Content Suggestions

What kind of content do we want on Stepping Stones?

Why does Stepping Stones exist?

Stepping Stones exists to help further the gospel everywhere, but especially in places where Christianity is persecuted, places like Iran, China, Sudan, Pakistan, etc. Helping Christians out there in closed countries means helping the gospel grow everywhere else as well, they have the same technology we have here in the west, information is just suppressed, many in those countries and many living abroad can still get access to suppressed content and put it to use, it just takes more effort – the problem is if there is no content waiting for them there is no reason to give the effort.

Christians who publicly promote Christianity in any form in closed countries (among others) are often heavily regulated and persecuted. Because we are located in the west, we have the freedom to produce content with the aim of helping Christians everywhere, freely. The reason we want content in written form instead of on video or audio is because content in written form is easily translated and can be widely distributed easily.

While our main goal is to help get the gospel out to nations in languages where it’s needed most, this does not however mean you cannot or should not make and develop content for your own audience here at home, for your own needs and for your own community. We highly encourage you to write and publish your articles or blog posts on Stepping Stones for your own use, and promote it everywhere you go – it all helps accomplish the same goal.

We absolutely want you to share your content with friends and family, with your Church, and social media platforms, it’s yours! We just want to be the host, hosting the content allows Stepping Stones to become a resource for people all over the world.

For more fine-tuned details on what is and isn’t allowed, please see our Statement of Faith and Community Guidelines.

What We Need

Jesus said “Go make disciples of all nations…”

We need anything and everything that you would share with a new believer, non-believer, or even a seasoned Christian to encourage or strengthen people from all backgrounds to become zealous, passionate and mature followers of Jesus.

Imagine you have a person who is interested in Christianity, where would you start? Make content that would lead them to Jesus, and also content that is needful for the rest of their Christian walk. Once a person comes to faith in Jesus - they need to become a disciple. Not every believer in Jesus is a disciple, but every disciple is a believer.

What is a disciple? A disciple is a learner and a doer, they learn to do all that their teacher is teaching them. A disciple of Jesus must learn all that Jesus said and what He did in order to then go out and do them, and to teach the same things He taught. Every Christian must grow in knowledge concerning their faith.

We are counting on you provide all those things every Christian ought to know, we put together a list of 125+ topics that are helpful for everyone to learn about. When you publish any content, you must tag your content with at least one (max five) of the pre-defined topics.

Things We Like

Blog Posts

We like blog posts - 3-10 paragraph long blogs with deep thoughts on faith or testimonies that others faith would benefit from.

Devotionals

We like devotionals – short but deep thoughts that stir the faith of believers, something that people can usually read in 1-3 minutes.

Testimonies

We like testimonies – Answers to prayer, miracles, encouraging stories of anything God is doing that stir up faith are always welcome.

Doctrine and Theology

We love doctrine and theology - Paul writing to Timothy said, Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine".

We want writers building up the body, laboring in word and doctrine. As a platform we aim to remain neutral for the most part on denominational specific teachings, even ones we don’t necessarily agree with. Except where any teachings violate our Community Guidelines and Statement of Faith.

Doctrine and theology can be hard to articulate in a short post, we expect these to be anywhere from short to long. Usually these ones are long, and that’s just fine with us, however sometimes it helps for a readers’ sanity to split them up into multiple posts, think of it like you would a book with many chapters.

Apologetics

We love apologetics, both Peter and Paul in many New Testament scriptures tell us to be involved in providing an answer, or a defense of the Gospel.

The term “Apologetics” comes from the Greek word “ἀπολογία” (apologia), which means a "defense" or "answer". Producing content that defends Christianity against those who attack it or object against it help those who are looking into following Jesus. It also helps those who are facing objections from those who are outside the faith, especially for those who are not firm in their faith yet.

1 Peter 3:15 - "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense (ἀπολογία) to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear."

Acts 22:1 - "Brethren and fathers, hear my defense (ἀπολογία) which I now offer to you."

Philippians 1:7 - "Just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense (ἀπολογία) and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace."

2 Timothy 4:16 - "At my first defense (ἀπολογία) no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them."

The entire book of Hebrews is an “apologia” to the Hebrews, it is a defense for why believers must remain steadfast in their faith in Jesus Christ, especially in the face of persecution and temptation to revert to Judaism.

Polemics

We love respectful polemics - Polemics are criticisms and refutations of false teaching – especially those of non-Christian religions and heresies.

Jesus engaged in polemics when He criticized the Pharisees and Sadducees. Jesus’ brother Jude tells us to contend earnestly for the faith, because of false teachers who slip in among the body of Christ.

The apostle John engaged in polemics when he addressed false teachings by Diotrephes. Paul engaged in polemical debates with Jews in the synagogues, and confronted heresies creeping into the churches under his responsibility. Apollos would engage in polemics confounding the Jews using the Hebrew scriptures, showing how Jesus is the Messiah of the Hebrew Bible.

The entire book of Galatians for example would be considered a polemic, attacking false doctrines creeping in and perverting the gospel of Christ.

While we understand that a lot of polemics will be focused on things inside Christianity, the goal is bringing people to Jesus and making disciples, there will be many non-Christians reading content on Stepping Stones, not only Christians.

We want to encourage polemical content towards those who are outside the faith as a means to bring them to Jesus. It is however necessary to stand firm on truth and doctrine, this necessitates polemics of both types.

Answering Bible Questions

We love Q&A - There are many things that are helpful to know as a person is studying the Bible or even just thinking critically, and growing in their faith.

There are many popular and worthwhile websites that do this very well, it is not our aim to compete or replace them – our goal however is to host content that is accessible to a wide international audience, most of these sites that exist today are not as accessible once you get outside of the English language.

History, Archeology and Church Traditions

We love history - There is huge benefit to learning history, specifically Christian history, and even Jewish history.

Knowing history is relevant to spreading the Gospel, there are more than 2000 years of history for Christianity (not including history found in the Bible). Knowing how it has spread and learning both the many mistakes’ people have made, and the many blessings that have come through the Gospel are priceless. History makes the Bible come alive. History is useful in all scenarios, including evangelism.

Like history, archeology is helpful. Having archeological evidence as a resource when sharing the gospel is very helpful when sharing with non-christians, and is also an area of interest to Christians already firm in their faith.

Like history and archaeology, Church traditions can also be meaningful. Every denomination has them, and context helps everyone understand why and how the body of Christ looks the way it does today. These things are beneficial for all, even if we don’t all personally hold or agree with many of them.

Missions Updates

We love missionaries - Testimonies and updates from those on the mission’s field are needed, anything that stirs the faith of Christians everywhere to get involved with spreading the gospel is needed. There is a world out there full of powerful things God is doing, there is a giant need for more laborers to join in. Hearing from the front lines helps the gospel go further as people get exposed to the needs and hear of the good fruit.

Church Leadership

We love church leaders - As the gospel spreads around the world, there are many things that are helpful to know – even when it comes to dealing with people in general. There are many formats for doing church, and sharing the gospel. We encourage especially pastors and leaders to write about leadership development, and all the things that they have found helpful over their years of experience.