This is a post from this summer that I started and never finished.  It still holds true for me so I decided to go ahead and finish it up and post it...

I was born and raised in TX.  I consider and will always consider myself Texan.  I don't, however, consider Texas a Southern state.  There is much Southern influence, but we aren't Southern.  We're our own brand of Southern hospitality mixed in with some Wild West adventure and good ol' Texas kick ass attitude.  And even though I no longer live in TX, old Southern influenced habits die hard.  Specifically in reference to church, my first reaction is to dress up for church and never leave home without my Bible.

Which is why I've struggled with the new technology age I find myself apart of and what it means for the Body of Christ.

I attend the Saturday night services which is admittedly more relaxed than the traditional Sunday morning services-even at my laid back church.  However, I recently attended Sunday morning services and was brought up short by a random couple I saw heading to their seats.  They carried cups of coffee and keys.  Nothing else.

Where were their Bibles?  I was struck by the fact that they appeared comfortable in the church setting-they were not carrying the typical visitor gift bags and they walked right in to seats without seeking the direction of the greeters-so I assumed they were regulars.  And they didn't have Bibles.  My first thought was I Thes. 5:20-21 where Paul urges the Thessalonians to not scoff at prophecies, but to test everything that is said.  I've heard several pastors, including my own, say not to automatically believe everything he says, to verify, and know the Word for yourself.  It instantly made me sad for them, for me, for this culture that automatically accepts the words of others without question.  Is this the type of Christianity/church atmosphere my nephew and niece will grow up in?  A world of Christians simply waiting for the church to project Scripture onto a screen with no one seeking the truth for themselves?

I saw a guy the other night using his iPhone as a Bible.  I think it's great that people can easily access Scripture from wherever they are, but I remember easily accessing Scripture with the pocket Bible in my backpack.  Our lead pastor even made a joke about how he knew the people pulling out their phones were looking at the Bible and not texting.  It just makes me sad.  I know how my thoughts can run away with me, but in that moment I mourned the loss of simpler times...if growing up in the 80's can be considered simpler times.  I don't believe that not carrying a Bible to church makes one less of a Christian or less knowledgeable about the Bible, but I do know 10 years ago you'd be harder pressed to find those in church without their Bible than you would now.  What will the next 10 years look like?

It's not that I think going to church without a Bible is sinful.  It's what could grow out of this new freedom that worries me.  I can't and won't even begin question anothers relationship with Christ.  Heck, it's often the ones with the Bibles and in leadership who are the furthest from God.  But I worry that the Body is setting herself up for failure.  I did some searching on this and found that Bible sales in bookstores, Christian or otherwise, have decreased over the last couple of years.  But online Bible sales have gone up.  And this isn't just buying Bibles online, but buying online versions of the Bible.  The Bible has gone from a book to a PDF file on our computers.

I personally find great pleasure in sitting with my Bible and a cup of coffee or tea in my reading nook and learning more about Him.  I worry our desire for instant gratification in everything will and has caused us to squeeze Jesus into even more of a tiny drop of our lives.  If we can get our Jesus fix on the go, why get up earlier in the morning?  This isn't to say I don't try to squeeze Jesus into my life or that you'll always find me up at 5am reading my Bible.  More often than not, I fail at getting up early and reading my Bible.  Sometimes my time with Him is prayer while at work, listening to a sermon online or that I've downloaded to listen to while driving, or a worship CD on my way to work.  I know there are multitudes of ways to spend time with Him.  I just fear that the old tried and true way, reading the Bible, is disappearing.

Thoughts?

I've often heard of guys saying they get snubbed by women while trying to do the gentlemanly thing.  But I've never been witness to it.  Until this week.

When you work at Duke, you have to park in one place and then take a bus to the hospital.  And they charge monthly for parking miles from where I need to be!  Anyway.  I was on the bus and it was overcrowded as usual when several women got on at the last stop.  After a couple of seconds the gentleman next to me stood up and offered his seat to one of the women standing.  I thought it was an extremely nice thing to do considering I've only seen one person give their seat up and it was a woman standing so that a pregnant woman could sit.  Anyway, home slice had the audacity to look him  up and down, look at her friend as if she was annoyed he'd offered and said no.  I was livid.  The gentleman stood for the remainder of the ride leaving the seat open for her and she never took it.

I must confess that I don't know if they knew each other so maybe her response was because she knew that would lead to him asking her out again or they had a history and she was trying to not complicate things.  I dunno.  I also find those scenarios highly unlikely.  I know I shouldn't speculate when I don't know the full story, but I was outraged to see her snub him the way she did.  And was probably talking about not having a good man within hours of that ride.  Okay, again, I probably shouldn't say that.  I don't know either of them.  But I do know women.  And the look she gave her friend wasn't one of shocked appreciation, but one of indignation and outrage that he'd do something as backwoods as offer her his seat.

What has become of our society that women snub men for things like that?  I'm not the type of women to stand at a door until a man opens it or runs to get the door for myself.  I simply fully appreciate and thank the man who does.  I love being treated like a lady.  Sadly, I think women have worked so hard to be considered equals to men that they've lost the sense of what it means to be treated like a woman.  And what burns me up even more is that we aren't equal to men anyway.  Any poll or survey will tell you women still make less than men and to be a woman who makes more you have to be young and hot.   I heard John Tesh (yes, I listen and enjoy "Intelligence for Your Life") say that the highest earning man is slightly overweight, in his 30's, married with a family.  The highest earning female, still making less than the man, is size 4 to 6, young, dresses well, and wears heels.  Um, what!?!  So with these kind of odds stacked against women I can somewhat understand women's disdain for men...somewhat.

I still think she acted ugly towards the gentleman on the bus.  I don't think women will be getting equal pay anytime soon.  I hate that men are getting burned for treating women as women and are now starting to treat women as asexual beings who can do for themselves.  And I really hate that those of us who appreciate a good man treating us like women are getting the shaft because other women only want independence and equality from men.  And don't get me started on the proven and sad trend of dating and marriage for the college-educated black woman.  It makes me sad to see how sin has changed our world and how far we are from what God's original plan was.  May we turn back to the foundation of our creation and of this great country and seek God's face.