Pepper Grinder: Links

Software

• BibleWorks - Speaking as someone who learned to study the Bible in its original languages back in the pre-Bibleworks days, I just have to say that I LOVE this software! I'm not sure that anyone who has never spent 10-15 minutes trying to figure out the tri-consonantal root of a Hebrew verb so you could look up its meaning in a Lexicon, can appreciate it as much as I do. It allows you to spend MUCH more time actually studying the passage instead of working with mechanics. The primary focus of the software is studying the Bible in the original languages (Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic), so if you aren't planning to learn one or more of these, there are probably cheaper tools that would do just as well for you. Sadly, I have heard that the company that makes this has gone out of business. If you have the latest version of this software, they are still releasing updates for it, but you can no longer buy a license. I am still using an older version and it still works great, but I'm sure the day will come when I'll get a new computer and won't be able to install this beloved software. Here is an article that talks about some alternatives to BibleWorks.
• Adobe® Dreamweaver® - This is the software I used to build this site and I think it's very good. On the other hand, I am sure that I have only scratched the surface of its features and it is probably overkill for someone who just wants to set up a basic website. One feature I adore is the way you can make a template page and then build pages from that. Anytime you make a change to the template, it offers to automatically update all the pages made from the template. Very cool.
• Gimp - As I got into the whole web design thing, I discovered that I would need image editing software. I had just shelled out a chunk of change for Dreamweaver® and so was less than thrilled by the thought of shelling out more big bucks for something like Photoshop®. Enter Gimp (Gnu Image Manipulation Program). It can do many amazing things and it is free! There is a learning curve involved, especially if, like me, you haven't worked with graphic design. However, once I had learned some basics, I found I could do some pretty neat stuff. The Pepper Grinder header was created in Gimp and all pictures I post have been run through the software so that the jpg images will be a reasonable size, will have good coloration and contrast, etc..

Websites

• Bible Gateway - This website manages to pack quite a few tools for Bible study into one site. It allows you to read the Bible in dozens of translations, including many non-English translations. It allows you to search for passages by word/phrase or topic. You can listen to a number of audio translations of the Bible in several languages. It has Bible reading plans. It has ads. Overall, it's a pretty neat site to go to if you want to study the Bible but don't have big bucks to lay out for a big library or high-powered Bible software.

Charities

Note: This is absolutely NOT an exhaustive list. I am sure that there are many other fantastic charities out there that I am not mentioning--I just wanted to tell you about a couple of my personal favorites.

• Samaritan's Purse - I am sure that this organization is not perfect but I love their combination of compassionate action and gospel orientation.
• Christian Aid Ministries - This is a Mennonite organization. I am not Mennonite myself, but I'm impressed by the single-minded focus of this organization on helping the poor both physically and spiritually, and by their very low administrative overhead.

- Pepper