Loading ...48 feet long and five letters wide
flockwoodThe North Little Rock billboard is 14 feet tall and 48 feet wide and five letters long: J-E-S-U-S.
The sign, green and white and made of vinyl, towers over Interstate 30’s southbound travelers.
A central Arkansas businessman pays Lamar Outdoor Advertising a sizable sum to lift up and illuminate it in the name of Jesus.
Billboard rentals in this heavily traveled corridor run about $1,500 per month, Lamar sales manager David Fraiser said. “Quite a bit of traffic goes through there, yes sir,” Fraiser said. More than 80,000 vehicles per day, he added.
The man who rents the space insisted on anonymity, saying he just wanted the billboard to point to Jesus.
The sign first appeared in the Little Rock area about five years ago. Identical billboards have dotted the St. Louis skyline for more than a decade.
Bryan and Vicki Brand put up the first green and white Jesus sign in Missouri’s St. Louis County in the late 1990s.
“Back then … alcohol, tobacco and gambling were the big three” billboard advertisers, Bryan Brand said.
The Brands decided they’d use roadway advertising to promote something loftier than malt liquor and Marlboros.
They’ve been churning out Jesus billboards, banners, yard signs, window stickers and tracts ever since.
“Our mission is to boldly publish the name of Jesus with dignity and simplicity,” said Brand, 65, an ordained minister and retired investment adviser.
He has his own Web site, www.jesusnameproject.org. During the past decade, fellow Christians have put up identical billboards in Illinois, Arkansas and Iowa, too.
The signs don’t quote Scripture verses or hype Web sites. They don’t tout a particular denomination or creed.
They’re painted green and white to evoke the official government road signs that line freeways.
The five-letter word on the billboard, Brand says, is no ordinary word.
“There is power in the name of Jesus,” he said. “Everything everyone everywhere ever needs is only Jesus.”
April 27th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Maybe it’s Noah’s Ark!!!
April 28th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Julian, you’ve obviously researched out this whole Noah’s Ark thing pretty thoroughly, so tell us, how many cubits is 48 feet?
April 28th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
That is a good question, Caleb.
April 29th, 2010 at 7:19 am
Julian, I also note that this sign is in Arkansas, a word that begins with “Ark.” Perhaps, given that the Noah’s Ark story describes a flood of the entire world, the Ark really ended up in America, and our native inhabitants named a whole state after it.
How many cubits did you say were in 48 feet?????
April 29th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
“Perhaps, given that the Noah’s Ark story describes a flood of the entire world, the Ark really ended up in America, and our native inhabitants named a whole state after it.”
Caleb, about 34 cubits make 48 feet. Yours discoveries about reaching the famous ark of Noah to land of America is very interesting and amazing too. Noah’s ark is famous because today’s plant and animal kingdom, including you and me are existed because of survival of Noah’s family thru his ark. That is why in my previous posting it was said “God is good all the time”.
Only difference I have with your finding is that America was flooded not with liquid water but with spiritual water spring out from the blood of Christ whose name is J-E-S-U-S and every head should bow to this name. Because He is the ark of our spiritual survival for now and forever but Noah’s ark was physical which is mortal. His name is not only 14 feet long and 48 feet wide. You can stretch His name as long you wish; still you can maintain His beauty. Your discovery is wonderful too.
April 29th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Julian, is that measurement by the Egyptian royal cubit or the Sumerian Nippur cubit?
April 29th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
I don’t think Genesis said anything about plants, Julian. They must have survived the flood on their own.
April 29th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Caleb, you are right, plant kingdom was survived by itself. How about Christ’s blood, isn’t it modern day ark, where billions can take shelter at a time, still no one sinks at turmoil winds but float in any circumstances? For that reason of cost benefit analysis of spiritual health 14 * 48 ft. Billboard size is too small for a big name. $1,500/month is too little a cost for a big gain to maintain spiritual health in day to day life. We spend more money on health insurance but no money on spiritual health.
Cubit conversion to foot depends on your hand, how long or short is your hand. Caution do not forget to convert from feet to inches 1st to get number of cubits.
April 29th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Wouldn’t it depend on how big peoples’ hands were at the time? I’m no Bible expert like you, but some quick reading suggests that there’s a 30% or more range of difference between the various competing cubits.
There is, however, no difference in the quality of God’s love. And that’s the whole point of the story: God loves us, and if the ancients had to make up a story about a flood to get us to believe that, then so be it. I believe it anyway, without a need to believe in the flood, too.
April 29th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
“There is, however, no difference in the quality of God’s love. And that’s the whole point of the story: God loves us, and if the ancients had to make up a story about a flood to get us to believe that, then so be it. I believe it anyway, without a need to believe in the flood, too.”- Caleb
Caleb, I agree with you that 1) there is no difference in the quality of God’s love among them who loves Him with their whole heart, mind and strength and obey His commandment. In support of your statement as we find in Christ’s parable of selecting daily laborer during different time of the day but paid equal amount everybody at the end of the day, irrespective who was hired when. In other word, He does not love us by mere word “I love you” type of flattering words as you said above. God loves us equally irrespective when we turn our mind to Him and love Him by obeying His commandment. I know corporate law would not support this discrepancy of equal payment with less work, but God does at His discretionary power and no one have right to challenge for His kindness.
However, I do not agree with you that 2) the whole point of story for great flood is that God love everybody. Rather we find God has anger, though His angry is very, very slow. You know the story all people washed away with floodwater except Noah and his family.
I know you are man of law, but how you say, “I believe it anyway, without a need to believe in the flood, too.” What do you then believe out of this great flood, not believing the occurrence?
April 30th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Julian,
How did Noah get kangaroos on his boat?
April 30th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Cheese if God could hang the earth weighing billions of tons without a single pillar with His scientific tricks electromagnetic net, He has His own tricks to save His entire creation during flood including kangaroos. Did you ever think how a child survives in earthquake when building crashed to ground zero or a child thrown away by tornado wind hundreds of feet away? When we find all answers in anyone’s lifetime, we would find God I am sure. So why not in my life time acknowledge God, believe the Bible as His word, love Him with my whole heart and obey His commands as much I can with my sincere heart and for rest of my weakness to be holy, relied on Christ Who would take care. That is why He died at the cross and called Christ, the redeemer. As I posted earlier if you remember, there is nothing to lose if I believe Christ now, rather than waiting for scientists to declare that there is God, as Stephen Hawking did recently for space aliens. In the mean time, I may die and loss the opportunity to be saved with gift, Christ gave us. Why should I loose the gift for nothing?
May 1st, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Wow, Julian, so it’s really that easy, is it? Ask a question. If you can’t think of an answer, just say God “works in mysterious ways.” God is an answer for everything. Sorry, but that’s just childish to me. When I was a child, my dad was the biggest thing in my life. There was seemingly nothing he couldn’t do. But once I grew up, I learned that the world was much bigger than my dad. You see God the same way. But if you were to really ask questions and stop just assuming God is the answer to every question you might ask, you might find an intellectually satisfying answer. By just tossing out God as the answer to everything, you are living your life in easy mode. Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living. C’mon, Julian, ask questions, think for yourself, think hard, stop accepting the easy, feel-good answers all the time. If you ever want to achieve anything in this life, you have to do it the hard way. Truth cannot be found at Barnes & Noble for $14.95.
May 1st, 2010 at 4:12 pm
Julian, buddy, you need to get out of a fear-based mind set and let the love of God shine in. Every post of yours makes the same simple point: God will send you to hell if you don’t believe what Julian believes. Period. So, if you want to avoid the fires of hell, you’ve got to abandon all reason and dance the Julian two-step: God loves you, BUT only if you believe exactly the right thing.
I don’t buy it. Sorry. It’s obvious that someone, probably in your childhood, quite literally put the fear of God in you. They’ve made you see God as a bad schoolmarm, with that ruler out to rap anyone’s knuckles if they get out of line. Unfortunately, the manifestation of that fear is to hide in your shell and be scared to death that any new idea will send one on that downhill slide. Julian, I hate to break it to you, but God’s love is bigger than your box. I hope you don’t have to wait til you get to heaven to discover this, because you’ll have missed a lot along the way.