The Bible, the internet, the iPod or iPad, nook or kindle and living Missional

Lisa Miller on the CNN Religion blog speaks of the increase in digital Bible apps and how these just might pose a threat to the church as we know it; she says;

Just like the 500-year-old Protestant Reformation, which was aided by the advent of the printing press and which helped give birth to the King James Bible, changes wrought by new technology have the potential to bring down the church as we know it.

This blogger is not sure that this could or will happen yet wonders that if it does is it  bad thing?  If the church "as we know it" is brought down by Bibles on Ipads/Ipods/smartphones, I would have to wonder just what shape the church was in, in the first place?  I do think that this addition to the churches resource base is a good thing.  The Bible on your phone, tablet or whatever devise that is in your pocket will make/give the missional Christian a tool for

1. Sharing the message of Jesus 
2. Building up the Body of Christ
3. Improving one's own relationship with one's God

As the developer of the  Youversion realized as he sat in O'Hara wishing he had his Bible; those with the Bible app will be able to read anywhere anytime they wish.  How can this be a bad thing?

She later  states:

In that vein, digital technology gives users the text, plain and simple, without the interpretive lens of established authorities. And it lets users share interpretations with other non-authorities, like family members, friends and coworkers.

And I ask what is the problem here?  A believer or a seeker, with the Bible, reading and interpreting God's Word?  What a novel idea!  I wish more of my congregations, those I have pastored and the one in which I am now a member, had more members and attenders who were willing to do just this, "read, mark and inwardly digest"1 God's Word.  Then share that "inwardly digested" scripture with "like family members, friends and coworkers"!

With Scripture on iPhones and iPads, believers can bypass constraining religious structures - otherwise known as “church” - in favor of a more individual connection with God.

Well Ms. Miller if this scripture on your iPhone and iPad is what it takes to get you to have a "more individual connection with God" works for me!  We all need a "more individual [personal] connection with God"; that connection is called a Personal Relationship with Jesus!!  If we have that and are REALLY CLOSELY CONNECTED then just maybe we can keep this world from going to hell!  Just maybe, we, the Body of Christ, will, if we are "more individual connection with God", start to take the invitation of Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 to heart and we will GO! Make converts!

Just a thought!2 and a old man's wonderings!

1. A saying from one of my favorite Seminary Professors; usually indicating the presence of said material on a test or quiz!
2. A remark commonly made by the Reverend Doctor Arthur Jaggard III; when making an obviously simple point that needed emphasis!