The Need Meeters Blog

INTRODUCTION

This blog is unlikely to be used much more in the future, not because the concept isn't valid, but because I've updated the concept.

That update now includes a broader focus, and it also includes a name change which reflects that broader focus.

I have decided (for reasons which will be explained in the future, as time allows) to change the name from Body Power News to Need Meeters.

There will be a number of different aspects of the Need Meeters operation:

Need Meeters' News
A PDF newsletter, and a related blog, to be distributed via http://needmeeters.blogspot.com/.

The Need Meeters' Network
An interactive online social network (not yet developed) to be created with a system such as the ones offered by Ning.com, Spruz.com, Buddy Press or another software-based solution for creating such networks in a relatively easy manner.

I already have experience developing one such network, which I call the Artistic Christians' Network. The Artistic Christians' Network (part of a larger vision known as the Christian Arts Initiative) is currently located at http://artisticchristians.ning.com/.

That network originally offered more features (specifically, separate discussion groups dedicated to separate aspects of Christianity and the arts), but it lost some of those features when Ning.com switched from a monetization model offering free networks to all Ning site creators to one which eliminated the free sites in favor of several different paid plans with different feature sets. Unfortunately, I could only afford the most basic Ning plan due to financial problems with which I still struggle even now, so I prepaid for that plan so that I would at least retain some of the features (such as blogs, forum discussions, media files, and of course, all of the members who'd already signed up), until I could afford to upgrade to a more advanced plan.

I still plan to maintain that site and to continue to encourage folks to join that site, but my hope is that the Artistic Christians' Network will eventually become incorporated into the larger site known as Need Meeters, since the objectives of the ACN are all subsets, in some respects, of the broader Need Meeters vision. The Need Meeters Vision  includes its own social network, which will not be limited to Christian believers, although it will still be based on Christian principles and operated in accordance with those principles.

Part of the reason for the enlargement of the scope of the original vision, frankly, is the recognition of the fact that limiting one's membership to people who are Christians is a good way to close doors in terms of potential funding from various private organizations and government sources which object to discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs, and which therefore are unlikely to fund aspects of the Christian Arts Initiative which they deem discriminatory. There will still be components of the Need Meeters Vision which are particularly advantageous to Christian ministries associated with the Christian Arts Initiative, but Need Meeters will offer numerous benefits for unbelievers as well.

The Need Meeters' Foundation
A related nonprofit specifically for the purpose of generating, locating, publicizing and facilitating funding for worthy individuals, organizations, churches and businesses which need such funding in order to implement ideas and programs with objectives which are similar to the objectives which drive the Need Meeters vision.

In addition to funding for such individuals, organizations, churches and businesses, the Need Meeters' Foundation will sponsor events for the purpose of awarding those who are achieving their related objectives in particularly noteworthy and admirable ways.

The Need Meeters' Group
A Facebook group to be created for the purpose of using Facebook as a means of publicizing the Need Meeters' Network, connecting with members of that network who belong to Facebook, and expanding the membership of the Need Meeters' Network by taking advantage of the fact that huge numbers of people (including myself) are Facebook members.

CONCLUSION

At this point (10/23/2010), the only one of the aforementioned components already in operation is the Need Meeters' News, and even that part is just getting started. But I invite you to visit that site anyway, in order to access blog posts which will specifically focus on sharing the vision, distributing information, generating discussions, and soliciting and/or facilitating the kinds of support (financial, volunteer work, etc.) which will be needed in order to insure that the vision is fulfilled.

Volume One Number One Now Available

Click this link to access the new inaugural edition of Body Power News! (After visiting the link, click the Download link just above the icon for the document. It should be fairly self-explanatory. If not, e-mail me at mwp1212(AT)gmail.com, and I'll try to help you out.)

I got tired of trying to elicit support for the concept and I decided just to go ahead and produce a first edition of the publication so that people could see for themselves just how useful Body Power News would and could be to the Body of Christ.

The cost of creating and distributing this publication will be very low, as you can see for yourself. I'm basically using the new SkyDrive feature offered by Hotmail as a means of distributing the publication to the public, without any web hosting fees, and without the need to pay any printing costs.

In the early stages, a lot of the ads in the publication pertain to my own needs and projects, since Body Power News isn't widely known in the Christian community as an option for communicating with other Christians. (I also included a few free ads based on widely known facts pertaining to activities occurring in the Body of Christ in Chicago and elsewhere.)

That's where I need your help! Help spread the word by sharing links to the inaugural issue (and to this blog site) with others. Think about various ways that you or your church could use Body Power News as a means of communicating with other Christians, and feel free to submit ads for inclusion in future editions. Thanks!

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the blog for my new publication tentatively to be known as Body Power News.

Please click this link in order to visit a public file folder (hosted by SkyDrive) where you can access and download a document (in PDF format) entitled "Be a Burden Bearer with Body Power News". That document offers a preliminary overview of my intentions for Body Power News.

Also, please check back here regularly so that you can gain access to new issues of the actual publication known as Body Power News as those issues become available. For the time being, I intend to offer issues of Body Power News in the form of downloadable PDF files, in a manner similar to the manner in which I am offering the aforementioned document.