The Internet Is A Valuable Aid
By Allan E. McNabb

A few weeks ago I presented a lesson on using the Internet as an aid to help us serve God.  After receiving favorable response to the lesson, I decided to follow-up with an article that may be helpful as you seek to make better use of the Internet in your service to God.

The purpose of this article is to help you understand what we can do with the Internet, not show you how to do it.

All of these tools mentioned in this article are accessible from BibleStudyGuide.org.  With a little practice, you’ll be proficient enough to save hours when studying God’s word while using valuable resources in your study.

Bible Translations
One of the greatest blessings available on the Internet, is the ability to search numerous Bible translations.

When I study the Bible, I like to see how Scriptures are translated in a number of translations, especially literal translations.  This helps me better understand the thoughts communicated by God through the writer.

I especially like the ease of using Bibles keyed to Strong’s Concordance.  When using physical books, I have to lookup the verse, lookup the definition in a separate book, and lookup other verses containing the same word in yet another book.  Using the Internet, the information is a click away.  It’s faster, easier, and much more efficient.

Audio Bibles
Audio Bibles are another blessing that’s readily available on the Internet.  I especially like listening to the Scriptures I’m studying.  It’s great to hear an expert pronounce the hard words and strange names, especially those of the Old Testament.  And listening to a passage while reading, often helps me understand the Scripture, more so than just reading.

Bible Class Books
Through the Internet, Bible class books and Bible study books are readily available from brethren, more so than at any point in history.

In the past, it was very expensive to publish, print, and distribute Bible class books.  But now, many good books that wouldn’t have been published otherwise, are available at no cost to people all over the world.  It’s reasonable to conclude that we’re reaching people we wouldn’t have reached with printed material, electronically through the Internet.

Bible class books available on BibleStudyGuide.org are some of the best resources for studying a particular text or topic.  Typically, they’re easy to understand, and concise enough for speedy research.

Interactive Bible Lessons
Interactive Bible lessons are online lessons that give immediate feedback, telling the student whether their answer is right or wrong, and often tracking their score.

While these lessons are most valuable for unbelievers or babes in Christ, they’re very help to more mature Christians by providing a quick and effective review of basic Bible lessons.

Many In-depth Resources
There are many in-depth resources available on the Internet, many of which most people could not access otherwise.  There are commentaries, concordances, dictionaries, encyclopedias, lexicons, geography resources, history resources, Greek and Hebrew resources, maps, and photos.

These resources are usually easier and quicker to access over the Internet rather than physical books.  But whether you are using a book or the Internet, some of them take a little work to understand how the resource works — a task that takes a little time, but is relatively simple.

God’s Blessing
Just as people misuse the print media, some abuse the Internet.  But the fact remains, God has blessed us more than brethren who preceded us, with easy accessibility to information and  speedy communication with our fellow man.

Jesus says, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more” (Lk. 12:48).  We, therefore, have a greater responsibility in our studies and in our communication with others, since the Lord has given us more.

What is the greater responsibility we have over previous generations?

• We are responsible for studying and using God’s word more efficiently than past generations; therefore, we should be better Bible students as a whole.  We are blessed to study God’s word in more detail, in a fraction of the time, compared to people of past generations.  We are better equipped to take God’s word to the world, with exception of the first century Christians who were endowed with miracles.
• We are responsible for getting God’s word out to the world through the mediums available to us, some of which were not available to past generations.  This includes print and electronic mediums: newspapers, email, web sites, audio tapes and CDs, radio, TV — anything that’s expedient.
• Most importantly, we are responsible to share what we learn as we converse with others: at church, work, school, and home.

We are the generation God has blessed at this unique turning point in the world’s history, the information age.  As we do our job to get God’s message out to the world, God will be well pleased with us, His church, the pillar and ground of the truth.