All In! (Albeit a Little Earlier Than Planned)

Well, here we sit at a crossroads. It's not one that we expected to approach this soon but the Lord used circumstances to give us a much needed push. We are completely in the hands of God and His faithfulness.

What do we mean by all in? All we have left is Jesus' Outsider Ministries and the Deep Mystery Studio. Challenges with my now former part time income have left us with no other potential sources of income. No, there is not a possibility of unemployment since I have worked as an independent contractor for the last several years. Plans that we had been working on that were meant to gradually replace that income have to be put into effect now with no time for buildup. So, we are all in with ministry and, as we can find opportunity, freelance media production and writing.

Nothing in the current ministry schedule is going to change. Events already on the docket will go forward as planned. However, some changes are going to happen out of shear necessity and we will be looking for additions to it.

Plans were already in place to make this transition. Part of those plans included a conviction that we weren't doing enough ministry in Central Illinois. As we prayed about it, we knew that it wasn't to do more in our church homebase. Rather, I need to get out and start preaching, teaching, and supporting local ministries. It's a bit of a daunting task since I've been working primarily online and out of the area for several years. The only local event we've done was the Sex, Porn, and Freedom conference held back in June of 2016. We need to change that. Not only are we going to organize local events (including one already scheduled), we are going to do more to support and teach at others events.

We have a message. We have a mission. Now, we need to fulfill it. While the lovely bride is still working on her speaking skills and comfort level (it's not natural to her), I will be putting myself out there for pulpit supply, guest speaking, and teaching on our main topics in various events. Of course, with six years of podcast archives available to listen to, my doctrine and views are well known. Whether in person or online, I strive to faithfully preach the Word of God and give glory to our Lord Christ Jesus.

Before you ask, no, the effort to preach locally isn't a financial decision. Making a living from honorariums is pretty far fetched for a local preacher. Sure, there are some big names that can command large fees just to show up and speak a few words. I have no such illusions that I am one of them. Over the years, I've preached for free and I've received some very generous gifts for proclaiming the Word. It's time to proclaim God's Word to all that will listen and trust the Lord for His provision.

We will also be starting fundraising efforts for the upcoming Out of The Shadows Conference. The YouCaring page is already set up but needs some tweaking to be more effective. Look for it to be ready the first of the year. Our current situation means that we will have to raise more money than we had originally planned but not a lot.

If you want more information, drop me an email at mike@jesusoutsider.com.

Update on Getting Us Back on The Air

Thanks to all who have made offers and have given aid so far. We do have a long way to go to get there.

For those of you who may be unaware, the studio computer system is completely inoperable. It is beyond repair. This has taken us completely out of commission including knocking Jesus' Outsider off the air.

Just before the failure, we were in the final stages of preparation to greatly expand our ministry into more than just podcasts. We had been working in planting a church but discovered that the Lord's will was in developing what He had already given us rather than adding new. We are doing conferences, more media work including expanding the reach of our current program and doing more ministry videos on the hard subjects we've been called to tackle. There's more to the vision but that's a tiny little snapshot. Unfortunately, we are dead in the water without a fully functional studio computer.

When I first posted, I estimated the total financial cost at around $2500. I deliberately figured a little high to set a good target. My experience with fundraising has been to set the goal higher than what's actually needed to increase the odds of getting the real need met. I didn't pad much (only a couple hundred dollars) but there is some wiggle room in the amount. The original basis was a built around a projected price of $1300-$1500 for the tower.

In doing some price checking, I found a tower hundreds of dollars less than the least expensive one I speced out originally that is ideal for our purposes. It meets and exceeds the minimum requirements for the most demanding software we use. It's on Newegg and can be found here. Please take a look at it and prayerfully consider how you can help us get this system before the sale expires.

I have been asked how I came up with the amount for the fundraising effort to get us back on the air and expanding. $2500 seems like a lot of money for a computer and it is. However, the need is based upon making the tower fully operational and that requires more than just the hardware.

Because the old system had been pushed well beyond its normal useful life, the programs I used everyday on it were out of date but still worked on the older computer. However, while the age and reduced system requirements allowed us to keep going on the old system, it does mean that they will not work on a new one. Our versions of Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, and Quickbooks are so old that the manufacturers no longer support their installation. We will need to replace them and their price is included in what we are asking for in the campaign. For the Adobe Suite, I figured in three months of subscription to their cloud service which gives access to their entire product line. Considering the cost to purchase the entire suite freestanding was close to $3500, a monthly fee of $60 for a business or ministry is very reasonable.

We do have some additional hardware needs in the request but we should be able to get by with what we have until we can afford them. We do need to upgrade our printer to a higher capacity office model for quick print fliers, invitation cards, and other low quantity print jobs. The studio sound board works but, like the tower, has been pushed beyond its capacity and has a couple of dead channels. It does however, meet our requirements for now.

This is a serious attack from the enemy. Just as Jesus' Outsider Ministries and the related Deep Mystery Studio are about to break out and have a massive Kingdom impact, we're knocked out of the fight. I cannot believe that the Lord is opening up all these opportunities to make a monstrous difference and let us drop. The interest in the Sex, Porn, and Freedom Conference alone is even more that we ever could have anticipated. Without meeting this need, we cannot pull off this much needed seminar.

If you are able to help, please use the PayPal link on this page or on the Support tab on the Jesus' Outsider main page. If you prefer to mail us a check, please send us an email (mike@jesusoutsider.com) for the address and who to make the check out to in order for us to get back on the air and fulfill the vision the Lord has for us.

I am going of faith and am going to continue to work in the limited capacity I can under the assumption that the Lord is going to come through for us. There's not a lot I can do other than writing content until we have what we need to put it all together.

As a side note, some of our income was tied to this computer and we have lost that as well until we're back online. Please, share this need with as many people as you can. Pray for us while we see what the Lord has in mind as well as how you can help.

Blessings,
Pastor Mike