Get Out of the Way!

A man was once visiting a farmer and asked, "Does your mule ever kick you?" "No Sir," was the reply, "he hasn't yet, but he frequently kicks the place where I recently was."

Temptation is like that, and we would do well to learn from this farmers wisdom. The best way to avoid being "kicked" by sin is to not be there. That is what David did when Saul tried to kill him. "And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice" (1 Sam. 18:11).

So it is with us. One of the best ways to avoid harm, trouble, or even sin is to get out of the way!

Accordance Bible Software

I recently purchased a new Bible software package called Accordance after looking at several at several others. Previously, I had used QuickVerse and really enjoyed it. The iLumina program was very interesting, but seems to be lacking in serious Bible study tools. Of course, Logos is the best known and has the largest library. It has the largest price to go with it. Yet, that is the way I was leaning until a friend told me about Accordance.

Accordance is made by Mac users for Mac users (but they also have an emulator for PC's), and since I also use a Mac, I thought it was worth checking out. The new Mac version of Logos will not do everything the PC version will do. That coupled with the price helped me make up my mind, but not completely. What really influenced me to choose Accordance was what it will do. This is an amazing program. Unlike Logos, when you buy a package and later upgrade to a larger package, the price of the first package is credited to the purchase of the next. This makes it much more cost effective.

Don't think you have to sacrifice power for savings. Accordance has extremely innovative search commands like the "Fuzzy" search which allows you to search for a phrase even if you don't have the exact words. The "Instant Details" box shows you verses or original language information as you move your cursor over a word in the workspace window. Time and space will not allow me to tell you all the valuable tools and abilities of this program, but you can see them by going to the Accordance website. You can view demos, watch podcasts of how to use the program, or even download a free demo. It will be worth your while to check these out.

Last weekend, I went to an Accordance training seminar in Kansas City to learn more about this powerful study tool. They did this for free (How many software companies do this?). Beside free tech support, they also have training videos and user forums to you help and to get new ideas. Whether you are a Mac user or a PC, you can benefit from Accordance.