Monday, April 14, 2008

Pronounciation of Difficult Biblical Names

Have you every felt embarrassed having to read a passage of Scripture publicly when there are names which you have never heard pronounced and you, or no one you know, has any idea what the official pronunciation should be? Names can be troublesome, particularly when they represent transliterations from Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek with no equivalents in the English language.

The following link provides the reader with the capability of choosing a difficult name in the Bible (from an alphabetically arranged list) and with a click, hearing the name pronounced by a trained professional. A great tool which is free and capable of saving the oral reader from much fright and embarrassment:

http://www.netministries.org/Bbasics/BBwords.htm

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Internet Evangelism Day

I have heard and read about people/churches/groups using the internet as their springboard for evangelism for several years now, but always in the context of winning people to Christ from other religions. However, I am very interested to read more recently of a much broader movement to reach otherwise unreachable people with the message of the gospel... people who would never darken the doors of a church on their own but who spend a lot of time surfing the web.

I find this an exciting prospect and am eager to learn more about this newest evangelistic tool, especially since we hear so much about the bad side of the internet. I agree that the internet has had some really bad influence on our generation. And I have felt the usual frustration of many over the terrible ways in which this technology is being used for evil purposes. BUT I find it very exciting to read of a way in which we believers can "beat the devil at his own game" so to speak!

April 27 is INTERNET EVANGELISM DAY. Check out the idea... http://ied.gospelcom.net/index.php There is no doubt someone in just about every congregation who would love the challenge of sharing their faith via the Internet... a new way of service and evangelism, the lack of both of which many churches are suffering. why not challenge those Internet-savvy believers in your congregation with a new form of evangelism and put that Internet to good use!

Monday, March 17, 2008

What happens to infants when they die?

The eternal destiny of those who die in infancy remains a difficult question to answer, though it continually and unavoidably arises in pastoral sitautions. Two books which give very helfpul biblical and theological insight on this issue are (1) R. A. Webb, The Theology of Infant Salvation (1874; reprint, Harrisonburg, Virginia: Sprinkle Publicaitons, 1981) and (2) John MacArthur, Safe in the Arms of God: Truth from Heaven About the Death of a Child (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2003).