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Biblically inspired billboards set to return to Tri-Cities

December 11, 2003

By KEISHA BRUCE

(The GodSpeaks billboard movement began in Florida in 1999.)

Have you ever been driving down the road, pondering the meaning of life or cursing at traffic, when a sign from God appeared? Yes, it's really there. God is talking to you via billboards.

The signs bear messages like "Let's meet at My house Sunday before the game" and "Loved the wedding! Invite me to the marriage." Each billboard is signed "God."

The billboards should be popping back up in the Tri-Cities in a few months. "A billboard is a wonderful place to be visible," said Doug Tweed, pastor of St. Mark United Methodist Church. "Every one I've seen has been very biblical, very personal and very relevant. I think they ask good questions and make good statements.

The GodSpeaks billboard movement began in Florida in 1999, said Richard Drummond, vice president and general manager of Lamar Advertising's Blountville office. An anonymous businessman wanted to get God's message out in a fun and interesting way, and the Smith Agency came up with the idea for the signs, said Meredith Moller, manager of communications for the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA).

Smith, a Florida advertising agency, was hired by the businessman to find a way to reach millions of people. The result was the beginning of the GodSpeaks campaign.

According to GodSpeaks.net, "It was to be a simple campaign with simple thoughts. A campaign that spoke to those that needed to be more engaged with God. It was to be a campaign that was light and humorous - capable of causing a smile or challenging a strayed emotion or thought. It was to be a campaign that was consistent with the Bible and its claims. But most of all, it was to be a campaign for those that were open to hear the voice of God and be subtly transformed by its transcendent principles."

The billboards were unveiled throughout the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area and caused such a stir that OAAA jumped on board. According to the GodSpeaks Web site, the association took the campaign to the national level - more than 10,000 billboard messages were posted in more than 200 cities and communities.

Drummond said OAAA uses the campaign as a public service, and it now runs on a cycle. God should be sending out billboard messages again in this area early next year, he said. "We can't run it too often or it will lose its effect," Drummond said.

When the billboards first showed up in the Tri-Cities, Lamar's office received many phone calls from people curious about the signs' origins. The firm owns about 600 billboards from Abingdon to Morristown.

"We still get calls today (from people) saying it's one of the most remembered outdoor campaigns they've ever seen," Drummond said. Moller said the Smith Agency dissolved a year or so ago and, to her knowledge, more messages are not being developed.

Dr. C. Robert Wetzel, president of Emmanuel School of Religion in Johnson City, said that while religious scholars may see the billboards as simplistic, people are reached at different levels, and that should be respected. "If they are reaching some people, praise God," he added.

Tweed said the signs serve as an unexpected reminder. "They help people to think about important things in a world where we're so often distracted by the unimportant," he said. Wetzel said he doesn't think the campaign is presumptuous in speaking for God because the messages are consistent with scripture.

"The prophets did it all the time, and we preachers do it all the time when we preach - we are speaking for God," he said. Here are other GodSpeaks billboard messages, some of which haven't been used in the Tri-Cities:

  • That 'love thy neighbor' thing? I meant it.
  • We need to talk.
  • What part of 'you shall not' didn't you understand?
  • Keep using my name in vain, I'll make rush hour longer.
  • C'mon over, and bring the kids! (And tell the kids I love them.)
  • Follow Me.
  • Will the road you're on get you to my place?
  • My way is the highway.
  • Need directions?
  • Have you read My #1 best-seller? (There will be a test.)
  • I love you, I love you, I love you."

Copyright 2003 Kingsport Times-News.

On top of disrupting school over religion, we have a Rev. Poff that wants to ban Halloween as Satanic.

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