I have something wonderful to share today, so I’ll interrupt our study of the Berean incident in Acts 17. For this post, I’m delivering my news – my blog is now part of the Bible Gateway Blogger Grid! I’ll tell you more about this grid later, but first let me tell you how this all happened.
The story began shortly after I started my blog back in April. My wife suggested I take a look at Bible Gateway as a possible venue for guest blogging. That’s because one of the best ways to grow readership is through guest posting. When I checked out the Bible Gateway Blog, I noticed a tab labeled “Blogger Grid,” which intrigued me.
An Unexpected Opportunity
When I clicked on the tab, I discovered that Bible Gateway has assembled a network of bloggers. These bloggers are not all writing about the same subject. These individual range “from mommy bloggers to authors to speakers to pastors to seminaries to Bible professors and others, writing from North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.”
Then my eyes fell on an invitation to apply for membership in their blogging network. So I did. The next day I received a response that was both disappointing and encouraging at the same time. Here is what the message stated:
We took a look at your blog, and although the content looks to be a great fit, Blogger Grid members are required to have at least 20 published posts in order to join. We encourage you to keep writing, and reach back out once you have reached that mark.
I found the message disappointing, but at least they held out hope for the future. And yes, you better believe I was counting each blog post, anticipating the moment when I could once again contact Bible Gateway. That time came in September, when I sent a reply to the April email Bible Gateway had sent. I received an official request for information the following day, after which I waited (not so patiently) to hear back. My acceptance came September 25, and boy was I excited.
What is Bible Gateway?
Some of you may not be familiar with Bible Gateway, a division of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. Thomas Nelson and Zondervan, familiar names in the Christian publishing industry, are also subsidiaries of HarperCollins. According to the acceptance email I received, BibleGateway.com is “the most visited Christian website in the world, with 150 million views per month.”
There’s a reason the site attracts so much traffic. To begin with, it offers more than 200 translations of the Bible in more than 70 languages. English dominates, with 59 versions of the Bible (six include only the New Testament). At the moment there are 10 audio versions, some of which are dramatized. All of these features are free for anyone to use.
Four additional features, also offered without cost, require you to log in. These features include customizing Bible reading plans for yourself, highlighting Bible passages, typing and storing notes on your readings, and syncing your notes across multiple devices.
Bible Gateway Plus., a paid-subscription service, provides additional resources. The monthly fee is $3.99 plus any applicable taxes. For this fee, you’ll have access to commentaries, dictionaries, study Bibles, devotionals, and more. If you’re just starting out and haven’t been able to build a reference library, this is an inexpensive way to sample some of what is out there.
What This Means for My Blog
As a member of the Blogger Grid, I will link Scriptural references to BibleGateway.com. This is a requirement, but it is one that serves my readers well. [I have now linked Scriptural references to Bible Gateway in all my previous blog posts.]
A second obligation is that I write about Bible Gateway at least once each quarter. This requirement actually fits nicely into the purpose of my blog, which is to teach how to study the Bible more effectively. Since Bible Gateway offers so many resources, it will come in handy as we study the Bible together.
My next post will pick up our in-depth study of Acts 17 with a discussion of Silas. In the meantime, why not check out Bible Gateway for yourself. I’d love to hear your thoughts about this online resource.
