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Most Christian websites are written purely for Christians.  Only a small percentage of Christian websites are evangelistic - written primarily to address the questions and concerns of non-Christians, but even they can only help the small percentage of people who are actively seeking God.  What about the rest of the world?  One way to effectively reach unbelievers who are not spiritually seeking is through a “bridge site.�

What’s a bridge site?

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Last week I blogged about Internet Evangelism Day and the unexpected opportunity I was given to speak at my church.  So, today I’d like to share with you an article about Internet evangelism, a little about my talk, and some thoughts spurred by some of the comments posted to last week’s IED blog article.  This also fits nicely with our theme of Church Website Innovation Month as one of the most important improvements you can make to your church website is to make it friendly for spiritual seekers who are looking for a church.
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Sunday, April 29th is Internet Evangelism Day (IED).  If you’re not familiar with IED, it is a day to bring focus and attention to the vast opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ online.  It’s also a day for Christians to educate themselves and strategize within their organizations about how they can better share their faith online throughout the year.

You don’t have to be an Internet guru, a Bible scholar, or an evangelist to point people to Christ online.  Anyone can do it.  That means you.  It also means that if you are a leader in a church, youth ministry, Bible college, or other Christian organization, everyone in your organization can point people to Christ online.  All they need is a little encouragement and instruction, which you can provide.

Today I want to take just a moment to point you towards some suggested things you can do and tell you what I’ll be doing for IED.
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Well, it’s Friday again already and time for our weekly review of blog articles related to ministry and Internet technology.  Hope you find these week’s articles interesting.  Some of the videos in the last blog article mentioned are just hysterical.  We appreciate your comments and feedback on all of them.
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Today we continue our series on the most popular website in the U.S., MySpace.  Last week we asked, “Is MySpace safe?” and discussed what parents can do to make it safer for their kids should they allow them to use MySpace.  If you’ve read any of the comments readers have posted to the first 3 articles in this series, you know there are strong opinions on both side of the issue of whether Christians ought to use MySpace.

While some Christians believe we should protect ourselves and avoid MySpace, a growing number of Christians have the perspective that Jesus met people where they were at and if they are going to reach this generation with the gospel of Jesus then they are going to use MySpace as a means to do that.  Here are some churches that have created profiles on MySpace. (more…)

Yahoo! Answers is a place where you can ask real questions and get real answers on any topic.  It’s a community-based service where you jump in and share answers to questions you know while other people answer your questions.  Topics range from scientific questions with definitive answers like, Why does helium make your voice sound high?” to not-so-serious questions with opinionated answers like, “Who is the best rock guitarist ever?”

How does this relate to trends in Christian communication? (more…)

Being in and around the Internet opened a wonderful international opportunity for me. Here’s some background: When I started working with OurChurch.Com in April 2003, my main role was assisting with the Help Desk fielding questions from webmasters, many of whom were using our BEACON Web Builder. It was a wonderful job because it meant working with Christians from all over the world. There were challenges, too, especially when a customer was feeling frustrated over an issue that I was trying my best to solve. Sounds typical of most jobs, right?

I found the most fulfillment at work not only when I could help someone with a problem, but also when I could establish a dialog with them and get to know them as people. For example, one of our customers from Ireland would report a technical difficulty, I’d write back, and in the course of our brief discussions we wound up talking about all the exciting things the Lord was doing in our lives. The joy of being a Christian would just spill over into my workday in marvelous and unexpected ways, leaving my spirit uplifted no matter how the rest of my day had gone.

Internet connects two countries.
One day our Irish customer and brother in Christ, Harry Toye of Five Fold Ministry Ireland, told me about an outreach he and his team would be hosting in America. “That’s great,� I told him almost absently. When I learned they were coming to New Hampshire, I immediately dismissed the idea of meeting the team. Airfare from my home in Florida to New England was beyond my budget. I wished him well and put the thought out of my mind.

Up to this point I hadn’t spent more than a few moments on Harry’s website, not because I didn’t care, but because with more than 7,000 OurChurch.Com sites there isn’t time to fully visit each one while responding efficiently to support issues. I didn’t know much about his team.

But God had other plans for me. (more…)

If you’ve read the Christian Web Trends Blog the last couple of weeks, you know Sunday, May 7th, was the second annual Internet Evangelism Day.  IED is a day to focus and attention to using the Internet to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I was curious to learn about our OurChurch.Com webmasters’ thoughts and experiences with regards to web evangelism and so included a couple of questions about that in our monthly webmaster survey.  Of course this is not a scientific sample, but here are some preliminary figures.

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Only five days remain until Internet Evangelism Day, May 7, 2006!  Internet Evangelism Day (IED) is a day for Christians educate themselves and strategize within their organizations about how they can better share their faith online throughout the year.  The hope is to raise awareness among Christians of the potential for sharing the Gospel online and dramatically increase the number of Christian organizations actively involved in evangelism online.

Last week I wrote about the general purpose of IED, this week I’m going to write about some specific action steps individuals and organizations can discuss and consider when planning their Internet evangelism strategies.  Remember, IED, is not a single day where we go online to talk about God; it’s a day to make decisions about how we will use the Internet to share God’s amazing grace with others throughout the next year. (more…)

The Internet is revolutionizing the way we communicate.  It’s given birth to new methods of communication such as email, forums, chat rooms, blogs, and instant messaging.  As a result it is changing both who we communicate with and how.  When I’m online I’m almost as likely to bump into someone in Cairo, Egypt as Cairo, Illinois.  Just as the Roman road system in New Testament times enabled the rapid spread of the Gospel, so also the Internet is becoming an effective worldwide channel for evangelism.

Christians are just beginning to realize the potential of the Internet as a means for communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Yes, there are already thousands of Christian websites online, but the vast majority of those are written for a Christian audience.  The Internet Evangelism Coalition, an umbrella grouping of ministries already involved in web evangelism, has therefore initiated a worldwide focus day for Christians: Internet Evangelism Day (IED), May 7.

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