History teaches us that God’s word will not stay contained.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that we expected to get our news from the evening news on TV and the morning paper. With the computer revolution and all of the advances in modern technology, the focus of getting our worldly information has shifted to those same devices.
With many of the paper ways of delivery changing, one group of documents are timeless and true. That is the Books of the Holy Bible, the most printed book in the world. However, what you see today is that even the Bible, in its unchanging and everlasting words, has transitioned to online form but still in its exact text. With this online change, God’s word is now in the hands of millions of people in many different languages who might not normally have access to it.
Here at 316 Ministry, we feel that it is better to for us to go where the people are vs have them come to us. That also goes for God’s word. Children and adults alike are going online for all of their life needs. We feel that when there is a need for some spiritual support, they should be able to have access to wholesome and accurate support through online services. The idea is not to modify the Gospel or alter the message, or in contrast, to remove technology and go back to paper teaching, but to embrace the times we live in to continue to grow God’s kingdom.
If you examine the times of the Apostles, you will find that they also used modern day advances to help grow the Kingdom. Roman roads, modern sailing ships, the mail system of the time for letters, and many others. Without these, could they have been successful? Yes. But as successful, maybe not. They embraced it.
Another example was the actual printed Bible. Prior to the printing press, all biblical manuscripts were hand written, but once the printing press began turning out mass produced Bibles, more people than ever had access to them and were able to read God’s word.
History teaches us that God’s word will not stay contained but the delivery method must continue to evolve as the peoples demands and delivery option improve. We believe we have crossed into the next era of expectation to take God’s word to the next level. Even though we would like to take credit for this evolution, this is something that God has commanded us to do, and prepared us to do through His divine gifts of understanding.
Some of the new tools are video cameras, microphones, cables, computers, the Internet, social media, and many others, with the intent of taking these tools and creating content for all people, from exact representations firmly rooted in the Holy Bible and its teachings. Using these new tools, pioneers have established many different ways of bringing you content that would not be possible otherwise. For example, you can tour the Holy Land first hand, as some of these pioneers take you on a pilgrimage discovery of the places that Jesus lived, ate, prayed, died, and was resurrected. Others include podcasts which convey hope and inspiration also using the Holy Bible as the foundation.
When we learned the stories of the Bible as children, many times, they were taught as simple Bible passages or clips vs the stories for which there were intended. For example, Daniel in the Lion’s den, the birth of Jesus, Jonah and the Whale, and many others that we have been taught somewhat out of context. But when you see or visit Babylon, modern day Iraq, which is mostly where the book of Daniel took place, or the city of Bethlehem, birth place of Jesus, or the city of Nineveh which is the city that Jonah was avoiding to visit when he was swallowed by the whale. All of these are real places and are alive with people today.
While it is not necessary to see the places that are listed in the Holy Scripture to believe, seeing these places adds a new dimension to that belief. For those without the means to visit or ability, this embracement of technology provides a vehicle for anyone with a computer and internet access to visit and explore. This also helps place a richer context around the story and God’s work.