The site, truthsaves.org, started sometime in 1998—I think. It started as a whim, because I thought the Internet was pretty cool. I set it up on some free web-host and wrote something but I can’t remember what. At the time, the site was fairly worthless but I enjoyed working on it. I think the only visitors were my parents, probably because they felt sorry for me. Regardless of the site’s usefulness, I was hooked on the idea of an online ministry and I kept trying, slowly, to improve my ability to create something useful. Eventually I decided to acquire a domain name; truthsaves.org was available and I liked it.
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
Sometime a bit after the year 2000, I re-designed the site. I wanted it to be easy to navigate. I wanted it to be fast-loading. I made a commitment to avoid ads and never to use the site to sell anything. So, it evolved.
In about 2005, I re-designed the site again, stripping away unnecessary html, improving navigation and adding a useful search function. I stayed true to my original intentions: design the site to load quickly, keep navigation simple and promote only one thing—the truth.
The site expanded at a snail’s pace. I added an article here or there. I tried adding a discussion forum. That idea bombed. Then, one day, I got a question from a site viewer that I couldn’t answer. I turned to my long-time friend and mentor, Tim. I said, “Hey Tim, can you answer this email?” He did so. The answer was well written and well thought-out and I said to myself: this could be an article. From then on, the site began to grow rapidly. People sent in questions and Tim answered them. We added the testimonies section and the poetry section and now I have more content coming in than I can post in my limited time.
Presently (July, 2013), the site gets over 10,000 unique visitors every month. Not too long ago, we were hitting around 20,000 unique visitors each month but for some reason we lost some of our high google rankings. Who knows why?
Anyway, with the combination of questions, testimonies and poems that come in, I’m currently posting things that I received a very long time ago. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to catch up. But I don’t think it’ll be anytime soon because I’m currently porting the site over to WordPress. When it’s done, the site will look more modern, it will scale nicely on mobile devices and I will save much time in terms of coding. I wish I could work faster, but God knows my limitations. Keep checking back and eventually you will see a redesigned truthsaves.org.
In His service,
Eric
https://truthsaves.org
About Tim
When we set up the site over ten years ago, we set it up not to bring glory to us, but to glorify Jesus Christ. Accordingly, in this day of personality-driven Christianity, we wanted a site that was not about any one person, but was focused on Jesus and the sacred Scriptures that reveal Him. It is for this reason that we have not built the site around us. We intentionally have tried to author articles that are true to the Word, with references to the Scriptures that we believe are relevant to the issue being addressed. If our solutions are not sound biblically, we do not want someone believing them because of who we are. And if our solutions are biblically sound, we want people to believe them precisely because they find them in Scripture, and not because we said so. We also take seriously the responsibility to share Christ, and we make every effort to proclaim Him as He reveals Himself to be. We have no desire to attract a following. But in our own quiet way we want to be a blessing to His church and encourage people to walk with Christ.
Nevertheless, occasionally someone asks about me. I have no credentials to boast, no endorsements to share, except that I am a servant of Christ. You ask about my full name. It is Timothy J. Binder. You ask about my education. I have a Masters of Divinity degree from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. I also am ordained in the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) although I do not at present attend a C&MA church. I am a member of a nondenominational dynamic community church where I share in the adult equipping ministry of the church. I also lead two Bible studies during the week.
Some have asked how I came to know Hebrew. You can read a bit about that here.
But I reiterate that the site is not about me. In fact, it is not even my site. It belongs to a good friend (Eric) who does all of the work on the site. Most of the articles are responses to questions that people have sent in. We try to provide sound, biblical answers to the questions people have. And our desire is that the articles reflect Holy Scriptures and the heart of God. If they do, then the Master is pleased.
May the Lord Jesus be with you,
tim
About Eric
Well, I’m married (over 25 years!), have two kids, play guitar and piano (both just a little), am a rabid Portland Trail Blazer fan and I’m a Christian. By “Christian” I mean I believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. The Bible is the inerrant, ever-trustworthy guide to living, here on earth and eternally. It contains all we need for life and salvation. Jesus is who He said He is–the great I AM, the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last–and He has the power to forgive sins, as He demonstrated when He walked among us. He alone saves, He alone gives life, and through Him we can become sons and daughters of God. By His grace, we defeat death and have nothing to fear.
May you find the peace and contentment I have found.
Eric