Open Source Christianity

At a time when Christianity is more of an industry than ever before, and millions upon of dollars are being generated, it’s refreshing to find believers who are motivated not by profit but by the desire to equip and build others up. These Open Source Believers are like the Open Source computing community who have taken on the might of Microsoft and provided us with software that doesn’t cost a dime.

The first such OSB I want to look at is Geoff Pound, or ‘Rev Dr’ to you. Geoff provides a short bio: “I am a New Zealander by birth but I have lived for fourteen years in Melbourne, Australia where I served as Principal of Whitley College: The University of Melbourne. I am now a freelance writer, teacher and consultant. Since January 2006 I have been based in the UAE with my wife Lyn who works as an English Language teacher in a tertiary college.”

Further info from his site:

Dr. Geoff Pound’s book, Making Life Decisions: Journey in Discernment, is a workbook, a tour guide or a travel journal for people wanting to make a forty-day journey in discernment.

Forty Individual Studies
The book, which draws on down-to-earth biblical principles, is written for Christians, for seekers and specifically for those at the vocational crossroads. The forty short chapters are not designed to be read in one sitting but they are intended as daily guides and reflections in a deliberate period of seeking and discovery.

Group Studies
Making Life Decisions also contains seven group studies for people who want to make this journey in discernment with another person or with a small group.

Integrated Learning
This book can be used as a resource, for those who wish to try or those who have already experienced the benefit of their church exploring a theme for a six week period by means of an integrated process of personal reflection, small group studies and worship services.

You may have experienced the benefits of ‘Forty Days of Purpose’ or some other integrated study series. This book is an invitation to you, your group and your church to take another journey-‘A Journey in Discernment’.

On the question of why he has made the book available on the internet he writes:

Online Publishing
I may choose at a later time to publish Making Life Decisions in a traditional book format but I am now publishing this book online for several reasons:

It is Accessible
It is a fast way of making information available to millions of people in all parts of the world, even in places where it is difficult to send books or take them personally.

It is International
This text is in English but online translation programs are constantly being improved, thus potentially opening the insights of this book to huge numbers of people who possess first languages other than English.

It is Popular
An increasing number of people are choosing to get their news and articles through online ‘readers’ delivered to their computer desktop.

It is Inexpensive
Traditional publishing is getting very costly. 70% of novels published in the United States sell fewer than 500 copies. Generally, publishers and authors don’t make any profit until their fifth book. In contrast, online publishing is relatively inexpensive so that this book is being made available to readers at no cost.

It is Environmentally Friendly
Printing words for screens saves many trees from being sacrificed, although it is recognized that readers may wish to print pages for writing, reflection and group study.

It is Expandable
In this online edition there is no opportunity for readers to add comments. Instead you are encouraged to go to the Resource Page (final page) to find new books, articles, resources and web links being added. The Resource Page also links to a related site called, Discernment Resources, upon which new stories about discernment are being posted and suggestions of resources, questions and comments can be added by readers.

Geoff we salute you. We salute the fact that whilst you could have justifiably made a buck out of this book and deserve at least some reward, you have given this away to the body of Christ. With more Kingdom enterprise minds like yours we have hope that we can make this whole thing work without being tainted by massive profit taking!