Thursday, July 10, 2008

The Internet-God's Hand All Over It by Susan Shull


Do you ever have one of those moments when you think your heart will burst with love for the Lord and the wonder of his ways? I am having one of those today. I just read about a group of women who became acquainted online as they each grieved the loss of a child from Trisomy 18. This post described their first face-to-face meeting at a Deeper Still conference in Atlanta, and was filled with praise for the Lord who is walking through this path with each of them. They are not alone in their grief; they are a group of Christian women from all across the country who are supporting one another through their connection on the web. Even in horrific times our God is good and I am thankful.

I have become addicted to reading quite a few blogs this summer. (This is a much healthier obsession than my former Oprah problem!) I had a student teacher last spring, which freed me from grading armloads of papers every night, so I spent some of that time searching the internet for new and interesting topics. I found people writing about all my favorite things: books, knitting, quilting, decorating, yoga, fashion-even being a farmwife.

These all were of great interest to me, but I was even more thrilled to find a whole community of Christian people using the internet to share their love for Christ and what their Savior was doing in their lives. You know, if your only media involvement is listening to news on the radio and TV, you can get very discouraged that this world is sinking fast. However, reading all of these blogs makes me feel much more optimistic about our future. God is busy working behind the scenes through His people spreading the word all over the place through the internet. Talented up-to-date Christians are everywhere-and they don’t have big hair and too much mascara on either, like some of those televangelists!

Compare this to the way “the other side” is using the web as a tool for spreading hate, terrorism, child pornography, gambling, and every other evil known to man. Whew! As Christians, we might be tempted to bury our heads in the sand, declare the World Wide Web the tool of the devil, and call it a day. WE MUST NOT DO THAT!!!!!

The Internet can be a wonderful way to spread the gospel. I am certainly no techno-wizard, but I love to listen to Christian radio online, research Christian topics, search for churches to attend when we are traveling, and post articles to our own little Write Sisters blog. I think we should share the resources we are discovering with one another, and think of the computer as another instrument to share the truth with a truth-deprived world.

I learned a term this summer for people of my generation who are struggling to keep up with new technology. We are technology immigrants. Young people are called technology natives. They aren’t hesitant to try new things and are jumping into it with both feet. I am convinced that God is going to use this generation to call more and more people to salvation and a lot of it will probably be because of the internet.

If you are a “native,” you are probably snickering at me right now. Go right ahead! I don’t blame you a bit. But…if you are an “immigrant” please join me in this exciting new way to spread our faith and the love of Christ.

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