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(JesusIsLord) Spreading Jesus
This mobile site highlights the JesusIsLord.org family of mobile and worldwide websites. .
Spreading Jesus...
1. About Us
JesusIsLord.org arrived on the World Wide Web in April of 1996 having been obtained
in January of 1996.
The best answer to the question, "How did you get this website being just one person?"
I think the answer is that God saved it for me and knew I would be
faithful to present Jesus Christ to the world having already done so in person.
An online presence extends my tent pegs
(Isaiah 54:2-3 AMP). Also, I already know the
variety of responses that will occur.
Our Philosophy
We share what Jesus did for you and your need. After that, it is your decision.
We don't ask you to contact us if you have made a decision to receive Jesus into
your life. We do recommend you tell someone of your choice. It helps you!
We don't receive donations but you can help us by praying for us! This removes
the idea that we are only in it for the money. There is no money! :>)
(2017 This has changed. Tax-deductible donations are possible but this shouldn't
affect your understanding that salvation is free!)
We trust God to work through the Holy Spirit. We only care that your needs are met
and He is very good at that.
Once you know Him, you can talk with Him and listen and watch for His answers.
He only has 3 answers:
1. Yes
2. No
3. Wait.
The answer would be 2. if the Bible has revealed already that what you ask is
not God's will.
The answer would be 2. if it is not right for you and not part of His plan for you.
The answer would be 3. if your request is fine but He has to get you ready for the
answer or get other things ready so He can say 1.
He does this so there is no sorrow in it when the yes answer comes.
Otherwise, the answer is 1. Yeah!
God tends to answer the prayers of new believers so you can see He is there,
He is listening, He knows your situation, and He cares about you and can answer.
This means you often get 1. and quickly! (As you grow up in Christ, it may seem
as if God stopped answering. This is as a parent who wants a small child
to learn to walk without the parent saying come here or you're doing great
constantly.)
If He does say 2., some day when you understand why, and you will be glad He said
no when He did because this yes is way better!
History
In the beginning I received 5 years of free web hosting for JesusIsLord.org
through Joyful News Prison Ministry and a company no longer in business.
I was only asked, "Is this to bring souls into the kingdom?" "Yes."
"Will this glorify Jesus?" "Yes."
I have lived in two countries for one year each, Germany and Israel.
I learned the language both times although time and lack of daily
use has caused me to forget. I learned Russian while in Germany and Greek
in two academic degree programs and I had Spanish in high school for 3 years.
I learned Hebrew from a rabbi, at seminary from a Hebrew commentary writer
professor and at two kibbutzim in the Ulpan in Israel.
I learned that no one can master every alphabet or every language. To do
what I am attempting to do is a choice and a lifelong challenge.
I probably make mistakes but I cannot live thinking someone may not have
the opportunity to receive Jesus Christ into their life.
I have permission from Campus Crusade for Christ and World Missionary Press
to use the images of their gospel booklet covers so a person can read
what is there and choose to click on it without describing it. I do describe
it in English. I experimented and it is a matter of comfort to
know what is on the other side of a link. It helps with trustworthiness.
Not everyone can read the English explanation but they can read their
own language on the cover.
Whatever you see on my websites, I've tested it. I lived sharing the gospel
in many languages before I committed it to the Internet.
I already know how people respond. People usually feel loved when they find
you have their language.
I've stood with a Jesus is Lord sign with thousands of cars passing slowly.
I know what percent say, "Oh, that's wonderful."
I know the percent of parents who answer the kids' question, "What's that?"
by saying, "It's a kook." I smile very nicely to each one so they will
remember the nice kook and think a kook must be something good. I know the
percent that just look as they are having problems in their lives they cannot solve.
I know the percent who hate what I am doing and let me know. I understand that
I am misunderstood and they can only imagine my motives
by their worst experience or imagination. Some people actually think I'm
being paid!
"Jesus is Lord" means he can handle it all. He knows some will sneak back at
night or against their parents' wishes and receive Jesus Christ.
What I see when I am out sharing is not the sum total of what is happening.
Perhaps this is the first some have ever thought about Jesus Christ.
I am a link in a chain of events in peoples' lives as they move toward or
away from God. I go out because every link is important and I want to
be part of what God is doing on this earth.
Some people have asked me how I know God is using what I'm doing and using
my websites.
The answer is I don't. When I have asked Him, is He using my websites,
He has answered immediately and with power. My job is to go out and share.
The rest is God's job just as it's always been.
I don't check the number of hits on my pages for several reasons.
1. I promised people they would be anonymous. At one time in 1996 I received a weekly
report so I know people are looking from all around the world. It can only be
more true now.
2. Extra hits could be added without any real looking at the
pages.
3. I decided to trust the Holy Spirit rather than trust a number as David
did with his census.
4. All I care about is that people find what they are
looking for. If they come to the page and stay, good. If they leave right away,
they may come back or they may not. I believe strongly that people must
be free.
5. I did check in November of 2004 to determine if I needed
unlimited hosting. I determined to go to unlimited data and unlimited data throughput.
That means I am not limited when I add pages and no matter how many people
look at the pages, it's already paid for. I went to a UNIX platform in
2009 for a more stable site.
"While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 AMP
Before we knew him we had no idea that we needed him.
After we know him, we see he always planned to die for us. Who knew?
But now we can know.
Our Vision & Mission
My desire since I became a follower of Jesus Christ has been to reach the
world for Christ. I have been told this is not possible since I am just one person.
One night I cried out to God and said, "You're God! I don't have to take
this kind of thinking from you! Put a tool in my hand to reach the world for Christ!"
The next day I had signed up for JesusIsLord.org I just don't put a limit
on what God can do through me not because I'm so smart or wonderful but because
He is God, a very big God, and I choose to believe He can use me.
He can use you! People who do come to Jesus Christ through me, if I ever
meet them or help them grow in Christ,
tend to be strong and share with others. It just happens.
2. Websites
JesusIsLord.org was the only website I had for many years. I had to wait
for the web to grow up so there were resources in languages to use and for
WIFI networks and cell phones to exist so I could share on the go.
I used to share the gospel with individuals and it took about 40 minutes so
the person could see the decision to be made and the importance of the decision.
As time went on, people had less and less time. I might share for 3 minutes
and they had to go as others were waiting.
I switched to simple credit card sized tracts about the size of a business
card which had a message so simple people immediately read both
sides before thanking me and putting it in their wallet or purse. On it I
stamped one or more of my websites.
To make sure the website will be there whenever they type in the domain name,
I started to prepay for the domain name and the hosting for 10 years.
You have from the womb to the tomb (your whole life) to decide where you will
spend eternity, I'll be there when you are ready.
I have an autistic young man to thank for helping me make changes on my
website that were beyond my ability. Having him publish my changes made
JesusIsLord.org more secure.
I gave him a PC at one point. I was able to work on updating JesusIsLord.org
for the Athens Olympics in 2004 while on vacation but only he could publish the files!
So we were in different cities each doing what we could while the one couldn't
do what the other was doing!
I had the opportunity to move my websites over to a UNIX platform for stability
during heavy use (Third Great Awakening in the U.S. and/or Latter Rain
around the world). I asked many people did they know anything about UNIX?
Every person said no. The only person who seemed to know something said,
"You are a brave woman!" Let me just say that UNIX provides the incentive to set
your website up more logically than you did when you didn't know what you
were doing but you got it working.
My concern about various events that have happened have caused me to pray
about them and respond with a new website to address the issue.
Each website has an intended audience while I must keep in mind that anyone
in the world can also view it. I may or may not say online why I created each one.
But I do care which is why I do it and pay the bills that go along with each one.
I thought after January of 2010 I had obtained my final website. But it seems
that by asking God if I can end my individual language websites,
which weren't turning out the way I had expected, He showed me a way to end
them individually but to expand the concept I originally had.
By no longer depending on domain names in languages with separate hosting
I cut costs and complexity. But by depending on the web crawlers
to categorize the content of each page, people could still find the content
and thus my web pages by using search engines. This expands the
dream I have of seeing JesusIsLord.org in as many languages as possible
with just one website cost and makes it easier to find.
Initially, I will use machine translation (dutifully noted on each page)
to translate the opening page of JesusIsLord.org for the web crawlers,
and as I get humans who know the language to make corrections, I will
make changes and finally remove the machine translation message.
The actual content describing how to receive Jesus Christ comes from
other organizations and will be in their heart language via links described
above untouched by machine translation. In case you think the progress
is slow, it is more difficult and time consuming than you might imagine.
If you will look carefully at my websites, you will see I invite you to
share your faith in Jesus Christ no matter where you are by adding your story
to my websites. I am the biggest user of my websites but they were always
meant for you to use them also.
I have always dreamed of a grassroots sharing of Jesus in any language by
any language speaker whether the two could talk with each other with
understanding or not. You can find out what language a person spoke as a
child and bring that language up on your cell phone and the other person can
read and indicate when a new page is needed.
So while I want to reach the world for Jesus Christ, I want to enable you
to reach the world for Jesus Christ too!
3. Mobile Websites
I was at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco where the smaller fishing vessels dock.
People look at what you are doing as they walk by but no one would pick up
my credit card sized simple tract as they really did not want to start a conversation.
I came up with the idea to obtain a mobile website formatted for and visible
on cell phones so that a person could walk by, see the domain name,
and type it in as he or she walked away. My effectiveness no longer
depended on their memory after arriving back home from vacation.
I could still share Jesus Christ in a difficult environment.
Since that first mobile website, I now have 11 of them. While these
websites also show on the Internet, they appear more appropriately on
cell phones and do not require Internet infrastructure for viewing.
(Please note, the number 11 is changing for technical reasons.)
You may have seen pictures of a cell phone hanging on a tree trunk in
India next to a sidewalk business. No Internet there!
No PC there! But that cell phone infrastructure makes it possible for
them to view my .mobi sites just fine.
This is just a guess, but I think I've added a potential audience of 1
billion people who have cell phones but no Internet.
It comforts me that they can view the gospel message. For this reason
I don't buy the newest technical products to be sure those
who can't buy them and don't have them can still have a good experience.
I share their experience.
Depending on the cell service provider, clicking on links from my mobile
websites to my regular websites can be successful.
For example, AT&T always linked fine to JesusIsLord.org from a cell phone
and the photos and images were processed to be of
low data size for presentation on cell phones. It was not easy to navigate
as you could only see just part of the page but
you could do it and have a good experience. Thus, on JesusIsLord.org I have
a cell phone navigation page to make it simpler.
Smart phones have no problems at all. Verizon did not allow mobile website
linking to my other websites but then finally they did.
It depends on the provider. If I want to reach that extra 1 billion, I need
mobile websites.
Mobile websites are less expensive to operate. Fewer of the domain names
are taken so you can still get out there and make a difference.
The March/April issue of Foreign Affairs magazine states that 90% of the
world's poorest people have cell phones now. The .mobi sites I acquired
in 2008 are beginning to age off on a non-repairable platform. I am asking
God what is the migration path? Do the .mobis go on the new platform
or is it time for them to be rolled into JesusIsLord.org? I note smartphone
penetration is high and these will remove the need for .mobi sites over time.
(2017 I no longer have mobile websites. Smartphone penetration has increased lessening
the need for special websites. The platform did not work well and deteriorated so
that the website did not show itself without much coaxing and then nothing could
be done to make it work. I have
which can help older cell phones navigate the local content of JesusIsLord.org)
4. Life as an evangelist
God can be splendidly wonderful to you. Get into his zone (Garden). He knows
all about life to the fullest. He wants it for you.
His reward never stops. He lives forever and we can live forever with him.
I don't know yet the rewards heaven has to offer. But I know
I will know and experience them! I think people will come up and say thanks
for helping me to know and live for Christ. I think I will say,
"Who are you and what did I do?" And I'll hear about some inconvenient
obedience I've forgotten about or some time my car broke down and was
stuck somewhere and met someone.
Last updated: 05/10/2017
Background Music: Jubilate