Important Information Regarding the Use of the
Internet:
While we recognize the great
usefulness of the Internet, we are not ignorant of the many
potential dangers. Therefore, we believe it is necessary to
lay out the following Bible principles and to strongly
recommend the following guidelines.
Bible
Principles
1. What we see influences how we
think.
Genesis 3:5-6 For God doth know that in the day
ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall
be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that
the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the
eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of
the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband
with her; and he did eat.
See also Job 31:1, 7; Psalm
73:7; Lamentations 3:51
2. What we think influences how
we live.
Romans 1:21-24 Because that, when they knew
God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but
became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was
darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God
into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and
fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God
also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their
own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
3. We must guard our hearts
(Prov. 4:20f)
Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all
diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Deuteronomy 4:9 Only take heed to thyself, and
keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which
thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all
the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons'
sons;
James 1:27 Pure religion is...to keep
himself unspotted from the world.
Titus 1:7 A
bishop must be blameless.
Suggested
Guidelines
1. Make it public.
(Remove the element of secrecy.)
Place the computer in an
open part of the house where other family members can see what
is being done.
Set limits when the internet can be
used, such as, only when the rest of the family is at home or
awake.
2. Make it protected.
For
home use, purchase a good Internet filter, either installed
software (good) or ISP-based (better). Currently, we recommend
BeSafe Online's filter found at http://www.bsafeonline.com/ or upgrade to IE7 Pro.
For business use, check your company's policy to
insure that they use Internet filtering and/or monitoring. If
they do not, encourage them to do so.
When using
email, immediately delete all inappropriate mail (usually
spam) without reading any further. In addition, be sure to
take advantage of your email's spam and junk mail filters.
To avoid offensive "pop-up" windows, again we
recommend IE7
Pro.
Avoid all appearances of evil and be
accountable to your spouse or other Godly individuals; do not
place yourself in a situation of temptation.
3. Make it
parent-controlled.
Parents need to establish clear
guidelines for Internet use in the home and communicate them
to every computer user in the home.
Password protect
your Internet connection and insure that your filter cannot be
easily bypassed or guessed.
Chat rooms are not
recommended for any family member. This is because there does
not appear to be any compelling reason to participate in chat
rooms or other public forums (such as gaming sites) where you
communicate with people you do not know. The potential dangers
are great.
4. Make it praise-worthy
(Is God glorified?)
1 Corinthians 10:31 "Whether
therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the
glory of God."
For
believers, any time spent on the Internet should be honoring
to the Lord.
Copyright 2006
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