A short message ... an eternal impact
Bill Bumpas - OneNewsNow - 1/17/2012 2:35:00 PM
Focus
on the Family does it again. After airing a pro-life spot during the
Super Bowl a couple of years ago, the Christian ministry sponsored
another commercial during the NFL playoffs last weekend.
The
spot, which aired during the second quarter of Saturday night's game
between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots, was seen by an
estimated 30-million viewers. This time around the commercial was all
about John 3:16 -- and featured children reciting the well-known verse.
Gary Schneeberger, VP of communications for Focus on the Family,
tells OneNewsNow the idea for the commercial came up after Tim Tebow --
the star quarterback for the Broncos and unashamed Christ-follower --
threw for 316 yards in his team's previous playoff victory against the
Pittsburgh Steelers, setting off a flurry of Internet comments comparing
it to John 3:16.
"What happened after that interestingly though
was almost 100-million people, I understand, went to Google to look up
what John 3:16 meant," explains Schneeberger. "We saw that as a great
opportunity, given the interest, to save them the trouble if you will of
having to go to the computer and look it up.
"So we just
presented it right there on the screen -- out of the mouths of babes, as
it were; the cute kids in the commercial. We've really been astounded
by the impact that that's had."
According to the ministry spokesman, comments coming in included one that validated the entire effort.
"[They
included] one gentleman who on his Twitter page wrote that his two sons
had seen the ad and accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior," says
Schneeberger. "And that's it -- because John 3:16 is the essence of the
gospel, the heart of the gospel."
All the ads for the Super
Bowl are already sold out, so the spot will not show up there. But
Schneeberger says there is a good chance it will air again somewhereelse."
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