Personal Information and How CWM Was Started
Visions and Goals for CWM and the Internet
Closing words of encouragement
Share as much, or as little, with us about yourself as you wish.
A: Well. Let's see. Not trying to give the pious answer here, but my first thoughts are that my life is most defined by my relationship with God. Christ came into my life fifteen years ago this year, when I was a teenager. He truly changed my life, not just then, in one instance, but ever since then, on an ongoing basis. This year especially, there has been a renewed focus on what it is to worship God and to love Him with my whole heart, mind, and soul. (The evangelism part of me came out.)
I have been married to my wonderful wife for eight years. We have three wonderful children. Two out and a third on his way. Jobs I have held in the past fifteen years include: a submarine sonar technician in the US Navy, a caf? manager (loved it), a college student (my degree is in Applied Behavioral Science), a Director of Market Research in advertising and marketing, Director of E-marketing and Interactive Services for an ad agency, and a freelance E-marketing consultant and web developer.
David (CWM Community Member: prayerman)
http://www.eternal-ink.comKn... that he was called to the ministry, but, not knowing how -- David wandered in a desert of uncertainty for many years. The Lord had him in His grip all the time. One day, David's pastor visited him -- concluding that visit with a prayer.
Through that prayer and the intercession of many others, David was impregnated with a burden for the Internet Generation. Soon after, Eternal Ink (www.eternal-ink.com) was born.
Personal Information and How CWM Was Started
Visions and Goals for CWM and the Internet
Closing words of encouragement
How did C-W-M get started?
A: About two years ago, after much seeking, I defined my mission and passion statement as: To help Christian individuals and organizations Create, Advance, and Expound faith in Jesus through web technology.
Having been part of webmaster communities on the web, I began to seek out Christian webmaster communities. At the time I didn't find any (although there are some good ones out there, I just missed them). So I figured a beginning step in my mission could be to develop a Christian webmaster community where Christian webmasters could gather for fellowship and co-mentoring. My thinking was, by helping Christian webmasters grow in their gifts, this would go a long way towards impacting the Internet for Christ.
I also wanted to communicate to other Christian webmasters a freedom I found when I discovered that it was okay, and even God-given, to have a passion for a medium (a technology) like the Internet.
What kind of obstacles did you face before starting C-W-M?
A: Depression. Discouragement. Frustration. Time. Wondering if it was really needed.
Yet God has been faithful, and showed me many times that He must be the builder and the One who watches over C-W-M.
What do you invision as the ultimate goal for C-W-M?
A: My ultimate vision is seeing a large active community that inspires passion for the web and its use for the Kingdom of God. A place of training and mentoring for people to grow in their gifts. And eventually a productive community, that works together on projects that can be given to, or subscribed to by, Christian individuals and organizations so they can fulfill their God-given vision for the web.
How important a role do you see the Internet playing in the evangelization efforts of the 21st century church? Please explain.
A: Some of my more detailed response to this question is in the recent article I wrote on the Internet Mission Field and will be in the follow-up articles in the series.
My top-of-mind thoughts are: Lots of people are going on the web each day. The stats are amazing. People while on the net are most often in information seeking mode. Key-word: Seeking. I believe Christians can meet these people with the message of Christ's salvation while they are seeking. This can be done through information sites, entertainment sites, and direct evangelism sites.
I just heard the other day that China is the second fasted country (next to the US) to have people going on to the net daily. Million of Chinese are on the net now. Sadly the most active pursuit is online gambling. I'd like to see Christian organizations having massive online campaigns to reach people with something better than online gambling.
The net will also be a place in the 21st century for Christian training and discipleship. Online learning is a huge trend. I expect Christian organizations will catch up to this trend and begin to put out great online learning and Christian discipleship sites.
Finally, if I have my way, the net will also become a place where people from all over can pray for each other over the net. More to come on this later this year.
David (CWM Community Member: prayerman)
http://www.eternal-ink.comKn... that he was called to the ministry, but, not knowing how -- David wandered in a desert of uncertainty for many years. The Lord had him in His grip all the time. One day, David's pastor visited him -- concluding that visit with a prayer.
Through that prayer and the intercession of many others, David was impregnated with a burden for the Internet Generation. Soon after, Eternal Ink (www.eternal-ink.com) was born.
Personal Information and How CWM Was Started
Visions and Goals for CWM and the Internet
Closing words of encouragement
In closing, what advice or encouragement, would you give any ministry; whether it be personal or a church, about establishing an online presence?
A: Pray. Pray. Pray. Seek out where God is working.
Clearly define your target audience. Define what they need and how to reach them.
Be focused. Don't try to be everything all at once.
Seek out professional help and guidance. This can even be through seeking out communities like C-W-M to ask advice.
Optimize for search engines. There are so many great Christian sites out there that no-one can find.
If you clearly heard God give you the vision. Don't give up.
And,
Pray, Pray, Pray.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Sean for his time. As you can see, his passion for evangelization is only exceeded by his love for the Lord.
May we all take a page from this playbook and diligently seek the Lord before any attempt at evangelizing via the web. We have an awesome opportunity, but, that opportunity is only exceeded by the privilege of seeking His heart in worship.
God bless you all. I'll see you next time.
David (CWM Community Member: prayerman)
http://www.eternal-ink.comKn... that he was called to the ministry, but, not knowing how -- David wandered in a desert of uncertainty for many years. The Lord had him in His grip all the time. One day, David's pastor visited him -- concluding that visit with a prayer.
Through that prayer and the intercession of many others, David was impregnated with a burden for the Internet Generation. Soon after, Eternal Ink (www.eternal-ink.com) was born.