Skywriting for Jesus

I just came back from a vacation in Orlando. Needless to say, I was at one of the massive theme parks down there with my family. While I was walking to a ride with my brother-in-law, we looked up and saw the begining of some skywriting. We couldn't make it out at first, but as the plane continued its work we read the message: TURN TO JESUS.

I had two reactions to this. The first (and I don't mean to offend anyone) was amazement at the silliness of the thing. Skywriting for Jesus. It was an attempt to put up a billboard like advertisement in a way that the most people possible are almost forced to notice. I suppose the logic is just that... to confront people with idea of Jesus in a way that they can't ignore. But even as a Christian I was annoyed that someone was trying to sell me on a life changing decision through the same superficial means used to get people to Joe's Crab Shack. I wasn't confronted with Jesus. I was confronted by a cardboard cut-out that had as much promise of redeeming my life as a hamburger from McDonald's.

But as I was sharing these very thoughts with my sister's husband, I had a second reaction. This cardboard & shallow Jesus had provided me an opportunity to talk about the real Jesus and the depths of redemption with a family member. I was grateful for the opportunity.

Now, do I think churches should spend their money on skywriters? No. I think skywriting is best used for Jon's Surf Shop or the monster truck show. It gets people through the door. Can God use skywriting? Obviously He can. I just believe it's best to use methods that not only get the message 'out there' but are also compatible with the message itself. And the message of the Gospel is so much more profound than getting the general public to buy a product. Faithful communication of this truth needs methods that reflect its depth. But until we as the Church decide to consistently follow that path, I suppose I will remain grateful for whatever opportunities I have to tell people about Jeus.


Skywriting for Jesus

Reverence & Transformation

My son Eli (5 1/2 years old) is fascinated with the stars & planets. Over the last year, we have read books on the planets and talked about looking for the them in the sky. Eli was really excited when we bought a mobile of the nine planets and hung it over his bed last summer. That really sparked a lot of bedtime conversation about the Creation and the 'biggishness' of God. It was easy to see that he had a certain sense of curiousity about the planets. “I would really like to see them up close!”

I bought Eli a large telescope this Christmas (or maybe it was for me). After we figured out the whole apparatus, we began hoping for a clear night. It so happens that one of the few clear nights of 2006 was this past weekend... when Saturn was in opposition to Earth (closest approach for the year). I spotted Saturn in the constellation of Cancer, trained the telescope on it and called Eli over. Now, if any of you have small children or work with small children, getting them to do precise operations in the dark is no small feat. I had Eli look through the eye piece but he was either bumping the scope out of position, or not aligning his eye properly to see any image. And when he did get his eye lined up correctly, Saturn had passed out of the line of sight (due to the Earth's rotation). Needless to say, he was getting quite frustrated with me and the whole endeavor... and so was I.

Finally, he mastered the process and caught his first glimpse of Saturn. Even with an 8 inch mirror telescope, Saturn is only the size of a pebble.. but you can see the rings! Eli looked up from the telescope… his eyes like saucers… clear excitement on his face and yet unable to speak for a moment or two. Curiousity was replaced by awe. He was amazed… he had seen Saturn! “Can we look for Mars next!”

When we catch a vision of the majesty of a thing, our foul temper has a way of vanishing. It is replaced with a transforming joy. We forget our complaints and say 'show me more!'

That's what the Lord taught me through my son the other night.

Saturn