SOUNDING BOARD

What about preaching in the centuries before we had sound systems. How did the congregation hear the preacher? Every preacher did not have a voice like George Whitefield, or like Ian Paisley of our day (You could certainly hear these two voices for a great distance). It is said that Benjamin Franklin once measured how far he could clearly hear Whitefield preaching to an outdoor crowd in Philadelphia. After pacing off the distance and calculating how many might be gathered in the area, he estimated that he could be easily heard by more than 25,000 people without amplification!. This account is in Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography which is available online http://www.earlyamerica.com/lives/franklin/

Other preachers of the past, preaching in churches, needed a little amplification such as provided by the sounding board above the pulpit in this church I visited in Prague in 1982. The sound would go out in all directions enabling a congregation to comfortably hear the minister throughout the building.

PILGRIM'S PROGRESS- JOHN BUNYAN

Possibly the greatest book every written, other than the Bible, is Pilgrim's Progress. John Bunyan wrote it from Bedford Prison where he spent 12 long years from 1660-1672 for refusing to submit to the state church. Modern readers have some difficulty with some of the words, but there are annotated versions, and modern English versions. I recommend the original if you are a good reader. The book seems to force you to "Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith" (2 Corinthians 13:5). It has blessed millions. You can read it online at Chapel Library.
http://www.mountzion.org/johnbunyan/index.html

THY WORD HAVE I HID IN MINE HEART......

.....THAT I MIGHT NOT SIN AGAINST THEE (Psalm 119:11). So you think God's word is hard to read and take to heart in a modern Bible of the 21st century ? What if all you had was this ?

WORDS TO PONDER

AMEN! 'NUFF SAID!