Bible study needs more geeks

I’VE BEEN WONDERING LATELY if some Christian publishers are going to go the way of newspapers.

By “the way” I mean “away.”

Is it just me, or do most booklovers think publishers are a tad late to the digital wave?

As in wave goodbye.

I’m as slow as anyone when it comes to climbing on board the new publishing technology.

I bought myself a tablet last week. And I’ll be buying a Kindle Fire HD for one of my readers next week—whoever the winner of the drawing turns out to be.

This Sunday I’m going to try teaching the Bible study lesson with nothing but my new tablet, my brain, and my index finger.

I’ll leave my favorite study Bible at home: the HarperCollins Study Bible with the Apocrypha.

I tried to get a digital version of it: an iPad app or a Kindle book. But it doesn’t exist.

So I went for my backup—an iPad app of the NIV Study Bible. It looks pretty nice, but it’s not as intuitive as my head would like. I guess I’ll have to get my geek on over the weekend.

I also bought the iPad app of my own book, The Complete Guide to the Bible. I don’t get a discount even though I wrote that sucker. Someone needs to fix that problem. But it was cheap—under 5 bucks. I had to pay around 30 bucks for the study Bible.

I’ve emailed my lesson notes to myself. (Yep, I’ve already prepared the lesson; I don’t wait until Saturday night.)

I’ve emailed myself some maps, which I’ll certainly need. That’s because the lesson is called “A bumpy ride to Bethlehem.” We’ll be taking a look at the travels of the Eastern wise guys along with Mary and Joe traveling south out of Nazareth.

I’ve got a picture illustrating the theory about the Star of Bethlehem, too. I’ll hold it up in class. Maybe even pass the tablet around and trust that it will come back to me.

I’ve got the life application questions. In case you’re curious, here they are:

Wise men journey
Q: The wise men made a long, hard trip because they expected something good. They were gambling. When have you done something like that? Maybe not in traveling, but in sticking your neck out at quite an expense in either time or money. How did it turn out for you?

Mary and Joe journey
Q. Mary and Joseph made a tough trip because they needed to, even though they probably didn’t want to. In the end, I doubt they regretted it. When have you made a journey you would rather not have made, but are glad you didn’t miss?

I even have a song I can play from the tablet, if the mood feels right. It’s the last minute of the Celtic Women singing, “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

That’s the one point I’ll want to leave with my friends in the class.

I want them to walk out of the room knowing that no matter what bumpy road they have to travel in the days ahead, they won’t travel it alone.

Even if it feels like they are.

If I’m not beside them, or another friend or family member isn’t there to support them, we Christians believe that God has got their back.

In fact, we trust that he’s got them surrounded.

“Let your unfailing love surround us, LORD, for our hope is in you alone” (Psalm 33:32, NLT).

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PS. Countdown: 0 days to the drawing for a free Kindle Fire HD and 20 free books: midnight tonight, November 30.

Current odds of winning the Kindle Fire HD: 1 in 78. Odds of winning your choice of a free book of Steve’s: 1 in 5.5.

The odds would be higher, but many subscribers haven’t finished the subscription process by clicking the email link that was sent to them to validate the subscription. If you’re not receiving the blog by email or by RSS feed, you’re not subscribed.

All blog subscribers are automatically entered. Winners will be announced on Monday, December 3.