The Riley's Blog: Kindle, iPhone, iPad and the Bible

On September 4th, 2010 I read a post on one of my regular blogs about a woman that read the Bible in 90 Days using the book that Ted Cooper, Jr. put together. I was impressed with her post. I had never heard of anyone reading the whole bible in only 90 days. She had small children so I figured if she could do it, I could do it. If I started on 9/4/2010 I could finish the entire bible by the end of the year....or so I thought.

I'm going to give you a little background on my journey and then give all Christians a great excuse to why they need to save up and buy a Kindle, iPhone or iPad. If they don't have the money, then download the Kindle app (or other eBook app) to your smart phone and purchase the "Bible in 90 Days". The Kindle version is currently, $6.59. Also, if you end up purchasing it, will you purchase it using the Amazon link to the right? That way I will know if my post has made a difference in anyone's life and I can pray for whoever it is that they will succeed. (Of course, I won't know who it is, but God knows)

I need to confess that I had never read the bible from cover to cover. I am ashamed of this and that it has taken me 35 years to do it. I was excited and decided I wasn't going to tell anyone (besides Kevan) that I was going to try. First, because I didn't want anyone to know if I failed and second, because I didn't want the devil to use it as an opportunity to help me fail.

I was very "gung-ho" in the beginning and reached day 40 in about 45 days. Only 5 days behind! Then, things got hard. When reading the "Bible in 90 Days" it takes about 1-1.5 hours to read the daily reading. I was in class and couldn't fit in my reading, my studies plus my full-time job. So, some days it took me 4 or 5 days to get through my daily reading, but I pressed on. The New Year passed me by, then my birthday (April 1), but I continued to read what I could. I finally finished on September 5th, 2011. It took me 367 days, but I did it!

Now, I want to mention my journey of reading the bible using technology instead of a normal paper bible. I have tried several times in my life to read the bible in a year. I never succeeded until now and I believe that part of it was because I had the technology available at my fingertips whenever I wanted to read. I read at home on the couch, in the bathtub (probably 60% of my reading was while I was taking a bath ~ I have a waterproof cover for my Kindle), at the beach, at the doctor, reading out loud in the car to Kevan as he drove and sometimes even at Lowes when waiting on Kevan.

I am so glad that I have experienced reading the bible from cover to cover. There is nothing like it. Reading little bits here and there does not compare to reading Paul's letters one after the other or reading the Old Testament from beginning to end. It is beautiful and it made me realize just how much of a sinner I am and how much I needed Jesus Christ to be the sacrifice for my sin. I am so thankful for my God and for all he has done for me (us). Of course, I knew this before, but the Old Testament really makes it clear how much I fail at living the life I should and the New Testament showed me the love that Jesus had for all of us when he sacrificed himself on our behalf. I loved reading the different Gospel accounts back to back and seeing the slight differences in how each writer told the story. It will help you to appreciate God's holiness and make you realize your unholiness and need for a Savior.

When I started reading I used only my Kindle because I did not have an iPad or iPhone. Being a woman, it was easy for me to carry with me because it fits in my purse. So, anywhere I went I was able to read. Below is a sample of the Reading Plan on my Kindle. I'm sorry for such bad pictures, but I am not a photographer and I didn't have a lot of time to play around with the pics. The Kindle is not this dark...it is just my bad pictures.

Here is the end of the reading plan. You can see that it ends with Day 88, not 90! So, there, you are already 2 days ahead!

I love the fact that if I turn the wireless off on my Kindle the battery will last about 2 weeks. One of my favorite things about reading on a Kindle or iPad is that it tells me my progress. Down in the bottom section it shows me the percentage that I've read. A paper version won't tell you this. That may be why I have always failed. So, when I reached 20% I was so psyched to see the percentage. Then, by 50% I couldn't believe I had already read 1/2 the bible! The funny thing is...as you see below....when you end your reading in Revelation it is actually 94%. So, there....in the percentage you've already gained 6% points! So, you are ahead, again!

I found a few typo errors along the way, especially in Luke for some reason. Then, Revelation 13 starts with 1/2 a word from the previous chapter. The content is correct so I am not worried about the content being incorrect.

When you read on one device and go to the other it remembers where you were last and will come up with a message like the following (this is the iPad).

I enjoyed reading on my Kindle the most, but for highlighting and note taking I preferred the iPad. Also, the iPad has the option to "Share". So, you can share a verse on Facebook or Twitter by just a touch. The iPad was also easier to navigate the Start and End points if you wanted to view where you were. With the iPad it is just a touch of your finger, but with the Kindle you have to use the little mouse thingy and it just does not work that well for me. I have the older Kindle though with the knobby thing.

Here is an example of how to point and highlight or make notes on my iPad. First, I click with my finger:

Then, it will highlight the word and put two dots on each end. If you grab the point with your finger and drag it, it will highlight as much as you'd like.

Here is the whole verse that I highlighted using my finger.

Then, what it looks like highlighted.

Or, you can make notes:

Reading the bible on the iPhone (or Android) using the Kindle app is a little tiny, but I can read it just fine. Since the devices are linked to my Amazon account it remembers where I was when I read last. So, if I'm at the doctor or sitting in my car and I don't have my Kindle or iPad I can just take my iPhone out of my purse and catch up on my reading. [No, I can't seem to take a straight picture!]

Another advantage of reading the 90 day version is that it pushed me to read more if I had time. Because at the end of each section says, "End of Day 1 / Start of Day 2". So, sometimes I would keep reading and push myself until I made it to the section end (which I believe is about 12 pages of reading). I assume the Bible in a Year bibles have the same markers, but I am unsure.

Lastly, while I was reading I would make notes and highlight along the way. All of my notes/highlights are available on all devices, not just the device I highlighted them on. So, now, I can go back through and see what scripture I wanted to follow-up on and learn more. Here is an example of my highlights on my iPad.