y work on the Internet I have come to believe that it can be very effective in reaching people. One example is what happened to the movie Gigli that featured mega stars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. The marketers spent a jaw-dropping amount promoting the movie and with expectations of being the "movie of the year," it had a very large opening weekend.

Then the teenager

In 1995 I started building and marketing Christian-oriented websites. That makes me one of the veterans of the net. I was still in my teen years and saw the Internet as the mature version of Nintendo. Besides, the excitement of my learning permit lost its glow after the third or fourth drive with my parents.

My parents, by the way, would occasionally become frustrated with me and tell me to "Get off that computer and get in bed! It's 1 A.M.!" I eventually obeyed, but I don't regret those late nights of learning and building for the future. Today I simply tell them that I was preparing for my career.

Most churches did not have a website in those days. In fact, the idea of a church having a website was actually being debated by some churches and denominations. "Is it scriptural?" I remember hearing several times. In fact, even as late as the year 2000 I was actually reprehended by a self-appointed church leader for making a very basic website for a church where I youth ministered. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but I had done something too new for his taste--and that just had to violate some scripture, some where.

We've matured beyond that now except for extreme and absolutely silly situations that aren't even worth mentioning.

"So webmaster, hurry up and tell us something useful!"

So you want to use the Internet to reach the lost?

Okay, but remember that just because something is new and trendy doesn't mean it's effective. However, through my work on the Internet I have come to believe that it can be very effective in reaching people. One example is what happened to the movie Gigli that featured mega stars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. The marketers spent a jaw-dropping amount promoting the movie and with expectations of being the "movie of the year," it had a very large opening weekend.

Then the teenager

th me and tell me to "Get off that computer and get in bed! It's 1 A.M.!" I eventually obeyed, but I don't regret those late nights of learning and building for the future. Today I simply tell them that I was preparing for my career.

Most churches did not have a website in those days. In fact, the idea of a church having a website was actually being debated by some churches and denominations. "Is it scriptural?" I remember hearing several times. In fact, even as late as the year 2000 I was actually reprehended by a self-appointed church leader for making a very basic website for a church where I youth ministered. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but I had done something too new for his taste--and that just had to violate some scripture, some where.

We've matured beyond that now except for extreme and absolutely silly situations that aren't even worth mentioning.

"So webmaster, hurry up and tell us something useful!"

So you want to use the Internet to reach the lost?

Okay, but remember that just because something is new and trendy doesn't mean it's effective. However, through my work on the Internet I have come to believe that it can be very effective in reaching people. One example is what happened to the movie Gigli that featured mega stars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. The marketers spent a jaw-dropping amount promoting the movie and with expectations of being the "movie of the year," it had a very large opening weekend.

Then the teenager

hes and denominations. "Is it scriptural?" I remember hearing several times. In fact, even as late as the year 2000 I was actually reprehended by a self-appointed church leader for making a very basic website for a church where I youth ministered. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but I had done something too new for his taste--and that just had to violate some scripture, some where.

We've matured beyond that now except for extreme and absolutely silly situations that aren't even worth mentioning.

"So webmaster, hurry up and tell us something useful!"

So you want to use the Internet to reach the lost?

Okay, but remember that just because something is new and trendy doesn't mean it's effective. However, through my work on the Internet I have come to believe that it can be very effective in reaching people. One example is what happened to the movie Gigli that featured mega stars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. The marketers spent a jaw-dropping amount promoting the movie and with expectations of being the "movie of the year," it had a very large opening weekend.

Then the teenager

, some where.

We've matured beyond that now except for extreme and absolutely silly situations that aren't even worth mentioning.

"So webmaster, hurry up and tell us something useful!"

So you want to use the Internet to reach the lost?

Okay, but remember that just because something is new and trendy doesn't mean it's effective. However, through my work on the Internet I have come to believe that it can be very effective in reaching people. One example is what happened to the movie Gigli that featured mega stars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. The marketers spent a jaw-dropping amount promoting the movie and with expectations of being the "movie of the year," it had a very large opening weekend.

Then the teenager

y work on the Internet I have come to believe that it can be very effective in reaching people. One example is what happened to the movie Gigli that featured mega stars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. The marketers spent a jaw-dropping amount promoting the movie and with expectations of being the "movie of the year," it had a very large opening weekend.

Then the teenagers and twenty somethings struck.

They blogged and posted in forums with statements like, "Overrated." "Stay at home." Or "Watch anything else."

The movie flopped.

"In the old days, there used to be a term, 'buying your gross,' " Rick Sands, chief operating officer at Miramax, told the Los Angeles Times. "You could buy your gross for the weekend and overcome bad word of mouth, because it took time to filter out into the general audience."

Those days are gone with blogs and message forums that allow the "average person" to act as movie critic.

So what does that mean to the church? It means that the Internet can give most anyone a voice--even a church.

In terms of a church website, you're not going to accomplish much of anything if your site simply features your address, phone number and "worship times." Sure, your members might know how to call the church building to borrow tables for their garage sales, but that's about all you can expect.

Putting articles on your church website is certainly a good thing--especially if they are on topics that pull in the "average" person. Be careful that you don't "preach to the choir." A church website is probably not the place for major doctrinal studies and statements. That's what your member-attended Bible classes are for.

If you truly want to be evangelistic, your target audience won't have a clue what some of your doctrinal words and beliefs mean or why you care so much about them. It would be like trying t