A question in John Mark Ministries' seminar on creativity asks:
     'If you were to reach more people in the world via one
     communications medium, what would you use?' (Correct answer: Coca
     Cola containers - they're in more places than radio!).  What would
     your message say? (See below for mine!)

     As a teenager, having just made a 'decision for Christ', I dreamed
     about reaching millions with the Christian gospel. The motivating
     text was 'Preach the word; be instant in season and out of
     season...' (2 Timothy 4:2 KJV).

     So I put gospel tracts into letterboxes and left them in library
     books. Later I wrote a large slogan on a storm-water drain near a
     railway line; 'witnessed' on talk-back radio; conducted
     evangelistic missions in universities and colleges; pastored a
     church where at least two people were converted every week for
     nearly nine years (Blackburn Baptist Church in Melbourne)... My
     recent book GROW! is an attempt to explain the Good News to
     thoughtful young people and adults.

     (My 'evangelistic hero' was Billy Graham - who's probably
     spoken face to face to more people than anyone in history).

     Some of this I would not do again, or would do differently. The
     gospel tracts probably turned a lot of people off; my apologetics
     was often simplistic or even plain wrong!

     But I still have a strong desire to reach those Jesus and Paul
     called 'lost'.  Now anyone can do it, from a home computer, via
     the Internet - part of the third great human revolution (after the
     agricultural and industrial revolutions).  Vast amounts of
     information - to and from everywhere - are now moved very quickly:
     faster than mail and cheaper than faxes and long-distance phone
     calls. And 'cyberspace' technology is developing at break-neck
     speed.

       WHAT IS THE INTERNET?
     These days you can't read a computer magazine or the newspaper
     computer pages with seeing constant references to the 'Net'.

     What is it? Imagine a huge village square, with 30-50 million
     people (or more) milling around. Some are in groups -
     small-talking, arguing, telling jokes, laughing, buying and
     selling, hugging, or fighting.  Some are deep into one-to-one
     philosophical - or romantic - conversations.  (Others are lurking
     in the bushes doing just about anything you can imagine - and
     more).  Many groups have a sign indicating they're a
     special-interest club:  some have a 'moderator' who won't let you
     join unless you meet their conditions. Around the square people
     are browsing in shops and libraries, where books and papers on
     any subject are offered free!

     The Internet is the biggest network of information in the world.

     For as little as a few cents an hour, if you have a telephone line
     and a computer with a modem, you can get onto the 'Information
     Superhighway' from home or office, and 'talk' about anything
     that's on your mind, or get free information on just about
     anything.

     A friend who is a university graduate plans to have his
     evangelistic pieces read by a million people in 1995.  That's
     quite feasible.  One report suggests that 200 million people have
     access to some part of the Net. Almost all U.S.  universities and
     most schools are now 'on-line' - as will most educational
     institutions in the West in the next few years.  Australia, with a
     computer in one in four homes is the fifth-largest Internet-user.

     It all started in the 1960s. The US Defence Department wanted a
     communications system which could survive a nuclear holocaust.
     Then the academic community used it to transmit and access
     information. For a while it stayed that way - bureaucrats and
     technocrats and academics swapping ideas and software etc.

     Then, from about 1990, with cheaper computers and improved
     software even the semi-computer-literate are getting in on the
     act. However, it's still dominated by left-brained 'technos':
     gradually more from Humanities/Literature are coming on-line. And
     more theologians are needed, urgently!

       WHAT'S ON THE 'NET?
     Actually there's no one 'network', but lots of them - like
     Fidonet, Compuserve's for-profit network, denominational networks
     (PresbyNet, EpiscoNet, SBCNet) etc. The Internet is really a
     network of networks.

     What's on them?  

     	 Mailing-lists of people who pray for one another (eg. Agapenet);
     	 Newspapers and journals (Time Magazine, Christianity Today);
     	 E-mail where you can talk one-to-one to a friend in Zimbabwe or
            Poland or Antarctica or Iceland (some have met and courted - 
            and eventually married - via e-mail!).
     	 You can buy stuff with a credit card (an estimated 
            $US600 billion p.a. in goods and services will be bought/sold 
            by the year 2000);
         Browse through university libraries;
     	 Converse in 'real time' on the IRC (Internet Relay Chat);
         Exchange ideas in 'fan clubs';
         Read the latest US Congress legislation or talk to the US 
            president (yes, he's 'on-line');
	 Watch movie previews; 
	 Chat with a monk at the New Norcia Benedictine Monastery in W.A.;
	 Get a free e-mail titled 'How to find the most beautiful women in
            your town!' 
	 Kids can get help with homework (through Prodigy's 
            'Infonaut's Homework Helper').
	 Or you can argue about vintage cars or atheism or movie stars or,
            well, anything...

     Or this: last week on a Christian newsgroup I read an urgent
     message from missionaries in Kazakhstan. Their 3-year-old, Nathan,
     had fallen into scalding water, and was in a critical condition.
     Local medical facilities could not help. They'd e-mailed mission
     HQ in Oregon, and a plea was 'posted' around the world asking for
     prayer, and help to get Nathan air-lifted to a German burns unit.
     All this within minutes! Amazing!  (By the way, if the
     cross-cultural missionaries you support haven't got a modem in
     their computer give them the $ to get one.  Many emergencies can
     now be publicized, prayed for and dealt with almost instantly).

     In fact, it's almost impossible for a country to be 'closed' to
     the 'Net. After failing to regulate faxes and TV satellite dishes
     the Chinese government has bowed to the inevitable and opened
     China to the 'Net, installing two commercial links to the outside
     world. We learned first-hand about the dramatic 1989 events in
     Russia via e-mail from private individuals in Moscow.

       NEWSGROUPS
     Let's look at one Internet facility: Usenet, comprising more than
     5000 special-interest groups.  They are organized into categories
     - 'alt' (alternative discussion groups), 'comp' (computer stuff),
     'rec' (recreation, hobbies), 'sci' (sciences), 'soc' (socializing,
     social sciences), 'talk' (for debates on a range of subjects),
     'biz' (business), 'k12' (for teachers and students), 'misc'
     (topics that don't fit anywhere else) - and more.  I 'subscribe'
     to about 50:  favourite religious groups include 'aus.religion'
     and the largest, 'alt.atheism'. Others I like - 'alt.conspiracy',
     'rec.org.mensa'.

     This week I 'posted' about 30 messages on such topics as why
     churches are a boring for young people, 'atheism and rationality',
     biblical literalism, F.W.Boreham books I'm after (I collect him -
     the most prolific Australian religious author until recently),
     homosexuality, worship-styles, why baptism isn't in the O.T., who
     are the Quakers? American evangelicalism, 'The most powerful
     person on earth', recovery from sexual abuse, etc. etc. Discussion
     follows - sometimes heated - with maybe up to 40 people or more
     joining in.  Fun!

       AND ON THE LIGHTER SIDE...
     It's fun reading the pithy quotes people use with their
     'signatures'. Here are some I like:

      'Be paranoid - they're out to get you!'

      'The fourth law of computing: anything that can go wr

      'I just met a person who is a nun.' 'How do you know she is a
         nun?' 'She told me.' 'Maybe she was lying.' 'Nuns don't lie.'

      'Throw the theologians into the cellar and bring more oysters
         and hot sauce' (Garrison Keillor, The Book of Guys)

      'It's best to read the weather forecast before praying for
         rain!' (Mark Twain)

      'Abou ben Adam's name led all the rest because the list was
         compiled alphabetically' (Isaac Asimov)

      'Never criticize anyone until you've walked a mile in their
         shoes. Then, if they don't like it, you're a mile away and you
         have their shoes.'

      'Imagine if horse-racing had no horses... thousands of people
         could go to the race-track each day and save millions of dollars.'

      'Everything can be fixed by driving a nail into it. The only
         problem is finding the right sized nail'

      'Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with
         themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon!'

       SO WHERE DO I START?
     Well, get a computer - almost anyone will do, but the more
     powerful the better - with a modem, and hook up to a telephone
     line. Then contact an 'access provider' (eg. Dialix, Apana,
     Ozemail): these have different costs, so you'll need to figure out
     how often you use the 'Net.  Dialix, for example, operates from
     all Oz capital cities, and once you pay a small start-up fee (I
     think it's $25, and $15 for an easy-to-understand manual), they
     charge only 1c per minute, plus a small fee for storing your
     files.  Apana costs about $140 a year, with no further charges.
     Ozemail costs $25 registration, $8/hour or $5/hour off-peak.

     You need some software - often supplied when you sign up with a
     service provider. I find Telix easy to use.

     Any computer shop will guide you. Read Ed Krol's The Whole
     Internet: User's Guide and Catalogue, or the shorter 10 Minute
     Guide to the Internet by Peter Kent.

     If you want a few hours of free access to the Net, phone Ozemail
     or Compuserve and ask! Or join an adult education class:  they're
     now offered everywhere.

       SOME HINTS
      Pray about your motives for using the 'Net: computer users tend
         to have a basic urge to control the world through their keyboard.

      Look over someone else's shoulder as they 'surf' the 'Net. Learn
         all you can before committing yourself.

      Spend a few months familiarizing yourself with the 'ethos' of
         the various groups on the 'Net. Read newsgroups specially created
         for 'newbies'.  Read the FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions) for
         the groups that interest you. There's help everywhere, once you
         know where to look for it.

      As a 'missionary' be sensitive to the 'Net's sometimes strange
         culture/s.  You'll learn some new languages (eg. a bit of Unix).
         'Net groups and mailing-lists have their own protocols.  It's
         called 'netiquette' (for example, it's not good form to use
         CAPITALS - that's shouting)!

      Don't get turned off by weirdness or profanity: U.S. college
         students enjoy shocking wowsers! Some will parade their erudition
         ('this debate got hijacked by a solipsist'). Others ('Single mum
         college student...') ask for money. Because of the anarchistic
         nature of the 'Net you can't easily remove the 'village idiot'.
         Be tolerant, loving - and humourous! Remember Jesus related well
         to all sorts...!

      If you post something to a newsgroup or mailing-list, be brief,
         well-researched, accurate (particularly if you quote an author -
         it's amazing how many non-Christians have read CSLewis and
         Josh McDowell), and conversational.  Be prepared to have all your
         views challenged, by some very clever people. If you put a
         personal testimony or preachy gospel message on alt.atheism for
         example, they'll chew you up and spit you out, fast! By the way,
         children's access to the 'Net ought to be carefully monitored: the
         most popular newsgroup of all is apparently 'alt.binaries.
         pictures.erotica'.

       FINALLY...
     Navigating the 'Net isn't easy to begin with. You'll experience
     hours of frustration. It's like a maze - or a blind person
     negotiating a minefield while dribbling a basketball - only more
     difficult and less dangerous!  Over the next few years it will get
     more user-friendly.

     We at John Mark Ministries want to encourage others to pursue this
     strategic and ubiquitous means of evangelism, and in particular
     link pastors and Christian leaders via the 'Net.

     My signature message? 'If you have God and everything else, you
     have no more than having God only; if you have everything else and
     not God you have nothing!' (Medieval mystic).


     Rowland Croucher