Letter from John Piper to Mike Cleveland

Mike Cleveland
Setting Captives Free

Dear Mike,

Greetings in Christ's great name from Minneapolis (although I am writing this first in Portrush, Northern Ireland). There is a connection between Northern Ireland and my aim in writing. I write to encourage you to consider expanding your ministry into Europe in team with a cluster of ministries gathered on the Internet under the banner CHRIST IS ALL MEDIA.

First, a brief explanation of the dream, and then some background. The dream is that about ten ministries presently based in the United States would gain a presence and impact for Christ in Europe by creating ten European-specific versions of their present American websites, which would be accessed through CHRIST IS ALL MEDIA. The integrity and independence of your ministry and website would be preserved. It would not be amalgamated into a new combined ministry. Rather (somewhat along the lines of www.OnePlace.com) there would be several ministries accessed through one "portal."

The aim of this dream would be to spread God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated, Spirit-empowered, sin-conquering, church-renewing, joy-inspiring, missions-mobilizing, justice-advancing, culture-transforming truth throughout Europe. The ministries would be unified by our common commitment to the "doctrines of grace" (reformed theology embraced in such a way to allow for ministries of Baptist and paedobaptist persuasions). As you know, even though Europe is punctuated with some wonderful movements of God's renewing Spirit and Truth, the population as a whole is pervasively secular and cold to the gospel, with thousands of people leaving church weekly (300-400 weekly in Scotland alone).

The background for this dream is that DESIRING GOD MINISTRIES (with its books, tapes, CDs, audio streaming, and written sermons) has had a European presence (DGM-UK) for about four years now. Combined with several of my visits to Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England, the combined impact has been significant - at least enough to make me want to preserve it and widen the impact of Gospel-truth through partnerships like CHRIST IS ALL MEDIA.

George Ferris, who lives here in Northern Ireland (and whom I am visiting in these days) feels called to give his life to this kind of truth spreading in Europe. He has led DGM-UK from its inception. It was his idea. George has spent several months with us at Bethlehem in Minneapolis and we have gotten to know him well. I trust him completely and love his passion for the supremacy of God. He is a successful businessman (contractor) who left his secular work to give himself to this wider ministry through literature and audio distribution in Europe. He would be the founder and director of the web "portal" called CHRIST IS ALL MEDIA.

The reason for our desire to partner with other ministries like yours is twofold. One is that the financial burden is too great for one ministry to sustain, but several could sustain it easily. Virtually all American ministries that have branches in Europe are subsidized by the American home base. We have done this for four years and believe that the critical mass needed for a self-sustaining ministry like CHRIST IS ALL MEDIA could be reached by several ministries teaming up. There would be an upfront fee to participate. This would cover the development of the website.

The other reason for partnering is that different ministries promoted together would be of great help to each other in introducing people to the different ministries by drawing them to the common "portal" for access. In this way the multiple ways of telling the glorious truth of Christ would be maximized.

DESIRING GOD MINISTRIES is committed to the vision of CHRIST IS ALL MEDIA. We are committed to George Ferris. I would personally love for you to meet George or simply communicate with him in some way to see if God might be leading us to a linked presence in Europe.

If you have any questions I would be happy to talk to you. George himself would be even more informed about the details, and is ready to answer your questions by phone or email. May the Lord create something that exceeds all our dreams for his glory and the eternal good of the church and the perishing people of Europe and beyond.

For Christ and his kingdom,

John Piper