This was a headline that came up today on the homepage of Yahoo! Of course I had to click on it for, as Paul Harvey would say, "the rest of the story." Apparently there was a 6-story, yes you read that correctly, 6-story, statue of Jesus erected in front of the Solid Rock Church in Monroe, OH right along I-75. The real name of the statue is "King of Kings" It received it's nickname of "Touchdown Jesus" for obvious reasons looking at the picture. Sadly, it was struck by lightning the other night and burned to the ground. I'm sure the fact that it was made of Styrofoam didn't help in the cause to keep it safe from fire. The churches founder, Lawrence Bishop, and his wife commissioned the statue as a "beacon of hope and salvation" for travelers. Personally, I think it's a little scary, but to each his own. The cost? a whopping $250,000. I'm sorry, but I think that's ridiculous, and I think Jesus would think it was ridiculous too. What a waste of resources. If they were going to build something that's 6-stories tall, build an apartment complex for people who've lost their homes. What a colossal waste of money! "so high in my lovely tower of Babel." What Would Jesus Do? I think he did it the other night.
But Terri...You, a supporter of the arts?!....:-) WWJD...what would Jesus Draw?..or maybe is was not art, and God sent a lighten' bolt to take care of it..LOL
ReplyDeleteMadge - Don't get me wrong. I'm all about beauty and art, and, ceratinly there have been beautiful sculptures and paintings through the ages of Jesus and the Saints, Michaelangelo's David comes to mind, but I feel, maybe naively, that those were inspirations from the artist, not two people who are the founders of a church spending $250,000 on their "vison" Maybe they'll do some good with the insurance money. Won't it be ironic if their insurance doesn't cover acts of God? Hee Hee. ;-D
ReplyDeleteSo, Jesus has always created opposition. This statue no different. Some see as inspiration and confirmation of faith; others as a monstrosity. I'm thinking Jesus would look at their hearts. I'm thinking they are a mega church with over 3,000 members that are doing multiculural work and that this has made national news and creating a lot of Jesus conversations that would not have been had otherwise. In fact, Jesus came up in our training because of this; I'm thinking Jesus is loving it that people are talking about Him. Jesus loves us to be sharing Him with others. What a mega opportunity for spreading the word of God virally!
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