28 May
Let’s celebrate! JosiahRoad.com turns one year old…
While we couldn’t have imagined it just a few years ago, the reality is that the Internet is becoming an invaluable tool to share the Gospel and introduce people to the King of kings. It was just a year ago, on June 11, the ERLC launched JosiahRoad.com—a web-based community designed to reach people exactly where they are, connect them with other like-minded individuals, and open up a chance for dialogue on issues of faith, family, and more.
ERLC’s President Richard Land said, “This younger generation offers more promise and hope for spiritual and cultural reform than I have seen in all my years in the ministry. To reach this demographic we couldn’t keep communicating the way we have been for the last fifteen years. The JosiahRoad.com initiative is a major part of our effort to reach this audience.”
Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Del.icio.us, and the likes have become staples in the lives of post-moderns—right next to food, sleep, and friends. And the hopes of ERLC staffers is that JosiahRoad.com will continue to become the same sort of online community where young people can share their ideas, discuss hard issues, get answers to their questions, and read about what their peers are doing in the world.
Harold Harper, executive vice president at ERLC, said, “I am not aware that there are many Web sites anything like JosiahRoad.com on the Internet. It is truly a unique place on the Web where individuals at different stages in their spiritual journey can exercise their faith.”
Like a real community but without a zoning board, JosiahRoad.com is driven and directed almost completely by users. While the site is fully moderated, it isn’t designed to be an exclusively “Christian site.” It’s been anticipated that Christians would be heavily involved in the site all along, but there isn’t a “test of faith” before someone can post a comment, Harper said.
“It’s an open site. Our hope is that people will explore serious ideas and develop realistic solutions to matters that concern us all,” he added.
The biblical account of Josiah (2 Chronicles 34) provides the principles and the name upon which the site is built.
Harper said, “The young King Josiah was open to God’s leadership. His journey of faith took him face-to-face with the reality of a culture that had turned its back on the One True God. Instead of just going along with the flow as many in his position before him did, Josiah sought to restore his nation’s spiritual and moral foundation with a zeal that only God could provide.”
Nearly a year later, the site now features daily blogs written by 20-somethings that offers viewers a chance to comment, a weekly e-newsletter and devotional, an online store and virtual social connections with other Josiah Road fans through Facebook.
Harper concluded, “As the Internet is primarily used for gathering news and information, we believe JosiahRoad.com will keep rising to the top as a site that people can trust for information that is vital to their spiritual life.”
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Filed in: Journey
About the Author
Kaylan Christopher can be found sticking her hands in creative writing projects, blogging, hanging out at local coffee shops, and investing in her relationships with family and friends. A proud native of Texas, she loves chips, salsa, and coffee (but not altogether), Mute Math, LOST, her MacBook, good books, and live music. Kaylan currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee. You can connect with her on Facebook or by e-mail at kaylan_christopher@yahoo.com.
