The Long Lost Album

Does anyone remember record albums also known as LP's? If you are over 35 you probably remember albums. If you are under 35 you probably have heard of them but may not have ever bought one.

As I was riding into work this morning the DJ on the station I was listening to was talking about her recent trip to a vintage record store. She was talking about some of the great artwork that was created for album covers. As a kid growing up I remember going to the mall and strolling into Record Bar or musicland and looking at all of the albums on display. There were some memorable covers that stick out in my head - even 25 or more years after they came out. The band Boston used to have a guitar that took on the form of a UFO on their album covers. Kiss album covers always had the members with full make-up and outrageous outfits. Some were photographs and some were cartoon covers but as a kid they were really cool. One last cover I remember was the Loverboy - Get Lucky album cover with Mike Reno's rear-end on the cover. He was sporting a pair of tight, red, leather pants that he probably could not get one leg into today!

We have moved away from albums, 8-tracks, cassette tapes and even the days of CD's are quickly going away as well. We are moving from tangible, hard media that we can physically hold and see to digital formats. i-Tunes from Apple and the Cloud Player from Amazon have taken over and the job outlook for album cover artists is probably not looking so good.

I bring this up because I see more and more churches putting Bible verses on the big video screen on Sunday mornings. I am sure they would say that they are trying to get scripture in front of those who do not have a Bible. But have we gone too far? Are we spoon feeding God's word to people? Are we really making disciples when we make these things so simple? Is there value in holding God's word in our hands?

Another reason I mention this is that I read a passage of scripture that made me think about this as well. I am not saying the following passage is doctrine for carrying around a traditional Bible I am simply showing you what passage I came across:

II Timothy 4: 13 - When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.

Listen to this excerpt from Grant Horner's story about being interviewed by Dr. John MacArthur. Grant is a faculty member at Masters Seminary:

Sometime later, I was flown out by Masters College for a 3-day interview/grilling process. The culmination was, of course, being ushered in to Dr. MacArthur's private study, which is where he asked me his one question: "Can I see your Bible?"

I thought he would be horrified, because it looked like it had been through a typhoon -- it looked unloved and neglected. Something from a dumpster. It was unbound, with stringy mess and paper debris hanging out. I was so embarrassed. I thought he would chastise me and recommend I get a new study Bible if I was serious about the Word.

However he flipped through it and handed it to his wife and said, "If your Bible is falling apart, you probably aren't." And I was basically hired on the spot.

In a world of e-Bibles, Web based Bibles and verses projected on the screen on Sunday mornings I still believe there is value in a good old-fashioned copy of God's word. There seems to be value in having a copy of the Word of God that is not dependent on electricity, batteries some outside influence. Any thoughts?