Paul Walker's Tragic Car Crash in 3D By Dan Delzell

"In Hollywood, good guys don't typically die at the end of the movie. In real life, good guys and bad guys all die at the end of their time on earth. Movie star Paul Walker certainly seemed to be one of the good guys.

Tragically, Paul was killed in a horrific car crash on Saturday. The young man who shot to fame in the 'Fast and Furious' movies about car racing, lost his life as a passenger in a friend's Porsche about 30 miles north of Hollywood..."

Read the rest at Christian Post.

Repent and believe before it's too late

 

Genius - The Movie

 

The OliveTree Bible App

The iPad is a phenomenal tool to help in studying the Bible. That's right, it's not just a toy to browse the web and play games with. As each day goes by, more and more app developers are coming out with new tools that make studying the Bible more effective and easier than ever. The hard part is in finding the best apps or in knowing where to look. So I thought it would be a good idea to highlight a few of my favorite Bible apps that I use on a daily basis.

As always, I'm eager to hear from you. If you have an app suggestion, or you want to give feedback concerning one reviewed, I would love to hear them. Anything we can do to bring about a better study of God's Word is awesome.

So without further ado, here's the first app review.

BibleReader by Olive Tree Bible Software

This is one of the best Bible applications out there due to its diversity and selection. The app itself is free, but you have to pay for the individual Bibles, commentaries, and such. The only draw back is their pricing. Some of the Bibles and miscellaneous items can be quite expensive compared to some of the others out there. However, the overall usability of this program surpasses most other apps, making it worth the money.

Some key features are:

• Cross platform usability - The program works on Mac, PC, iOS, and Android devices. By making an account on the OliveTree website and using their online store, not the in-app store, for all your purchases, you can sync your notes, highlights, reading plans..., with all of your devices. So for those with iPads, a PC, and Android phones, you can take your Bible study with you wherever you go.
• Resources - Olive Tree has the largest assortment of resources for mobile devices. They have Bibles, both study and basic, commentaries, dictionaries, atlases, devotionals, reading plans, and more.
• Free Resources - They also have a good assortment of free materials to get you started studying the Bible right away. This also helps you to get acquainted with the software before making any large purchases.
• Resource Guide - While reading the Bible, you can easily navigate through the various tools by using the resource guide feature built into the app. Once activated, you simply tap it to open it and every resource that has information about the current Scripture your studying will be just a tap away.

Why I use this Bible app - This is my primary Bible application. Its interface is the best and easiest to use when dealing with actual Bible study. I don't have to switch between apps to find out more on any given subject and to me that's the biggest plus for this app. They have some of the leading commentaries out there including; John MacArthur, Warren Wiersbe, and Max Lucado. They also carry the classics like Matthew Henry, the James, Fausset, and Brown commentary, and many more.

There are only two cons that I have.

1. The pricing of the material... I understand why as it takes a lot of programming to get everything to be in sync with one another and for all the enhancements to flow so smoothly. Every Bible, commentary, dictionary, and book, interact with one another to help you gain the most out of each resource.
2. The in-app purchasing... I never have an issue with having in-app purchasing. In fact, I enjoy being able to buy everything using my iTunes account. The issue comes in when going from device to device. Unless you purchase through the OliveTree store online, the material will not sync among all the different devices, i.e. iPad to Android. So I cannot stress this enough, if you decide to use this app, purchase the materials through their online store and not through the App Store or the Google Play store. That way you sync it by using OliveTree's personal cloud system.

As you can see in the screen shots, this is a top notch application and I highly recommend it. I give this Bible study app a four out of five stars.

Repent and believe before it's too late

 

The Seed Of Salvation

Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!” When he had said this, he called out, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” Luke 8:8 (NLT)

We are all sinners, (Romans 5:12). We're born in sin, (Psalm 51:5), and we are, by our very nature, "children of wrath," (Ephesians 2:2-3). Through the fall of Adam and Eve, sin entered into this world and corrupted it (Romans 5:12–21). But, by the grace of God, we are not left without hope. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we can find forgiveness and mercy and have all our sins washed away by His cleansing blood on the cross (Isaiah 1:18). All we have to do is confess our sins, (1 John 1:9), repent of them, (Acts 3:19), and place our faith and trust in Christ, (Ephesians 2:8). Jesus bore our sins on the cross, (1 Peter 2:24), so that we will die to sin and live to righteousness. We become a new creation, (2 Corinthians 5:17), justified by faith (Romans 5:1). The Holy Spirit indwells us (Romans 8:11) and continues to work in us to bring about sanctification (Romans 15:16).

In Luke 8, Jesus tells us a parable of a farmer scattering seed. The seed is the Gospel being preached and the different types of soil represents the hearer. Out of those who hear the message preached, only one of the four soils will produce a crop, while the rest, due to one reason or another, will walk away.

So how do we know what type of soil we are?

Out of the four types of soil, three of them represent the false convert while the fourth represents the soundly saved.

➢ The first seed in verse 5 is the easiest to spot. This person will hear the Gospel and walk away unchanged.

➢ The second seed in verse 6 represents someone who hears the Gospel and initially receives it with joy. But as soon as temptation strikes they become disinterested and walk away.

➢ The third seed in verse 7 receives the Gospel but after a time they turn back to the pursuits and passions of the world and walk away.

As you can see, the first three seeds have the same thing in common. The false convert will eventually walk away if death doesn't take them first. It doesn't matter how long you've been "in the faith" either. If you walk away, you show yourself to be a false convert.

➣ However, once the seed is planted in good soil, it will continue to grow and mature because the soundly saved have the perfect gardener, the Holy Spirit, tending it. This is the true test of salvation. If you are continuing to grow in your relationship with God, continuing to repent of your sins, becoming more sensitive to your sins, growing in your knowledge of God and His Word, then you can have assurance in your salvation. Philippians 1:6 says, "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."NLT

The problem is in not caring if you sin. When you are saved, the Holy Spirit brings conviction, John 16:8, so if you're not being convicted of your iniquity, then you need to worry, seek God, and repent. Only those who were not saved to begin with will walk away, 1 John 2:19, while the soundly saved will never walk away from Christ, John 10:28.

So which soil are you?

Repent and believe before it's too late

Photo source: One and Two