Resources and Links from WowGod.org and Awesome God Ministries

Resources and Links

Items from WowGod.org

Tim's book, "A Life of Holy Intimacy and Power: The Radical Message of Ephesians for Believers".

Shirts to share your faith with

Learning to hear God speak to you

How to hear and discern God's voice

Books dealing with hearing from God

Bibles

In print Bibles

Some people have strong preferences for one translation or another. I have read many translations, and some speak to me better than others, but I can tell you that I would be happy having an everyday Bible in NIV, ESV, NLT, NRSV, or Amplified (though it takes a special sort to want to have the Amplified as your number one Bible, because it is awkward to read out loud from). HCSB wasn't bad either, though there were a thing or two that irked me (like changing the interpretation of the times of day). Some people who like a translation close to a word-for-word prefer the NASB. I didn't like the NASB as my every day Bible because the sentences seemed very long with lots of commas, and I would get lost.

Die-hard traditionalists like the King James Version (KJV), but I can't understand the old English, so I can't use it. I have tried a New King James Version (NKJV), and found it much more understandable. If you like the poetical ring of the KJV but need some help with updating the language, NKJV might be the way to go. I LOVE The Message (MSG) Bible, but because it takes liberties in the way it translates, I would not want it to be my number one Bible. It is better as good back up, and perhaps as a devotional commentary. There are many other translations available besides the ones I mentioned.

Many Bibles come with commentaries. I happen to like a Bible with a commentary (though if you are trying to travel light, a commentary can triple the weight and size). I am currently using the ESV Study Bible. It has conservative evangelical commentary, which seems to tell me the kind of things that I want to hear about each passage. I like it a lot. I sometimes disagree with its direction, but not often, and I sometimes disagree with myself, anyway.

I also really like the Life Application Study Bible, which you can buy in any one of five Bible translations. For a relatively new believer, I would recommend the Life Application Study Bible over the ESV Study Bible, because while it has plenty of commentary and help, it won't overwhelm the reader like the ESV Study Bible can.

Another one I liked was the Renovare Study Bible, which uses the NRSV. I bought the Archeological Study Bible, but my wife stole if from me and has been using it ever since. Guess that it might possibly be a good Bible to have, too.

On line Bibles and commentaries

If I have to go online, I generally go first to Biblos or Bible Gateway, but that is for personal reasons. All the sites listed are fine. Among the online commentaries, I do like IVP, and I like Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown, and I love reading Spurgeon.

Biblos

Biblos has recently become my favorite. I can look up a single verse and see the way it is written in innumerable translations, with a large number of commentaries.

Bible Gateway

Bible Gateway had 20 different English translations, and a large number of foreign language translations. It also had several commentaries, including the IVP New Testament commentary (very nice) and the Matthew Henry Concise Commentary (very old, but reliable, to be sure).

Blue Letter Bible

This site 14 different English translations and is more integrated with commentarities, including audio and video. It has more commentaries than I can count, but a lot of them are not widely used. They do have the old but really, really excellent Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown. They also have Spurgeon's teachings, which are always highly beneficial.

BibleStudyTools.com

This website that has very many English translations (I had trouble counting, because they were interspersed with the foreign language translations), along with somewhat integrated commentaries.

A Christian's Guide to Bible Study Aids and References

A collection of links to other websites that have some great study tools. This is a nice site, because it is such a large collection, but organized well.

Bibles for computers and smartphones

If you don't want to have to be online to use a Bible or commentary, but would like to have the convenience of being able to copy and paste into emails or documents, or for that matter, would like to do text searches of the Bible, buying a software package for your computer or smartphone might be a good idea. There are so many programas available, and I don't have the expertise to compare them for you here. So I just offer a few comments.

I have used PC Study Bible for my computer, and it worked very well. It seems to me to be a little pricey, but for high-end study, perhaps that is a worthwhile investment. I have found a cheaper option, that while it lacks some features, works well for me. It is te Laridian Bible. They were originally for smartphones and PDAs, but have a version for the computer, too. If you own a version for an iPhone or smartphone, you also are allowed to have a PC version, too, for free.

Plans for systematically reading the Bible

Reading plan for the New Testament

Worship music

There is so much worship music available for listening on the web that it is hard to know where to begin. Both YouTube and GodTube have quite a bit. My favorite groups are Hillsong United, Jesus Culture, Misty Edwards, Rita Springer, Third Day, etc. There are so many out there it is hard to say where to begin, but I thought I would just throw out a few names, just in case you needed some kind of help in getting started. You can get on a website like Pandora and type in a few of these groups and listen to samples for hours!

Many Christian radio stations stream music online. Some local stations near where I live are WGTS (Washington) and WAVA (Washington).

You can also download lyrics and guitar chords from various places. For example, PWARCHIVE has lyrics and chords to some of the latest and greatest worship songs, as does Worship Archive. If you are more of a traditionalist or one who prefers hymns, you can try Cyber Hymnal.

Spiritual retreat centers in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area

My favorite silent retreat center is Dayspring Retreat Center, located in Germantown, MD. Dayspring is situated in beautiful farm setting, and has 3 ponds, woods, trails, benches, and a retreat house with a huge fire place.

While I've not ever been there myself (yet), my friends speak highly of Bon Secours Spiritual Center in Marriottsville, MD -- and it looks beautiful in the pictures on its webpage

Spiritual teachers we like to learn from and some devotionals

There are many spiritual teachers and ministries with their own websites and resources available for those interested. I will list a few that I like. Please use discernment. Even the best of teachers sometimes make mistakes. And just because someone is not listed doesn't mean that I do not like them or receommend them.

Houses of prayer and intercession movements

24/7 Prayer

This movement was birthed in England but spreading to the world, and is relate to the book "Red Moon Rising".

Awesome God Ministries