How can I put my evangelism ministry on the Internet?

Over the four years that we have been on the Internet, the world wide web has evolved. The first two years, all websites were created with a code called "html", and people came to websites with links from other websites, generally. The next year, the Google engine became the focus, and webmasters had to change their code to something like "xhtml" and "php" and alot of other alphabet words, to sustain traffic and visitors. This last year has been the hardest, as webmasters are now entering into the web era called "Web 2.0".

Now I know this probably doesn't sound like something you even need to know at this point, but it is very, very important if you are going to have a viable ministry on the Internet. Almost all of the ministries that were around on the Internet when we first started have been unable to evolve, and have ended abruptly, leaving many souls vulnerable who depended upon those sites. Large false teaching sites quickly became the vogue, and many of the new Christians were snatched away at the fall of so many ministry websites.

When the search engines became so powerful, they thought themselves (and still do) gods who can grant or remove access to the web to any webmaster that either honors them or refuses to dance their dance. Of course, you can imagine what these search engine demands do to a ministry on the Internet. If you don't play by the rules, you don't get any visitors...but if you do play by the rules, your ministry is watered down and controlled by them, which is certainly a place that our Lord does not want us to be placed.

And now there is Web 2.0...which I think actually started evolving because people were tired of being controlled by large search engines and seeing sites disappear right and left. Your Yahoo 360 is one of the creations of Web 2.0. To understand Web 2.0, think of it like "giving power back to the people". You notice how no search engines get involved in your 360, and how everybody has the ability to create a page, choose their friends, and add their pictures? 360 is part of the Web 2.0 movement, as webmasters are struggling to make their websites usable to their visitors, rather than just being a wordy paper without interest.

Now I know what you're saying to yourself right now...I am a minister, not a webmaster. But trust me in this...your ministry will only exist and prosper if you have an understanding of the places you're going to be preaching. And if you do it right, and it is touched by His precious Holy Spirit, you will be touching hundreds of thousands of people all over the world. If you do it wrong, you will have a site of vanity, that does nothing, and will be quickly ate up by the Web 2.0 movement and the Google gobbler.

If you search for evangelistic sites on the Internet right now, you will see that they are missing the mark. If evangelism means to share the good news, to bring salvation to the lost through the sharing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then there isn't much powerful evangelism going on. Usually, mom and pop will put up a site talking about how they were saved, and others were saved, and how they are official evangelists for God, and it stops right there.

This is what a evangelistic website needs to survive in this tough internet world...

1. The moving and anointing of the Holy Spirit
2. Content, Content, Content
3. A symbolic place where the sinners can contemplate your teachings and leadings
4. An actual way for the lost and the converted to be able to talk with you
5. A way for you to keep track of those converts
6. A moving portrayal of images and music that captures the atmosphere of revival and restoration
7. A way to minister to the new converts to make sure they are not snatched up by false teachings
8. A good, solid website structure that allows for growth as God moves.

And that's the first thing you must do before you even begin your ministry out here...you gotta figure out what you want to do, before you even get started. Take it to God in prayer, search the internet for other evangelistic sites and see what they do right, and what they do wrong. Imagine the Internet as an invitation by churches overseas where your comfort level is challenged, and you have no idea about the congregations you will be speaking. Contemplate the perfect setting for the evangelism of God's Word, then think some more about how that setting can be achieved on the Internet.

This first process usually takes about a year for the worldly webmaster. When God is moving things along, this process can be counted in weeks. Regardless, it is the first step to realizing the beginning of your ministry. In the meantime... content, content, content! When you are done writing original things, write some more. And while you are writing, make sure God's Words flow freely, and your words are as perfect as perfect can be. It is a tough and wicked world out on the big Internet, and there are demons and evil lurking and waiting to destroy new ministries from their startup.

My advice for your new ministry on the Internet is this...

1. Pray and move in the direction God moves you (of course)
2. Consider exactly what type of features you want to offer on your website.
3. Content, Content, Content...start writing and publishing your words on 360. It's a good and forgiving environment to make mistakes, and you can begin to build a following that will be invaluable to you when your ministry launches on the World Wide Web.
4. Did I say, Content, Content, Content. Almost every ministry that is on the Internet today copies each others words. It is only the original words, that are moved by God, that are grabbing the attention of people and search engines today. Write, write, write, as if you were talking in front of a congregation.

When you have figured these things out and have written enough content, content, content, we will take the next step of a thousands steps to establish a ministry in the World Wide Web, God Willing.

God's blessings,

David "Bucker" Becker