If you are a Christian media ministry, I commend the following vision for maximizing your effectiveness online: Post all of your content online, for free, without requiring registration, in a maximally usable interface.
— Matt Perman, Make It Free
Perman goes on to explain why, and cite some startling statistics in Desiring God’s success: “[Rather] than seeing a threat to your financial survival, you will see a more enthusiastic donor base and a larger amount of web traffic that results in more interest, more spreading, and the financial provision you need…[After] we redesigned our website on the basis of these principles, we saw these results within four months: Visits increased 99%, audio listens increased 352%, and page views increased 359%. One year later, traffic continues to increase at a significant rate.”
I think this can be a valuable way of doing things as a church but I can also see the “business” decision of a church to sell its resources. Churches, like the one I work for, may have tremendous creative resources but giving it away free after all the staff and volunteer hours seems dishonorable.
Website traffic may increase but actual financial gain from the piece not only helps continue fund further creative endeavors (i.e. conferences, cameras, software, etc) but helps add some revenue for newer churches reaching people who are less likely to tithe.
Also, the giving away of resources only continues to reinforce the practice many churches are already in of taking whatever they want “in God’s name”. The use of any movie clip, song, copying pop culture and simply changing a word or two, and so much more. Churches MUST come to value creativity as a spiritual element not just a commodity. Giving things away for free does not necessarily mean a church disrespects creativity (such as Life Church) but what service does it do the creative trades to create and then give away all the time? Seems to cheapen the work over time…
said Ryan Hartsock
at 7:04am on Monday
I want to talk through this, because I honestly don’t know if I agree or disagree with you. I also want this to be a good dialogue and for us to understand where one another is coming from with our thoughts.
If a missionary gives away a Bible to someone in their native language, does it dishonor the Bible commentators, translators, and publishing company? The designer who typeset the text? In what way(s) does giving away content/media (the purpose of which is to communicate the gospel and remove barriers for people hearing that message clearly) lack honor? What is deserving of honor, the message or the medium? Is honor/value only added to things when a cost is placed on them and someone chooses to pay that cost, thereby validating its worth?
If financial gain and revenue are a driving force (not the but certainly a) behind your creative endeavors, and part of the purpose in assigning a cost to these resources is to fund more creative endeavors, have you set up a cycle whereby you charge consumers for content so that you can produce more content so that you can charge…etc.?
At what point does effective communication take a backseat to creating a product for consumption?
I think this is a different conversation. I obviously agree that the church at large doesn’t have a good knowledge of copyright law and what is and isn’t appropriate and legal in regards to using other people’s work. That’s very different than original content created by a pastor, staff, etc.
Why? It’s an easy statement to make, and certainly one some Christians who are artists would say a hearty “yes!” to, but I’m curious to know why you believe this.
It doesn’t serve the creative trades at all. It serves the Kingdom of God by spreading the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the most efficient, effective, barrier-less, well-communicated, creative way that it can. The work isn’t the goal, the work isn’t the focus; the work is a tool to communicate a message. I don’t serve the work, or the creative trades, and I’m not massively concerned with how those trades are valued/devalued. I’m focused on how effectively the visual communications I create spread the Gospel. The better I do that, the better the work is, the more it will be valued.
said Joshua
Define “resources” — what does that entail? What’s the perceptive value of those resources? Was someone paid to make them originally? If someone offers them for cost online, is that Biblically wrong, or is this more a church by church mission and vision? Is the message a barrier or is how the message is delivered a barrier? Isn’t a sermon another means to get profit (i.e. tithing); without the sermon, there is no message delivered, without the people to hear, there is no tithe, which means no money, which means no church, which means not message to be heard.
I don’t know if its so cut and dry; and I think the perspective of the church, staff and volunteers make up the decision. This isn’t the market with the money-changers (not as I see it); though it certainly can become that; I see it as a means of offering a service for next to nothing to those that otherwise don’t have a staff to pay to create.
said Paul
at 1:13pm on Monday
Also, for a bit of clarification, the original quote is directly related to giving away online content. I’m sure Desiring God is still very much charging money for their books, etc.
That being said, since the can of worms is open, I suppose the floor is open for discussions of all manner of resources/content, though I’m still specifically talking about online.
said Joshua
I love baking chocolate chip cookies. I like to eat the dough almost as much as the warm, gooey, freshly-baked cookies. I also love sharing them with people. In fact - I would say sharing my cookies with others is the best part. I don’t charge people for them because I’m not in the cookie business. I’m just a kind (if not chubby) host.
I think churches that employ media staff who just really dig what they make won’t have to push too hard to get those people to share with other churches. They’ll share because that’s where their joy in their work is made complete. If they don’t really like what they’re doing, or are working under ungrateful leadership, they’ll be more inclined to think others shouldn’t get the privilege of reaping the benefits of their hard work.
Charging for something that was created by volunteers also seems a little dishonorable, doesn’t it?
said Matt Donovan
at 1:42pm on Monday
@joshua - Actually - Desiring God’s books (at least in the physical church bookstore) are available on a donation basis. They have a requested donation amount, but you can take books for free if you don’t have the cash, but feel you need the resource.
Whenever Piper writes a new book, they also give one copy away for free to every household in attendance at his church. It’s a big church.
said Matt Donovan
at 1:46pm on Monday
Well, that’s amazing.
said Joshua
I’m not sure I agree with that cookie analogy. Those cookies can only be given to a few people — would you spend thousands of hours on making them and giving them away thousands of people; and not try and recoup that (so that you could make more)? Second — be frank, are you saying that charging is sinful? Plain and simple; because if not, then its discrecenary, like baptizing people in a tub or sprinkling them with water; or doing offering before, in the middle, or after the service … aside from one making the definitive statement that charging for ministry services is sinful/wrong, then its just preference, correct?
said Paul
at 2:42pm on Monday
I absolutely believe it’s a preference, and a decision to be prayerfully made by individuals.
What I love about the original article I pulled that quote from (and please, everyone, do this discussion the justice of reading the source material) is how the focus is being the most effective in ministry, not being wrong or right. It’s less effective to put barriers between the message and the person who is being communicated to, whatever those barriers are.
Monetary cost is only one of four obstacles he mentions, and I find it fascinating that the bulk of commentary so far has focused on cold hard cash. Money and the Church always generates the most interesting conversation, don’t you think?
Whether you charge a fee for content is a preference. I think there’s an ideal, which is that it be completely free, but that’s my preference based on my understanding of scripture, the Church, and the function of visual communications within that context. However, whether you make that content easy to get to and easy to access I don’t think is up for debate. There are too many tools and too much information out there to not implement ways to remove those barriers, which equally “cost” the end-user.
said Joshua
If “free” is to be assosiated with effectiveness of the content and message — that of the message of Christ; then there will be those that will ALWAYS have a problem with paying for things generated by the church, and those that don’t mind. I don’t agree with this premise that paying for something then limits its ability — that’s almost the mentality of the software/movie/music pirate (it costs too much, but I “need” this, so I’ll just take it). I know the purpose and reasoning is different, but the affect on some ministries is the same. Some ministries don’t have the financial backing from within its core or base to offer things for free.
said Paul
at 3:17pm on Monday
After having respectfully complied with our host’s request by Ring the FA:
Of course! How is this even debatable?
It seems like this doesn’t need to be a conversation about the church, even. The concept of opening up your content to the entire Internet, making as much information free as possible, encouraging maximum communication & community … these are the principles upon which your “Daily Sites” bookmark folder is built. Flickr, Virb, virtually any webmail … how many sites do you actually pay to access? Slim to none, I’d wager. (Of course, those sites pull in the cash via crossmarketing and ads, but that’s another discussion. In terms of the end-user, the content is free.)
Look at the open-source community. How many of those fellas are worried about their volunteer hours not being properly tallied and recompensed?
I don’t think this is a question of sin, but of wisdom - or, frankly, of marketing intuition. Of course it’s a preference, and discretionary - but there are powerful reasons, both from the side of How The Internet Typically Works as well as the New Testament - that point toward generosity of online content.
Here, the author promoting the online distribution of otherwise stagnating content. The level of “remarkableness” he’s suggesting is not resource-intensive, nor creativity-intensive, nor media-heavy. It’s just a matter of getting things that were already created out to a larger audience, in a simple, usable form.
said Cameron
at 3:28pm on Monday
I guess that depends on the ministry model. In my limited experience with media ministries within the context of the local church, it doesn’t seem like they are typically self-sustaining in regards to financial support. Typically, the church leadership, executive board, congregation, or whatever finds that ministry to be worthy of investment and allocates a budget to it. So - I guess if I were championing something like that, I’d be pretty inclined to make giving stuff away part of the ministry model.
So I’m making cookies - maybe thousands - but part of the reason I’m making them is so I can give them away. The extent to which I’m happy about that has a lot to do with how much I like making them, how much I’ve seen folks enjoy them in the past, and how much encouragement I’m getting from my community to keep sharing them.
No. I agree with Joshua that this is something to be prayerfully considered. It could be sinful if I was being encouraged by the leadership and community to give stuff away, sensed a call from the Holy Spririt to give stuff away, but ultimately decided to charge/skimp on accessibility/not provide a usable format simply because I thought I and my volunteers (or even the ministry/medium) deserved more.
said Matt Donovan
at 3:49pm on Monday
And that’s my point, what if you church has not means to budget for that because its not big (300-500), but has some really good resources? It comes from your perspective, not all ministries are endowed with cash and budgets to just give stuff away (they have enough to keep up standard operations); yet, we want to have an impact beyond our walls … how does one do that by just giving away things that they don’t have the means to support within themselves? I think its myopic to think that all churches who have good resources have the means to budget that online offering for free.
If you said “Give what you think this is worth” do you really think church-leaders (who are the ones in charge of purchasing the resources typically — or least the one in charge of approving the budget to a creative staff, if there is one) would pay for any creative resource (not sermon notes or audio; but artwork, etc)? I don’t think they would because it comes not to value — overall, creativity is not valued in the standard church; not understood or valued (their idea of creative is to “take or rip off the exact logo of Heroes or Desperate Housewives and “rebrand” it for their sermon series).
Is taking someone else’s ideas ok? Their creative ideas? In the name of “God” of course. Say, could I take your church blog design, or your church logo, or your worship bands origina music and put it on my ______(fill in the blank) Church website and called it my own (in the name of spreading the gospel of course) — would that be ok? If you’re Christian, a church, a ministry, then by this argument you would have to be ok with that; because hey, “free” sharing of the message. That’s how I’m hearing this at least …
said Paul
at 4:05pm on Monday
cool conversation. interesting quote. i think it’d be awesome for a company or team to create original creative resources for anyone to use for free. now that’s way easier said than done, and it may not work out how we would expect, but i can’t stand the fact that so much “christian” stuff is sold for so much of a profit these days.
i.e. christian bookstores, can’t stand them.
said dan simmons
at 4:18pm on Monday
Where does a church or ministry stop the “free” — is their staff there for “free”? Should the pastor not be paid, but offer his time for free? Should the facilities be free? Should they offer it to anyone, anytime, for free?
said Paul
at 4:34pm on Monday
also, what budget to you take from to pay for that free resource? Do you take money away from giving poor kids book bags, and clothes, cans, food to place an ad in Christianity Today for your free resources?
said Paul
at 4:37pm on Monday
yeah paul, i dont know. you’re right. one thing i can’t stand is how i’ve seen churches become so involved in the details, media, external programs, that it has taken away from reaching out and the things the church is called to do.
one of the most simple churches i have ever been to, has some great media but is also doing so much in their community and all over the world with micro-finance projects etc. and you go to their church…no fancy powerpoint, no crazy signage, just simple. focused on the real goals that they have set.
i hear what your saying and it’s a fine line, in my mind anyway.
said dan simmons
at 4:48pm on Monday
Yeah, I think what I’m attempting to articulate is those that offer for free are obviously (or hopefully) finding the means to do that — while still make other impact with plausible/tangible outreach (I still debate the plausible and lasting impact of a well designed bulletin vs. developing a relationship with a newcomer or neighbor); and those that aren’t offering their resources for free have their reasons (and its not just profit for lining pockets).
said Paul
at 5:40pm on Monday
exactly paul, the well designed bulliten is far less important than connection or relationship. i’ve seen so many pastors and church leaders think they have to start with well designed bullitens or hip media to have credible influence. at the same time not realizing that all that stuff is icing on the cake. know what i mean?
said dan simmons
at 6:06pm on Monday
sure, though I do the well-styled bulletin, and love and value great design and photography, I realize my role, and my works place; its rare that what I do has far reaching impact. Perhaps it elicits a response, but exists to reinforce a message, not BE the message.
said Paul
at 7:56pm on Monday
double true.
said dan simmons
at 9:51pm on Monday
Matt Perman weighs in with well-articulated thoughts on Objections to Making It Free. It always pleasing to have the instigator of a thought get involved in the ensuing conversation.
said Joshua
I think what’s happening, and is often true, is that there are presuppositions (call it a belief, a stance) and we find things to proof that; instead of researching, finding data, and finding proof through evidence. We all do it; I just think that is most definitely how this argument will always play out ..
Outreach.com — not sure if it’s a ministry since it’s “for profit”, though it is a Christian resource — generates some $15 or $20 million in revenue a year. Is that a ministry? Is that a disservice? They have a staff, provide income for people and provide (decent) creative services to churches that otherwise have no staff or volunteers to create more attractive media pieces.
I see sweeping, broad statements as only opening the door to misunderstanding.
said Paul
at 10:50am on Tuesday
If I have learned anything by reading Blankenship’s blog over the years (and I hope I’ve learned many things), then one of the main things I’ve learned is to reject scarcity mentality as much as possible.
“scarcity mentality doesn’t jive with my worldview” (12.14.06)
I’m surprised it hasn’t come up in this conversation yet. With business practice, there is a certain amount of question to the issue. Apple vs. Sony/Nintendo (For a Limited Time Only! (Again!))
With the church though, it seems to me that scarcity mentality has no place. Christ is the head. He’s not at a lack of resources. Ask Him what He what He wants you to do. Do it. Give it away for free.
The funny thing is that Perman argues increased traffic = increased donors. So when you don’t set making money as your goal, you end up being taken care of financially.
said Jon
at 11:20am on Tuesday
In response to Jon’s introduction of the scarcity mentality idea:
I agree that scarcity mentality has no place in the church, nor does materialism.
However, I think this argument isn’t really about scarcity or materialism or profit. I think it’s more of a case of how an individual church defines what Perman references as “effectiveness.”
For some churches, especially relatively young, smaller, newer, less-established ones, being the most effective (at least in the short term) might mean charging for certain resources in order to fund other endeavors. I don’t think this is ideal, and I think there are far better ways to fund ministry than an unproven and likely unsuccessful commerce model like selling resources, but every group of leaders has to prayerfully make that decision themselves.
said Joshua
Small point: most church staff workers don’t work at a church because of the mad money. Usually the opposite.
said Anthony
at 11:52am on Tuesday
I am a young pastor from Brazil, and I would never be able to usufruct from awesome ministries such as Desiring God, Sovereign Grace, 9 Marks and so on, if they were not willing to give all their material for free, I highly value their ministries and their initiative of making all their resources available for free. Thank you to all ministry that take this approuch, and to the ones that do not take this approuch, please think what Glorifies God most…
By His Grace and for His Glory
Filipe Niel
said Filipe Niel
at 1:03pm on Tuesday
What a hard argument to have. I’m debating internally whether to post the easy response or the hard response. Maybe both?
(Please note that all “you” references are generalities.)
Easy response:
If you call yourself a Christian, your first priority should be on the call to evangelism and not the reputation of value in your specific field.
Real response, full of glaring in consistancies and hipocrisy:
I understand that it is difficult for a creative to see something that they are making/creating/doing given away. I’m a designer, I’ve worked extensively for churches and non-profits, worked on staff as a designer for a church, and in the secular industry doing deisng for just every-day, normal products and projects.
I love that I only have ever seen this discussion by those in the creative field (creative meaning those who’s products of delivery are children of their imagination and internal thoughts and mind). I’ve never heard a plummer complaining about doing a job for free for a church.
The church is not a “business” and should not be run that way. Period. Can you say the church is in the “business of helping people” or in the “business of spreading the Word,” yes you can. But, there is a semantical debate on the specific usage of the term “business” in each of those scenarios. The 5 purposes of the church are clearly defined as ministry, fellowship, worship, evangelism, and discipleship. Any means of more effectivly increasing our ability to accomplish those things, without any sort of Biblical errancy, should be whole-heartidly embraced.
We, as a church, should be as adaptive to the times as is possible without any sacrificing of our core docrtine and beliefs. This is one reason why I fought, although ultimately lost, a battle to update my church’s website and image with something that is at a higher level of quality. Will a website with streaming audio of services cost more? Yes. but so does a nice, new building with stained glass windows. Why is the building more widely accept? I think it comes down to tangibility. How do you make something tangible without it being a real object? You charge more for it. I think that at the root of this argument, I see a percentage of the reasoning as a field of professionals trying their hardest to seal up any leak in the perceived value of their profession.
Having a means of spreading a message, regardless of it’s real cost to the church, made more attainable to the masses is an amazingly good and wonderful thing. Why are there no book printers screaming at Bibles being printed (and paid for) and then given away to people both here in the USA and abroad? The cost of producing and maintaining the ministry is covered initially — just like hosting and recording and designing and broadcasting — by a body of believers. There is no difference.
If you are working for a church, stop complaining about your work being given away. No one is saying that a church has to spend it’s money hosting and distributing online content. But, if a church can, why not do it? It will be nothing but a positive impact on a group of people who fall in that target and demographic.
said Aaron
at 2:00pm on Tuesday
I know this phrase has been way overused, but what if we truly asked the question - what would jesus do? does the bible have anything to say about it?
Would Jesus charge for books? Would he charge for online sermons? If Christians are to replicate Christ, how then, should we act?
My initial thoughts are to say that no, Jesus would not charge any money because that would show favoritism to those who had money and would therefore give special access to some people and not others.
Jesus continually, over and over and over, treated all people equally. I see charging as a way to divide the haves and the have-nots.
I echo Aaron’s comments that a church should never be run like a business.
said Jake
at 4:42pm on Tuesday
I’d like to let my voice be heard as someone who USES your free services frequently.
Your messages have encouraged me, my family and even MANY in our church during tough tough times!
I have listened to hundreds of hours and have been blessed by every single second! The messages have given me hope, insight, clarity, courage, confirmation and a growing vocabulary!! :-)
We are always sharing what God has shown us through your messages!
For example………..in the last two days I have shared the story of Tyndale four times with friends to encourage them! If Tyndale can survive and persevere through such INCREDIBLE persecution by the church so can we! Being called names is NOTHING compared to what the people of Tyndale’s time went through. It’s not about being popular, it’s about standing up for what’s right, even if you are the lone voice.
I suffer from constant aches and pains and I find comfort and strength through men like Brainard and others. If he can ride two miles everyday in his agonizing pain to share the Gospel, I know I can do whatever God ordains. The biographies alone have carried me through the toughest and blackest of days.
My church has struggled through many hardships and, due to the nature of God’s calling on my life; I believe that it would have been quite easy for me and others to have been consumed by the great burden on our hearts had it not been for the LIFE GIVING messages we have been able to hear!
We have been able to search the site and find messages specific to what we are going through and we have been encouraged and empowered through all we have heard!!
This world is flooded with pabulum and fast food……….your site is MEAT and nourishment to the weary and starving soul.
I understand wanting to cover cost. I understand being wise stewards.
But if you have the money……………………..why WOULD you charge for sharing God’s Word??
Aren’t we supposed to share?? Aren’t we supposed to pool are resources and make sure that NO ONE is in need??
Aren’t we supposed to sacrifice??
In my house, money is tight and I can guarantee that we would NOT have been able to receive your messages had it not been for the fact that they are free.
I have looked for other sermons, other pastors and so far, this is the only place………………
I just thought I would let you know that this practice has blessed me, my family and many many families here in Texas!
We are stronger BECAUSE God is working through this ministry!
We will not be defeated because God has matured us through this ministry!
How awesome is that??
This is a world that says you have to pay for growth, enrichment, enlightenment, heaalings etc……….but that’s so very very wrong and so very very sad.
Jesus gave away every resource He had for free! And I believe He still would today………trusting that the Father would provide for His every need.
Are we in this for profit or blessings??
Thanks so much for blessing our families!
Nicole
said Nicole
at 1:38pm on Wednesday
You can’t deny changed lives!
said Nicole
at 1:51pm on Wednesday
SO was that an actual comment to Desiring God?
said Aaron
at 6:05pm on Wednesday
Yes and no………It was a comment on the POSITIVE side of “free sermons.” It DOES benefit people.
And…..thanks
??? The two are intertwined.
said Nicole
at 6:14pm on Wednesday
I apologize………. with the links i followed, I thought this was a DG website…. I have five kids…. fine details tend to get past me!
However, it does not negate the fact that my family and many others have been affected by sermons that we would NOT have had access to, had they not been free.
I have looked for other “good” preachers online and they are few and far between.
One site in particular had so many hoops to jump through that I had to stop due to interruptions. I haven’t been back.
The accessibility and usability of DGs site is outstanding and has impacted us….. BECAUSE it’s free. Where else could I download 500 hours of MEAT?
I have tried Podcasts but it’s like fishing, you are never sure what you are going to get. Many times I end up deleting the messages 10 minutes in.
Again………sorry
Blessings
Nicole
said Nicole
at 6:43pm on Wednesday
As far as online goes, I think it would be great if churches started pumping out more free online-exclusive content. I’d think that if a church or ministry could produce quality free online-exclusive content, viewers (or followers or whatever) would be more keen to shell out money (be it donations, books, sermons on CD’s, etc.) to the organization.
Do I think that there is a place to charge people for books, audio sermons, video sermons, etc.? Absolutely. But there also should be something for those who would rather not spend money.
said Shane
at 11:36pm on Wednesday
I am once again very very late to this discussion.
Call me naive but how many churches are really charging for online content? I can’t recall ever experiencing anything remotely close to what is being described as barred or content with barriers. I think there is plenty of content lacking that churches choose to not put online but not a large enough section that is costly to the user.
@Aaron. I am in total agreement that a church is not a business and has a model of its own. However I think it is a huge misunderstanding, not one that I am claiming you have made, to think that ‘The Church’ should not be led like one. The most underlying issue in modern churches is the lack of strong leadership. The ones that can lead can’t teach so they shouldn’t be pastors? I think its dangerous to run a church with a business model in mind but equally as dangerous to not use business wisdom in operations.
I think Joshua hit the nail on the head, this is about effectiveness, and so is business. In business it is no effective to give away your product/service/TIME but as a Body of Christ it is.
said Austen
at 4:13am on Thursday
I have heard friends say, “Why not charge for online content, like mp3’s, videos, etc? Server space isn’t cheap, and charging a fee can sustain that ministry.” My question is: since when did online ministry fall outside the realm of faith? At my church, ALL ministries fall in the overall budget, and if God doesn’t provide through the faithful tithes of the body, then all ministry suffers, and the church decides which ministries to keep, and which ministries to cut back on. I feel that it is dangerous to remove online ministry from the overall budget of a church, because it is easy so to justify sustainability of a ministry via fees, and not address the question: “Why is God not providing for our ministries?” Just because something is hip, and cool, doesn’t mean it is blessed by God. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy online sermons as much as the next guy. I just believe that ALL ministries of a church should be based on faith, not pragmatism. If God wants for a church to post its content online, he will provide.
said Justin
at 10:19am on Thursday
Joshua, thank you for posting and hosting this helpful conversation. Intrigued by the conversation and wanting to see it continue, I thought I would add the following thoughts.
Church vs Parachurch. Perman wrote his original article from the perspective of a parachurch ministry. One that works alongside or as an outreach of the church, ultimately existing to support the church and her people (as all parachurch ministries should do). This conversation has seemed to focus more on churches, when most of the resource content is handled by another ministry (Bethlehem and DG, Grace Community and GTY, Capitol Hill and 9Marks, Sovereign Grace and SGM, etc). No point, just wanted to point out.
The Economy of Free. This has been an ongoing conversation developing in the business world, that I’m sure many are familiar with. If not, read these HREF=”http://www.informationarchitects.jp/how-to-compete-with-free”>twoHREF=”http://techdirt.com/articles/20070215/002923.shtml”>articles. I’d be interested to hear from you and others how this plays into this conversation. In the music industry, giving away music creates more fans, which leads to more concert goers, merchandise purchases, and so on. When distribution approaches zero cost, do churches change their budget model and hope the free resources attract more visitors/members and therefore tithe? Or for parachuches, place resources online for free with hopes of increased traffic and donations? Or when a pastor of a church writes a book, should he post it online for free?
said John
at 12:34pm on Thursday
Well, I’m really late to this discussion, but I’ll throw in this comment. We give Desiring God about half of our yearly para-church ministries offerings, precisely because of this free online content policy. We like the fact that the rich teachings are available all over the world, in every culture and in every socio-economic situation that has internet access. I’ll bet that we are not the only donors (small donors that we are) that factor this in our decision. If I compare how much we give Desiring God to how much we give our second favorite para-church ministry (aside from our orphanage contribution) we give Desiring God about three times as much as we give any other single para-church ministry. I even like the benefit it affords me! …ease of use!! I would buy nearly zero of downloadable materials if I had to pay for them. Why? Because if I am buying something, it is usually for me. I don’t have a lot of extra money to spend on me. But, when I am giving, I am sacrificing for the joy of others in Christ. Praise God for Desiring God and Matt Perman’s thoughtful plan.
said Ann Addison
at 6:09pm on Friday
I am the director for Dallas Seminary’s web development. We still have a tape and CD department that sells items, but we’ve been working to put our entire catalog online for free, without registration, etc.: http://www.dts.edu/media
While this has been possible in the A/V area, being a school creates some unique challenges not faced by churches and other para-church organizations. For example, we can’t make all of our online ed classes free because of accrediting issues, though we are working to get more videos online (we just have sample right now: http://www.dts.edu/onlineed). Also, since we have many professors with different publishing contracts, we can’t put books online for free - just as only John Piper’s books are free on desiringgod.org, not the other writers.
I hope DTS and other schools will be able to put more online in the future…
said John Dyer
at 11:06am on Wednesday