Christian Book Notes

“I don’t have time to read the Bible right now.” Sadly, this statement is often heard in churches and in conversations among believers. Even worse, we say this ourselves–I know that I have said this. Without trying to sound like the beginning of an infomercial, I want to tell you about a product that is going to take away pretty much every excuse you have for not having daily intake of God’s Word.

Features of The Original GoBible

GoBible is exactly what the name says it is. It is a Bible for people on the go. You can purchase three different translations–KJV (narrated by Alexander Scourby (1913-1985)), NKJV (narrated by Stephen Johnston), or NIV (narrated by Mac McLean). In all three cases, the narrators

Verse Indexing

The Original GoBible is indexed at the verse level which, in my opinion is one of the most amazing aspects of this produce. The main menu is set up to allow the user to choose the Old or the New Testament. Once you choose which testament, you then choose your book. When you are in your book, you choose your chapter. For the most part, every CD or MP3 audio Bible I have had stops right there. No so with the Original GoBible! Once you are in the chapter, you can then select whatever verse you are wanting! That is worth the price of the Original GoBible right there!

Story Index

You can choose from over 225 of the more popular stories within the Bible by choosing the Story Index from the main menu and then select the Old or New Testament. From there, you can choose any of the most popular stories found in the Bible. The creation of the world, the fall of man, Samson, David and Goliath, the birth of Jesus, Water turned into wine, etc. In the event that a story is told more than once, like the birth of Jesus for instance, they have each telling of the story from the different books. The stories are indexed in biblical chronological order.

Special Features

The following features are located in the main menu under the Special Features button.

First, there is a topic index. This is a small version of a topical index. The Original GoBible includes around 30 different topics and circumstances that someone may find themselves. Here, the listener will be able to access verses related to emotions like grief and doubt as well as other topics like heaven and the love of God. By clicking on a topic, you will be presented with a list of Scripture passages from which to select. You can listen to all or listen to a few.

Second, there is a listing of different holidays on the American calendar throughout the year. These include Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s and Father’s Day. Also included are some major life changing events. These include events like military deployment, baptisms, weddings, graduations, and funerals.

Third, you can read through the Bible in a year with your GoBible. This is divided into 52 weeks and then subdivided in to 7 days per week. Each day has a reading from the OT and the NT.

Finally, what brings all of this together is the ability to bookmark up to 36 different passages. This is especially useful when reading through the Bible in a year or simply just reading through the Bible as I am. All you need to do is press the bookmark button and your passage is saved. Next time you go to listen to your Bible, you just need to go into your bookmark and click on the passage where you left off.

Inconveniences of the GoBible

I have labeled this section inconveniences because the following critiques are simply some things that I would like to see changed and in no way do they make the GoBible less than an excellent and most recommended tool.

The first thing is that the stories are in chronological order making it somewhat difficult to get to a story in the middle of the Old Testament. The stories are in canonical order as they appear in the Bible. Perhaps a separate alphabetical listing would be of help.

Second, for some reason, the voice (I have the NIV with Max Mclean) sounds as though the narrator is in a can. I own the CD set of the Listener’s Bible and in comparing the two (the GoBible and the CD’s) it seems that their is a slight difference in the quality. This would not be noticeable, I think, except for the fact that I have listened to the same audio CD’s for over 6 years now.

Third, placing the GoBible in the belt clip makes it a bit more difficult to use the navigation buttons. It is harder to push play and to bookmark a section, but I think that will change the more I use it and break in the leather of the case.

Finally, the choice of translations is currently limited to just the KJV, NKJV, and NIV. While you can download more translations at the website, these are the only three available for the GoBible.

Qualities of the GoBible

What’s not to like? I have been listening to my GoBible every day since I received it. I have found it to be a calming influence when I am walking around doing mindless tasks. It has helped me to stay in the Word during one of busiest seasons of my life.

The fact that the entire Bible is already uploaded to its own MP3 player makes the Original GoBible a steal at only $99. There is over 70 hours of “reading” and well over 3 GB (probably pushing 4 with all of the added features) of material. To purchase an MP3 Bible and an MP3 player to upload the files onto will certainly cost you more than that! Having a Bible at the ready no matter what you are doing is beyond priceless. There is no more uploading files. You simply turn it on and start listening.

Because it runs on one AAA battery, there is no charging and hoping that you get a full charge before you need it. You simply put in a battery and start using your GoBible. There is no more being away from your charger and getting aggravated that you can’t use your device. You simply pull out another AAA battery and pop it in and start listening.

Recommendation

The GoBible has quickly become one of my favorite tools for Bible intake. In no way does it replace reading the Bible, but it certainly helps to have it playing in your ear during the day. Its sleek, compact design with all of the features listed above makes the Go Bible an excellent gift for any professing Christian.  You can purchase the GoBible at Amazon.