| Volume 3, Number 3 |
March 10, 2003 |
Stop those links: I have a little program on my computer that stops most of the advertising pop-ups found in the variety of internet sites that I open on any given day. Several such blocking programs are around. I appreciate mine. I get very tired of having to deal with offers for new mortgages on my house and special vacations in Florida at no cost. But there’s a related problem I knew nothing about when I installed my little pop-up stopper. I would go to a web-site and try to open up a link I was interested in. It didn’t work. The same thing would happen with my e-mail attachments. Many wouldn’t open up. All I got was a buzz. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. So I consulted with my son, a software professional. He said the way around the problem was to hold down my control button when I opened the links. Behold! It worked.
In turn, I’ve been both amazed and appalled at how little control there is when it comes to the world-wide web. We have both liberty and license. I am amazed at how much information is available. I’m at the point where I would find it most difficult to return to the days when I did not have access to news, streaming video, music, encyclopedias, personal banking, shopping, search engines and e-mail – all on-line. The dark side of liberty is license, the freedom to present images and information that tempt, deceive and destroy. Available is everything from pornography to bomb-making, hoaxes to empty money-making schemes. The only controls available are the internal controls we establish within our hearts, our personal families and our businesses.
None of this is new to you, an accomplished user of the web. However, we at CrossTies would like to learn from you which links you are finding helpful, links that lead to blessings rather than curses. We’d love to pass them on to our readers via our website. Already we have a full page of links to which I want to alert you. While we cannot vouch for everything on the websites listed there, we are quite certain that much helpful and Christ centered information is available for you. You won’t need a pop-up stopper when you go to them and you won’t need to install controls preventing access. Open our links page and check them out at: http://www.crosstiesministries.org/links.asp. Some examples follow.
- http://dcs.lcms.org/ - Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod District and Congregational Services. Find informative articles about family life, family related AV and print articles, ideas and suggestions for children, youth, school, outreach and stewardship ministries. Most of it is very practical and very useful for the life of families and local congregations.
- http://www.lutheran-hymnal.com/ - Lutheran-Hymnal. Here you’ll find the traditional songs of worship and praise from Lutheran Hymnals presented in midi, in mp3, in lyrics and in sheet music. This is largely the work of Rev. Richard Alan Jordan, Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Van Meter, Iowa. We thank him for his work.
- http://www.scholia.net/index.html - Scholia is a resource and devotional site for visitors, parishioners, pastors, teachers, seminarians and congregations. Among other things, one can find an order of service, suggested hymn, hymn-text and tune, meditation and bulletin cover for each Sunday of the year. All this courtesy of Rev. Michael L. McCoy, Pastor of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Emmett, Idaho.
- http://higher-ed.lcms.org/ - Higher Education in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Find all sorts of information about the colleges, universities and seminaries run by LCMS. Learn how to contact with them, discover college fairs and support their programs.
We have many more links on our page. Open them up. Study the information you find there. Pass it on to your friends. And don’t forget to pass on to us those links you have that will bring a blessing to others. We want to share them.
Book Publishing is just around the corner for CrossTies. Our Board made the decision last month to proceed. We hope that within this month we’ll put out our first two books. We’ll let you know more the next time we send out a letter. Meanwhile, if you have articles, Bible studies and books that you feel should be shared, let us know. We want to work with you.
Keep our work in your prayers. Above all, we need your prayers. Also, if the Lord moves you to support our work, join us. Become a member. Send a one time or a monthly donation. We are only able to continue because of your prayers and your love. For more information go to http://crosstiesministries.org/membership/membership_information2.htm.
Dr. Alvin H. Franzmeier
CrossTies Theological Director. Write to me at
alandsyl@airmail.net
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