Godly Christian Ministries - Godly Christian Ministry News

What is Going On?

2009-11-16T16:14:16+00:00

Over the last couple weeks, Godly Christian Music has experienced a lot of down time. This was due to a hacker attacking my web hosting company. This attack ultimately caused all my servers to go down so that I did not have access to anything. The attack was not focused at Godly Christian Music directly, but rather at the company that hosts Godly Christian Music. I am sorry for any difficulties that you may have experienced over this last season. If the company I am currently working with continues to get compromised, I will move the site to a new company. Nevertheless, due to the nature of why they got attacked and the precautions they are taking to prevent such thing from happening in the future, I don’t think there should be further problems.

On a different note, I am restructuring some things with regard to how Godly Christian Music will be organized in the future. Instead of Godly Christian Music being a single service provided to the saints, it will become one outlet among many to bless others. A new website is being created called www.GodlyChristianMinistries.com. This new website will become the hub from which further sources of blessings will result. Godly Christian Ministries will be providing books, articles, audio messages, and much more. In addition, a new ecard site is also currently in the works. All this will become available over the course of the next year.

Finally, those who are Fire Fox users will enjoy having the mp3 player window no longer resize their browser every time they play a song. When I first made the mp3 player, I tested it out in Internet Explore. The intent was that the player would open in a new window and not a new tab. When it opened in a new window, the window resized to fit the player. It seemed like a good idea, but it only worked right for Internet Explore users. Nevertheless, the annoying resize should no longer be a problem.
Lord Bless…

Ongoing Work

2009-05-17T15:16:39+00:00

Godly Christian Music continues to grow as new artist are regularly being added on, but the number of people accessing the site is continually growing as well. Internationals are downloading the music from around the world on a regular basis and the number of USA listener has been climbing. It is encouraging to my heart to see that people are being blessed by the work. Please continue to pray for the site as it was down a couple days earlier this month due to some server difficulties. In addition, the electricity has been out at my house for over a week now after an inland hurricane came through my area. Nevertheless, thanks to other believers in the area, the work has not slowed down too much as I have been able to stay in other's homes with electricity. The Lord has kept us safe and is providing our needs. Thank you, to all who have been praying!

In addition, much work continues to go on in preparation for a new website. www.GodlyChristianEcards.com It is in some of the final stages of its initial release. Nevertheless, there remains much work ahead in creating the e-cards that people will be able to send out. If you have any ideas for good e-cards, go to the website and submit them as suggestions.

Lord Bless...

Chords, Lyrics, and Events

2008-10-24T05:00:00+00:00

There have been a couple new updates to Godly Christian Music recently. Nevertheless, the benefit to the average user will only come when the artists start taking advantage of what is available to them. One of the major updates is the addition of chords and lyrics for each song. Now you will be able to learn how to play and sing your favorite songs yourself. Simply search for the song or go to an artist's page and click on the lyrics or chords icon next to the listen and download icons. If there is a little circle with an cross through it on an icon that means the artist has not yet posted the chords or lyrics for that song yet. You can politely contact them and ask them to post their chords by going to their music page and click the link entitled, “Contact Artist”.

Another new feature added to the website was the events section. The events section of the site allows artists to post events and listeners find out whether or not each artist is currently taking invitations for leading worship. When this update took place all the artist were set by default to inform others that they were not taking invitations. Nevertheless, this may not be true. An artist must log in their system before the invitation settings will get changed. Therefore use discretion in asking the artists about coming near you until they have a chance to login and get their preferences set.

There are a few other features on the administrative side that have been automated to help streamline things too. One of these is for posting testimonies. If you have been blessed by Godly Christian Music please write in from the contact us page and tell us how you have been blessed. There is a high likelihood that your testimony will appear for others to be encouraged by too.

Hopefully these new features will prove to be a blessing to you. Lord Bless...

Was It Worth It?

2008-10-02T05:00:00+00:00

This is the major update that has been in process for nearly two years. Countless hours have gone into database work, design, and programing in order to bring this site to where you see it today. There has been many long nights, several head aches, and priceless programing experience gained. Therefore the question is, “Has it been worth it?”

Had I understood the cost in the beginning, I may have never set foot on this path. Back in October 2006, I set forth to start learning a new programing language with the hope of being able to utilize what I had learned to rebuild www.GodlyChristianMusic.com. I had done some programing in the past and figured that after a month or two I would be able to get started on the task. Little did I know what I was getting into. Before me was a programing language that was far more complex than I had ever dreamed and only after a couple month of dabbling with some videos and books did I realize that I had not even scratched the surface. At a certain point, I finally realized that in order to be successful with the task before me, I would have to devote myself to studying and reading a major text book for several months. And so the task began...

Day after day for weeks on end I read. Then I read some more until about seven months passed and I came to the end of over 800 pages of technical jargon. At that point, I was simply trying to get an overview of the programing language and had not yet even attempted any significant amount coding with the new language. Nevertheless, my first attempts were also met with several barriers to cross.

When I first started programing, I quickly found my book knowledge certainly was not up to par with my experience. Even the most simple tasks rendered error upon error. But such were the least of my difficulties when I began working with some new hosting companies. One thing the text book never covered was how to work with the environment that my website hosting company was providing. The problems multiplied with an upgrade to Windows Vista which rendered a few key programs useless that I have found to be essential to my work. In addition, my hosting company had a number of issues of its own.

During that time my hosting company started a several month process of upgrading their system. Their changes slowed down many necessary functions which prevented me from being able to work. In addition, they had some kind of problem that made it impossible for me to access www.GodlyChristianMusic.com from my home. When everything had settled down, I had already gone through three different companies over the course of about two months. Each switch taking over a week to get everything back up and working properly. Yet this was only the beginning of trials.

Around the same time, I came to the conclusion that my knowledge of graphic and web design were going to fall far short of my goals with the site. So after about a month of deliberation, I finally broke down and purchased a major Adobe(R) package. This marked a new horizon of learning as plunged into several tutorial videos and waded through prolonged tinkering sessions struggling to grasp how to use this professional design software. From the onset, I found myself wresting through a totally different perspective of design than I had ever encountered before. The tools were powerful, but they weren't as simple and intuitive as the cheaper programs that I had been familiar with in the past. Nevertheless, after more than a month's worth of study and design, a simple new look to the site was produced that remained the appearance of the website from around November 2007 to September 2008.

After the new look had been completed, I began the first major stage of programing. It all started with a lot of planning and then some database work. From there, labor on the back end of the site commenced. I wanted to create a system that artists would be able to log in and see what songs were being downloaded. In addition, I wanted to give artists the ability to post new songs and manage their section of the website. This had several obstacles, but the greatest was clearly attempting to apply what I had read from the textbook nearly a year before I reached this point. When the administrative side to the website was completed, it marked the first major victory and mile marker in completing the process.

The next greatest task would be designing the user interface which would become the familiar appearance to the common user. The design process was long and tedious. Trying to come up with an elegant design that would remain simple and intuitive for the average internet surfer was something that took nearly two months. But once the design was created, all the programing that followed took just about as long. Through many debugging session the site came to an acceptable level of completion and the process of deployment took place.

This entire process of design and development of the site has been full of trials, but they have only been piece in the puzzle that slowed or stopped the website from moving forward. In the midst of all the website work that went on, I was also working to bring my home to the place of having running water, heat, and modern flooring (something more than plywood). Also during this season of work, many of my friends faced many difficulties which frequently pulled me away from my work, to help and pray.

Despite everything that has made this site difficult to produce, it is now available and I am faced with the question, “Was it worth it?” But this is where you come in. As Apostle Paul spoke of the difficulties that he faced at times, he frequently exhorted his readers not to feel sorrow over his trials because they were necessary for their joy. In the same way, I am not try to make you feel sorry for me, but I am pleading with you... don't make my labor in vain. Use the site and encourage others through the music found within its pages. Build up the body of Christ through it and with it, so that when I stand before the throne, I will hear that it was worth it!

PS. Thank you for your prayers, God has been listening.

It is Here! ..Major Update Notice..

2008-06-23T05:00:00+00:00

After over a year and a half of learning a new programming language and more than eight months of work on the site, the initial beta version of Godly Christian Music is here. What does this mean for you? Well, first of all it will mean that you will begin to see more music on the site. This first step will enable artists to add music themselves to the website and will grant them abilities to manage their songs. In addition, as you listen and download songs from the site, the underlying programming will begin to keep track of which songs are downloaded most, making it easier for people to find your favorite songs. In addition, each song is now being tagged with a lot of descriptions, so as things progress on the site, you will be able to search for songs based upon several qualities.

There is still more on the way...Most of the work that has gone on to date has been behind the scenes creating a complex music management system. Now, with this data structure in place, the front side of the website will be transforming as well. Presently, the front side of the site is only a skeleton of the rich features that are coming. In the future, the front side of the site should offer a great service to artists and listeners.

I want to thank all the artists and listeners who have been praying. Ever since my last post about two months ago, asking people to pray, I have gotten more done on the site than in the previous six months. Your prayers haven't totally stop the difficulties or trials, but somehow despite the difficulties, progress just seems to continue anyway. In some ways, it has been like running through a cross fire during a war. Before, I was getting hit by the bullets regularly, but now only occasionally. Nevertheless, even with an occasional wound it hasn't slowed me down too much! Thank you for those who have been offering up requests.

Please continue of offer up prayers to the Lord for His protection on the site. I still face many difficulties and little delays in getting this site ready for you. I have had problems with my hosting servers, my own computer, and have had some crazy financial things happen, but despite all this, the Lord has provided. He has been a supply of endurance, encouragement, good friends, and everything else... Nevertheless, since the project is an ongoing one and because there is much to still be done, do not cease praying and asking the Lord to fill me with the knowledge of His will and to protect me from the evil one. I am continually tested and pulled in many directions, sensing that the devil would like to sift me as wheat. Therefore, if this site has been a blessing, please thank God for it and ask His will to be accomplished in drawing all men and women who find it to intimacy with Christ!

Concluding this post, let me give a you poem that came to me as I have been working on the website:

Here is Satan's army rearing for war,

his horses are snorting cheering to sore,

men strewn across vast fields ready to fight.

Standing round about me with evil delight,

waiting and waiting for the trumpet call to kill.

From their mouths vile tauntings constantly spill.

“You weakling, we will eat you alive...

you are worthless, it's vanity for you to strive.”

Though true such words may be, I stand not alone,

for one much greater than I, has descended from His throne,

stands closely just behind me, upon this little mount,

His hand upon my shoulder, His frame firm and stout.

Standing closer he spoke in a whisper, “see what I will do.”

But the trumpeters interrupted, defiantly they blew.

The vast army yell even louder with hatred in their sight,

they raised their flashing sword as they moved in for the fight.

The ground shaking the ground quaking for as far as I can see,

from east to west man upon man charges forward against me.

But now, even tighter, the grip upon my shoulder did grow

and a soft warm whisper upon my ear began to blow.

“Be still,” my companion said so gently in reply,

and then that vast army fell with a great cry.

Man upon man, face upon foot as far my eye could see,

Not one soldier stood any longer to fight against me.

From the ground arose the sound of a distant meadow still,

quietness and peace from around the valleys began to fill.

No more fighting and no more war,

absence of strife beckons and opens its door.

With this power supporting and helping at hand,

who shall run against me or prevent me to stand.

“Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.”

Updates and Fixes

2007-11-16T06:00:00+00:00

There is a lot going on behind the scenes at Godly Christian Music. Presently, progress is moving forward with our database system and its back end administrative pages. These pages will work behind the scenes for the Godly Christian Music artists. They will be able to login and submit new songs for you to listen to. In addition, they will be able to add guitar chords, song lyrics, and other features. The site will also begin keeping statistics on user favorites and what is being downloaded.

On the front side of the site, users who have Internet Explore version 6 or lower will notice some bugs have been fixed in the appearance of several pages. A fairly complicated problem associated with how IE6 and lower renders pages, required a significant amount of time to fix, but the issue appears to be resolved now. (Feel free to report future errors through the Support pages.) In addition, there have been some problems associated with the donate page. PayPal’s server appears to be running fairly slow. There is not a lot that can be done with this issue, but now you can also donate through Google Checkout. Take a peak at the Donate page.

Hope you enjoy some of the new music. We have much more on the way...