This is an analysis paper I wrote for a class. The assignment was to (1)talk about God’s calling, (2)survey the Digital Media field we are associated with, and (3)talk about how the two interact. I wasn’t sure if I should post or not as some of it is a bit personal, but I decided it may be useful to some people – the first section in particular.
My Calling in this Digital Age
If there’s ever been a scripture that made me examine my salvation to make sure it was according to God’s Word and not a religious institution, it is this one.
Matt 7:21-23
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?
And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ NASB
There will be those who did great and supernatural works in the precious name of Jesus Christ who will be turned away into eternal damnation on judgment day. In fact, there will be many. How can one access the power and authority of Jesus, yet never be saved from their sin?
This question recently made its way to me. I figured I’d give it a shot. Here we go…
When examining the KJV, there is a tendency for some to believe that the Son of God was walking around in the flesh at the time of Daniel. While God could manifest (make known) himself as anything (a cloud of fire [Ex 13:21], Melchizedek [Heb 7:1-3]), he only manifested himself as the Son of God at one time, and that was the birth of Jesus (Luke 1:35). Jesus was “begotten” of God. Begotten is always used when referring to birth.
Begotten: To bear young, birth, bring forth(children), born beget, in this case, to bring forth a child. The word yalad (3205) is used many times throughout the old Testament, always to refer to birth: Gen 3:16, Gen 4:1, Gen 4:26, Gen 5:3. Did God appear in the form of a man before Jesus? Yes, we see him appear as one of the three men who met Abraham in Genesis 18, as Melchesedac (Heb 7:1-3) and other places in the Old Testament. Yet God only begets a son once when Jesus is born.
Having said that, let’s examine the scripture passage:
What we will cover:
The contemporary American church today utilizes a far greater amount of diverse media in their activities today than they did 20 years ago. Hardback hymnals have been replaced by dual rear projectors showing lyrics to the latest Christian radio song written by a popular contemporary artist while emotionally stirring graphics and images populate the background. Online sharing of video-recorded services make their way from the church website to social video sharing sites. Church members volunteer to do such things as sing, perform plays, create graphics, play music and create videos. “There are wonderful ways that technology can help us do things we could not do or do as effectively in the past” (Jewell 24). New media is spreading throughout churches, but often times the media is spreading faster than the knowledge of what the legal ramifications of new media could have on a church organization.
Like many religious organizations, the business aspect of the organization is typically not in the spotlight as much as a commercial organization’s. In smaller churches there can be a mentality that because the staff is mostly volunteers and working for the “greater good”, certain laws do not apply to them, or they may feel they can simply fly beneath the radar. This is not the case. A church could legally be fined up to $150,000 just for playing a movie without permission (“The Need”). The financial damage along with the damage to the church’s reputation make it imperative that churches are not ignorant of the copyright laws applicable to the media they are using.
I had a hard time finding a Bible study on tattoos that:
I will try to keep the commentary on this study to a minimum while we examine the scripture.
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What we will cover:
