SharperIron

SI is now just over three years old. During our first month, we had about 7,500 different visitors to the site; and this past month, we had 38,500! The site continues to be a blessing to many and a pain in the neck for some others. :) I like stats, and this one kind of blew me away—since we opened, 35,429,657 pages have been viewed on the site! It takes a good amount of work and funds to keep the site running the way it does. Thanks to all of the moderators and the staff for the work they do.

If you can’t view the video above, please try this alternate link.

I wanted to share a word of thanks to those of you in the SI membership who gave so generously to my family and me. Many of the ladies in the Ladies Forum went in on an “Internet shower” for Jennifer, and others sent clothing and other items separately. Your generosity has been a special blessing to us.

When SI began, I wanted to create a blog and forum to discuss news and ideas. Now, after two years, the site has grown to become much more than that. It’s an online magazine, a resource for pastors, a web community, and a news outlet. What it took to run the site at the beginning and what it takes now are worlds apart. Basically, Greg Linscott and I started this site out of our “garage.” Now the site has more than a dozen moderators, more than 50 writers, a tech team, an executive team, and a traffic stream of about 3,500 visits a day.

About two years ago, SharperIron started as a blog and forum for fundamentalists. I had just finished the Young Fundamentalists Survey and wanted a place to discuss the findings. I wanted to start a blog. Our webmaster, Brad Waite, wanted a forum. Out of that discussion/argument came the blog and forum concept. I remember wanting to name the site Iron2Iron. The other guys all voted for SharperIron. Those were the early days. We’ve learned a lot over two years, and, in spite of many failures, we are continuing to endeavor to keep a site for Christian fundamentalists to discuss news and ideas.

SI is almost two years old, and we’ve been doing a good share of evaluating. We will be changing many aspects of the site here in January including the addition of policies, more intensive moderation, and new staff members. However, we could use some help in some other areas, and I’d like to bring them to your attention.

Dear SharperIron Friends,

Late on the evening of December 7, I sent out the following message to the SI administrators and moderators: