The Story of Easter Reading Plan from YouVersion

Reading Plans on an iPadOne week from today, on Sunday, April 24, all over the world, people who follow Christ will offer sincere thanks for the sacrifice he made for all of us on the cross. But more importantly, they will join together to celebrate the glory and awe of his resurrection. For many people, Easter offers a uniquely emotional opportunity for remembrance, reflection, and worship.

Prepared especially for the upcoming week, YouVersion is pleased to announce an all-new reading plan, “The Story of Easter.” This seven-day plan is purposefully designed to open our hearts as we approach the Easter celebration. Rather than dealing in the details of the historical events we will be remembering, The Story of Easter focuses instead on helping us evaluate the meaning and significance of the resurrection in our everyday lives.

Please consider joining with several thousand of us in the YouVersion community as we read through The Story of Easter together this week. You can find step-by-step instructions about how to select reading plans here:

(Note: If you like this plan, you might also enjoy the “Words of Jesus During Passion Week” reading plan this week.)

New Audio Bibles from YouVersion: ASV, WEB, KJV, and DRA

Audio Bibles on the Bible App™ for AndroidYou may know that in February, the Bible App™ for Android was the first YouVersion platform to get audio Bibles. And of course, we recently shared the huge announcement that audio Bibles will also be coming to the Bible App for iPhone/iPod touch literally any day now. Today, as a courtesy of several visionary partners, you can start listening immediately to the following Bibles on Android, and on iPhone/iPod touch the first day version 3.0 launches:

  • The KJV Listener’s Bible (KJV). Dramatic narration of the King James Version from Fellowship for the Performing Arts.
  • The Douay-Rheims Audio Bible (DRA). Steve Webb’s reading of The Holy Bible Douay-Rheims Version New Testament, with Challoner Revisions.
  • American Standard Version (ASV). New Testament Bible provided by FreeASV.org.
  • World English Bible (WEB). Modern English translation based on the ASV, dedicated to the public domain by eBible.org.

Please go give one a listen, and ask your friends and loved ones with Android devices to try them too. Also, please come let us know what you think on Facebook and Twitter!

Still want more?

How about this? Next up: audio Bibles are coming to the Bible App for BlackBerry! More details coming soon…

New Reading Plan Exclusive to YouVersion: Rick Warren’s Daily Devotional

Reading Plans from YouVersionIf you have used any of the more than 130 Reading Plans from YouVersion, then you already know that they are a terrific way to help you engage with the Bible, providing an easy schedule where you read just a little each day. As you begin to apply the things you feel God speaking to you through His Word, your life is transformed as He draws you closer. Now, Rick Warren, founding pastor of Saddleback Church and author of the best-selling book, The Purpose-Driven Life, has developed a reading plan exclusively for YouVersion—designed to help you accomplish just that.

Featuring 365 unique daily devotionals, the brand new “Rick Warren’s Daily Devotional” leads you through practical steps each day that can help you discover (and answer) God’s unique calling for your life. In just one year, Warren will help you chart a path to the place where God ultimately wants to lead you—spiritually, financially, emotionally, relationally and physically.

Rick Warren’s Daily Devotional is available now on all YouVersion platforms. All you need to start is a free YouVersion account. You can find it under the Devotional category of Reading Plans, whether you will be reading on your mobile device or at YouVersion.com. Today is a great day to start with that first step toward the fulfilled life Jesus has in store for you.

Dear YouVersion Volunteer Community: THANK YOU!

The Bible App™ by YouVersionThis is National Volunteer Week, but the truth is, YouVersion’s amazing community of volunteers—1200+ of you so far (and counting)—deserve honor and recognition every single day. Your passionate work helps get God’s Word into the hands and inside the hearts of people around the world. It’s only through your many contributions that together our YouVersion team serves literally millions of people, helping them engage with the Bible easily every day.

YouVersion volunteers are regular people—people just like you—who serve in all kinds of big and small ways, offering abilities as unique as they are: design, testing, formatting text, social media… the list goes on and on. Renee is a stay-at-home mom who responds to issues reported through the Bible App™ on different platforms. Chris performs data entry. During his downtime, Russ, a police officer, leads a team of other volunteers responding to help requests online. Dan is a guy who develops software. And here are just a few other examples of the “typical” YouVersion volunteer: David is a Genius at an Apple retail store, Brian is an IT manager at a prominent U.S. university, Nicole is a woman in Jamaica who manages a retail store, Dean is a senior executive at a major telecommunications network, Drewe is another IT manager (this one for a major motorcycle manufacturer in Australia), and college students Craig, Will, and Brian.

One volunteer, Jerry, has translated (and led other volunteers in translating) significant portions of our interfaces into traditional and simplified Chinese. In fact, just since January 1 of this year, 160 volunteers have helped with translation into other languages. These incredible people were instrumental in preparing the imminent, all-new iOS release (for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch), translating its interface into 16 different languages! While some volunteers may only be able to offer an hour or two, others spend several hours a week. It all matters.

You are part of a movement, a revolution of millions of people reading (and hearing!) God’s Word in their heart language. Of course, the more people who join us, the more we can reach together. We have many places you can serve, including some that don’t require a lot of your time. Let us know how you can help at our volunteer sign-up.

We cannot say “thank you” sincerely or often enough. You are literally changing this world. You guys are impacting millions. And millions…can impact billions.

Thank you.

Soon from YouVersion: All New Bible App for iPhone!

For almost three years now, our dedicated iOS YouVersion community (iPhone, iPod touch, and more recently, iPad) has been engaging with and sharing God’s Word through their Apple devices. And during that time, regular app updates have debuted new languages and features like social connections, offline versions, notes, and of course reading plans. Today we’re thrilled to share the dawn of the all-new, next generation of the Bible App­™ for iOS: VERSION 3.0.
V. 3.0 of the Bible App™ for iOS is almost here!
This complete overhaul makes connecting with the Bible simpler and more flexible than ever before. You can find a complete feature list at the end of this post, but here are just a few highlights (click the images to enlarge):

  • Audio Bibles. From the main Bible Reader, you’ll be able to have the Bible read to you (a full list of the audio versions available at launch is below). Although not in this release, audio Bibles will even be coming soon to the reader in your Reading Plan!
  • Easier Reading. With the words of Christ in red (in participating versions) and adjustable brightness, contrast, and fonts, you’ll be able to read clearly in any light, making your text the size and look that’s most comfortable for your eyes.
  • Dashboard Launcher. You’ll be able to directly access the most commonly used features from the newly designed welcome screen. (Many of these features will just be one click away on most other screens too.)
  • Recent Activity. A quick chronological list helps you see everything you’ve done while you’ve been using the Bible App, with each item just one tap away from jumping right back to it.

 

As soon as Version 3.0 hits the iTunes App Store, you can be sure we’ll announce it here and on Facebook and Twitter. But even more great tools are on the horizon. Besides everything you see here, still to come in a future release…

  • Audio for reading plans
  • Improved Bookmarks with addition of Highlighting
  • All-new, easier navigation for books, chapters and verses