“People thought someone was making fun of us,” says Katie Moore, the director of marketing for LifeChurch.tv, “Then they would go to the SatanHatesLife website and realize we did it.”
The statements on each of the billboards, along with other signs that read, “I was robbed at LifeChurch.tv,” and “LifeChurch.tv is killing me,” are quotes attributed to Satan. The billboards are meant to encourage non-Christians to consider the destructive work of Satan in their lives and the power of Christ to help people overcome. “We recognize there are people who don’t believe in Satan, but they are familiar with the character of Satan,” Moore says.
The signs are displayed in cities where the multi-site Evangelical Covenant Church has campuses. Three signs are displayed in Oklahoma City as well as two in Tulsa, Moore says. Three rotate on mobile trucks in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Others are planned for Fort Worth, Texas, and possibly Mesa, Arizona.
The church hopes motorists will come to know that Satan hates their lives and what God wants to do in them. The website link listed on the billboard doesn’t lead directly to the church’s website, but rather to Satan Hates Life. A link to the church is on the website.
Despite the confusion by some congregation members, Moore says, “We’ve really received good feedback so far. We expected to get a barrage of complaints, but we haven’t yet.” She notes there is even a link on the associated website people can use to file complaints.
Although no complaints have been listed on the website, one billboard company, fearing adverse reaction, turned down the signs because they had “Satan” listed on them, Moore says. She adds the company would have accepted the advertisements if they used a caricature of Satan instead of the word.
The church decided not to use one billboard, however, although a picture of the proposed billboard is on the website. The board says, “LifeChurch.tv sucks.” Church leaders believed it might be too objectionable to motorists passing by, but felt it would work with web surfers.
“If it takes a little bit of edginess to reach people, then we’re going to be OK with that,” Moore says.
