By James Strand
20 years ago, in May 1993, I published the May issue of the Good News Reporter. I started the little Christian tabloid newspaper with the vision promoting unity in the Christian community in 1991. Flipping through this old issue I am thankful for the many people that helped make this paper possible back then. Some, like my mother, have moved on to heaven. Others have been sidelined by the ups and downs of life. Sadly, some have even turned to the dark side. However, there are many who have gone on to keep spreading the message of Good News and continue to do many great things for the Lord. I too, hope to continue to do many great things for the Lord.
I remember my mother helping put the newspaper together on her dining room table with another young man into the wee hours morning, Most of the time this was on the day we went to press. We would stay up all night pasting stories and ads together on art boards to take to the printer. Deadlines were always tight and sometime the paper missed an edition here and there, but it was always a triumphant moment when we finally made it to press. Back then we delivered the papers in bundles to various churches around the Central Arkansas area. We published between 5,000 and 10,000 with each issue.
The Good News Reporter struggled financially and was closed down in 1997 after 6 years. The World Wide Web was in its infancy twenty years ago. Back then we connected to the internet through a dialup modem and then used America Online to surf the web, what little there was to surf. In March of 1997 I put together the an online edition of the Good News Reporter. When the paper closed its doors later that year, I believed someday it would come back to life with another online edition.
Now, fast forward to 2013. The Internet has become a part of modern life. Giant corporations have made many millionaires and billionaires from the Internet. We lived through an Internet dot com boom in the late 90’s and then had an Internet dot com bust as we entered into a new millennium in 2000. Today, with the development of software, like Word Press, the blog has become a popular medium for publishing. Now, instantly we can report on what is happening and anybody in the world with a PC or smart phone can keep up with what is going on. Indeed, to some extent, there is an overload of information with people on Facebook and Twitter sharing every small detail of their lives.
However, bloggers are now true champions of free speech. Many bloggers are the people on the frontlines who are informing people of the truth of what is really going on in the world. Others are using their blogs as cesspools for the devil to spread his filth and lies. Whatever the result, the blog has now become an important means of communicating news and information around the world.
In 1987 I had acquired the domain name goodnewsreporter.com. After the Good News Reporter went out of business, someone in Ohio picked up the goodnewsreporter.com name. I was surprised last year when I discovered the domain name had become available once again. I knew then I was going to begin to publish an online edition of the Good News Reporter.
Today, I still continue to believe the message of sharing and reporting good news from a Christian perspective is important. I would like to ask my friends and others, who will become friends, to join with me in this endeavor. Together, we can make the new goodnewsreporter.com a light that shines into the darkness that will help many people follow the light of truth and find hope and faith in Jesus Christ.
Hello World from the new online edition of the Good News Reporter! Happy birthday to the rebirth of a dream! Your best days are ahead of you!
… the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. (Ecclesiastes 9:11)
25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. 26And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: (Revelation 2:25-26)