HardcoreFaith.com Ministry Update

Filming… that’s what’s on the forefront of my mind right now. For the last couple of months I have been busily writing and preparing messages, looking at video cameras, sound equipment, editing software, and so on. Why? Because the main reason HardcoreFaith.com exists is to share the Word of God via the Internet, and the way I originally intended and envisioned this to be done was via online videos.

The past couple of years have seen an emerging trend towards churches sharing their weekly services and sermons via their church websites. In fact, while I was still pastoring I recorded and uploaded my weekly sermons to the Internet for over a year so that church members who had missed the Sunday service could catch up and be fed. But an amazing thing happened. The uploaded sermons began to be watched by people who didn’t come to the church and I would get emails from people from all over the world saying they had watched the sermons and how God was working through the messages. It was during this time that the idea for HardcoreFaith.com was birthed in me.

I thought to myself, what if I took the same messages, shortened them into bite sized chunks, filmed them, and then uploaded them to the Internet? I ran with this idea and began to work out just what this would look like if indeed it was to become a reality. I looked at Internet statistics for both online users and online video watching habits and realized that there was a potential harvest of tens of thousands, if not millions of Internet users. This excited me as I have believed for some time that Christians have yet to take full advantage of the Internet as a tool for outreach.

It was during this time that I began to read books like UnChristian, Lord Save Us from Your Followers, Jim and Casper Go to Church, and the like, and began to realize that there is a growing trend of people who want to know more about Jesus, but not so much the church. “Why is this?” I began to ask. But I was asking the wrong question. The question I should have been asking was, “If people don’t want to hear about Jesus in a church then how can we best reach them with the life saving message of the Gospel?”

And the answer, for me at least, is HardcoreFaith.com.

Over the last six months (I officially launched the site in November, 2008) each month has seen more and more people visiting HardcoreFaith.com, many on a regular basis. I have also had some interest in advertising opportunities on this site as well as securing an endorsement deal with an online Christian design company. I have had emails from all over the world from readers and visitors to this site, and as a result of this ministry I have been able to speak into several people’s lives as they struggle to overcome addictions as well as offering advice to some of life’s more demanding questions/problems. One thing I still find amazing is that HardcoreFaith.com gets visitors from places as far away as Israel, Brazil, Russia, England, and China, as well as closer to home, namely America and Canada.

So, where am I now? Well, this week I’m preparing to film some test footage, which will be edited and mixed over the next couple of weeks. This will enable me to see just what a finished video message will look like. No doubt, it’s going to be a trial and error process of trying new things to see what works… and what doesn’t. Then once I am satisfied that I am going in the direction that God wants me to go in I will begin filming the actual video messages that will appear right here on HardcoreFaith.com, and if all goes well they could begin appearing as early as June.

Until then rest assured that I am moving forward, in faith, with what God has placed on my heart – to share the Gospel with all who will listen… and watch! Beginning a ministry is a hard process and some days it takes everything you’ve got. But in the end I rest on the promise of God that his Word never returns void, meaning that if I faithfully speak his Word he is powerful to reach into hearts and minds and change lives. Oh, what a harvest awaits those who would follow after Jesus and obey him when he commissions, “Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in (my) way of life…” (Matt. 28:19a – The Message)

Christian St John M.Div, BChM, ACS
May, 2009

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