With WORDsearch you'll get four English translations of the Bible and one Spanish translation, two commentaries, two Bible dictionaries, two Greek and Hebrew helps, a Bible reading plan, photo library and 200 maps from the Life Application Bible, WORDsearch Bible Outlines, NASB Outlines, and LBLA Outlines, four cross reference works, Foxe's Book of Martyr's and Spurgeon's Morning and Evening.
WORDsearch has been covered in past reviews, so I won't spend a lot of time going over the many features available, but I would like to reiterate some of the outstanding ones. First, since this is a digital library, there are numerous publications that can be purchased and unlocked. This is a real plus for sermon preparation; you can simply choose from a multitude of books, commentaries, etc. and unlock and add them as you go.
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Second, WORDsearch has one of the most user-friendly interfaces I've worked with. Third, the search capabilities are exceptional -- both thorough and precise, finding specifics from all the resources available. Finally, the resources are easily viewed at the top of your screen and can be categorized to best meet your needs.
The content in the Olford Expository Preaching CD without WORDsearch would stand as a valuable resource for the expository preacher, but together they will meet and exceed your expectations for a preaching help.
Olford Ministries International, P.O. Box 757800, Memphis, TN 38175-7800; 901-757-7977; www.Olford.org. & iExalt Publications, 12000 Aerospace Ave., Suite 375, Houston, TX 77034-5576; 281-464-8400; www.iexalt.com.
REFERENCE TOOLS
Bible Maps
Here's a resource that will serve as a helpful visual aid both from the pulpit and in a classroom setting. There are over 150 full-color maps of the Bible lands with city and feature "pop-up" information, Bible concordance and search, chronologies, genealogies, information on over 500 cities, over 3,000 searchable items, and over 200 full-color photos.
In a culture of visual learners, these aids will enhance your sermon or lesson. And the great feature of Bible Maps is the ease of transferring images over to a Powerpoint presentation. You can also produce full-screen projections right from the software simply by changing the settings of your display in your control panel.
If you would rather print a handout, then simply use the EPS files on the Bible Maps CD to insert images into printing applications.
This software is published by MANNA; for more information contact By The Book at 800-554-9116 or visit: www.bythebook.com.
Bible Biographical Index
This is a verse-by-verse index to the people of the Bible by noun, personal pronoun and proper name. Also on this CD is The Connection which helps to make all those lists of genealogies clear, and Growing In The Lord, a tool for new and growing Christians. The real plus of this software is its ease of use, and I would recommend it to anyone doing serious Bible study. It's difficult to keep track of names and genealogies, and this resource will significantly reduce the amount of time that you would normally spend researching. The biographical index also comes in book form.
This CD requires Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 or later, and the PC version of Acrobat Reader comes with the CD. You can also visit Adobe's web site and download it for free at www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html.
Published by Charles E. Williams, Publisher, Box 5848, Reno, NV 89513.
R.C. Sproul Digital Library
This software package will be especially interesting to preachers in the Reformed tradition. Sproul's library features the Logos Library System and contains over $500 worth of material in corresponding print editions. Along with over 25 of Sproul's books (8 of which must be unlocked) there are chapters from symposium volumes, articles from his Tabletalk magazine, audio and video messages by Sproul. Also in included: the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, the Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, 4 English translations of the Bible (only the KJV comes unlocked), and the Baker Digital Reference Library containing over 18 volumes on a number of topics (this, too, must be unlocked).
Baker Bytes, a division of Baker Book House Company, Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516; www.bakerbooks.com.
New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis
I received this five-volume work at the last minute and wanted to mention it briefly. The NIDOTTE, edited by William Vangemeren, features a guide to Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, a lexical dictionary, a topical dictionary and thousands of cross-references. Again, the beauty of having the software versions of these resources is their convenience and ease of use. And you can't get hypertexted Bible references in the print version!
With over 200 contributors from more than 100 academic institutions, this is a set you'll definitely want to add to your virtual library.
Zondervan Interactive, 5300 Patterson, Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49530; (800) 925-0316; www.zondervan.com.
