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For those of my online friends who may be interested, this series concerns the early history of my online Christian ministry, beginning with my Mac BBS and my presence on the FidoNet message network, and then moving on to the creation of my very first website -- Endtime Prophecy Net -- on the Internet in 1997. In addition to discussing my history with BBSing and the FidoNet network, this series will emphasize my growing realization that the Internet may quite possibly be our final witnessing frontier, insofar as open Christian evangelism is concerned.

In other words, as I will be explaining in more detail later on in this series, it is my personal belief that once other missionary frontiers have closed, the Internet may provide some people in closed countries with one last chance to here the Christian Gospel. Once this frontier -- the Internet -- is closed to the Christian Gospel, that may be it, and many people may not get another chance. So let us begin by going back in time to the early 1990s, when I became involved with the FidoNet network, and set up my first BBS -- Armageddon -- which was originally called "The Treasure Trove" BBS back in those days.

For those of you who may be new to online communications, there is a good possibility that you have never even heard of FidoNet. Briefly, back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, FidoNet was arguably as popular as the Internet is today. In fact, some people who are still diehard FidoNet members in its waning hours, won't hesitate to inform the "unlearned", that FidoNet was one of the precursors to the now-public Internet. It was -- and still is -- comprised of individual BBSes -- that is, Bulletin Board Services, or Bulletin Board Systems -- which are run on private computers, and which are networked together using terminal software via local, direct telephone dial-up connections.

Today, FidoNet BBSes -- and BBSes in general -- are likewise accessible over the Internet via the telnet protocol. Such BBSes utilize port 23, which is the standard telnet port. This was the case with the Armageddon BBS, until I finally took it offline in July of 2011 due to low traffic and other technical reasons.

In other words, unlike today where the vast majority of us must rely upon an ISP -- Internet Service Provider -- or at least a LAN -- Local Area Network -- connection, in order to connect to the Internet, there was no need for a middle man back then, because the original FidoNet networks were run by SysOps -- or System Operators -- who all generally lived in the same city, town or general area. Connecting to another computer in the network was simply a matter of making a local telephone call -- via modem -- to a particular BBS. Upon connecting to such a system, one could then obtain a list of other local BBSes -- or nodes -- which formed a part of that particular BBS network. Being as these were usually local calls, there was no charge involved. In fact, in the beginning, most -- if not all -- BBSes were run for free by people who were dedicated to the hobby. How different from today where everything revolves around money and profit.

As the acronym "BBS" implies, the primary purpose of a BBS was to serve as a bulletin board, or message board, for the users of the system, as well as for the other members of the entire local network, via the exchange of message packets by the SysOps. File-sharing also became an integral part of the local BBS environment. While files were for the most part free, many SysOps eventually found it necessary to implement upload/download quotas in order to maintain a fresh stock of interesting files for their BBS members. Sadly, even back then, file leeches -- people who download a lot of files, but who rarely upload anything in return -- were a problem.

Originally, FidoNet -- which was but one of such networks -- was confined to the United States of America and Canada. As more local BBS networks joined FidoNet, it became necessary to form various "stars" -- or hubs -- that served as message relay stations between the various BBS networks which formed a part of the overall FidoNet network. As I recall, there were three such "stars" in the continental USA. If memory serves me correctly, these three "stars" were located in Texas, Pennsylvania and possibly California or Washington State.

The people who administrated these hubs also worked together to set the various policies which governed overall FidoNet operations. There was a lot of politicking going on, and on occasions there were problems. Some FidoNet message echoes were also dominated by dictatorial, tyrannical types, who at times acted like little "gods", and their word was law. If a BBS visitor dared to challenge an echo moderator's word, or worse yet, argued with them in public -- which was a serious taboo within FidoNet -- it could easily lead to that user's temporary, or even permanent, expulsion from participation in that particular message conference. It still happens on occasion today, although with less frequency, being as the FidoNet network is now only a shadow of its former self with a lot fewer BBS participants. In fact, it has been years now since I last looked into it in order to determine if FidoNet even still exists.

On a few occasions, I experienced this myself. But it wasn't because I was disrespectful in any way. I simply wanted to share my Christian faith with others, because it occurred to me that it may have possibly been someone's only chance, -- and maybe even their last opportunity -- to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sadly, some echo moderators just didn't want to hear anything about it. They made their set of rules; and as I said, a BBS visitor either chose to abide by those rules, or else. Sadly, even back then, Wicca, and other false belief systems had already taken root within the online community. I particularly noticed this amongst the military personnel who appeared to operate a lot of the BBSes back then.

One thing is for certain. The FidoNet message conferences -- or echoes as they were known -- were dedicated to a variety of topics and interests. Thus, they served as a springboard for sharing quite a diversity of viewpoints. Whether it was technocrats discussing the latest developments in computer technology; or people interested in politics who were engaged in debating the latest issues from a variety of political perspectives; or young kids who were thoroughly absorbed in the latest networked RPG's -- role-playing games -- or like me, religious people who wanted to share their faith with the world; or scientists and academia exchanging views on the latest speculations and theories; or people talking about their pets or hobbies, within the BBS world; it seems that everyone was represented to one degree or another.

Once it became physically possible to exchange message data packets via the Internet -- and thus cut down on the cost of long distance phone calls between FidoNet hubs and adjoining networks -- FidoNet grew even more, and began to expand to other countries. As a result, it became necessary to divide the online world into different zones, each one of which had their coordinators, North America being Zone 1. Back during its heyday, from about the late eighties to the mid nineties, FidoNet was comprised of literally thousands of BBSes around the world. I suppose that an exact number will really never be known, being as BBSes were coming and going all the time, and it was rather difficult to keep the nodelists up-to-date in a realistic manner. I have no idea how many active BBSes continue to exist today, but I am sure that they are not nearly as many as thirty or forty years ago.

Back during the mid to late nineties, while the rising star of the Internet offered new growth opportunities for BBSing and networks like FidoNet, it also signaled FidoNet's slow decline from popularity, and in fact, its eventual demise, due to the simple reason that FidoNet simply could not keep up with the increasingly sophisticated -- and attractive -- technologies which were being developed specifically for the Internet. Whereas BBSes have been limited to message boards, online chat, XYZ modem file transfers, and sub-standard ANSI graphics -- although us old-time BBSers still think that the graphics we used were cool at the time, particularly those graphics which were animated -- the Internet hasn't faced these kinds of limitations.

In addition to providing all of the above -- except for the PC-ANSI graphics -- the high-speed Internet today offers us live or pre-recorded streaming audio and video in the form of news, sports, special events, video conferencing, Internet TV and radio, worldwide web-cams, music, movie trailers and many other forms of entertainment. For added special effects and interactivity, webmasters also offer us Shockwave and Flash movies, Java applets, CGI scripts, as well as a host of other plug-in technologies which further enhance one's Internet experience. Then, of course, there are social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Blogger, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and a number of others.

Clearly, the volume of information the Internet provides, -- whether the information happens to be factual, propaganda or fantasy -- and the speed with which it delivers the data to us, can't possibly be compared to the archaic FidoNet network by any means. Whether we are looking for knowledge, or merely entertainment, the Internet offers each online user instant gratification. This luxury which was not afforded to BBSers of decades ago.

The Internet is an exotic -- and even sometimes dangerous -- electronic world that is full of motion, sounds and colors which immediately flood our human senses. It is a cyberworld where one can be whoever he wishes to be, regardless of the reality that surrounds him. Sadly, as many of you will know, a lot of Internet content does nothing to contribute to the betterment of society because it fails to embrace high moral standards. As I noted earlier, a large part of the Internet now revolves around making a handsome profit in whatever way possible, and nothing more.

Yet, at the same time, I can see God's Hand, and His Wisdom, behind the development of the Internet to some degree. While a certain percentage of Internet content has been devoted to things which in my view should be prohibited, we Christians have not allowed Satan to steal the show entirely. Some of us have availed ourselves of this new technology in order to further the Work of the Lord, in the hope that more people will come to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. While I don't have a precise figure, from my involvement in Christian web rings, as well as from my general web surfing, I am given the impression that there are currently thousands of individual websites which are dedicated to the sharing of our Christian faith in some form. I am reminded of the following verses:

"The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it."


"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."


It was from my humble beginnings as a local BBS, exploring the frontier of FidoNet, that my current online Christian outreach ministry evolved. I settled in my current locale during the mid 1980s. Towards the end of that decade, I grew somewhat backslidden in my ways and I left my first love for the Lord's Work. Instead of preaching the Gospel of Christ full-time as I had been doing, I became involved in various secular jobs; first working as a radio DJ and a security guard, and then as a pet store manager. After being laid off due to a change in ownership, I next started my own aquarium design and maintenance business, which was featured twice in our local newspaper. However, that business faltered, which I now believe was by God's design.

In spite of my waywardness, God wasn't through with me yet. It was through one of those jobs that I was introduced to my first computer: a Macintosh Classic. That was in 1990. By today's standards, the Classic is a very ancient machine; and nowadays, most people just throw them away, or give them away for spare parts. Back then though, having a black and white nine inch monitor with a CPU speeding along at about fourteen megahertz as I recall, was something to behold. And need I tell you about our "super-fast" 1200 baud modems of the time? Yes, go ahead and laugh. It's alright.

Well, by early 1993, I was finally able to purchase my very first computer: a Macintosh LC III. This machine came with a fourteen inch, 256-color monitor, a 25 MHz CPU, 4 megabytes of RAM, and a 160 megabyte hard drive. I even purchased a black and white laser printer to go along with it. The total cost was around $3,000, as I recall. Boy was I moving up in the world. Yes, I know. I can hear some of you chuckling from here, as you work on your 4 GHz machine with a 27" monitor with millions of colors, 32 GB of RAM, and a 2 TB hard drive.

It was towards the end of that same year that I first heard about BBSing; and before long, I managed to borrow an Apple modem from a friend of mine. For those of you who complain about the slow speed of today's dial-up connections, imagine if you can, moving along at 300 to 1200 baud with an Apple modem. Of course, at the time, it didn't seem slow, because we had nothing faster with which to compare it; and just being online was a wonder in itself. Eventually, I acquired a 2400 baud modem as a trade-off for a desktop Christmas lights program at a local Macintosh Users Group meeting. It didn't even come with a modem cable, but I was happy. Later, I moved on to a 14.4 modem, followed by a 56K modem. As fast as that seemed at the time, it obviously could not compare to the DSL line that we later acquired, which was followed by the 7 Megabit cable modem connection that we have today.

At the time, I had no idea that I could actually operate my own BBS, so I was happy with just posting messages on the local boards. But even then, God was already beginning to stir up my spirit again, as I just couldn't keep away from preaching the Gospel. It was during early 1994, after having gotten my feet wet in the BBS world, that I finally bought the Hermes BBS software package, and started my own board, which eventually became known as "The Treasure Trove BBS", -- or "TTT BBS" -- due to its Christian content. The name of my BBS was based on the following verse that is found in the Gospel of Matthew:

"Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old."


Before long, I joined a local Christian BBS network, the name of which I can no longer remember. It was through that BBS network that I also became familiar with FidoNet; and eventually, I began my own FidoNet message conference, or echo. That FidoNet echo was actually the beginning of my global online Christian outreach ministry. In fact, it was during that time that I began writing my first rudimentary articles. In short, at that time, the BBSing world was my missionary frontier, and I shared my faith with a passion.

Of course, as still occurs today with online Christians who boldly share their faith, I also attracted some quick online critics and enemies as well, as a result of it. If you take the time to conduct a Google search using the search phrases "fidonet holysmoke echo", you will still be able to find a number of links which lead to some of my very old FidoNet posts where the members of the HolySmoke echo -- which was a religious debate conference -- would viciously attack me. But as they say, it is the hit dog that howls. That is why Jesus said the following in the Gospel of Matthew. I have included a few more related verses below it:

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."


"Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision."


"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."


"The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts."


"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good."


"Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles."


"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."


During the same time that all of these events were occurring in my own life, the Internet was also growing and gaining in popularity; and as I mentioned earlier, it was just a matter of time before BBSing and FidoNet would be overshadowed by the same. The Lord knew that it was in my heart to spread the Christian Gospel as far and as wide as possible via this new medium. Thus, after proving myself faithful with the BBS for about three years, He finally opened the doors in late Spring of 1997, when I finally acquired the financial means to set up my very first Christian web page, which I chose to name "EDGE Online". The acronym EDGE stood for "Endtime Discussion Group Exchange",

I had finally broken into the still relatively new frontier of Internet Christian evangelism, and more people would be given the chance to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ! After a few years, I renamed my site "Endtime Prophecy Net", and I acquired my first domain names: endtimeprophecy.net, as well as endtimeprophecy.org. I used those two domain names for the next sixteen years, until I purchased billkochman.com, and changed the name of my website and ministry to "Bill's Bible Basics".

By today's standards, my site was a rather pitiful endeavor. I knew very little about HTML coding in those days; and so, design-wise, the site was not much different from primitive PC-ANSI graphics. However, with God's help, I have learned, and I have slowly improved my website design skills, as well as expanded my online presence. As a result, today my site -- which is now known as Bill's Bible Basics - offers our visitors an interesting and inspiring assortment of options and materials, including, but not limited to, the following:

1. hundreds of Bible-based articles and series.
2. hundreds of topical King James Version Bible verse lists.
3. hundreds of my original, and mainly Christian, poems.
4. thousands of Bible-based graphics.
5. a custom-designed search engine.
6. an online King James Version Bible.
7. the Bill's Bible Basics Blog.
8. the Bill's Bible Basics Message Forum.
9. the Christian Social Network

As some of my older friends will already know, in addition to the Bill's Bible Basics website, for quite a few years, I also operated a small Christian mailing list known as EDGE. In fact, my first web page acquired its name from my mailing list. We only had about eighty members at its peak. However, we engaged in quite a few interesting discussions concerning God's Word. In addition, I also operated the "Armageddon" FTP file server. "Armageddon" was a more modern BBS system which took advantage of a regular GUI -- or Graphical User Interface -- as opposed to the archaic PC-ANSI graphics that were used on my BBS.

At its height, the "Armageddon" FTP file server offered file downloads -- primarily of a Christian nature -- live chat, and newsgroups. The server was accessible by both Macintosh and Windows users, simply by using the free FreeShare client -- which was available from software download sites such as VersionTracker -- or by using the now-discontinued Hotline client. Contrary to what is widely believed, not everyone was a software or movie pirate on the Hotline network. I for one wasn't. I used my Hotline server to glorify God and to share His Word by way of my articles.

In September of 2010, I embarked on a new journey, and a new technological adventure, when I delved into the world of what are known as topsites. Topsites are basically links sites on which visitors to member sites can vote for sites, in order to raise that site's position on a topsites list. Prior to this point, my primary web design experience had been with standard HTML 4.0 code, as well as limited experience with using JavaScripts and PERL scripts. However, in order to set up my new topsites list -- Top Christian Sites -- I had to learn entirely new skills, including the basics of PHP, and setting up a mySQL server. After hours, days and even weeks of frustration, as I endeavored to grasp these new concepts, and confronted this new learning curve head-on, my topsites list -- Top Christian Sites -- finally went online. After a few years of running it, I took it down in 2012, as I recall.

As I look back now, I can truly see how the Lord has guided me, and provided for me, as I have sought to do His Will. I am reminded of verses such as the following, where the Lord promises to provide for us, when we seek first His Kingdom, by being faithful witnesses of His Word to the world:

"Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:"


"Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart . . . I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."


"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."


"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."


"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened . . . If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"


"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."


"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows."


"And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you."


"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"


"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."


"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him."


So I am extremely thankful for what God has done for me, as well as through me. As the old saying goes, little is a lot if God is in it; and it isn't until we take that first small step of faith, that God can reveal the next step in His plan to us. His blessings come through our obedience to His Will, as the previous verses clearly demonstrate. If you wish to learn more about this subject, I encourage you to read some of the other article that I have written, such as "Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God" and "Are You a Burning Ember for the Lord?".

Please go to part two for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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