The new SwordSearcher 6.1 supports integrating Alexander Scourby’s Bible narration right into the software. I made a video demonstrating this.

The Scourby recordings are quite old, so the quality isn’t exactly “digital master.” But they are still very easy to listen to. The AMG CD set (containing MP3 files) is the best quality you’re going to find. There is a more recently “re-mastered” MP3 set of the recordings, but the remastering is ham-fisted and clunky, so I don’t recommend anything other than the AMG CD set.  And again, it’s cheap!

But if you’re looking for an alternative to Scourby, Max McLean did an excellent job reading the Bible too. And you can integrate that into SwordSearcher as well!

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

New to this version is tight integration of audio Bibles. You can import your MP3 Bible so that it’s playable in the Bible panel (with scrolling text), and if you’re using the excellent AMG Publisher’s Scourby Narration, you’ll have verse-level playback (not just chapter-based), individual verse highlighting during playback, and you can also play verse lists. More info on audio Bible support here.

Also, as usual, there are a bunch of new library resources, including the often-requested Bullinger Companion Bible Notes and Appendixes.

Perhaps the most important library update, however, is the newly Expanded Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. A lot of work went into this “completion” of the TSK. Check out the link for details.

More information on the new version is available here and here.

When studying original languages of the Bible it makes sense to combine the Textus Receptus Greek New Testament with Ben Chayyim’s Masoretic Old Testament, so I combined the two into a single TR module for SwordSearcher 6. It’s convenient to be able to switch seamlessly between the Hebrew OT and the Greek NT.

The SwordSearcher Hebrew text includes vowel points, and the Bible search function of the program allows you to search either with or without them.  So, for example, you could do a search for יהוה (the Tetragrammaton) in the SwordSearcher TR with the Consonant search option selected and get results including יְהוִה יְהוָה יְהוִֹה יֱהוִֹה. Might be useful to someone.

The Hebrew portion of the TR module should be considered a work in progress and feedback is welcome.

For comparison, the Westminster Leningrad Codex is also available for SwordSearcher.

Been busy.

SwordSearcher Bible Software version 6 is now available. 2010 marks the 15th anniversary of SwordSearcher.

I love my job!

Lots of details here and here. Also got a video of some of the new features here.

I’ve recently created a SwordSearcher fan page on Facebook, too.

Let me start by saying that I am not happy about Obama being elected President. Not happy at all. But I’ve managed to turn my unhappiness with the election into the same feeling you get right before you sneeze — you know, that resignation that this is simply out of your control and it will happen regardless of your approval, and all protestations to the contrary will matter nary a wit.

And let’s insert the obligatory “Omaba is bad” stuff: He knows nothing about business.  He has no real-world experience in anything. His ideas are bad. He supports the killing of infants recently born because, you know, saving their lives would be too much of a burden on a woman who has chosen to kill her child. And he wants to take guns away from law abiding citizens.  Check. Check. Check. Yadda yadda.

But here’s the thing: He’s president. I’m not going to act like some pipsqueek liberal holding a sign that says “Bush is not my president.”  Because he is.

And you know why?

Because God wants him there.

Chew on that. Chew on that real good. (Don’t swallow as you might choke, but chew for a little while.)

It doesn’t matter how much you dislike Obama.  It doesn’t matter how good your reasons are for disliking him.

Romans 13:1-2  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

There is just no getting around this. Paul lived under a nation that had both just and unjust laws. The sins of the leadership of the United States aren’t any worse than those of the Roman government. And yet Paul didn’t dwell on his government.  He didn’t intermingle the Gospel with warnings about Caesar. Even when Paul was accused of crimes that would have resulted in his execution, he didn’t set out on a campaign of reform against his government.

Now back to the first thing I said: Politics can bring out the worst in anybody. I have heard people say the worst of curses against their new President. And it bugs me. Here’s why:

1 Timothy 2:1-2  I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

Here Paul tells us what our attitude about our leaders must be. We are to pray for them and even give thanks for them.

Ouch. That’s hard. I think living up to Old Testament standards might even be easier than giving thanks for Obama.

But there it is, nonetheless. And Paul told us why. “That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” This is God’s will for us. This is what we should be striving for — not to get ABC, NBC, or CBS to air the right news. But to live a peacable life. And there is a flip side. Ignoring this exhortation means getting the opposite of “peaceable life.”

Yes, it’s nice to be right. Of course Obama is going to be one of the worst presidents this country has ever had. And, no, of course you don’t have to be happy about it. And in four years, you will get to vote against him again. Maybe in four years enough of the people in the country will see what’s right to prevent his re-election.

What do we do in the meantime?

Proverbs 29:2  When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

Notice the key here: mourn. No rebellion, no railing. Mourning.

I’m thankful I live in a country where I have freedom of speech and can blog about things that interest me, like economics and the insanity of environmentalism. I am thankful I get a “say” in who my governors are. But in the end I know that nothing I do is going to change the fact that it is going to take Christ returning and establishing his own rule in Earth for anything to get better.

So I’ll deal with the fact that Obama is president.

I hope you will, too.

Version 5.4 of SwordSearcher Bible Software is finally released!

For years I’ve received requests for Clarence Larkin’s Dispensational Truth. I’m happy to report that it is now part of the SwordSearcher study library, including all of the charts.  This was a pretty big job.  The charts in the book were not suitable for scanning as they often spanned pages and just couldn’t be properly combined into single images.  So, I obtained large-format prints of the charts, then had them scanned with hardware designed to archive large blueprints.  The result is the best possible scans of these old illustrations.

You can see what else has been added here.

I wasn’t able to attend the conference this year.  I’m sorry I missed it.  But I’m certainly pleased to get the award again.  To whomever is voting for SwordSearcher: thank you!  (I’ve never solicited votes, so I don’t really know who you are.)