New Domain!

I have just monetized the blog so that I can accept donations, and I have a new domain, which is http://www.ledofthespirit.com.

Eventually, I would like to build an online community: a digital church. I would like it to be interactive; more than just a livestream video sermon. I believe that the Church by-and-large has lost its interactivity – its body focus: all members of the body are one, and we all need each other. My vision for the church is based on 1 Corinthians 12-14, where the Apostle Paul (among other things) gives a general description of church meetings.

In 1 Corinthians 14:26 Paul makes an interesting statement about how church meetings occurred in his day; he said this: ‘How is it brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.’

That verse, in a nutshell, is a vital essence we seem to have lost: Paul’s clearly implied expectation of the members of the church – the body of Christ – was that all members participate, contributing their gifts to the whole group. Generally, our churches are so big, and the clergy’s roles so pronounced that there is no participation when we come together. This is doubtless much more of a challenge when contemplating the medium of church via the internet, where people are naturally socially distant.

Now, there was no precedent in the days of the early church for internet ministry as obviously, the technology did not exist. In fact, these church meetings which Paul describes were culturally set for the most part in house-churches. It certainly is easier for all members to contribute when we meet in smaller groups, but Paul is not necessarily advocating smaller groups – when he ministered in Ephesus he moved the church to a Greek school (see Acts 19:9).

I have no doubt that Christ and the Apostles would use every medium available to them to preach the Gospel; and that affirms to me a conviction that this type of church meeting: where the body can be the body, and all members can participate and contribute to encourage and uplift one-another is not only possible in physically interpersonal settings, but that it is also possible to have church through global communications and minister to each other this way all over the world.

So, that is the vision I am working toward: to plant an interactive online, global church. I am just getting started in this venture, and I’m not currently able to work at it full-time. I intend to begin producing podcasts, as well as videos to begin this venture. Now that the site is monetized I can begin to accept donations, even so, it may be a while before I can work on digital-church planting full time, as I will need to first procure equipment and software and then need to earn enough that I can afford to leave my full-time job to focus on this.

I have also set up a podcast (though I don’t have any episodes yet), one idea for it is to do a weekly testimonial; I’d like to get email submissions of personal testimonies of things that God has done in people’s lives – whether it’s a miracle or just something that the Lord clearly had a hand in. Eventually I may be able to these as interviews, but it will probably just start with me sharing testimonials. So be watching for ‘Testimonial Tuesdays.’

Also in the short term, I would like to begin studying martial arts – this is partly personal interest, and partly for the purpose of investing in the future. I believe that it is important to be a good steward of the body that the Lord has given me with plenty of exercise, but even more so I believe that martial arts could be a phenomenal foot-in-the-door ministry: something that I could become certified in and be able to teach as a form of physical education. Additionally, if there is interest, I may make a youtube channel (or some other video medium) to vlog about my journey in martial arts, and my progress; in some of my personal study of Martial arts, I see there is a pretty big interest for that sort of thing.

If you would like to help support the ministry, you now can; as mentioned, the money will initially go to such things as: 1) maintaining the now monetized blog, 2) purchasing necessary equipment to get moving, 3) help to fund short term projects (such as possibly this martial arts idea). Unless I get a huge amount of donations right up front (which I very much doubt) the money will not yet go to my personal living expenses, but I will trust eventually the Lord will enable me to work on planting this digital church full-time.

Thank you so much for stopping by, and for your prayers and support!

If you have been blessed by the posts on this page, feel free to check out my books as well ‘More than a Prophet’ is about the ministry of John the Baptist; and…

‘Discerning the Antichrist’ (both are linked below) is about… well just that: discerning the Antichrist spirit, kingdom, and person; the book is a it different than most eschatological works, in part because according to scripture the last days deception will cause a great falling away, thus much of mainstream Christianity will fall under deception. I believe that much of the last-days deception is already inset in many mainline teachings about the last days, and that much of what we have been taught (including myself, growing up in contemporary Evangelical thought) about the last days only pave the way for the prophesied deception and falling away. ‘Discerning the Antichrist’ focuses on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and understanding prophecies of the last days expressly through the lens of the Gospel: