Last year I began working on a website, somewhere to send people who I met on the streets while out preaching Christ. I do appreciate how there’re great Christian resources just the click of a keyboard away, still when I’ve befriended someone, it’s sometimes a step backwards to send this person off to coldcasechristianity, or a crossexamined with Frank Turek. People out in the public space should be befriending you, they should be drawn into Christian living for having had a conversation with you (not for the people & websites we’re hoping they’ll visit later in the day).
So I’m launching www.unapologetic.co.uk for readers and the people I’m gonna be running into in 2018 (the main page takes a few seconds to load in my experience).
Unapologetic links to everything original on oldschoolcontemporary, so there’s still lots to see here just in terms of my random Wednesday uploads, still, special new content composed by me for readers is going to be found on Unapologetic. Many thanks to the people who’ve been credited with some of the artwork of the site: Steve Gamba, Yongsung Kim Spencer Williams for their “Back of Christ” painting, Sue Halstenberg, Sana Nasir, Lila Shravani. The site’s totally non-profit and for educating my friends inside and outside of the faith. If I haven’t thanked anybody it’s not for lack of wanting to, it’s just because I got halfway through constructing the site before realizing people get cheesed off over things like that! I wouldn’t want to write an Oscar speech, still, I am grateful for all of the awesome people who’ve helped in forming the site (be that stylistically or the scholarly context that has informed me over the years).
Let’s go through a little of the material you’ll find for visiting the website. Twitter firstly, obviously you can join me on Twitter from the blog too, still, it’s worth noting.
From the site you’re going to find a pretty neat route to my YouTube account, it’s brand new and contains loads of different playlists based upon world religions. So if you’re interested in delving deep into the maze of world faiths that’s definitely for you. Those playlists are only going to get bigger too, so enjoy that.
Returning again to the website, you’re going to notice below there’s a section dedicated to each faith individually. Most sections have anywhere between four and six articles relating to the faith they’re classed in, so for sorting by faith you’re going to be reading loads of the best from the blog. In addition to these links, there’s also going to be PDF uploads (read on for more of that).
Because clicking every section to see if I’ve added something relevant to the topic felt a bit unfair on y’all, I’ve added the “Unalphabetised index.” So, if you’re into any topic with a passion, check out their individual sections (^^^ like in the pic above). Otherwise the picture below shows you a warehouse of material on everything you can imagine. The index also links to articles not being shared on the main pages.
The mobile phone version differs significantly from the website, so if you’re mostly on your home computer, don’t forget to give the phone version some attention (it’s shown below and is the first image!) Clicking on the Unapologetic banner helps navigate the mobile site.
With the above in mind (the point to do with being non-profit), how do I justify expenditure on the site? This will cost me money after all! For an example of unjustified spending, there’s no point in signing off on a website for videos, because a YouTube playlist does the job fine and dandy, likewise for writing, the blog covers almost anything I could think up. There’s got to be something more planned for the site if I’m going to keep it healthy, fruitful and populated (kinda like a little planet). So, here’s a few of the plus sides to moving forward with the site (they’re also things to look forward to in the future):
The Forum (still being constructed)
^^^ That’s gonna be membership only, so whereas the blog and Twitter are always going to be places where you get the odd time waster/troll/riff-raff, having a forum can house loads of constructive conversation (I’m thinking Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.”) It’s got a few interesting sections about finding a church near you, in addition to loads of cools things like FAQs for the other Christians.
PDF articles (no need to read the pic at any length)
The PDFs are website only, so they’re gonna go above and beyond in terms of length, reference quality and depth. The first of many is called “Cordial Christianity Quiz”, and it’s on the Christianity section (the section titled Christ as King). If you’ve got awhile take the challenge today (https://www.unapologetic.co.uk/christ-as-king)! Uploading PDF essays and articles is a serious step up in quality from the previous things I’ve shared, so there’s an obvious advantage to having somewhere to host things like that. You can expect lots more of this kind of upload.
Evangelising Videos/Audio
I can’t imagine anything more exciting for readers than to have some content from the mission field uploaded on a weekly basis (how awesome would that be?) Anyway, I’ve been sharing Christ publicly for awhile now, and being able to bring that to you guys & girls would be a blessing to me. This kind of thing really isn’t dictated by people visiting, it’s to do with me being fruitful in season, out of season. Let’s hope circumstances permit moving forward with the idea.
And that’s a walk-through of the website, give it a look, if you enjoy the blog you’ll be going there much more in the future. I chose the name due to the modern misuse of apologetics, because that kind of good discipline, at least in the hands of most Christians, is turned into short, childish polemics. I’d like to believe there’s a better way of reaching people. Of course there’s also the aspect of being ashamedly Christian, which all of us are called to be. The name of the site wasn’t chosen how a friend of mine thought in the early days (conversation below):
“So yeah, I’m designing a website. Nothing fancy, I’ll call it Unapologetic!”
“Unapologetic? Just like the Rihanna album.”
“. . . . .nobody understands me! >:0”
― T. C. M
Old School Contemporary 