door on bible.org has jumped nearly 50% in just the last month as many new people have joined the forum. WELCOME ALL. There are some exciting conversations taking place. Come and check it out.

USERS: God has richly blessed our site with those who have talents for asking questions, writing, sharing from the heart, teaching us in small and interesting ways. We have just enlisted three new article authors who will be sharing from their heart either as a blog or an article. One of our active users is a minister/missionary to the Philippine people, Nate tells it “like it is”. Follow Nate as he writes daily and teaches us through his writing. Google is finding our new writers and for that we are thankful.

MINISTRIES:

WOMEN: The women of bible.org will be sharing in a conference at Dallas Theological Seminary on Nov 14th. The title of their workshop is “Got an Internet Connection? You Can Have an Internet Ministry”. How fitting that this is so true as we follow the Forum conversations. Now you can meet firsthand the authors of bible.org women’s ministry and hear how to use the tools of the Internet trade.

MEN: The men of bible.org are busy busy busy with the Impact Blogs, the submission of sermons and articles and their marketing of bible.org to businesses and ministries.

CHILDREN: God has given this section a new opportunity and we ask for one thing: prayer~! We are interested in more joining this marvelous adventure in writing, blogging, praying. If you are interested, please send SonShine a note and she will contact you and get you in touch with our Childrens' Ministry coordinator.

PASTORS: Did you know that there is a wealth of material just waiting at your doorstep? Try this page for your own personal library of resources both specific, miscellaneous and holiday ideas. If you are a pastor and have not received your pastor's newsletter that Michael Garrett puts out, send your name in to be on this mailing list. Michael is always looking for ways to encourage and relate to your needs. Contact Michael Garrett

AUTHOR CORNER

Vickie Kraft received a treasured letter in response to one of her articles on bible.org “The Widow's Oil. When Bad Things Happen to Good People” . As Vickie notes, life has a way of bringing people into and out of our lives for many different reasons. One reason is that we might know the truth of 1 Cor 15:58 “be ye steadfast, always abounding in the work of the Lord”.

Hi, my name is “Mary” and I am a Christian, single gal living “abroad” with my sister “Martha”, who is my best friend. “Martha” is going through a tough period in life…but she has a knack of turning to the right passages as she did today when she turned to 2 Kings 4:1-7. After reading the passage she googled and clicked on your study on bible.org- The Widow's Oil. Immediately “Martha” was encouraged greatly by your words, which were so relevant to her situation that it felt as though someone was reading her private thoughts! They provided much comfort, and wisdom on how to endure trials, while remembering that we are not forgotten and alone…God bless you Vickie! I pray that God is working in your own personal life. I hope He continues to work through you to bless others. You are an inspiration.

Editor Note: It is letters such as this that encourage our authors and your staff alike. We are grateful for "Mary and Martha" for taking the time to jot Mrs. Kraft this note.

YOUR STAFF OUT AND ABOUT

We have the opportunity to be a vendor/exhibitor at the Craft Fair being held at Lavon Dr. Baptist Church in Garland, TX on Nov 5th. If you are in the neighborhood, stop by and chat. Pick up a handout (attached here for you who cannot attend) with ideas for Sunday School and Children’s Ministries written by Lisa Goodyear. Follow Lisa on her Heartprints Blog.