LINKS TO INTERNET RESOURCES

Here is a list of some helpful Internet resources. This is only a sampling of sources available and some contain links to hundreds more. The fact that they are listed here does not mean that we are necessarily in agreement with everything presented on these pages.

Answers In Genesis - Deals with creation and evolution issues

Best of the Christian Web - Lots of Links to Christian sites

Bible Study Tools - Numerous translations and helps for in-depth Bible Study

Biblical Studies Foundation - Good source of study material

Christian Answers - Especially good for children and teens

Christian Classic Library - Enough reading material for a lifetime

Crosswalk Christian Search - Major Christian search engine

Sermon Central - Good source of sermon ideas

Sermon illustrations - Good illustration source

Sermon Links - Index of Sermon Outlines (Bible Chapter and Verse)

Sermon Seeds Outlines - Mainly outlines and thoughts

World Wide Study Bible -  Bibles, commentaries, dictionaries, etc.

WRBS Christian Radio - Christian radio station covering Baltimore and Washington

Of course this is only a very small sampling of sites on the Internet. I'm sure you will find them interesting. There are thousands and thousands of others which you will see when you go to the different search engines. If you have sites you would like to share, or you find some of these links missing, please let us know.

A few parting thoughts:

1 Pornography is a problem on the web and if you are concerned you might consider a filtered site provider, especially for children. The place most likely to encounter pornographic material is through search engines.
2. There is a lot of information on the web but some of it is just plain error. You need to be cautious about believing all you read.
3. Sometimes it is a good idea to read help material with search engines. They each have their characteristics in how they search.

SOME THOUGHTS ON COMPUTER BIBLE STUDY

When selecting software for your personal computer try to match the way you currently study the Bible. Your software needs to supplement your study not change it. If you go through the Bible and make notes that is the way you can use your software. If you write outlines and fill in the outlines with resource material, use that method.

The value of Bible software is the availability of numerous resources at the same time. Often this is called a desktop. Depending on the software you have, open the resources you want and lay them out in an orderly fashion. Save your desktop so you can return to it on additional studies. Most prefer at least one Bible, a Concordance, Bible Dictionary and Commentary. You can link the resources together if you like so they will be able to track with the Bible verses. In another window, open a word processor. This could be Notepad if you have Windows 98. By cutting and pasting information to the word processor from the resource window you can use the software very effectively. Some programs allow you to go directly to the word processor, others can only copy and paste to the clipboard which in turn would be used to transfer information to the word processor.

One of the secrets to using Bible software is conciseness. Try to be as concise as possible with your comments and inserts from resources. Here, less is better. Write enough to understand the material, but don't try to write a book. You can copy and paste Bible verses to the word processor along with your comments and excerpts from other resources available on your desktop. Some prefer to write Bible verses on one page, illustrations on another and excerpts from resources on yet another page. Again it depends on your preference.

The difficulty in Bible study often comes from a lack of direction. There should be a theme for your study. The theme is the nucleus of the material you are gathering. To find the theme, read and reread the verses until you are sure you understand them. If you are uncertain of some words, look them up in a dictionary and write out a definition. Then ask yourself, "What is the Holy Spirit saying in these verses?" The answer to your question is your theme. You then can ask, as you go through each of the verses in your study, "What does this verse or phrase say about my theme?" This helps to keep you on the right track. Write down each of the answers, using either numbers or verse references and you will have the outline of your study.

Supplement the study with cross references from the Bible and illustrations from your own personal experiences. Then you can complete the study by asking, "What is the Holy Spirit telling me personally in this study?" The answer to this question should lead to a project in which you would do something to put into practice what you have studied.