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Modern Technology is no Match for Old Fashioned Intimacy — 26 Comments

  1. Thanks William. I have those same conversations with myself. Recently I have begun closing my FB and email pages when studying online. I too noticed I was easily distracted w/ multi tasking. I'm trying to keep this awareness in mind throughout the day when I should be interacting with others face to face.

    (19)
  2. It is important that we reclaim out personal space for spending time with God and with people who are close to us. But at the same time we need to intelligently use new technologies for to enhance those experiences appropriately. It is not the technology that is wrong but our misuse of the "First-level Interrupt Handler". I am borrowing a bit of terminology from computer architecture. In the operating system of all computers there is a little process that examines interrupts as they happen and categorizes them according to importance. The important ones get handled immediately and the less important ones are put on the queue to be handled later when there is more time and the computer is not busy.

    Unfortunately now-a-days an electronic ping is regarded as a high-level interrupt by most of us and we think that we need to respond immediately.

    Immediacy is less important than appropriateness. One of the characteristics of our age is that we often respond with the casual "smart" response, rather than the considered, wise response.

    When studying the Bible, conversing with friends, or driving (or sleeping, William!), a "ping" can wait. Electronics does not need to rule our lives, but if used appropriately can enhance our interaction with others and with God.

    (26)
  3. Thank you William for sharing this with us. I thought I was the only one who felt less satisfied studying my Bible and lessons on technology than using the actual book and the Bible. I see the same issue arising with the young people who I teach in Church. We have the lesson n our phones and the Bible is on our phones, but nobody is reading it any more than when they had only the paper versions. Searching for a the scripture reading on their phone inevitably lead to face book, instagram and twitter.
    Even Pastors are not immune. A young pastor at our church just finished preaching a very good youth focused sermon. As soon as he sat down (he was not on the rostrum) he took out his phone, head down and and begun typing away.
    Nothing works like sitting down in the stillness of the morning with the Bible opened. For all the easy access of technology, this is intimacy.

    (9)
  4. Extremely good point, William.
    My solution to distractions has com in two parts.
    1. Download the App so I do not need to be on-line when I study the Word.
    2. Set the cell-phone to Airplane mode. That prevents even the standard phone call from coming in and not to mention the "Bing" from lets say a Facebook notification.
    The only time I use the printed page of the Lord's Word is when I get tired of reading the Lord's Word in emitted light, after all, reflected light characters are easier on our eyes on long term basis.

    (8)
  5. Thank you for such an inspirational post. I really needed to hear that today! Lately I've been caught up with playing Scrabble, a great game, of course, but I asked myself last night at 3 in the morning, would you stay up 'til three to read your Bible or spend alone time with God?

    I notice you have the PDF version available for In Light of the Cross Study Bible Guides. Have you considered making an App available for devices? Thanks.

    (1)
      • Hi William,
        In enjoyed reading your blog post. I have been following the comments and when you mentioned having a friend working on on an app for In the Light of the Cross, I have to ask a favor.
        Today's technology has opened so many doors for people with disabilities, including myself who is blind. I have a library I carry around on my phone including the Bible app.
        Sometimes though I have not had the wonderful experience of using some great study tools/apps because they are inaccessible to the text to speech reader called Voice Over which I use to access the internet and apps with my IPhone.
        So, after all that nutshell of an explaination my favor to you is to ask your friend toinclude accessble features when creating his app. Be sure to label buttons. Make sure that all edit fields are voiced.
        Thanks for taking this into consideration.includeaccessibilty accessiblibilty woring

        (1)
  6. My grandmother taught me 'all things in moderation'. Whilst that certainly does not apply to harmful habits, many of which did not exist in her time, the motto is useful as a 'rule of thumb'. I love having my mobile bible and spend time whilst waiting at airports, hospital etc to keep on track with God- but my morning worship is always from the written word and beautiful pages of my study bible. Electronics can wait!!

    (2)
  7. The Holy spirit is so marvellous, He impressed me to go back to my hard cover bible,and reading your article made me determined to do that
    Thanks

    (2)
  8. This reading is so true the phone is taking over the bible in churches to today it is the plan of the enemy children of God wake up and get back to the basic

    (1)
  9. Thanks, William! I am guilty of being distracted by technology during my intimate times with the Lord. Sometimes I think it is a good idea to go on a media fast...to get away from all of it. I think Jesus is hurt when my attention drifts to other things and I lose focus during our time together. Thanks for reiterating some very good points. We are waaaay too addicted to technology in our world. God help us all to remember the "off" and "mute" buttons. God bless and thanks for sharing.

    (2)
  10. Thank you so much for such a wonderful input !!! I will be doing that so I spend more intimacy time with my Creator and God Almighty.
    Stay Blessed

    (0)
  11. Thank you for the message. I hope also I must adjust myself. But your blogs have been helping me so much. I could share some of your ideas to family and friends without meeting you in person even so I will share information on this article Is it bad

    (1)
  12. Are we too busy? Too busy to do things that take up all of our waking hours? I think so. Technology has developed a faster way to do many things that we used to do at a much slower pace. So now we can, with aid of all the electronic devices, cram much more into those hours. Unfortunately we also have lost the valuable time we used to spend with God. There is a song called, "I miss my time with You". Talking about time with God and what we do to try to please Him. I find myself on the computer more than I need, also. I do study the Bible from several printed versions. However if there is a question that we seek answers for, the computer is the source of choice for multiple answers. Is there a need for tablets and phones and laptops during a church service? I see more and more of this and wonder is this appropriate for a worship service? Is Reverence not in style or appropriate any more? There is an old adage that may be somewhat applicable. A place for everything and everything in it's place. What do we treasure? Matt6:21

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  13. It also interferes with fellowship among the young. Countless times I've seen kids in church with smartphones standing in a group, heads down, tapping away. But how do we get them to interact face to face?

    (2)
  14. Thanks so much for those inspiring messages
    Please I have a question to ask.
    Please at the time of Jesus' baptism, was He the only one who witnessed heaven's declaration of He being God's beloved son and the descension of the dove or John and those gathered also saw that scene?

    (0)
  15. Hi Isaac, according to The Desire of Ages; pg 112, John and a few of the throng actually witnessed the vision

    (1)
  16. Thanks William for the reminder of something I already knew but for the pressure of convenience have let slip. The ability to search/cut/paste when invariably my devotion time merges with sabbath school/sermon preparation time in the wee small hours of the morning...

    Like a lot of posters here I grew up in the days when we just didn't have PCs or even the technology to make electronic reading possible. I never took to the electronic option even once when they came out. There's just something about having a real book in your hands that you can lose yourself in, call it old fashioned, personal, intimate... I think the key is that it has no other function than to immerse you in its contents.

    Intimacy is something lacking everywhere today thanks to the blessings of technology and it can affect our relation ship with God as it does with other people around us if we are not mindful.

    (0)

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