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The Internet: Good or Evil (Part 2)

by Bryan Gibson

May 14, 2010

In last week’s article, we looked at some dangers posed by the internet. Let’s look this week at some of its positive uses—from a religious standpoint.

Bible Study

The internet has a wealth of information that can aid one in his study of the Bible. You can find free Bible software (e-sword is good one), online searchable Bibles (e.g. Bible gateway), sermons, Bible class material, articles, etc. If you haven’t done so already, please check out the site for the Prattmont Church of Christ. It features over 200 articles covering a variety of topics, sermon outlines, Bible class material, and audio sermons (you can even subscribe to a podcast of these sermons. We would also encourage you to check out biblethought.org, in particular the discussion on the Seven Myths of Denominationalism. John Gibson will be with us this summer (July 11-16) for a special series of lessons. You can read his articles and listen to his sermons at pepperroadchurch.org. If you use Facebook, join the group “Plain Words from God’s Word.” If you like what you see, tell all your friends about it. There are a number of other good sites, but please be warned—there is also a boatload of false doctrine on the internet. Always “search the Scriptures to make sure these things are so” (Acts 17:11).

Teaching the Lost

Nothing can completely replace personal contact in teaching the lost, but it is nice to know that you can put something on the World Wide Web and it can read by people all over the world. Our task is to “go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15)—the internet affords us a great opportunity to do just that.

Finding a Faithful Church

We have written often in this e-bulletin about the need to find a church that is following the New Testament pattern, one that is determined to abide in the doctrine of Christ (2 John 1:9). Several sites can help you locate one of these churches (bible.ca, findthechurch.com, goodfight.com). We can’t personally vouch for each one of the churches listed in these directories, but we do have a reasonable degree of confidence. Always compare everything you see in a church to the pattern revealed in the New Testament.

Encouraging and edifying others

We wrote last week about how the internet has become an avenue for gossip, backbiting, slander, etc. Why not use it more constructively? We have instant contact with so many people, affording us a wonderful opportunity to offer words of encouragement. “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29). “Therefore, comfort each other and edify one another” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).