Posted on 02/07/2011 2:15:55 PM PST by wmfights
Millions of Super Bowl viewers got a dose of Scripture Sunday night when a Christian group’s John 3:16 commercial was unexpectedly aired.
Just before the fourth quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Green Bay Packers game, the 30-second biblical spot popped up to the surprise of football fans in Washington, D.C. It also aired in Birmingham, Ala.
Within those hours, the Look Up 316 website that the commercial advertised drew so much traffic that it was difficult to load the web page.
“The LookUp316.com website hit totals are soaring ...,” Larry Taunton, executive director of Fixed Point Foundation, the group behind the ad, tweeted.
The commercial was rejected to run nationally by Fox Sports for containing too much “religious doctrine” and for being too offensive.
Notably, the commercial features no preaching but simply encourages curious viewers to look up John 3:16.
In the television ad, a group of friends are watching a football game in a living room. They cheer when one of the players on defense tackles his opponent. Then a closeup is shown of the defensive player’s eye black where he has painted “John 3:16.” One of the viewers asks his neighbor what that means. After the neighbor shrugs, the viewer offers to look it up for them on his cell phone.
The commercial concludes with “LookUp316.com: A Message of Hope.”
For curious viewers, the website offers a simple explanation of the verse’s meaning, starting from why the world isn’t quite right to Jesus Christ giving his life for everyone and him being the only hope.
Well aware that more than 100 million viewers tune in to the Super Bowl game and that the special commercials are an event in itself, Fixed Point Foundation sought to use that platform to share “the most important message the world has ever heard.”
“Few people have the chance to say something truly meaningful. And, more often than not, that opportunity is wasted,” the Birmingham, Ala.-based organization said. “Even our biggest media and cultural event, the Super Bowl, is chock full of million-dollar clutter. Massive amounts of money are spent talking about trivial things – like beer and potato chips.
“What if you used that opportunity to do something great?” That is, say something meaningful.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
The mission of Fixed Point Foundation is to promote a confident Christianity in the public square by fortifying the minds of Christians and challenging the faith of skeptics.
The Packers defeated the Steelers, 31-25.
Would that have pleased you?
No. They did not favor any flavor of Christianity over another.
Islam is a form of government that is not conducive to freedom. It includes sharia law. The founders would NOT back an opposing form of government that is tyrannical. And they opposed a theocracy which is what islam is.
This is not a muslim nation.
Many of the commercials during the superbowl, in years past, were aired by local stations and promoted local businesses.
Not sure if that is still true but sounds like it might be.
Nope, just wanting people to admit that they wouldn’t have like it had the shoe been on the other foot. I get tired of reading posts about a natural disaster that hits some area of the world and its God’s doing as long as its not a Christian area. when its a Christian area that gets hammered then Saran did it. LOL
And yes, some twit on FR actually said that!
I never said the founders would have supported sharia. They made sure that no faith was given prominence. They were inclusive.
Wow. Imagine that. I suppose it must be tiring for you to have to put up with all of the twits here on Free Republic.
Islam is a form of government. It is a theocracy. The Founders would not have allowed it to compete with their Republic.
Remind you of NS?
NS?
How would you have felt if the ad had said to kill all infidels?
The poster would have been fine with that since "They made sure that no faith was given prominence. They were inclusive." Don't you know that they have the freedom to get on TV and yell "Death to the infidels!"
It seems that PC nonsense even infects FR.
FWIW, I think Christians are waking up and realizing it's up to all of us to evangelize not the other guy.
No, I got it, I just thought it was a bizarre question.
I suppose “we” would do what we always do when we disagree with something - file it, write about it, debate it, ignore it.
FWIW, it is a good question. Most Christians are not taking the time to learn how to respond to muslims. It's not as hard as most think.
Islam like all pagan religions does not have a Savior. muslims never know if they will go to heaven or not. They hope they will but no matter how much they've fought for islam they don't know. It would be great to see them open themselves up to a public debate. They rely on intimidation and force because they don't stand on truth.
I guess some group would run a counter-ad. It’s a free country. Moslems are welcome to run whatever kind of ad they want and we are welcome to counter their lies with the truth.
Islam is a form of government wrapped in religious terms.
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