Jun
29
Love God; Love others.
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Jesus told us that the most important commandment is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” He said that the second greatest is, “‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31, esv).
Jesus showed us what it looks like to “love your neighbor” (John 13:1-17). It is interesting to note that when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples He knew who was there: John (a faithful friend), Peter (who denied knowing Christ, but later repented and returned), and Judas (who betrayed Christ, and never returned). People we meet may be the faithful friend, may be one who cuts and runs but later comes back, or may be one who cuts us off completely and never returns. With each of these, God calls us to show His love. After He completed the task of washing the disciples’ feet, Jesus said, “I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (v. 15).
He also said, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (v.17).
God’s love: From the Cross, to YOU, through YOU to others.
To give us hope, we are reminded that we do not serve God in our own strength. “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27).
Apr
21
An Opportunity to Encourage
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“Like apples of gold in settings of silver, is a word spoken at the proper time” (Proverbs 25:11, nasb).
In her book, Streams in the Desert, Mrs. Charles Coleman tells this story:
“There is a story of an old man who carried a little can of oil with him everywhere he went, and if he passed through a door that squeaked, he poured a little oil on the hinges. If a gate was hard to open, he oiled the latch. And thus he passed through life lubricating all hard places and making it easier for those who came after him.
“People called him eccentric, queer, and cranky; but the old man went steadily on refilling his can of oil when it became empty, and oiled the hard places he found.
“There are many lives that creak and grate harshly as they live day by day. Nothing goes right with them. They need lubricating with the oil of gladness, gentleness, or thoughtfulness. Have you your own can of oil with you? Be ready with your oil of helpfulness in the early morning to the one nearest you. It may lubricate the whole day for him. The oil, of good cheer to the downhearted one — Oh, how much it may mean! The word of courage to the despairing. Speak it.
“Our lives touch others but once, perhaps, on the road of life; and then, mayhap, our ways diverge, never to meet again. The oil of kindness has worn the sharp, hard edges off of many a sin-hardened life and left it soft and pliable and ready for the redeeming grace of the Saviour.
“’A word spoken pleasantly is a large spot of sunshine on a sad heart.’
(Mrs. Charles Coleman, Streams in the Desert, 1925, Dec. 8)
While we currently often find ourselves at a distance from each other, there are many ways to spread the “oil of kindness” to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
One way to spread the oil of kindness and to “speak a word at the proper time” is to reach out to others is via old-fashioned “snail mail.”
Admittedly, each of us is very busy with many pursuits in life, whether working outside the home, rearing children, coping day by day with health issues or, what I call “the stuff of life.”
Here are some thoughts about how, given our many commitments, each of us might continue to reach out to others:
1. Grocery stores sell stamps at the check-out. When you are purchasing needed groceries for your families, add “stamps” to your list. If you are unable to get to the post office, stamps can be purchased at the grocery store.
2. Beautiful cards at an affordable price are available at Dollar Tree stores (https://www.dollartree.com/). Dollar Tree sells Dayspring Christian cards. When you are there, stock up on cards of many varieties.
3. Department stores such as Kohl’s sells greeting cards. With 30% off coupons, cards may be purchased at a discount.
4. Cards can be purchased online. Here are some links. Some are Christian; some are not. As in all things, please use what you can, and disregard the rest.
• https://www.leanintree.com/home.aspx
• https://www.dayspring.com/
• https://www.christianbook.com/
• https://www.currentcatalog.com/
Each of us can purchase greeting cards and stamps, and then get out our church directory and/or address book. Whether it is someone’s birthday, someone experiencing hardships of life, or for no reason at all except to share the love of Christ, each of us can reach out to others.
A Christian speaker once challenged his audience with the following thoughts:
“Rather than saying, ‘I’m one person, what can *I* do?’, I ought to say, “I’m one person, what *can* I do?” Each of us can begin today to do one thing to reach out to a brother or sister in Christ.
May
24
Hope for your Marriage
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In today’s news, it was reported that the actress/comedienne Anne Meara has passed away.
CNN reported that, “Meara and her husband, Jerry Stiller, were married for 61 years and worked together almost as long…”
This report reminded me of the commitments that are part of the marriage ceremony.
Do you take this woman to be your wedded wife…
Do you take this man to be your wedded husband…
The “I do” that we say when we get married is in answer to questions about taking this person as our spouse. We are also asked if we would love, comfort, honor, and keep him/her. For better, for worse (not as one comedian once said “For better, or forget it!”); for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; forsaking all other keep only unto him/her…as long as we both shall live.
So the promise is made to be committed to this marriage until God chooses to close the door. As long as we both shall live.
Have you ever wondered whose idea marriage was in the first place? The answer is that it was God’s idea. God was the one who designed marriage. He was the one who compared marriage to Christ and His bride the Church. Christ loved us when we were not lovable; and He gave. He gave His life for the Church.
It is this same God Who also tells us to love our spouses. To husbands, God says: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). He tells wives that she “must respect her husband” (Ephesians 5:33). God also tells us that we should love our enemies. So, if we are in a very difficult situation, and we can’t think of our spouse in terms of loving feelings; and we can’t think of our spouse even as merely a stranger; and if the term “enemy” is a closer approximation, we are still not off the hook. God tells us that in the strength of His Son Christ, we can love our enemies. Even if that “enemy” is the person to whom we are married. Remember that love is an action, not a feeling!
When Jesus was on this earth, He told a story about a servant who owed his master a lot of money (at least $10,000,000). He couldn’t pay, and the master was about to put him into prison. When the servant pleaded for mercy, the master forgave him his debt. This same servant had someone under him who owed him a very little amount of money (could have been about $18). The servant who had been forgiven of the great debt demanded to be paid. He grabbed and choked his servant, and then threw him into prison. When the first master heard of this, he threw the “unmerciful servant” into prison. (Matthew 18:21-35). You and I are like that first servant. If we have received Christ as our Savior, we have been forgiven of an enormous, gigantic debt that we owed to the King of Kings. For us to turn then and say we cannot forgive our spouse puts us in the position of being the unmerciful servant. We have been forgiven, and we must forgive. Is it easy? No. Is it impossible? With God, all things are possible! (Matthew 19:26).
God tells husbands to “rejoice with the wife of thy youth” (Proverbs 5:18). He does not say “suffer through life with the wife of your youth.” We are not necessarily doomed to a life of misery. In the Bible, God tells us that our spouse may possibly be won without a word by observing our actions (I Peter 3:1-6).
If you are in troubled waters in your marriage, it may help to remember these things:
1. Changing circumstances do not change the promises you made when you married, nor do they change your obligation to them.
2. The grass is not greener somewhere “out there.” There is nothing better for you that you’ll find out there. Consider this: God is the God who knows the end results of all possible choices, and He has chosen this marriage for you.
3. Marriage takes real effort. Starting now, consider making the effort, in the strength that God gives you, to demonstrate God’s love by serving your spouse.
God tells us: “A soft answer turns away wrath” (Proverbs 15:1). Pray that God would make your answers soft and gentle.
God is a God of Hope. It may be the case that day by day, He will increase the hope within your marriage.
God assures us in His Word that He is the Husband to those who are abandoned. Each of us is individually responsible for our own actions, not the actions of others. If you are abandoned, even after your re-commitment to your marriage, God promises that He will take care of you (Isaiah 54:5).
There is a God. He cares about you and your marriage. You can trust Him with your future. There is hope for seemingly hopeless marriages.
We grieve today with the Stiller family, and I personally salute Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara who were committed to their marriage vow: “Till death do us part.”
Apr
30
The Lord Weighs the Heart
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A group of women from Grace and Peace Presbyterian Church, along with some friends, have been gathering together on Tuesday evenings in Pottstown, PA, to view and learn from a DVD series from Peacemaker’s Ministries. The video series, by Tara Barthel, is Living the Gospel in Relationships.
As we talked at the study about “heart issues”, I was reminded of a short story written by Mrs. Jean Shaw in her book Second Cup of Coffee.
The verse about which Mrs. Shaw writes is Proverbs 21:2. “All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.”
She illustrates the verse with the following story:
When Will came home with the news that he had been promoted to vice-president, Barbara’s first thought was Oyster Bay. She didn’t say it out loud, of course, but with Will’s increase in salary they could afford to move to a bigger house. Not that Osprey Park wasn’t nice. They had lived there for ten years. Will had put in a fabulous vegetable garden, screened in the patio, and even remodeled the kitchen. But Oyster Bay had class.
Will wouldn’t want to move. He liked being settled. Barbara decided not to say anything right now. She would pray about the matter–ask the Lord for a sign.
A week later Doris Brewer called from Palms Realty. “Barbara, you told me a year ago how much you wanted to move to Oyster Bay. I just got word that there’s a house on the outer circle. Would you like to give it a look before everyone else does?” The Lord had given Barbara her first sign.
The house was beautiful. Four large bedrooms, patio with pool, even a boat dock. The children would love it. But how could she convince Will? Barbara prayed again, “Lord, prepare his heart.”
That night after dinner, Barbara asked Will how his mother was doing. “Not too well. She tires so easily. She seems forgetful. She ought to move out of that house.”
“Will, why don’t we offer to take care of her? I know I could manage.”
“In this house? There aren’t enough bedrooms. You remember how miserable we were when she shared with Kitty two years ago? You can’t put a seventy-year-old woman and a junior-high student in the same room.”
“We could move to a bigger house. There’s a lovely home for sale on Oyster Bay. I looked at it today. It has four bedrooms. One is perfect for your mother.”
Will agreed to think about it. Barbara presented all the other arguments–how good it would be for the children, the extra space for vice-presidential entertaining, and the fun of having their own boat. But really, the main reason to move was to care for Will’s mother.
Two weeks later they signed the papers. They sold the house in Osprey Park. Will was strangely quiet the day the van came. He spent the day out in the garden, of all things, picking the last tomatoes. The children found it hard to say goodbye to old friends.
Barbara’s days were filled with redecorating and buying new furniture. Will asked about moving his mother but Barbara had to put the matter off. “You can’t put an old woman in a house that’s all torn up by painters and paperers. Just as soon as they’re gone, we’ll move her in.”
About three months elapsed before the way was clear. By then Will’s mother was too sick to move. The doctor at the geriatric center gave her a few weeks to live, at the most. When she died, Barbara was really sad. But the old woman would have been terribly hard to care for. And they did have a lovely guest room now, so something good had come out of the situation. Barbara would thank the Lord for working things out the way He did.Prayer: Lord, I can easily fool myself into doing what I want to. Teach me your will through your Word. Make me honest with myself.
[Jean Shaw, Second Cup of Coffee p. 136-137]
The psalmist wrote: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139:24-25, nasb).
May God continually help each of us to be honest with ourselves, honest with each other, and honest with God.
Aug
7
Trusting in the Dark Hours
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Nineteen years ago today, Tom and I were expecting our eighth child. Our family at that time consisted of six sons and one daughter. I was coming up on my fourth month of pregnancy, so we thought that, although I had experienced several miscarriages, this one might carry to term.
Since our wedding anniversary was the next day, we went out to dinner dinner at Hoss’s in Exton, and went to the movies to see Apollo 13. I felt what I thought was a little heartburn, but thought little more of it.
The next day, however, on our twentieth wedding anniversary, things got worse. Sadly, we ended up at the Chester County Hospital, miscarrying yet again.
In my sadness, there were some thoughts that helped me.
1. I wanted to remember the pain (physical and emotional). I wanted to remember so that I would never, ever minimize someone else’s pain. Rather, because of my experience, I was better equipped to reach out to others with God’s love and compassion. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (II Corinthians 1:3-4, nasb). God comforts each of us in our afflictions, and then, in His Providence, provides us with opportunities to share that comfort with others in whatever affliction they are experiencing. Often because of our suffering, we are better equipped to share God’s love and comfort with them. “God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters” (Dr. Jewett, quoted in Streams in the Desert).
2. I wanted to remember the fact that God is Sovereign, and in control of all things. A loving God was and is in control of every situation through which I walk. “The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass” (WCF Shorter Catechism #7). God was involved with what was happening to Tom and me and our baby on that day in 1995, and He was ordaining our lives (and our babies’ life) for our good and for His glory. “Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing? (Isaiah 45:9). About Moses, it is said, “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of a wilderness; He encircled him. He cared for him; He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.” Though Moses was in “the wilderness”, God guarded Him as He would the most tender part of the body. He guards me in the same way.
3. I wanted to remember my friends who also experienced loss. After that day, I would sometimes picture myself sitting at a table with several of my friends… One friend had delivered a stillborn baby, never to be pregnant again. (She later adopted three children.) Another had given birth to just one daughter, and God said, “No more.” Others were embracing singleness, even as they passed childbearing years. I had carried seven healthy babies to term. Surrounded by these sisters (in my mind’s eye), if a complaint were to arise in me about my loss, it would get only as far as my lips, and then dissipate as I thanked God for His blessings, and prayed for others who suffer.
Thus, I spent my twentieth anniversary, and my final pregnancy. After carrying my babies to term, and miscarrying some pregnancies, God said, “That’s all. No more.”
My 20th wedding anniversary might be considered “the best of times/the worst of times.” However, when we entrust ourselves to God, He can redeem even what we might perceive to be, from our finite perspective, the dark hours. We will know better His blessings, and be ever thankful for them.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting” (Psalm 118:1).
May
10
Thoughts for Mother’s Day
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Some thoughts since Mother’s Day is approaching…
Blog writer, Amy Young, recently wrote candidly about the pain she has experienced on Mother’s Days in the past. Her thoughts appear in her post, An open letter to pastors {A non-mom speaks about Mother’s Day} .
These thoughts are a good reminder to us, even as we celebrate, to remember the pain of others.
I am remembering friends who recently lost their firstborn, who lived only seven days. I remember also others who were told, “Short term” when their precious little one was born.
In addition, it is wise for us to remember those who still suffer in silence following an elective abortion.
Recently, a friend (very young… 18 or 19 or so) told me she is seeing the doctor on Monday. The doctors are investigating the possibility of cervical cancer. [She said she has been dealing with this for months, so she is pretty far into the investigation.] She also said, under her breath but loud enough for those around her to hear, “All I ever wanted was to have kids.”
We rejoice with mothers, and are grateful for the opportunities to “Honor thy father and thy mother: that the days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (Exodus 20:12, kjv).
At the same time, it is wise to be sensitive to the range of emotions experienced by many women around us.
Wishing all blessings and peace this Mother’s Day, in the Name of the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort (II Corinthians 1:3).
Apr
27
“Take Your Child to Work Day–2013”
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Thursday, April 25, 2013, was “Take Your Child to Work Day.” Two of the grandchildren, Thomas (12) and Tabitha (almost 11) came to work with me at Delaware County Community College.
Since we needed to leave the house by 6:30 AM, Thomas and Tabitha stayed at our house over night. On Thursday, we were up early, and ready to go.
My first class on Thursdays is at 8 AM. Since this class time conflicted with the registration time for the kids, Thomas and Tabitha came to my first class with me. I teach Mathematics for Elementary Education Majors I at that time. It was a fitting class for Thomas and Tabitha to observe. They had the opportunity to experience a lesson on the Set of Real Numbers. Also, my students had the opportunity to meet the young ones. It was like “field experience” for my Elementary Education Majors, only the “field” came to them.
I didn’t want to have Thomas and Tabitha miss registration and the first activities, yet I thought it not wise to have them navigating the campus on their own, so I asked one of my students if she would please escort them over to the staff dining room.
Between my classes, I checked on the kids, and found them in a computer class. It seemed that they were enjoying themselves.
I taught my next class, and then met the kids for lunch in the faculty/staff lunchroom.
I then went back to my office while the kids toured the observatory and enjoyed some “weird science.” We met again at 4 PM. An enjoyable day! Many thanks to DCCC HR for planning the day of activities.
One of the many blessings recorded for us in the Bible is, “The Lord bless you out of Zion, and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Yes, may you see your children’s children” (Psalm 128:5-6, nkjv). I am grateful that we have been blessed with these precious treasures, and grateful for being able to spend time with them.
Aug
9
Here I Raise My Ebenezer
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Yesterday marked the thirty-seventh anniversary of the day that Tom and I recited our wedding vows at the First Assembly of God Church in Plymouth, PA, with my uncle, Rev. Francis Parmenteri, officiating. The year was 1975, and the times were, as they say, turbulent.
As we looked forward to the unknown future, we pledged our commitment to each other: “To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward, until death us do part.”
For better.
Since that time, God has blessed us with seven offspring. This has definitely been the “for better” for us. We were able to have school in our home for twenty-three years. On several occasions, we were able to open our home to live-in guests. We have also been blessed with four daughters-in-law, one son-in-law, and eleven grandchildren, with two more grandchildren due in August, 2012.
For worse.
Grief has struck us on several occasions. We have each lost both of our parents. Each of us has suffered the loss of a younger sister. Several times I was pregnant, but the pregnancies did not carry to term [“The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised (Job 1:21b, niv, 1984)”]. There were times when we faced unemployment. These were difficult times for us. Through the child-rearing years, there were trials along with the joys. God’s grace proved to be sufficient for us during troubled times (II Corinthians 12:9).
For richer.
We are blessed with many riches, some of which are material. I am grateful that we have always had a roof over our heads and food on the table.
For poorer.
When we were first married, money was definitely tight. I recall a time when Tom was in college and I was in graduate school, that Tom came home for dinner, and there was meat to eat for dinner. He wondered where I got the money for meat. I told him that I had gathered loose change from around the house, and used it to buy meat at the Acme. Yes, there were times when finances were difficult. We learned to be content with or without excess money. God’s Word tells us, “Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil” (Proverbs 15:16). The Apostle Paul wrote, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11).
In sickness.
Thankfully, through the years, neither we nor the children experienced much sickness. However, in September, 2003, Tom broke his leg. He was attempting to put our Goldwing motorcycle in our shed, which required riding the motorcycle up a fairly steep ramp. Unfortunately, the bike fell, resulting in the broken his leg. I became his chauffeur and primary care giver. Then in July, 2012, my leg was broken in a motorcycle mishap. Now, it was I who needed a chauffeur, care giver, and a person to fetch things for me. In sickness we are called to serve. [“Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant” (Mark 10:43b).]
And in health.
We continually thank God for return to good health! Good health is a gift from God. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, Who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).
To love and to cherish.
Love is an action word. God tells us, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). We should not wait to “feel” love; we act love. (See I Corinthians 13).
God tells us, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Genesis 3:24). He also advises husbands to “Rejoice in the wife of your youth” (Proverbs 5:18). The prophet, Malachi, warned his listeners that their prayers were not answered because, “The Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is you partner, the wife of your marriage covenant” (Malachi 2:14).
God’s Word is still true today. Marriage is His idea. “For better or for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish… until death us do part.”
[An aside: If divorce is part of your experience, remember that God heals. God tells us, “I am the LORD, who heals you” (Exodus 15:26b).]
A hymn-writer once wrote, “Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by Thy help I’m come” (Robinson, R., 1758). By God’s grace, we are this far. I do not know the future, but I do know that by His help we have arrived here.
To His glory.
Aug
1
Strength For Today
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On Thursday, July 12, 2012, Tom and I began a trip on our Goldwing 1800 motorcycle. The first day, we traveled to Portland, Maine, where I enjoyed a Lobster Roll for dinner. Luscious!
The second day, we traveled from Portland to Prince Edward Island. We stayed three nights at the beautiful Serendipity Bed-and-Breakfast.
On Sunday, July 15th, we worshiped at the United Reformed Church of PEI. Afterward, we spent the afternoon with one of the church’s elders and his family. Dr. Horrocks and his wife both teach mathematics at the University of Prince Edward Island. In addition, Mrs. (Dr.) Horrocks homeschools her children. Our families had much in common!
Later, we rode the motorcycle around the beautiful island.
Scenes from PEI:
On Monday, July 16th, we took a ferry boat over to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. We stayed at the Maven Gypsy Bed and Breakfast. On Tuesday, we enjoyed a ride on the Cabot Trail. The views were spectacular!
Scenes from the Cabot Trail:
We enjoyed dinner that night at the Lynwood Inn in Baddeck. Yes, lobster again!
On Wednesday, we began our journey home. We traveled as far as Moncton, New Brunswick, where we stayed at Magnetic Hill Bed and Breakfast and Winery. We spent Thursday night in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
As we traveled through Connecticut, it began to rain. We traveled through the rain in New York, New Jersey, and into Pennsylvania.
We crossed into PA and got as far as Allentown (less than 50 miles from home) when the Goldwing hit a slick spot, which may have been caused by water and oily roads. The Goldwing’s crash-bar scraped the ground, resulting in Tom & me being thrown from the bike. Because of the crash-bars and the fact that we were pulling a trailer, the bike remained upright. There was not much damage to bike or trailer.
However, as I mentioned, the riders were ejected. As I tumbled through the air, I fully expected to wake up in heaven. [What about you? If something like this happened to you, and you were facing death… would you know for sure that you would be in heaven? If not, please ask me about it! God’s Word tells us that we can know for sure (I John 5:13).]
It seems that this was not our time to enter heaven. Tom’s knee was scraped, but he was able to stand and walk around. I was lying in the road, and immediately knew that something was wrong with my left leg.
Bystanders came to help. Ambulances were called. We were transported to the Lehigh Valley Hospital. Tom was examined, and released. I was treated for a broken left femur, and admitted, with surgery on Saturday.
I was supposed to begin teaching a three-week summer class on Monday, July 23rd. My dean arranged for an alternate plan.
We are home now, recuperating. I am looking forward to continued healing.
In these times of great trial, God’s Word provides me with comfort and help:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life” (Mathew 6:25-27, niv, 1984).
“If it is the Lord’s will, we will live…” (James 4:15).
“When I am afraid, I will trust in you” (Psalm 56:3).
“An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up” (Proverbs 12:25).
“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).
A hymn-writer once wrote, “Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, e’re to take, as from a Father’s hand. One by one, the days, the moments fleeting, till I reach the promised land” (Sandell-Berg, Karolina W., 1865).
Through the joys and the trials of life, we each can thank God for His Providence, loving care, and peace. We are not alone. Jesus reminds us: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
Jun
13
Technology
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The age in which we live has been referred to as “The Information Age.” Just as those living in the 18th and 19th centuries experienced an Industrial Revolution, so those living in the late 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries are living through a revolution in technology. Like all things, these new discoveries can be used for good or for ill. Consider some benefits.
Benefit to writers.
Word processors and spell checkers have made the writing and saving of documents much easier. Within the word processor are a dictionary and thesaurus, and instant formatting of margins and paragraphs. Damaged documents do not have to be “re-typed,” but rather just printed again.
Benefit to communication.
God’s Word tells us, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver” (Proverbs 25:11, New King James Version). The internet has made the possibility for communication of encouraging words to be delivered instantaneously. Communication tools include email, Facebook and Facebook chat, and “Instant Messaging.” Cell phones have the capability of text messaging. God’s Word tells us, “As cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a far country” (Proverbs 25:25). That good news from a far country can arrive speedily in this Information Age.
Benefit to education.
To increase communication between teacher and student is to benefit education. In addition, with the advent of internet communication, courses can be offered online. Teachers can be in Minnesota, with students in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and even Afghanistan. In addition, YouTube videos provide excellent supplementary instruction to a teacher’s lesson.
Benefit to safety.
Emergency communication has improved in this age of advanced technological equipment. When traveling on an unfamiliar highway, one feels safer knowing that a cell phone can be used to communicate with loved ones, and a GPS can direct the traveler back to familiar roads.
Benefit to work.
From advertising an available position, to sending and receiving resumes, to scheduling an interview, to work done on a job, technology has enhanced the work environment. Just as Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press initiated advances in book production in his time, computer graphic arts have added to on the job production.
Benefit to play.
The internet can be used for purchases of movie or concert tickets, restaurant or hotel reservations, or to purchase the airplane tickets needed to travel to a destination.
Benefit to life.
MRI’s and CAT scans are used today for essential early detection of medical problems. Advances in technology help pre-mature babies to survive.
Sadly, technology can also be used for scams and to perpetrate immoral activities. God’s Word tells us, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (I Corinthians 10:31). Technology, like anything else, can be used for evil, or for God’s glory. When God blessed Adam, He said, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28). These same marching orders are given to His children today as they subdue modern technology, and use it for His glory.
