Our History

The LORD of Hosts Internet Service came to life in the 1990's as a vision of a communications service for the LORD's people. Originally, it was planned as a bulletin board service (BBS), allowing God's people to dial up and get information about the Church (the body of Christ). As it turned out, the LORD had other plans - the Internet. Our first website went online on July 4, 1996 with a simple dedication page, which is still available below:

www.Lordofhosts.com Dedication (first online page)

The vision remained one of those "unrealized good-works" for a couple of years - you know how the story goes. I work in the research and technology division of a large aerospace corporation, in a math/computer modeling group. The boss asked if I could set up web pages for our group at work - Wow! Great project... except for the fact that I knew nothing about the web.

This was one of those blessed work assignments, where your work life and Church life help each other. Of course I didn't know anything about the Internet other than the AOL "You Have Mail", which made the project all the more exciting. Those involved in the work of the LORD are quite familiar with the LORD raising up the least likely to perform His work.

While learning about the Internet, and setting up web pages at work, it suddenly occurred to me --- Hmmm, maybe this Internet thing might catch on, and be useful in the ministry (OK, so I am a bit slow!) It was at this point that the planned BBS became an Internet site - except now we needed a name on the Internet. The name search began.

During our search, we looked around for a name that would describe our mission - providing computer service for the LORD and His people. About 15-20 years ago, during grad school, I could typically be found with long hair, a Bible, and bank checks with a sunset picture and Psalm 24:1 printed on the front. I really loved the poetic image it gave on a check "The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains" (NASB). This passage has been one of my favorites for several years now, and one of my core beliefs. One of my other favorite passages in the Bible is "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price" (I Cor 6:19-20). Both of these verses get at the same point, namely that we belong to the Lord. Everything we see belongs to Him, and was created by Him, and so Psalm 24 became the entry page for our web site.

As it turned out, Psalm 24 also contained our new domain name for the Internet - Lord of Hosts. The actual name for the site was a perfect fit for what we wanted to do with the site - computer ministry, and spiritual warfare. In computer-talk, a "host" is a node or individual computer in a network of computers. In Internet terminology, web pages are frequently said to be hosted on the computer, meaning they are receiving "web publication service" from the host computer. With the LORD, the word Host refers to the Army of the LORD. The LORD of Hosts is God, the Spiritual Commander in Chief, heading up the armies engaged in spiritual warfare for His names sake.

Thus the name "LORD of Hosts" became the name for our Christian computer service, with Psalm 24 as our entry screen. The Lord has moved us from our early vision of a local BBS serving the Seattle area, to a worldwide outreach over the Internet. The web sites "www.LORDofHosts.com" and "www.LORD-of-Hosts.com" went online July 4, 1996 (the LORD's timing), with simple web pages announcing our mission, and dedication of the site to our LORD. We knew that developing a new web site would be no small task, so we chose Thanksgiving Day, 1996, as our date for official site debut. And we were thankful on that Thanksgiving Day to begin our service to the Body.

During the process of registering our domain name, we noticed that most of the domains that were registered were either dormant (not being used or associated with any computer), or belonging to companies that registered hundreds of names for E-mail use. The dormant names bothered me, since I figured they could be used in witnessing and the ministry. The Holy names belonging to the large E-mail companies were at least being used - although they were mixed in with all of the profane names used for general E-mail and web service. It was at this point that I decided to offer a Christian business alternative to the secular E-mail companies. I liked the E-mail/Web name service idea - it allows the names to be used by greater numbers of people in witnessing.

Over the years my wife and I have discussed names for E-mail and web service. Occasionally I would run to the computer, just to see if a domain name was available. Looking for names of the Lord was one of the most enjoyable tasks I have had in my life. I pray that these names will be a blessing to you.

As for the non-denominational nature of the site, that came about through many years of prayer and church attendance by my loving wife Dee and myself. Dee and I started this site as a labor of love. The long hours and resources were devoted to building a Christian alternative for Internet service, entertainment, and education, and of course bringing souls to Jesus.

My wife Dee has been active for several years in the worship and praise ministry. She has been very active in the dance ministry, teaching classes in the timbrel applied to worship. As a child she attended Catholic church, attended several other denominations through the years, and currently attends a Calvary Chapel with me. She has an incredible passion for the Lord, as seen in her tireless efforts in the ministry, as well as an incredible gift of forgiveness (she puts up with ME!).

I have attended several of the main stream churches, spending several years in each one. I have had the tremendous blessing of loving God, and His Son Jesus, since I was a small child. I was raised as a Methodist, attended Catholic church during my early adult years, moved to a Bible oriented fundamentalist church during graduate school (Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, Ray C. Stedman). I then attended Presbyterian and Pentecostal churches after grad school, and currently attend a Calvary Chapel with my loving wife Dee. I have also attended most of the other mainstream denominations as a guest - including attendance at services in the "false church".

For the "churches" that comprise the true Church, we find underlying themes like salvation by grace through faith in Christ, belief in one God in three Persons (Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit), belief that the Bible is the written word of God, and other core doctrinal issues. This focus on the roots of our faith has thus become the foundation for our Internet ministry.

We pray that this site helps bring unity to the Body of Christ (the Church), so that we might be a greater blessing to Him when He returns. At this time, we want to ask you for your prayer support - that this Christian business and ministry might grow and spread the word that Jesus is LORD.

Mission Statement

In the heart of every true believer is a burning desire to understand the true will of God. Our doctrinal beliefs are based on our understanding of the Lord. This understanding is in turn based on some the gifts God has given us: His word (the Bible); His Spirit (the Holy Ghost); and prayer in the name of His Son (the Christ). In spite of these tremendous gifts, we are still split into factions within the church. We are told in I Corinthians that these divisions must exist, so that those approved by God can shine through. As finite human beings trying to understand the infinite God, it is inevitable that our perceptions of God will differ.

    19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they
    which are approved may be made manifest among you.
    (I Cor 11:19, RKJV)

    19 For doubtless there have to be factions or parties
    among you in order that they who are genuine and of
    approved fitness may become evident and plainly
    recognized among you.
    (I Cor 11:19, Amplified)

In our quest for an understanding of God, and through our attempts to learn about the Lord and His ways, we have divided the church. This division is built upon the doctrinal matters that divide us, as opposed to the core doctrinal matters that unite us in the Body of Christ. The Word of God is perfectly clear on issues like the Deity of Christ, Salvation by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ, and of course, the nature and character of God, which includes the belief that God has revealed Himself, and continues to reveal Himself, through God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These issues, along with many others (belief in His Word, Virgin Birth, Miracles...), form the essential belief system of the Christian Church.

The issues that have divided us are issues like eternal security (belief in "once saved always saved"), other issues in Calvinism/Arminianism, and even timing of the rapture of the church. I personally have switched positions on some of these issues over the years, and acknowledge that I may be wrong now on some minor point, and may switch my position again in the future. When I disagree with a brother or sister in Christ over issues like these, I still acknowledge that we are united in Christ, and that I will be spending eternity with them in heaven, present with the Lord... and listening to Him explaining the answers to all of our questions...

The Lord has called us to be united in our core beliefs, even though we differ on some doctrinal issues. He has called on us to express our differences with grace - He knows we are going to spend eternity with each other, even though we at times have problems being in the same "church building" for one sermon.

It is not that the "non-essential" doctrinal matters are unimportant - every word proceeding out of the mouth of God is important. And this is precisely how the factions come about! The Lord uses these divisions to force us to dig deeper into His word to support our beliefs - thereby strengthening our spiritual muscles.

For those that do not believe in the core doctrinal issues, we are certainly not called to be united in a false belief system that does not worship the True God of the Bible. In this case, we are called, as believers, to witness the gospel to them. Some of the large "false churches", like Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, do not believe in the God of the Bible, and therefore we believe they will not be Saved - unless they repent and turn to the Lord Jesus. We do not believe in universal salvation for all souls. As part of the true Church, we are called to pray for, and show love for, those lost in the false church and the worlds of the cults - we are called to witness to them about the salvation available through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our mission, therefore, is twofold: First, to provide witnessing tools to bring new souls to salvation through Jesus. To that end we will provide Internet services to the Lord's people, to help in the harvest. Our prayer is that our service will bring light to the Internet. The second part of our mission is to bring together the people of the Lord, through Love in Christ. We pray that building communications bridges among the Lord's people will help us all to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord - and view our differences as manifestations of the finite (mankind) trying to understand the infinite (God).

Most of all, we pray that this Internet service will help spread the word - that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that none come to the Father except through Him.

Our prayer is that the LORD of Hosts website will bring about lively discussion on matters of faith, and through this discussion we come to understand one another better, and recognize that we are all part of one body - the body of Christ. It is through this understanding that we will be able to fulfill our Lord's commandment - that we love one another.

     34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one
     another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one
     another.
     35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,
     if ye have love one to another.
     (John 13:34-35)

Frequently Asked Questions

In this section, we are going to try to answer some of the questions that come up about our service. I expect this list to grow, ... and grow .... If you have any questions that you feel should be in the faq's, let us know --- it may take a while to answer, because we go over several, and summarize them as short direct questions, like the faq's below.

General Questions:

Why was my prayer not posted to the prayer list?
What time of day do you change the "Verse of the Day"?

Questions about the Name Services (e.g., [email protected])

Are you trying to monopolize the names of the Lord?
Is it wrong to sell the Lord's Name?
Is this service using the Lord's Name in vain?
Can I buy one of your domain names outright?

Why was my prayer not posted to the prayer list?

There could be several reasons for a prayer not being posted. We read and pray over everything coming into our site. This is not an automated process... since computers don't pray!

Sometimes we get profane or blasphemous "prayers" submitted to our prayer room. Obviously, we don't post these, although we do pray for the people that send hateful and blasphemous mail.

For those that include an E-Mail address on their prayer, we require an E-Mail confirmation before posting. For example, if your prayer listed your E-Mail address as "[email protected]", then we immediately send a letter to this address, asking you to confirm the prayer. This is a safety check to keep other people from posting your E-Mail address without your permission. If you fail to return the confirmation, your prayer will not be posted.

We also omit "prayers to saints" and occasionally omit repetitive prayers. Sometimes we simply make a mistake (fall short)!!! If we do this, please remind us, and pray that the Lord strengthen us to perform in His will. On a busy day, we may get several hundred pieces of E-Mail (not just prayers, but link requests, letters, service requests, hate mail, news about the net, ....). In this pile of mail, sometimes things just get lost, so WE need YOUR prayer!

Return to "FAQ's" Contents

When and how do you change the study in "Today's Study Verse"?

My wife and I pray over which verses to use for our Study Verse. Part of our prayer is that somebody (or a lot of somebodies) out there on the internet be touched by the Lord, and hear Him. So the verse is not computer generated from a predetermined list of scripture, but rather chosen in prayer. Some of you may have noticed that after chatting about something or sending e-mail, that the next study verse seems to reflect what we were talking about. Sometimes the verse is tied to world events, with relevant scripture. And of course sometimes I just feel led by the Lord to choose a passage... The Holy Spirit leads us in choosing the study verse. Currently, we try to post an update every other week, usually around the first and fifteenth of the month.

Return to "FAQ's" Contents

Are you trying to monopolize the names of the Lord?

No, not at all! We started our name service after noticing that most of the Christian names were already reserved by other, secular, companies. It bothered us that Christians wanting to use these types of "Holy sounding" names, had no Christian business alternative to the current secular service providers. Most internet name service providers also offer a collection of profane names. We wanted to offer a Christian alternative, so we prayed about it, and registered LordofHosts.com .......

A second reason we started buying names, was that there has been a large number of Christian names purchased by others, and not used. This bothered us - that these names were being held aside and not offered to the Lord's people for use in there church activities. In some cases, the original person/organization that registered the name may have had a good heart, but lacked the resources or drive to make the site usable. In other cases, the buyer was probably engaging in name speculation.

To paraphrase scripture, some people were given a few talents, and buried them in the fields - not properly using a gift from the Lord. We feel that we have taken the talents the Lord has given us, and amplified them, using them for His purpose.

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Is it wrong to sell the Lord's Name

First of all, we are not selling His name, but selling services under His name, to be used by His people to witness and glorify Him! Is it wrong to sell Christian books? Is it wrong to sell the Bible?? We STRONGLY believe that the Lord wants us to offer this service to His people! We pray constantly that our service be in His will, that it glorify Him, and that it bring souls to Christ Jesus.

The Lord has tremendously blessed our business since its beginning. We pray and believe that He will continue to bless it, as long as it is dedicated to His purpose, and as long as we continue to perform according to His will. Our strength to start the business came totally from Him. We believe that the Lord is blessing us because he wants His people to call on His name!

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Is this service using the Lord's Name in vain?

 ...Not as long as I am around here...    :-)      Job (the webservant at www.Christ.com)

This is a serious question! As a Christian publication service, we have some obvious editorial standards. Specifically, all web pages are family or "G-rated", and are of general interest to the Christian community. As editorial policy, we discontinue service to those web page content providers that get "too far out...", and out of touch with classic Christianity. (i.e., no crystals or spaceships,...) In this sense, we are like a magazine publisher, reserving the right to refuse service to anybody abusing our service to the Lord.

We strongly believe that the Lord wants the Internet to be used as a witnessing tool. This is a very small piece of course, but even this name service sheds light on the internet, and bears witness to His name. In a sense, our service is just giving you a nice, memorable, and meaningful home address for your E-Mail or web page on the internet.

The E-mail is private, so its between the user and the Lord whether they are using His name in vain --- Needless to say, He doesn't take things like this lightly....

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Can I buy one of your domain names outright?

No.

The names were registered on the Internet for a purpose - to make them available to the Christian Church. We believe we are serving the Lord and His people by keeping the names generally available. This allows several different Churches, denominations, organizations, individuals,....... to use the "Blessed.com" domain.

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