Gosh, I wonder who started these threads?

[Helen]

I will, but since you have pointed out that I get too long-winded in some of them,

Did I say that??? I don't remember saying it...sorry if I did
I like your threads..

 

[Willie T]

Did I say that??? I don't remember saying it...sorry if I did
I like your threads..

No problem.. I know I do go on sometimes, and I don't mind being reminded to rein it in a little.

 

[shnarkle]

Well, it certainly interesting. It seems to me that there are always "hot topics" which will always get many posts. "Faith vs. works", the Trinity, Christmas, 3 days and 3 nights... Just to name a few. Not saying they aren't worth talking about, but the board is flooded with them and has been since I've been here.

When someone comes up with something deeper, it takes special care to present it as interesting. It's got to be interesting, of course, but if it is presented as too complicated right away, it's probably going to bomb. I've seen this countless times:. Someone posts an interesting title, but you have to read what would be a 10 page on paper essay to get the background.

Folks just don't want to invest the time right off the bat. Even if it is brilliant. But you can post, "The Catholic Church is the Whore in Revelations and verse bla bla bla proves it!". And then you can watch the posts flood in.

I suppose emotions have much to do with it.

Good points. Yes, the old stand by topics always generate lots of copy and paste jobs, and the intriguing post with a wall of text can sometimes be a turn off, but I will always start reading to see if it can keep my attention. Some long ones do, while others quickly disappear down some incomprehensible rabbit hole.
I think the key to a good post is to post on a topic that jumps up at you. This can happen while I'm reading what someone else has posted. They touch on something that is a topic itself, and worthy of being posted separately.

The old standbys are a great way to get more acquainted with the texts themselves. The discussions make learning interesting as well as ground us in the word. I started going to bible studies a few decades ago just for fun, and because I wanted to learn more about the bible, but didn't want to take some boring class. Most people taking those classes are only looking to fulfill a requirement for graduation so they're not into it at all. There's no real engagement with the material like there can be on these sites.

 

[shnarkle]

I think we are 'of an age' ?
But your brain must still be sharp Willie...not speaking of christian books, but even secular and classics ...I used to enjoy Dickens, and reading 'heavy deep devotional' studies...these day I have the attention span of a gnat.

I'm the same way, but I figured out a little trick that has worked splendidly. I read out loud. There's something about hearing what you're reading as well as speaking it that helps it imprint in your mind. This is how those language courses like Rosetta Stone work. it's more immersive, and you can immediately catch yourself when the mind begins to wander. it's like a form of meditation.

I have all my dads lovely old study books he brought over from England ...I kept them believing that 'when I got old' and had more time I would reread them...but half a paragraph is the best I can do these days.

I can sometimes have over a dozen books laying on my nightstands bookmarked. It's just like watching programs on television. I pick up one and read a chapter or two, then set it down and pick up another one and read a chapter or two, etc. You'd be surprised how much time you can spend reading when you're reading a dozen different books at a time. The cool thing is that there's so much going on in all of them, and you're reading all of them almost at the same time so you've got all these ideas going through your mind simultaneously. I love it when I'm reading about something, and one or more of the other books I'm reading is talking about something related or even the same thing. It's bizarre sometimes.

Sometimes I'll be reading something, and there's something so amazing that I have to check their bibliography to find out where they got this information. Then I'll go to the library to get a copy of that book, and while I'm there, I'll literally see a book that captures my attention for no other reason other than it might be sticking out, or the title, etc. I'll get that one as well, and start reading it only to find out that it's related as well, or also one of the books in the bibliography of the other book I just read or picked out at the library.

my dad, and myself also, were both addictive 'underliners'. I get blessed reading my old dads coments in the margins.

I've discovered that using highlighter pens, especially yellow; is useless after a decade or more. They just fade away so now I underline everything as well. I also use a straight edge, and have found that for some reason it makes rereading what I underlined more pleasant because i don't have to struggle to read between a bunch of squiggly lines anymore which in itself discouraged me from going back to reread underlined materials.

I also dog ear, or paperclip what I've underlined which some people frown upon, especially the hard line bibliophiles, but then they frown on underlining as well. I always liked having used textbooks when I was in school because of the notes underlined material etc. I like to know that others read it before me for some reason. I guess I like to know that what I'm reading is really worth reading to someone other than just me.

 

[Helen]

I'm the same way, but I figured out a little trick that has worked splendidly. I read out loud. There's something about hearing what you're reading as well as speaking it that helps it imprint in your mind. This is how those language courses like Rosetta Stone work. it's more immersive, and you can immediately catch yourself when the mind begins to wander. it's like a form of meditation.



I can sometimes have over a dozen books laying on my nightstands bookmarked. It's just like watching programs on television. I pick up one and read a chapter or two, then set it down and pick up another one and read a chapter or two, etc. You'd be surprised how much time you can spend reading when you're reading a dozen different books at a time. The cool thing is that there's so much going on in all of them, and you're reading all of them almost at the same time so you've got all these ideas going through your mind simultaneously. I love it when I'm reading about something, and one or more of the other books I'm reading is talking about something related or even the same thing. It's bizarre sometimes.

Sometimes I'll be reading something, and there's something so amazing that I have to check their bibliography to find out where they got this information. Then I'll go to the library to get a copy of that book, and while I'm there, I'll literally see a book that captures my attention for no other reason other than it might be sticking out, or the title, etc. I'll get that one as well, and start reading it only to find out that it's related as well, or also one of the books in the bibliography of the other book I just read or picked out at the library.



I've discovered that using highlighter pens, especially yellow; is useless after a decade or more. They just fade away so now I underline everything as well. I also use a straight edge, and have found that for some reason it makes rereading what I underlined more pleasant because i don't have to struggle to read between a bunch of squiggly lines anymore which in itself discouraged me from going back to reread underlined materials.

I also dog ear, or paperclip what I've underlined which some people frown upon, especially the hard line bibliophiles, but then they frown on underlining as well. I always liked having used textbooks when I was in school because of the notes underlined material etc. I like to know that others read it before me for some reason. I guess I like to know that what I'm reading is really worth reading to someone other than just me.

Thanks...great thoughts

I like the idea of reading it aloud ..I must try that ( on long posts here too ) If I come on here in the evening , and someone has posted a long post , no matter how interesting the content is...I have to give up, my brain is useless especially very late evening ( which is anything after 9 for me!)

But I must try reading it out aloud.

You dog ear!!!!! My dad would have taken you out and shoot you!
When we were kids, we only ever did it once...then we'd 'get the message'.
It rubbed off on me! If I buy any second hand books , the first thing I do before I start reading is flip through it..and straighten out any dog ears, crinkles etc ...I have even gone as far as to iron them!! True indeed!

I thank my old dad for passing on 'the love of books'.
I've tried reading on Kindle ...even though I have hundreds downloaded...I still 99% read a hard copy. Nothing like a book in ones hand.

@Willie T

Yes my friend...you have a knack of starting good threads

 

[shnarkle]

Thanks...great thoughts

I like the idea of reading it aloud ..I must try that ( on long posts here too ) If I come on here in the evening , and someone has posted a long post , no matter how interesting the content is...I have to give up, my brain is useless especially very late evening ( which is anything after 9 for me!)

But I must try reading it out aloud.

There was a tipping point for me. I had just started reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. I hadn't read more than half way down the second page when I had this irresistible urge to start over and read it out loud. I could intuitively see that I was missing something incredible; something that could only be realized by hearing it. So I started over and read the entire book out loud. It blew me away. I later discovered that, with the exception of one word, the first draft is what was published.

You dog ear!!!!! My dad would have taken you out and shoot you!
When we were kids, we only ever did it once...then we'd 'get the message'.
It rubbed off on me! If I buy any second hand books , the first thing I do before I start reading is flip through it..and straighten out any dog ears, crinkles etc ...I have even gone as far as to iron them!! True indeed!

I also don't like wrinkled pages, although part of that is because I can't find the stuff that's intentionally dog eared. I also don't like the looks of dog eared pages, but I don't like searching through a book to find something either.

This reminds me of something people sometimes talk about which is how sometimes they're searching for something in the bible and the first page they open to is exactly the spot they're looking for. Whenever someone says something like that, I know that they don't spend anywhere near as much time in the bible as I do because that happens all the time, and I know it's because once one becomes familiar with a book, it becomes easier to find stuff. I have the same thing happen when I look up words in a dictionary.

I thank my old dad for passing on 'the love of books'.
I've tried reading on Kindle ...even though I have hundreds downloaded...I still 99% read a hard copy. Nothing like a book in ones hand.

I can pick up my bible and be on the exact page I'm looking for before the next guy has his kindle warmed up and ready to find something. i had some JW's visit for a while, and they had kindles. They sometimes spend as much as a few minutes trying to find a passage, and even then they would accidently bump the screen and the page was gone, and they'd have to go through the whole process again. They say that computer screens are also bad for the eyes, and the energy that comes off these technologies is also harmful, cancer causing etc. e.g. kindles, tablets, smartphones etc.

It's just so much more convenient for me to just pick up a book and start reading. They're easier on the eyes too. The screens play tricks on my eyes after a while.

 

[Helen]

I also don't like wrinkled pages, although part of that is because I can't find the stuff that's intentionally dog eared. I also don't like the looks of dog eared pages, but I don't like searching through a book to find something either.

I use the back cover page which is usually a blank white paper.
I jot down the page number and point that was written about there.
( like -Law, Grace. Faith or whatever)

But I confess a few of my books I have used the flat sellotape ..and placed a small tab on the edge.

 

[Willie T]

I have 40 some books on MS Word. An advantage there is that Word will read to you.

 

[Helen]

I have 40 some books on MS Word. An advantage there is that Word will read to you.

This is a stupid question...but what is MS ?

 

[Willie T]

This is a stupid question...but what is MS ?

MS is MicroSoft (a Software company). One of the programs in the Microsoft suite of five or six different programs is a writing program called "WORD."

WORD's ability to instantly read aloud to you is only one of the many great things it can do.

 

[Helen]

MS is Microsoft (a Software company). One of the programs in the Microsoft suite of five or six different programs is a writing program called "WORD."

WORD's ability to instantly read aloud to you is only one of the many great things it can do.

Thanks...
Willie I can't even "make files" to keep things in. My daughter has tried to show me many times...
So I cheat by "Safe to draft"....I have reams of stuff saved in my draft.

Can't teach old birds new tricks.

 

[Willie T]

Thanks...
Willie I can't even "make files" to keep things in. My daughter has tried to show me many times...
So I cheat by "Safe to draft"....I have reams of stuff saved in my draft.

Can't teach old birds new tricks.

What do you use when you write documents…. not letters in e-mail?

 

[Helen]

What do you use when you write documents…. not letters in e-mail?

Yes, I write what I want to keep in email...then hit "save as draft".

 

[Willie T]

Yes, I write what I want to keep in email...then hit "save as draft".

Oh my goodness! At least download this FREE program and play with it a little. You can't hurt anything by doing so.
Download LibreOffice | LibreOffice - Free Office Suite - Fun Project - Fantastic People

"Libre" means: FREE

 

[amadeus]

I think it comes down to the type of study one is interested in. Or more to the point, the kind of reading one prefers. It might be a question of whether you prefer books or magazine articles. If you had told me a few years ago that I would find myself engrossed in a 1,600 page book, I would have laughed at the absurdity of such a suggestion. Yet, I just finished such a book for the third time reading it, last week, and I have begun reading it again for the fourth time, Sunday.

It also comes down to where a person is in God and to what it is that God draws him. Why is it that one servant of God will be consumed with reading all of the Bible continuously, repeatedly, while another will be more inclined to reading according to certain topics, using a concordance and/or memory to find pertinent verses?

While I still don't delve much in commentaries written by someone else, the truth may often be that that someone else was led by God to write what he wrote... like a testimony of what God showed to him. As @"ByGrace" put it, "Different stokes". We should never out of hand discount what is written in a designated "commentary" presuming that the writer was never anointed by God to write.

There is not only one way to study or pursue what God wants us to pursue. For Elijah the "still small voice" was how he heard God, but God is NOT limited to that one way of communicating with people.

"Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called." I Cor 7:20

 

[amadeus]

Oh my goodness! At least download this FREE program and play with it a little. You can't hurt anything by doing so.
Download LibreOffice | LibreOffice - Free Office Suite - Fun Project - Fantastic People

"Libre" means: FREE

I did just this not so long ago when you suggested as an alternative to the somewhat expensive Microsoft office. When I encounter some of my own very old writings where I used Microsofte Word which I had at the time I simply tell the computer to use one of my other programs... including LibreOffice to open it instead of Word. It works very well. Thank you again.

 

[amadeus]

I have 40 some books on MS Word. An advantage there is that Word will read to you.

I have for many years always read my Bible to myself out loud. My comprehension falls short often these days as a part of aging. When I stop and think about something I just read and am unable to immediately recall the gist of it, I will most definitely go back and immediately reread it. It doesn't always work so well, but it is very helpful.

 

[Willie T]

There was a period of time that, though I could have afforded the MS Suite I now have, I still got cheap and wouldn't spend the money.
So, I got a similar FREE program (an earlier version)
It didn't have all the bells and whistles I now have, but it worked fine and achieved the same ends.

 

[amadeus]

There was a period of time that, though I could have afforded the MS Suite I now have, I still got cheap and wouldn't spend the money.
So, I got a similar FREE program (an earlier version)
It didn't have all the bells and whistles I now have, but it worked fine and achieved the same ends.

This is where I am. I won't spend money needlessly for a more expensive and likely better version, but what I have works well enough for all of my purposes. I am used to it and have no problems as I understand the limitations. I accomplish what I need to accomplish and simply move forward in each of my projects. I have projects now which I will never finish unless I live in this veil of flesh a lot longer than I expect...