As the year draws to a close, it’s time to take stock of the year gone by, and look ahead at the one to come!
THE YEAR GONE BY
The Big Search (January - February, 2022)
For most of The Fuel Project’s existence, I’d operated it from the loft of a small 1-bedroom maisonette, which I’d bought in 2013 as my first home.
As blessed as I felt to have a place to call my own, as the years passed, it became clear that the confines of the size was putting limitations on what was possible for this ministry. To improve the quality and quantity of output, and to see long-held dreams for The Fuel Project come to pass, I knew I would one day need to attempt to find something bigger. Ideally, with something I could use as a dedicated studio/office space.
At the beginning of 2021, I had felt God telling me to be prepared to take risks, and around the middle of that year, I felt a sudden sense of urgency to take a leap of faith for the bigger space.
In truth, and in purely natural terms, it wasn’t the best moment to be attempting a house move. We were all just coming out of Covid restrictions, and the housing market had suddenly become extremely competitive. There was talk of around 10-20 people competing for each house in my area, and consequently houses were selling for way above the market price. However, I really felt God had told me that it was time to move, and so in faith, and with the word “risk” at the front of my mind, I put my house on the market.
By December that year, it had sold, and the search for a new place with studio space had begun.
As we entered 2022, I was still in the process of searching, and that was stressful because momentarily I had nowhere to work from. Throughout January and most of February, all I could do was provide the occasional vlog update on how the property search was going, and rely on the Fuel community to send Two-Minute Testimonies, like this one from Amanda (see right). Thank you to everyone who who contributed! I hope everyone enjoyed hearing the stories of what God has been doing in people’s lives around the world.
Garage Conversion / Future Studio
By February, I’d found a perfect new house, complete with pre-existing garage conversion that would make for a great studio (see right).
At this point, I could go into a very lengthy story of problems and miracles. I could tell of how the house was unusually in the hands of a company rather than an individual, and how they wanted a quick sale. How that meant they were willing to accept less money than a private seller would have. How, because of the way the company operated, there was only 1 other rival bid instead of the usual 10-20. How the selling company stipulated the buyer wouldn’t be able to move in until May, and how that meant the rival bidder ultimately pulled out and gave me a free run at it. Everything fell into place to give me a space that in ordinary circumstances, I would likely never have been able to buy.
So what of the problems? Well, there were many which I won’t bore you with here. But the main issue was that, although being willing to wait until May was the decisive reason I got the property, I now had nowhere to record from for nearly half the year. As I thought about this, I wondered if I could really wait that long to get back to work. Would people accept such a long wait? Would they forget about The Fuel Project? Could I afford to post nothing for five months?
I swayed back and forth on this, and considered giving up the house to find somewhere that would allow a quicker entry. However, it was at this point that two friends from church - Don and Sharon - stepped in to save the day. They had an empty cottage on their property which they generously allowed me to use as a temporary recording studio. I’m not sure what I would have done without them.
Navigating The Music Industry (February - May, 2022)
I moved into Don and Sharon’s cottage in mid-February, and understanding I would only be there for a couple of months, embarked upon a 10 part mini-series on the music industry and pop culture.
I talked about my own journey with secular music. We looked at the spiritual nature of music. How what we consume through our ears and eyes affects our lives. How to honour God through our entertainment choices. We talked about how Christians should relate to pop culture in general. And then finally, we discussed the state of Christian Contemporary Music and modern worship.
If you’d like to catch up on that series, you can begin watching it by clicking the video above. You can also download the series by clicking below.
Trench - A Christian Guide to the Culture War (May - Present)
When May arrived, I was able to move into the new space. It felt like a moment of excitement, but also of huge relief. It meant that I could finally dig into the main project for the year, that I’d been planning for nearly a year. It was called “Trench - A Christian Guide to the Culture War.”
In this series, the main purpose has been to explain why our civilisation is embracing Cultural Marxism, or what’s also become known as Wokeism. After putting in place some foundational theory, we explored why Western Civilisation dramatically changed course through a social revolution in 1967; where we can expect it all to lead on the current trajectory; and what the Christian response should be.
The book is available from Amazon. You can get it by clicking here. Thanks to everyone who left a positive review!
My original plan was to finish the Trench video series by the end of 2022. However, as I write this blog on 24th December, we have 4 or 5 episodes still left to post. And since I’m planning to take a little break over the holidays, time has run out. When I come back in early January, we’ll hopefully get it wrapped up within a few weeks.
Speaking of the new year…
THE YEAR AHEAD
Something I’ve learned from these Vision Reports over the years is that the new year rarely goes exactly how I envision it. “We make our plans but the Lord determines our steps.” (Proverbs 16:9) However, as I look ahead right now, here are some of the things I’m hoping will come to pass in 2023.
Goal #1 - Finish Trench
The primary goal is to finish Trench in January and make it available for digital download. That will mark the completion of a project that has occupied most of my time recently.
Goal #2 - Answers S3
Following Trench, my aim is to complete a third season of “Answers” videos. For anyone new to The Fuel Project, “Answers” is our apologetics series where we tackle any and all questions you can think of.
Quite a few messages have been stacking up in my inbox over the past year, so I’d like to dig into the issues raised. There are a varied range of topics, which should mean we cover a lot of ground, and it’ll be good to get into areas of life, theology and current events that we’ve not discussed for a while.
If you have any questions to be included in that upcoming season, feel free to send them to authenticfuel@gmail.com!
Garage Conversion / Future Studio (Alternate Angle)
Goal #3 - Build out the studio
Even though the new house has a garage conversion which could provide a perfect studio space, I’ve not yet been able to afford to build it out. It still looks like this (see right).
The previous owners didn’t put radiators or any other heat source in there when they did the conversion, which makes it non-viable for recording in the winter months. To get it ready, that will need to be remedied, and perhaps some more insulation added. Next, the room will need to be soundproofed and treated with acoustic panels to dampen the sound and take away the echo. Finally, it will need to be furnished, decorated and equipped. There’s also the question of what to do with the utility area and washing machine!
Because it was clear that room would require a bit of work, I’ve been recording Trench from a spare bedroom in 2022, as it was quicker and cheaper to prepare. In 2023 though, hopefully, the full potential of the new place will finally be realised and I’ll be able to start making videos from the dedicated studio space. Bit by bit!
Goal #4 - New Series
After completing the third season of Answers videos, I have a few ideas for the next feature-length series, which should probably get started around (late) summer. I’m not sure which idea will take precedence at the moment. I want to talk about the holidays (Halloween, Christmas and Easter especially) at some point as these are topics that come to the forefront every year. I also want to get into the subjects of heaven and hell and what the Bible tells us about these. Also, the mission and purpose of the church is on my mind. There’s a local church that has recently suggested coming alongside The Fuel Project to help with the the Kindling discipleship course for small groups and house churches. There’s also a planned sequel to Trench…but I might wait a while to give everyone a rest from that subject. There may be another project that comes to the fore and trumps all of these! Whatever it is, we should be ready to go with it by the middle of the year.
Goal #5 - Podcasting & Cultural Commentary
I’ve spoken about this in the last couple of annual Vision Reports, but I think it might be interesting to do some conversational podcasts about current events as they unfold. Personally, I prefer conversational podcasts to monologues, so I may start advertising for a team of regular contributors who would be willing to host or be involved in those. If you’re someone who may be interested in being a part of that, send an email to authenticfuel@gmail.com. We might run some auditions to see if we can put together a team with the right chemistry for informative discussions.
Goal #6 - Short Films
Finally, I have an idea to start making short films or sketches that would present the parables and teachings of Jesus, and of the Bible as a whole, in a modern context. This would need a team of writers, actors and camera operators to make happen, so prayers for guidance on this would be very much appreciated! Please pray that if this is something to be pursued, God would send people with the necessary gifts.
AND FINALLY…
There’s much more I could say, but I hope this brief overview has given you a reasonable insight into what’s been happening over the past year, and the planned direction for the year ahead. It has been a time of great change, and indeed great risk, but hopefully it’s laid the foundation for the future.
Before I go, I want to say thank you to everyone who has prayed for this ministry. Thank you also to everyone who has sent an encouraging email. Thanks to those who have left nice reviews on Amazon for the books. Thanks to people who have shared The Fuel Project with friends and family this year. And a big thank you to everyone who has just clicked “like” or left a comment on any of the social media posts in 2022. Just that simple interaction causes social media algorithms to make the content more visible to others, which in turn helps to grow and support the work. Every little thing you’ve done to support me and this ministry has been so appreciated.
Finally, I want to give an extra special thank you to this ministry’s patrons and donors who have financially supported the work here this year. Because of the counter-cultural nature of the content I make, most of it is not considered advertiser-friendly and that severely diminishes YouTube ad revenue. The social media platforms in general are not supportive of the kind of content The Fuel Project makes. For that reason, intentional patrons and donors are vital to the ongoing survival of this ministry and therefore to everyone who has supported financially, I can’t thank you enough for your help.
If you’d like to become a patron for The Fuel Project from as little as $2 a month, you can do so at patreon.com/thefuelproject. Other ways to donate are possible by doing to thefuelproject.org and clicking the “Donate” button in the top-right corner, or through PayPal at authenticfuel@gmail.com.
May you all have a blessed and happy time over the holidays. I’m taking a break until early January so with that in mind, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I’ll see you all again in 2023.
God bless,
Mark Fairley