When James MacDonald came to town for his Vertical Church Tour, he asked everyone to hold up their Bibles. A quick scan of the crowd showed Bibles of all shapes and sizes- including phones and tablets. James' reaction was to ask the crowd to hold up the "real" Bibles and then he asked everyone else to hold up their "fake" Bibles.

So what is a Bible?

I think we all have a mental picture of what a Bible should be but as with everything, times are changing. Books are being replaced with e-readers. Magazines are going out of publication. Newspapers are shifting more and more content online. Reading is going digital and the Bible is following suit. The free YouVersion App- which gives you access to a bundle of translations & commentaries has been downloaded almost 70 million times. Not only can you read the Bible on your smartphone or tablet, you can listen to it too! On his crosswalk.com blog, Dr. Ray Pritchard introduces us to the listening plan that he is working through.

So are these "fake" Bibles? The words are the same. God is the same. They just look a little different. So next time you're at church and the pastor invites the congregation to take out their Bibles, take a look around and see how many people pull out their phones. Maybe more than you think.