In the last decade, I have published over 2 million words on this blog, and I am glad that you have found some of these words to be helpful and encouraging in your own relationship with Jesus.

It is a privilege to write about something I am passionate about, which is helping people see that they caFn have a personal relationship with God without the manipulation, control, guilt, fear, and shame that is central to all religious systems.

But I have recently encountered a big problem on this blog: Blogging starts to get expensive. Very expensive.

Running this blog is expensive

Blogging, like anything else in the world, costs money to do it right.

As my blog has grown, it has also become more expensive to run. When I first started blogging, it cost me about $100 a year to run this blog. That expense was worth it for me.

But within the last year or two, as my blog readership has exploded, so have my expenses. This month, people will read about 250,000 articles on my blog. I am thrilled with the impact this blog is making in the world!

But it is also costing me over $400 a month (about $5000 annually) to keep the blog up and running.

Why does blogging cost so much?

There are “free” or “low cost” ways of blogging (for less than $100 per year). While I used to use these methods, they often crashed under the weight of my readership, and so I have had to steadily upgrade to better web hosting, email service (for my email newsletter), and podcast hosting (for my podcast) so that my site doesn’t crash.

This is a good problem to have because it shows that this blog is helping millions of people around the world each and every year.

I get emails every day from people in various countries who have been helped by the content of this blog. Many of them struggle under the bondage of religion, have questions about the character of God, and desperately need help about how to understand Scripture in light of Jesus Christ. They write to me from all over the world telling me how thankful they are to have found my blog. This blog and my writings are helping liberate thousands of people every month from the shackles of religion so they can enter into the genuine relationship with God they have always desired.

I know that you might have been encouraged by this blog as well.

So I want to do whatever I can to keep my blog up and running.

The problem, however, is that the costs are becoming unsustainable.

While I love blogging and writing to encourage others, the costs are getting to the point where I simply cannot afford it, and I am not sure what to do.

To help defray the cost of blogging, I have tried various things.

I have tried using affiliate links, writing books, and selling advertising.

While each one of these activities brings in a little bit of money each month, they do not even come close to covering the total cost of running this blog.

As you can see, the domain name registration and hosting fees are the largest expense. I have numerous blogs, and (as explained above) I have too many readers to go with entry-level hosting (a good problem to have). Also, I cannot host my podcast files on my site, because the number of downloads I receive would crash my blog. The Membership area expenses include the software and shopping cart features I use to create a secure members-only area on my website. I use an email service to send out my email newsletter and keep track of all the thousands of subscribers. The miscellaneous item includes one-time fees for things like book design and publishing expenses, and software or equipment upgrades.

So altogether, I have about $440 in monthly expenses and $165 in monthly income.

So, I need your help.

I have already cut costs everywhere I can without causing this website to crash, which means I have to find new ways to cover the costs of blogging. Here are my only options:

1. Accept Donations
2. Put new blog content in a members-only area and charge a small monthly fee for access.
3. Make weekly or monthly pleas for people to buy my books so that the blog content can remain free.
4. Close down this site and cancel the podcast.

Obviously, option 4 is out of the question. I am going with Option 1 and Option 2. Let me tell you about Option 2 first.

Option 2: Membership Area

I recently started a Members-Only area of the website. There is a Free Member’s area (the “Faith” Membership level) which grants you access to all sorts of free eBooks, online theology lessons, and audio downloads.

But the real benefit comes in the Paid Membership levels, which is the “Hope” and “Love” Membership levels. These levels help support the work I am doing here at RedeemingGod.com, but also provide you with numerous benefits as well. I want to thank those who support my work, and so these membership levels provide a way for me to do this.

Among these benefits are more free eBooks and free online theology courses. More benefits and courses are coming soon. Go here to become a Member of RedeemingGod.com.

Nevertheless, some people just want to give and do not care too much about receiving the extra benefits of membership. If so, you can make a donation below…

Option 1: Accepting Donations

While I am not a non-profit organization (I am not a 501c3), I have decided to accept financial gifts from those who appreciate how my writing has helped them gain a clearer picture of God and a deeper understanding of how to follow Jesus outside of religion, and who want this same message to continue to be freely offered to others.

I am not asking for donations to cover the time I spend on this blog. I put my blood, sweat, and tears into this blog because I am passionate about showing people a way to break free from the shackles of religion and see God in a whole new light.

Yet I am happy to accept your help in covering the growing expenses of this work.

So if you believe in the impact my blog and podcast are having on others around the world and you would like to partner with me to keep it going, I would greatly appreciate any support you can provide below.

A monthly gift of $10 or $20 would be of great help, or a one-time gift of $50 or $100. Please note that since I do not have 501(c)(3) non-profit status, these gifts are not tax deductible. (I looked into becoming a 501(c)(3), but it would cost even more money I do not have…)

If you benefit from this blog, know that it also benefits thousands of others around the world every single day. But since it is not free to run this blog, would you please consider how you can support this site?

Thanks for reading, and for partnering with me in any way you can. You can make a one-time or a monthly gift through the form below.