But the word of God continued to spread and flourish. (Acts 12:24 NIV)
Sometimes spreading the Word takes us outside of our office workspaces and we get to meet our BLB users face-to-face.
Over the last few years, Blue Letter Bible has been given the opportunity to exhibit at multiple conferences. Most recently, we were invited to host a booth on the convention floor at the Bethlehem College and Seminary’s Conference in Minneapolis. We were very blessed by the crowds of pastors and church leaders who came by our exhibit. The warm reception from all the visitors inside the center, more than made up for the sub-zero weather outside!
In honor of the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, BLB assembled a replica of what a pastor’s library would have looked like in 1690, and how he would have studied God’s Word. The old desk and bookshelves held antiquarian Bibles and books that were lent or given to us by various donors. These works were in languages including Hebrew, Greek, German, Latin and the King’s English. There were yellowed devotionals and study notes, original language helps, and artifacts dating back to the 15th century and beyond. Some of those well-worn study resources would have been hand written by candlelight before the printing press ever existed.
Of course, a pastor’s heart for studying God’s Word has not changed over the centuries, but the way he studies has changed tremendously. In juxtaposition, on the other side of our booth, was our 21st century BLB website, displaying our powerful digital study tools. The contrast was drastic, but the motive for studying the Word remains the same.
Over the course of three days, many hundreds of conference attendees visited our booth—some of them learning about Blue Letter Bible for the first time. Then, of course, there were those faithful BLB users who have been utilizing our in-depth study tools for many years.
One very enthusiastic Canadian pastor told us he loves BLB and uses it every day to prepare his sermons. He also encourages his congregation to use our website for their own personal study time.
A computer programmer from India told us he has been using BLB for over ten years. He was excited to see our ministry represented at the conference, and he even offered to help us with our website if a need arises.
Time and again, ministry workers were in awe at the 1690 collection of pastoral study resources. Naturally, this afforded us the opportunity to share the time-saving benefits of having Blue Letter Bible’s study tools at your fingertips.
What we took away from the conference was an overwhelming sense of God’s hand upon the Blue Letter Bible ministry. As staff members, we consider it a true privilege to participate in aiding believers, of all ages and in all countries, to enrich their pursuit of knowing God and His Word better. BLB exists to spread the Word and to watch God flourish it in the hearts of His people.