SermonIndex was recently featured in the Sept/Oct 2004 Issue issue of the Ministries Today magazine. http://www.ministriestoday.com*I will try and scan the original article in from the magazine.Portable InspirationAn online MP3 archive offers free access to 4,000-plus classic sermons.The ubiquitous Christian tape ministry may have gone the way of the bison, but one Web site is bringing classic preaching and teaching audio into the 21st century.Sermon Index (www.sermonindex.net) Webmaster Greg Gordon was skeptical about the prospect of true spiritual renewal in North America until he picked up Leonard Ravenhill's classic Why Revival Tarries. The book inspired 25-year-old Gordon to dive into the writings of David Brainerd, A.W. Tozer, Charles Spurgeon and other preachers of the past."These old people had a grasp on revival," Gordon says. "There's a loss of depth in modern-day preaching in the areas of doctrine and discipleship."In December of 2002, God gave Gordon a vision for getting classical preaching online, and he began the process in his free time while working as a Web developer at the University of Toronto.Gordon designed a Web site, digitized and archived audio tapes to MP3 format and networked with various ministries to gain access to new files. (The late A.W. Tozer's family granted Gordon access to all of the preacher's recordings.)Less than two years later, Sermon Index offers more than 4,000 audio and video files, and articles from more than 125 preachers and teachers, both well-known and obscure. While visitors to the site may listen to the files online, Gordon says many burn them to CDs or rip them onto portable MP3 players to listen later.How does the site cover its costs? Shortly after launching Sermon Index, Gordon was laid off from his job and has devoted his energies fulltime to increasing the size of the archive."It hasn't taken a lot of money," he says. "I've had people volunteer from around the world."Additionally, although the files are available free of charge, Gordon accepts donations on the site, and revenue from banner ads helps offset the cost of the site."My philosophy is 'freely you have received, freely give,'" Gordon says. He allows--and encourages--other Web sites to copy his files onto their own servers so that they will be available to more people.Although he hopes the ministry will grow to the point that it will be eligible for nonprofit status, Gordon believes he is just one small piece in God's plan."I feel like the boy with the loaves and fishes," he says. "God wants to use the small things."--article found online here:http://www.ministriestoday.com/a.php?ArticleID=9662
