Electronic devices in church

[JerryNumbers]

With our Pastor's preaching we could never do that - we'd run out of bookmarks!

I know a pastor that preach a funeral service that quoted many verses, I lost count at 100, another person that attended said he counted over 130 verses, & yes, they were quoted, not read from the Bible. And the best I could tell he quoted every one perfectly.

This was a man who I thought very dearly of. The pastor I surrender under, while I was at that church, he let me preach 3 times in about 3 years, & that included my 1st sermon & a sermon one Sunday morning when he got a call to go to the hospital for his mother was sick & he asked me to preach for him at 10:55 AM at the 11:00 services. One day I ran into Bro. Barney up town, we sat down & were having a good conversation, during which I asked him if I could talk about something in strict confidence, he said yes.. I discussed this with him & he seemed to be totally shocked. He told me, Bro. Jerry, move your membership to our church & I promise you, "I will put you to work. I've never seen a pastor do anyone like that."

I thought about that for a few weeks & also preached fro Bro. Barney one Sunday at both services. And afterwards he again told me, we would love to have you, & I promise you we will make you work. That really put me to thinking, & Linda & I talked about it quite a bit, & we wee about ready to move our membership. Them I head that Bro. Barney was to have surgery the next Monday, so that Sunday morning we went to his services, but he had someone preaching for him which disappointed both of us. After preaching services they had Bro. Barney stand at front while everyone passed by wishing him well. He told me I'm so happy to see you & Linda, I hope you will decided to come & be part of us after I get through this.

Bro. Barney had surgery on July 6, 1998 the day they were to start a revival service that he insisted they have even though he was having surgery. He stated, revival services are much more important than I so they followed his wishes. He died that day, His funeral services was on Thursday July 16 a 10 pastors & preaches including myself & the evangelist holding the revival services were the pallbearers. The place was full & over running. the revival services went right good considering their pastor died.

I had gone to about 2 or maybe 3 of their past revival services & knew most everyone in that church. During the last year of Bro. Barneys life, it seemed as if ever week or two, Linda & I would find our self in the same place as Bro. Barney having many wonderful conversations, including several times out of town. In fact Bro. Barney made a comment, it seems we are always at the same place at the same time. But it was about a month before his death that I talked to him about my pastor. That man gave me many encouraging words, & I believe he is among the most missed persons that I ever knew. Without him & his kind & encouraging words, I may have well given up.

Ever time we parted company he would say, "If We Never Meet Again," I'll see you on the other side. Perhaps you have heard the song, you can find the words to it here. http://www.hymnlyrics.org/lyricsi/if_we_never_meet_again.html

Sorry this is so long, but reading your post & you mentioning running out of bookmarks, I though about Bor. Barney.

[Wilchbla]

Carring a bible in the open where people can see you can be a character builder for a Christian. People will know exactly what it is and who you are (i.e a "bible thumper") and it's one of the easiest ways to find out who among your group who loves the bible and who doesn't. It will also embolden other Christians who may be to afraid to profess their faith for fear of being picked on or ostracized. If I see a person carry a bible, say to work, I'll be more likely to strike up a conversation about the things of God than if he/she didn't. And you'll be surprised how much courage others Christians who may work with you will start to show. You can't get this with an electronic device. Not that I'm against having these things. I have an bible app on my phone that I highly recommend. But they shouldn't replace the book itself.

And as in church I want to go to a church where everyone has the bible out. There's nothing like that in the world.

Edited March 10, 2012 by Wilchbla

[John81]

I at least list my main verses in our bulletin, much of the time all of them. That helps with this, & most of them will check the bulletin them use bookmarks & therefore have them ready without having to rattle so many pages.

The main verses used at our church are also in the bulletin. I always look them up before services so I can easily get to them.

[John81]

Carring a bible in the open where people can see you can be a character builder for a Christian. People will know exactly what it is and who you are (i.e a "bible thumper") and it's one of the easiest ways to find out who among your group who loves the bible and who doesn't. It will also embolden other Christians who may be to afraid to profess their faith for fear of being picked on or ostracized. If I see a person carry a bible, say to work, I'll be more likely to strike up a conversation about the things of God than if he/she didn't. And you'll be surprised how much courage others Christians who may work with you will start to show. You can't get this with an electronic device. Not that I'm against having these things. I have an bible app on my phone that I highly recommend. But they shouldn't replace the book itself.

And as in church I want to go to a church where everyone has the bible out. There's nothing like that in the world.

I especially noticed the power of carrying a Bible while at university. Doing so brought about many comments, both positive and negative, but everyone knew where I stood, and who I stood for. At first there were only two of us that did this, after some time a few more Christians became more bold in their faith and would carry their Bibles with them, meet with us for Bible study, etc.

One time, some years later, I was working in a factory and someone had rode with another guy to work and was commenting about the whole back seat of the car being coverd in Playboy magazines. This led to some of them talking about what was in their cars and others. Someone said "I wouldn't be surprised if John has a Bible in his car!" Followed by laughs, and then a few of them walked over to where my car was parked, and there inside my car, in plain sight, the only thing to see was a Bible.

[Oldtimer]

Carring a bible in the open where people can see you can be a character builder for a Christian. People will know exactly what it is and who you are (i.e a "bible thumper") and it's one of the easiest ways to find out who among your group who loves the bible and who doesn't. It will also embolden other Christians who may be to afraid to profess their faith for fear of being picked on or ostracized. If I see a person carry a bible, say to work, I'll be more likely to strike up a conversation about the things of God than if he/she didn't. And you'll be surprised how much courage others Christians who may work with you will start to show. You can't get this with an electronic device. Not that I'm against having these things. I have an bible app on my phone that I highly recommend. But they shouldn't replace the book itself.

And as in church I want to go to a church where everyone has the bible out. There's nothing like that in the world.

Not only for the main worship service. To see people open their Bibles during Sunday school and Wednesday Bible studies, too.

We have one lady who likes to "play" with her electronic device during those times. I don't know what it is except it's an earlier version, according to her. From observing her, it appears to be distracting to her, as well as those around her. That's why I used the term "play" with it. She can't be concentrating on the message, with all the "clicking" she's doing.

As to carrying a Bible, I frequently do, these days. Especially when I know I'm going to be sitting for awhile, as in a doctor's office. It's interesting to observe folks out of the corner of my eye. If they think I'm not looking, people will often give the Bible a second glance, even if they don't mention it. It's in effect a silent witness to others.

Back to electronics, for a moment. I think they are fine for private study. At home, for example, when reviewing our SS lesson, it's convenient to quickly look up referenced verses. And to look up definitions of words I don't understand. And, sometimes, to do research when I disagree with the author's premise on a particular subject. However, there's one downside to a computer screen. I can't write notes on it. I tend to scribble notes as I study.

[JerryNumbers]

Use Sword Searcher, it provides a place to place notes to the verse.

[Oldtimer]

Thanks, Jerry.

I'm kinda old fashioned in some ways. Usually have a half dozen pens lying around to make notes on paper. Found that I don't like to borrow books from other folks. I have to hide the pens to keep from underlining, drawing stars and writing "the Bible doesn't say that!" in the margins.

Edited March 13, 2012 by Oldtimer

[JerryNumbers]

I am too, it was hard for me to switch to using computers, & several times I thought about throwing my computer into the back yard. But I finally caught on to it, & its much easier to read the Bible & cross reference verses.

Of course my Bible that I preach from still gets notes written within it & verses underlined.