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10 November 2011

A PRIVILEGED GENERATION



Easy Access to Christian Literature

We are a privileged generation! The things which yester year were difficult, impossible, unavailable in our lives and environment are today’s realities. It’s like people are increasingly being preoccupied with their innovating, inverting and creating something that will enhance our enjoyment, satisfaction, pleasure and ease our lives and improve our comfort.  Just like everything made originating from human being is stained with sin, technological advancement is no exception. This poses a challenge to the Christians to swift through in isolating the wheat from the chaff. In this confusion, others are sailing at the cutting edge of technological advancement while others have decided to shy away and avoid it as much as possible and only when it is really, really necessary.
How can we preserve, advance the good old gospel in today’s technologically advanced world? We are indeed a privileged people who have so many advantages over the previous generations. When referring to the previous generations of Christians, the reformers and the puritans provides a shining example of the what, how, who, why’s of Christianity. Today’s generation is far more privileged than they were in terms of access to the means of grace. Below are just some of the things are I can highlight:

  • ·       Copyrights: All the books that were written before 1923 are not copyrighted- This means that you can reproduce reprint download etc without breaking the law. What a blessing to have free access to all the works of the puritans, reformers, Spurgeon, and many many others who lived after them etc.
·       The audio books: Most books have been converted to audio and therefore some of us with bad eyesight can easily have the books read to us. There are tons and tons of Christian audio books available on the internet for free. Imagine how wonderful it is to listen to John Owen’s book “The death of death in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ” while stuck in traffic, or on a queue waiting to be attended to.
·       Ereaders- With the advent of technology, there are many Electronic Readers that enable you to read documents, books electronically. My favorite is ereaders is the Amazon Kindle. With access to about a 1 million books to choose from, a battery that lasts for a month after charging, ability to buy and begin reading a book in under a minute are enough reasons to have this gadget! It is also not very expensive compared to the wealth books that you shall be able to access.
·       The mobile phone- most mobile phones will have internet, ebook reader and mp3 player. While a few years ago it was considered as worldly to buy a smart phone just as it was considered worldly for a Christian to wear Jeans and sneakers in some cultures. Now you can buy a smart phone for godly reasons! Bibles, various books are all available for your use.
Our generation surely has no excuse for not utilising these means for our edification and the glory of our God and Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ.

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