Christian Social Networking - Linked in Jesus

As a young Christian as a teenager, I grew tremendously in my walk with Christ and knowledge of the Bible through listening to audio tapes. Today, many Christians are discovering the world of podcasts and how they can get “God on their iPod” to grow and be encouraged throughout the week.

A podcast is similar to a radio show, or an audio recording on a cassette, except instead of listening on a radio or tape player, you can listen to podcasts on your PC, on the web, or on your iPod or other MP3 player. One “podcast” is actually a show- a series of episodes that are posted on-line. This video is an excellent explanation:

I believe strongly in the importance of the use of podcasting to help Christians grow closer to Christ and in their understanding of the Bible. At Christian.com Media Group, we have invested in building Christian podcasting websites. I have already blogged about SermonCast, which through a partnership with another great company is the by far the best value for churches in an online media management solution, and over 7,000 churches and ministries are using the service. But we also have another great site that I haven’t mentioned here before that helps connect Christians with great Christian podcasts. That site is Godcast1000.com - the premiere Christian podcast directory.

I had someone tell me that listening to some of the sermons and podcasts she found on Godcast1000 has changed her life and helped her grow tremendously as a Christian. So if you have an iPod or MP3 player, you should definitely find some good Christian podcasts and subscribe to them. If you don’t have an iPod, you can start by listening to many of the podcasts on-line or through the free iTunes player from Apple.

Happy listening!

Pastors are realizing that while only a few mega-churches can afford to preach their message to the world through T.V. and radio broadcasting, almost any church can have a world-wide podcast. And young and old alike, people are not buying cassette tape players or even CD players- they are buying iPods. For emerging churches, podcasting is the new medium of choice.

But even though it is affordable, podcasting wasn’t taught 10 years ago in seminary or Bible college, so many pastors who are not technology-savvy may not know how to get started.   SermonCast makes podcasting easy and affordable!

SermonCast is a service that specializes in podcasting for churches and ministries. SermonCast.com helps churches get started easily by providing a sermon player that churches can easily add to their church website. Through SermonCast.com, pastors and youth pastors turn their sermons into podcasts without the technology hassles, so they can focus on their message and ministry.

Audio and Video options are available.  To find out more about this powerful yet easy-to-use podcasting system, visit www.SermonCast.com

This week the China Internet Network Information Center published stats that show for the first time, more than 253 million Chinese were on-line in June. The estimated number of Americans on-line in the same period was 223 million, according to a report by Nielsen Online.  Internet penetration in the US is at 71 percent, whereas in China only 19 percent of the country are on-line. In China he growth is is up a staggering 56 percent in one year and is expected to reach 490 million by 2012.  95% of Chinese that are on-line have broadband access.

This is a significant milestone.  The Internet can be a vital tool to reach the 10/40 window with the Gospel and help disciple believers in the most unreached countries in the world.  China alone has 1.3 billion people!

Normally I am going to keep my company blog (at blog.christian.com) and this blog separate, but this announcement is a big one, so I am adding it here as well.

We just announced that we are going to merge recently acquired sites - HisHolySpace.com and FaithItUp.com - to become the starting place of the new Christian.com social networking community.

If you are not already a part of a Christian social network, please consider joining HisHolySpace.com…soon to be part of the new Christian.com!

Here is the announcement…

It is with great pleasure that I am announcing something that has been several years in the making, and has already involved thousands of hours of hard work and prayer by myself and many others.

In some ways the journey for me started back in the mid-90’s, but in other ways it is only now beginning. I envisioned an on-line Christian community, a “social network”, many years before MySpace or Facebook were in existence. Finally many years later, in 2008, we are getting ready to finally launch Christian.com, and my goal for the site is ambitious yet simple…to build the best Christian social network in the world.

But not just a social network. The site should be more than a “Christian Myspace” or a “Christian Facebook”. We can do better than a copy-cat of a secular site, and the vision is much bigger than that. Christians need something special on-line, something unique, something…God-ordained. And it has to be something that the community builds- not just me. I am committed to the community - the site members who want to be a part of this vision - coming together and being a part of designing and building Christian.com. It will not happen overnight, and will take some time and a lot of changes and improvements before we get it right. But I think the outcome of the process will be something truly unique in Christian history- a community of millions of Christians worldwide “linked in Jesus” and growing together in spiritual maturity and in love for Christ and for one another.

I hope that you, too will catch a vision of what is possible in the days and years to come…

Imagine a world-wide community of millions of believers, encouraging one another, praying for one another, and engaging in the journey of life together…

Imagine a place that a young believer can come and be walked through a simple process of discipleship, as they grow in their knowledge of God’s Word and in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ…

Imagine a site where each member of the Body of Christ is doing their part…”he who teaches, let him teach; he who exhorts, in exhortation…” Where we are Christ’s eyes seeing people for what they can be in Christ, we are Christ’s arms open wide for the hurting, and we are Christ’s legs running to the prodigal son who has returned…

Imagine a place where unbelievers can come, wondering if they will find hypocrites, division, and condemnation, but instead are pleasantly surprised to find people filled with God’s love, diverse yet working together in unity, and are drawn in by seeing “something different about these people”…

Christian.com is arguably the best Christian domain name in the world, and is something I am honored to be entrusted with. Having the opportunity to purchase the domain was nothing short of a miracle, and God’s provision of resources has been miraculous as well to bring us to this point over the last several years. Many have come alongside to help, and we believe that together we can make Christian.com not only the best Christian domain name, but the best on-line Christian community in the world!

So that is a little about the vision for the future…so how do we get there? That is the question this blog will explore and report on over the next days, months, and years.

So welcome to HisHolySpace.com…soon to be the new Christian.com…and to the journey of building a global community of Christians unlike any other!

God bless,

Lee Raney
Founder and President
Christian.com

I just launched a complementary site to this one- “Christian Social Networking News” on-line at www.ChristianSocialNetworking.org

While LinkedinJesus will remain my blog on this topic, this new site will include news from “the world” of Christian social networking, with news and articles posted by myself and other web ministry leaders.  It will include news about other social networks (not just my sites), and hopefully be a resource for current events and research on this important topic.

I am as excited today as I was 12 years ago about the incredible potential of the Internet for evangelism, ministry, and discipleship.  In 1996, I felt more than excitement…I believe now that it was a calling from God to be a pioneer in Internet ministry.  I am so thankful for all that God has done in my life since that time, shaping and preparing me in many ways, and continuing to give me insight into how to use the web and digital media for God’s glory and to touch millions of lives around the world.

In some ways the journey for me started back in the mid-90’s, but in other ways it is only now beginning.  I envisioned an on-line Christian community, a “social network”, many years before MySpace or Facebook were in existence.  Finally many years later, in 2008, we are getting ready to finally launch Christian.com, and my goal for the site is ambitious yet simple…to build the best Christian social network in the world. 

But not just a social network.  The site should be more than a “Christian Myspace” or a “Christian Facebook”. We can do better than a copy-cat of a secular site, and the vision is much bigger than that.  Christians need something special on-line, something unique, something…God-ordained.  And it has to be something that the community builds- not just me.  I have a lot of great ideas…and a few “God ideas”…but I am committed to the community - the site members who want to be a part of this vision - coming together and being a part of designing and building Christian.com.  It will not happen overnight, and will take some time and a lot of changes and improvements before we get it right.  “Continuous improvement” is what we will strive for.  But I think the outcome of the process will be something truly unique in Christian history- a community of millions of Christians worldwide “linked in Jesus” and growing together in spiritual maturity and in love for Christ and for one another.

So what is this blog all about?  I want to start the discussion on Christian social networking.  What should the “best Christian social network” look like?  How do we get there?  How can we build a site that is fun and engaging, and at the same time helps people in a simple process of discipleship?  And I am asking for your help as well.  Comments on this blog, as well as participation in the “Christian.com” Facebook group we are starting, are ways you can join in the discussion.  After all, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then Christian.com is your site…what kind of site do you want it to be?

Along the way, I’ll be blogging about things like podcasting, Web 2.0, church media, web ministry, technology news and trends, and what it all means for the Church.  There are many great leaders in these fields whom I already follow and who are already contributing to the discussion, so keep checking my Blogroll for some of these other bloggers who are fellow pioneers in new media ministry.

I’ll also share announcements here about Christian.com and the other sites of the Christian Web Network, as well as news about other notable Christian websites and ministries.  This won’t be a news blog per se, but I’ll share commentary and insights into Internet and technology news and events, and what it might mean for churches and for Christians.

So I hope you “digg” this blog, add it to your RSS reader and your blogroll, and join in the discussion as we continually seek God’s guidance in asking, “How can we use the Internet for Your glory, and to minister to people around the world?”