Electronic Devices In The Church Tablets, Smart Phones, Projectors, And More

[John81]

( in response to church photo)

 

 

So does the church now give away ipads instead of physical bibles. 

 

 

I'm on one of our churches boards and we've been considering replacing the old pew Bibles but since they are rarely used anymore we've not yet made a decision. Perhaps I should raise the idea of handing out ipads instead!

[Standing Firm In Christ]

IPads are considerably more expensive than the books.

[John81]

IPads are considerably more expensive than the books.

Which would be great for those of us who can't afford them!

 

Perhaps if we were a megachurch pulling in millions of dollars we could seriously consider such a thing.

 

As it stands we are probably going to buy some inexpensive pew Bibles and replace the most worn of the old pew Bibles.

[Standing Firm In Christ]

Which would be great for those of us who can't afford them!

 

Perhaps if we were a megachurch pulling in millions of dollars we could seriously consider such a thing.

 

As it stands we are probably going to buy some inexpensive pew Bibles and replace the most worn of the old pew Bibles.

or, you could just print up little posters to put on the backs of the pews, asking:  "If you never bring your Bible to Church, how can you be sure your Pastor is not lying to you?"

Might be a little brash, but it is cheaper and could cause people to think to bring their Bibles more often.

[John81]

or, you could just print up little posters to put on the backs of the pews, asking:  "If you never bring your Bible to Church, how can you be sure your Pastor is not lying to you?"

Might be a little brash, but it is cheaper and could cause people to think to bring their Bibles more often.

Actually the reason the pew Bibles aren't used much anymore, and the reason we are not wanting to put much money into replacing them all, is because most folks either carry their physical Bible with them or use an electronic device to access their Bible. The congregation rarely needs to use a pew Bible but we want to keep Bibles in the pews for any guests who might need to use one. We don't want to do as a growing number of churches have done and not have any pew Bibles at all.

[The Glory Land]

IPads are considerably more expensive than the books.

And brothers and sisters might steal them... :(

[Standing Firm In Christ]

I have a "Find My iPad" app. If the iPad is stolen or misplaced, I can trace it easily.

[John81]

And brothers and sisters might steal them...

Thankfully, in our church, I wouldn't worry about anyone stealing anything.

 

Typically, even if someone leaves something laying around, others either leave it there to await the owner coming to look for it, or they give it to the pastor to hold onto until the rightful owner comes looking for it.

[The Glory Land]

Thankfully, in our church, I wouldn't worry about anyone stealing anything.

 

Typically, even if someone leaves something laying around, others either leave it there to await the owner coming to look for it, or they give it to the pastor to hold onto until the rightful owner comes looking for it.

 

 

I don't think so, not with a tablet... 

[John81]

I don't think so, not with a tablet... 

People leave stuff unattended all the time in our church. Their electronic devices, purses, books, and all sorts of things and nothing has been stolen.

[The Glory Land]

People leave stuff unattended all the time in our church. Their electronic devices, purses, books, and all sorts of things and nothing has been stolen.

 

 

Your in a good church.

[Steve Schwenke]

I think Standing Firm's condition is the exception, and I would certainly allow for his handicap.  However, as a general rule, I am against electronics in church, outside of the occasional missionary presentation.  Many preachers are not preaching from their tablets instead of paper notes.  I suppose that travelling evangelists and missionaries find it easier to simply preach from their tablets.  It is much more convenient than having to carry notebooks filled with sermons around, but it still is a distraction to me, personally.  I don't know...I just am against all of this electronic junk - it does not make us smarter, it makes us dumber and more dependent upon the device to do the work for us. 

Electronic devices are nothing more than an unnecessary distraction in the church services (exceptions noted!).  When a person has the actual book in their hand, it is much more personal than reading the text off the projection screen, or off the device.  Our society gets lost in all this maze of electronics, and they never get a look at the real world the way God designed it. 

As far as taking notes, I am not sure what is wrong with the old fashioned way of writing things down on paper.   If there is a word that needs to be looked up, how about applying a little bit of patience and diligence, making a note, and then looking things up at home later?  This process only enriches the entire learning process, instead of satisfying our insatiable "on demand" attitude toward everything. 

Personally, I believe it is completely disrespectful to the Lord and to His people to take the things of God so flippantly as to neglect the real paper and ink BOOK.  Having a Bible app on your phone for personal use at work or other places is one thing.  But for personal reading and study, and more importantly, for public worship, I say we stay with the old fashioned way.  I cannot for the life of me comprehend why Bible Believing Christians are so quick to adapt to the world's methods for doing everything....

 

My two cents...if ya don't like it, you are entitled to your opinion...but I speak as a pastor whose desire is that God's people would have a deep, abiding, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Electronic Devices promote "social networking" not deep, abiding relationships...and that is the direction this world is taking....it's back to basics, folks!

[John81]

I think Standing Firm's condition is the exception, and I would certainly allow for his handicap.  However, as a general rule, I am against electronics in church, outside of the occasional missionary presentation.  Many preachers are not preaching from their tablets instead of paper notes.  I suppose that travelling evangelists and missionaries find it easier to simply preach from their tablets.  It is much more convenient than having to carry notebooks filled with sermons around, but it still is a distraction to me, personally.  I don't know...I just am against all of this electronic junk - it does not make us smarter, it makes us dumber and more dependent upon the device to do the work for us. 

Electronic devices are nothing more than an unnecessary distraction in the church services (exceptions noted!).  When a person has the actual book in their hand, it is much more personal than reading the text off the projection screen, or off the device.  Our society gets lost in all this maze of electronics, and they never get a look at the real world the way God designed it. 

As far as taking notes, I am not sure what is wrong with the old fashioned way of writing things down on paper.   If there is a word that needs to be looked up, how about applying a little bit of patience and diligence, making a note, and then looking things up at home later?  This process only enriches the entire learning process, instead of satisfying our insatiable "on demand" attitude toward everything. 

Personally, I believe it is completely disrespectful to the Lord and to His people to take the things of God so flippantly as to neglect the real paper and ink BOOK.  Having a Bible app on your phone for personal use at work or other places is one thing.  But for personal reading and study, and more importantly, for public worship, I say we stay with the old fashioned way.  I cannot for the life of me comprehend why Bible Believing Christians are so quick to adapt to the world's methods for doing everything....

 

My two cents...if ya don't like it, you are entitled to your opinion...but I speak as a pastor whose desire is that God's people would have a deep, abiding, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Electronic Devices promote "social networking" not deep, abiding relationships...and that is the direction this world is taking....it's back to basics, folks!

I've noticed youth doing things other than Bible things and I've noticed that these smaller electronic devices seem to take a lot of attention in that they are constantly having to touch the screen, turn the pages, scroll or whatever they are doing because the devise is so small it holds little content on the screen and causes much more movement and distraction than an occasional turning of a page in a Bible.

 

I'm not 100% against electronic stuff, but I think for most of us we would be better off using the actual Book.

 

One big problem with some of the electric stuff is folks just get lazy. Rather than studying the Bible themselves and learning where things are, they just do internet searches. This leaves them unable to even have a clue where Job or Jude are actually located in a physical Bible.

 

I'll continue to carry my Bible with me and use that in services and Sunday school and Bible studies.

[The Glory Land]

I am glad that my bible does not freezes or distract anyone. I drop my bible once a week, there goes the screen... 

[Standing Firm In Christ]

I have dropped my iPad more than once.  They are built much better than the iPod.