• Evangelism
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• Gospel
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• Church
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• Christian
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• Ministry

Defining Christian web pages on the X Spectrum Scale - a diagnostic tool for outreach
In the missions world of church-planting, a helpful C1-C6 spectrum has been devised to define the degree of contextualization that a church is using in relation to the culture surrounding it. The concept has been developed by strategists John Travis, Phil Parshall and others. In conjuction with Create International, we propose a similar categorization of X1-X6 to define the conteXtual positioning of Christian websites (and indeed other media – radio, video, and literature).
http://internetevangelismday.com/x-spectrum.php

A missed opportunity for the Great Commission: reaching 10/40 Window nations online
The potential of the Web for online outreach is increasingly acknowledged. But there is so much more that can be done, especially in non-English languages. The needs and opportunities of Japan are immense, for example. But many other countries are a challenge too. There is very little effective web evangelism parts of E Europe, for example. Yet the Web is a powerful tool to help us fulfill the Great Commission.
http://internetevangelismday.com/evangelism-opportunities.php

Christian failure: why Christians fail to communicate the Gospel or evangelize effectively
There are two major reasons why we so often fail to touch many non-Christians with the Gospel. Firstly, we frequently present the good news in language and from a viewpoint which does not actually engage with non-Christians and their real felt needs, or take into account the culture they live in. We can quickly forget how we used to feel and think, like someone who moves to a different country early in life, and forgets their heart language. There is therefore a huge mismatch between the actual needs of non-Christians and the production of Christian literature, webpages and other media.
http://internetevangelismday.com/losing-contact.php

Branding: using appropriate names to position Christian evangelism and outreach
What’s in a name? A lot. A single word can carry a whole lot of baggage. Even words with almost equivalent meanings carry different shades of meaning. Even such a word such as ‘postman’ in English, French, or German, projects a different image in the mind of hearers in each country. Other words carry much greater differences of image. If a health magazine article were to substitute directly-equivalent taboo slang words for body parts in place of the medical terms, many people would stop reading it. Yet the literal meaning would be identical.
http://internetevangelismday.com/name.php

They know nothing! Assume zero knowledge when writing evangelistic material
“Most Christian literature ... begins too far along the evangelistic process; it assumes that the reader has at least some basic knowledge of Christianity and biblical concepts,” said the director of a very effective literature outreach recently. If you grew up in a Christian environment with Sunday School or regular Bible classes, you may not realize that many people know little or nothing of the Christian faith. Even in a country such as USA with a very high level of church attendance, there are many millions of people who have never read any part of the Bible or visited a church. In other English-speaking countries including UK, church attendance is usually very low – less than 5% of the population. In most other parts of Western and Eastern Europe, India, and China, the number of Christians as a percentage of population is tiny.
http://internetevangelismday.com/zero.php

Keys to preaching effective sermons and biblical evangelism: neutral language that audience understands best
When you seek to communicate the message of Jesus to those outside the faith, do you ever feel like you’re not getting through? There can be many reasons for this, including their own resistance, spiritual blindness, spiritual warfare, ego, personal pain, anger with God, disappointment with God or Christians, etc. But a major reason might be that you just aren’t speaking their language.
http://internetevangelismday.com/preaching-effective-sermons.php

Jargon - how insider jargon Christianese words spoil Christian communication and evangelism
In most sermons for Christians, or any Christian magazine, there are usually very many jargon words and phrases. We feel comfortable with them! Using them makes us feel that we belong! In prayer too, we love to use these ‘Christianese’ words, as humorist Jim Watkins demonstrates.
http://internetevangelismday.com/jargon.php

Lack of emphasis on evangelism outreach in the church: the 99 Percent Problem
It’s almost like there's a rule: 99% to us, 1% for them. We can see it reflected in Christian bookshops, where a search of the book titles and videos will reveal that the vast majority of material is produced entirely for Christians, in terms of language, content and underlying assumptions. Just how many books and videos are truly evangelistic and accessible to unchurched people who do not know the language and the concepts?
http://internetevangelismday.com/evangelism-problems.php

Christian webmaster resources, help and tools for webmasters and web designers
There are now so many online webmaster resources, that usually the easiest way to find what you need is with a Google search. There are countless bulletin board systems, some covering general topics, others specializing in one type of coding (eg PHP) or one CMS system (eg WordPress). Look at GeeksandGod [www.geeksandgod.com] | Webmaster Talk [www.webmaster-talk.com] and many others. For equipment purchasing decisions, always check out online reviews at CNET [www.cnet.com] and elsewhere.
http://internetevangelismday.com/webmaster.php

Case Study: comparison of women's webpages demonstrates effective evangelism strategies
Some Christians might look at Christian Women Today, notice the comfortable familiar Christian words on front and inner pages: ‘prayer’, ‘repentance’, ‘saved’, etc., and say, “Ah, this is an evangelistic site. This must preach the Gospel.” But no! Christian Women Today is designed for Christians. All those Christian words are ‘insider’ terms which exclude rather than enlighten. No doubt some non-Christians visit, as they will any site. In fact, Women Today Magazine is the site that has been carefully written for non-Christians. Because both sites have been produced by the same team, and have many similarities, we have a unique opportunity to understand why it is so important to target each audience in a different way.
http://internetevangelismday.com/case-study.php