<> Ask the Pastor Rev. Walter Snyder It's been a busy week. Topping it off has been the arrival of an Australian exchange student. Lew will be here for 3 weeks, through Christmas. He'll (hopefully) have his coolest Christmas ever, since Australia's December is its first month of summer, and since we are (supposedly) almost into winter here. Q: My family has a computer and is considering whether or not to buy a modem and use the Internet. I've heard that there are many things on it that I don't want my children to see, but I also feel like we're missing a lot. Can you help? A: You've heard correctly. First the bad: There are things "out there" that neither your children nor you would be edified by seeing. The "Net" is virtually unregulated. Some may come, but the downside is that it might damage the free exchange of ideas and information. As for missing a lot, it depends on how you define "a lot." You didn't tell me your church affiliation, but most denominations have presences on the Internet. The "World Wide Web" (WWW) is one area where church bodies, congregations, schools, and individual believers have set up shop. On the Web, pictures, text, and even sound and video are arranged to provide welcomes. The best Web sites are not ends in themselves, however. They point toward other parts of the Net, such as file transfer sites and discussion lists. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) sites are libraries of documents, programs, and such. You'll find histories, hymn texts, commercial offers, programs for your computer, and more. I've used them to build my own library. One on-going concern, Project Gutenberg, is trying to place as much out-of-copyright literature on the Net as possible. Through them, you can find authors from around the world, including Dickens, Twain, and others. You can read online, or download or print them for later enjoyment. Many churches have Christian information available through their FTPs and related sites. The lists are vast e-mail exchanges. Comments are sent to a central location, then distributed to all members of a list. Some are open, others have criteria for membership. Currently, I'm a member of two of each type. One discusses Church history (particularly, though not exclusively, Lutheran). One is general Lutheran discussion on a variety of topics. My "private" lists are one for conservative Christians who are also politically conservative and one especially for Christians in scientific professions and a few Christian non-scientists who try to keep up with the science. Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, and others have their own lists, and there are also lists for those interested in liturgy, ecumenism, and much more. If it sounds like I'm a proponent of the Internet--I am. As a parent, use your God-given authority to decide what your children will do and when they will do it. You can restrict their activities by joining one of the commercial online services. Mine is America Online (AOL). They have parental control features that allow you to "lock out" inappropriate areas by use of a password. They have "keyword blocks" which won't allow your children to search for inappropriate items. My older daughter has found a Christian pen pal through AOL. AOL offers you the chance to find out more about Christianity and world religions in various discussion areas and libraries it maintains. Here's my homepage address on the Web: http://home.aol.com/Xrysostom . It has links to church-related pages. It links you to congress's e-mail addresses, so you can electronically talk to Phil and Kay and Charlie. It also links you to the Texas homepage, even to the Tourism Department's page on Jasper! (From there, you can navigate to some of the other communities in the area, as well). My thoughts: The Internet is a powerful, but value-neutral tool. Like a chain saw or a car, it can perform wonderful work or cause untold damage. Use it wisely and well, with Christian determination to do what is right and pleasing to God, and you'll have an excellent servant. Approach it with the desire to seek what is less than good for you, and you'll have a cruel master. Remember, "It's not what goes in to the mouth that makes it unclean, but what comes out." The same holds true with reading and writing. That finishes another week. Remember to "Ask the Pastor" your questions at P.O. Box 1080, Jasper, Texas, 75951; e-mail xrysostom@aol.com; or catch me around town. Walter Snyder is the pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Jasper and Faith Lutheran Church, Woodville and coauthor of the book "What Do Lutherans Believe? A Study Guide in Christian Teachings for Adults." Copyright (c) 1995 by Walter P. Snyder Permission is granted by author to reproduce or retransmit this by any means, provided that its content is not altered, that this notice of copyright and permission is included, and that no financial gain is realized.