How the Internet can help spread the gospel
Gary Gibbs shares some useful evangelistic and apologetic websites.
It’s astonishing that, within less than the span of one generation, the influence of the internet and the worldwide web has become all-pervasive.
Some commentators have sought to make the case that this is a sign of the’ endtimes’ and everything about websites, Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat etc. is evil. From my personal perspective, the internet itself is not the problem; it’s really to do with the people and groups who populate it. The virtual world is in this sense no different to the real world: it’s a mixture of the good, bad and ugly.
So, no doubt, some Direction readers have been excitedly playing with their new tablet/laptop/smartphone which arrived on 25 December. This month, I’d like to take you through a few useful evangelistic and apologetic sites which you might want to bookmark or load onto your new ‘pressie’!
Hot off the press, this was released just two months ago by the Evangelical Alliance. Effectively it’s a ‘one stop shop’ for all things evangelistic. It’s cram packed with fantastic resources and inspiring stories – take a look!
These guys are UK-based and have provided this helpful resource for Jesus followers. The idea is that you can search through a catalogue of short video clips which relate to a number of situations someone might find themselves in. You can share the clip with a friend after adding a personal message. And it’s all available free of charge!
A site which was originally put together by UCB. It has a good presentation of the Gospel and then an opportunity to pray a commitment prayer or to ask questions.
There are some excellent articles on this site, sponsored by Churches Together, but it does take a broad view on issues which believers hold, e.g. the nature of hell, homosexual practice. For this reason, I wouldn’t recommend sending a seeking friend there, but it has some useful material for training purposes alongside the more controversial stuff!
This is an excellent apologetics site to help you answer some of the questions and objections to Christianity which come up from time to time. The site is run by UCCF, the Christian Union movement in the UK. You will find material here which will also help you personally to love God more with your mind as well as your soul!
This sounds like a shallow site, but in reality, that’s the last thing it is! Founder Greg West expresses what The Poached Egg is about in this way:
“The Poached Egg is a large and continually expanding virtual library of articles and essays compiled from all over the World Wide Web. Noted apologists, biblical scholars, philosophers, scientists, historians, students, and laymen all come together under this one site.”
This site originates in Northern Ireland and provides an exhaustive database of podcasts and articles which will be helpful both to someone beginning to learn how to defend the Faith and to the battle-scarred veteran!
Without wanting to be patronising to anyone, I am aware that not all readers will be familiar with the term ‘Apologetics’. In 1 Peter 3:15, we are encouraged to be ready to give a reason or defense for what we believe. The word used here in the original language is ‘apologia’. So, apologetics is the art of defending the Christian faith and/or giving good reasons for what we believe.
A number of the websites mentioned will help equip us to do this even better than we can at the moment, which has to be a good thing, don’t you think?