T-NET International   •   Discipling Disciplemakers   •   March 2003

Dr. DIMM's Internet Anti-Terrorist Theological Toolkit

Dr. DIMM has been thinking. Some of you pastors and Sunday School teachers out there may not be sleeping well at night just thinking . . . about what if you have to use all that plastic and duct tape. I mean, how would you get to your library? How are going to prepare your sermon? Somewhere about 6:30 on a Saturday evening the authorities will give an “all clear,” say it was a false alarm and there you are pulling an all-nighter just like you were back in school.

Well never fear! Just crank up your generator, boot up the old computer and log on to Dr. DIMM’s Internet Anti-Terrorist Theological Toolkit. Some of these sites will make you wait a bit especially if you don’t have a fast connection, but what else do you have to do while you’re trapped in duct tape?

First you have to try this fascinating site, Exegesis on the Web, http://www.bsw.org/index?l=41. There is quite a catalog of resources like commentaries and articles listed by books of the Bible and theological topics. Most of the links Dr. DIMM tried worked, but some of those links to www.bible.org didn’t probably because Bible.Org probably changed those addresses because they would rather have you start at their site in the first place. And Bible.Org is not a bad place to start because of the sheer volume of materials there.

For you high-church high-tech types here is a great site. Even if you’re someone who wouldn’t be caught dead in what you may call a "backwards collar," you MUST sneak over to The Text This Week because it has quite a listing of web resources not only keyed to the liturgical church year http://www.textweek.com, but also has indexed many Biblical texts   http://www.textweek.com/scripture.htm.

Let’s say you are preaching from Genesis 1. If you go to The Text This Week http://www.textweek.com/scripture.htm you will find a mind-stretching range of links that show you:

1. Your text in a host of Bible translations
2. Charles Wesley’s Notes
3. John Calvin’s Commentaries
4. Mathew Henry's Commentary
5. Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Commentary
6. Church Fathers - Links to many relevant sections
7. Articles selected from journals and publications some of which are:

• Cross Currants

• Theology Today

• The Living Pulpit

• Sojourners Online

• Sermons by Ray Stedman which you can download in manuscript form or as MP3's which you can listen to on your computer or in a portable player

Want to use some illustrations from current Movies or famous Art in your sermons? Check out the Movie Concordance http://www.textweek.com/movies/movies.htm  and the Art Concordance http://www.textweek.com/art/art.htm on The Text This Week site. Then for conventional illustrations go to the unconventional Bible.org site and look up any subject in their 10,000 Illustrations Online page http://www.bible.org/illus/illustoc.htm.

Finally you won’t believe how many Journals you can search and read on the Internet. Dr. DIMM says many a book is only a good journal article or two with extra padding. That’s why Dr. DIMM has collected some of the most notable ones for you. Many are print journals that are now available online as well, but there are some very interesting Internet-only publications you should be aware of. Since journals are a very expensive way for schools to get their scholarship noticed, Dr. DIMM predicts you will see more and more journals only available online!  Click Here for Journals List

(Editor's Note: Some readers have complained about Dr. DIMM's insistence on referencing himself with an exalted third person singular. We think he is overreacting to his childhood experience of some who insisted on affecting a humble first person plural in referring to themselves. You may be comforted to know we have recommended counseling.)

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