Ian Ferguson

Christian, Blessed Husband, Proud Father

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

EPC commissioners led out of Muddy Creek to Mount Cherry at GA 2026

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

"We can fit a few more in here!" says man sitting on ceiling light at current EPC GA

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

Wow! GA attendees find Lavish Loo opens portal to New Heavens and New Earth.

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

Breaking: Man carrying cross across town keeps getting stopped by people asking for medical advice.

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

Turning Point USA announces they will have their own Superbowl Halftime show with Larry the Cucumber performing "The Dance of the Cucumber" a traditional Argentinian ballad in Spanish

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

GenCon 2025 update : John Piper set to protest outside of Indianapolis board game convention with release of new shell collecting themed game.

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

MIND CONTROL: Missions giving in EPC churches sees 300% increase after suspicious hats handed out by World Outreach at 2025 GA #epc2025ga

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

All EPC candidates immediately unenroll for Fall classes as 2025 General Assembly comes to and end.

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

FINALLY: Ward church installs individual, soundproof pods for introverted commissioners at General Assembly.

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

MIRACLE: Lanyard pouch does not run out of coffee coupons for all of GA.

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

Feeling this in my soul today. Thanks Babylon Bee.

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

WARNING: GA moderator warns that panhandlers outside Ward church are not homeless, just NextGen workers relaxing.

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

"Oh no! Another EPC pastor caught in World Outreach baklava trap!"

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

"EPC pastors at GA invited to learn meekness by getting punched in the chest by black belt Zack Eswine"

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

@ayeejuju It is called a pensieve, muggle

[Natasha Crain @Natasha_Crain]

In this year’s Super Bowl, the He Gets Us campaign is doubling down on its progressive, fully human Jesus.

As many of you know, I’ve written an in-depth article on my website critiquing the He Gets Us campaign each of the last two years. But today I want to address the new Super Bowl ad specifically.

The ad is titled, “What Is Greatness?” It shows a series of photos of people helping each other in various, often sacrificial ways. For example, they show people helping someone push a car out of snow, someone donating an organ, a woman saving another woman from a car accident, and other uncontroversial actions. Embedded in these shots are also a couple of more culturally-charged examples, including a man washing the words “Go Back” off a building (presumably an immigration reference), and a man wearing a John 3:16 hat hugging another man in the middle of what appears to be an LGBTQ pride event. All of this is set to the song Personal Jesus (written by Depeche Mode)—the idea being that you can be Jesus to someone else by being “great” in these ways.

The ad ends with these words: “Jesus showed us what greatness really is. He Gets Us. All of Us.”

As in the previous years, there will be Christians defending these ads as being helpful in generating interest from nonbelievers in learning more about Jesus. And as in the previous years, I am going to say that these ads are actually incredibly harmful to the cause of evangelism because the campaign reinforces what culture wants to believe about Jesus while leaving out what culture doesn’t want to believe. If culture’s wrong ideas about Jesus become more deeply seated due to a campaign like this, it simply makes it harder for biblically faithful Christians to share about the REAL Jesus—a Jesus people often don’t want to hear about.

In particular, here are four things you should know about the ad.

1. The ad centers around a question that is problematic in and of itself.
The concern of Scripture, and therefore Jesus, is never what makes humans “great.” The concern of Scripture is who God is, what makes GOD great, who man is, what makes man FALLEN, how we can be reconciled to our Creator, and what God expects of us as His children once we put our trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Loving others—which is what the campaign is conflating with being “great”—is an outflowing of our love for God. As such, we serve others not because we can become great somehow ourselves, but because our good works can give glory to GOD (Matthew 5:16). The He Gets Us campaign continually has made Christianity centered around humans rather than God, and this year we’re seeing the same thing.

2. The song Personal Jesus problematically reinforces the idea that Jesus is just a good moral example.
I’ve written extensively already at the links in the comments about how the campaign portrays a completely human Jesus—nothing more than an inspiring human who relates to our problems and cares a whole lot about a culturally palatable version of social justice. Culture likes that version of Jesus, so culture will also like this ad. The idea that Jesus is a great moral example and that we can literally be a personal Jesus to others by doing good works doesn’t tell nonbelievers something different than what they already believe. It simply reinforces the idea that we can be just like (a fully human) Jesus. To be clear, that’s different than the biblical belief that we do good works not because we can be the same as Jesus, but because those good works glorify God. That may seem like a subtle distinction, but it’s a critical one. Good works in and of themselves aren’t the goal, but one would certainly think that from this campaign.

3. The immigration and LGBTQ references slyly promote a progressive agenda.
This is the part that I find particularly deceptive. Strictly speaking, there’s nothing unbiblical about the pictures with immigration and LGBTQ references. Spray painting “Go Back” on a residence with immigrants is something I think we can all agree is unloving, and taking the action to wash it off would be appropriate, regardless of what you think about any given border policies. Yet, we all know this is making a bigger picture statement about those (typically conservatives) who are concerned about the border status. There’s a huge difference between antagonistically spray painting a building and believing that it’s necessary to have a secure border or even that it’s necessary for some people to return to their countries. Yet, the message conveyed is that Jesus would never send people “back”—something progressives will see as a rightful condemnation of the politically conservative Christians they already think have Jesus all wrong. There’s so much nuance needed in the immigration conversation—and plenty of room for biblically faithful Christians to disagree—but using this image clearly targets politically conservative Christians specifically.

Similarly, the LGBTQ image implicitly targets theologically conservative Christians as well. There’s nothing wrong with a Christian hugging someone at an LBGTQ event—if they’re there to share a biblically faithful message of the gospel that doesn’t in some way affirm sin. But, of course, there’s no context for the picture, and everyone looks quite happy in it, so once again, culture will see the Jesus they already like (one who affirms everyone exactly as they want to be affirmed). Now, I bet the campaign promoters would say that they just want to show it’s great and loving to embrace people with different beliefs, but if you know culture already presumes a false understanding that Jesus affirms everything they want, it’s extremely problematic to add to that false understanding with a picture they’ll clearly take a different message from. I’ll be frank: I absolutely believe the ambiguity is intended. Read my other articles (on my website) for plenty of evidence that there are many progressives behind the campaign.

4. The closing statement, “Jesus showed us what greatness really is,” completely misses the entire point of the gospel.
I’m not sure they could have gotten Jesus more wrong. Jesus showed us the greatness of GOD. He wasn’t here to cheerlead us into thinking we’re great when we help others. If nonbelievers watch this ad and understandably conclude that Jesus’s key message is that humans are great when we help others, they will have learned nothing they didn’t believe already and nothing about who Jesus actually is and what he taught. And if they somehow are interested enough to go to the website, they’ll see even more to confirm their pre-existing beliefs (again, see my other articles for more on that).

It’s tragic that an organization that has the money to run Super Bowl ads is only adding to culture’s confusion about Jesus. But use it as an opportunity to explain to people why this ISN’T a faithful representation of biblical Christianity. God can use anything for His glory, and in this case, it might be the opportunity to CORRECT an ad many people will be talking about.

#hegetsus

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

@JDVance Nice shirt !

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

EPC congregations confused when their commissioners return reporting they did not( not( not have a frustrating GA.) #epc2024ga

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

REMINDER for GA: If you are speaking for a motion, green sign. If you are speaking against the motion, red sign. Other wild comments, please use the sign below...

[Ian Ferguson @0605ferguson]

Scrolls unfurled down aisles and prayed over containing the names of commissioners who don't attend plenary sessions.