136 thoughts on “Gospel Gimmicks: The Blood of Jesus Flying Disk”

  2. I have seen the wordless book before several times but it’s never included the colour blue.

      1. It doesn’t specify believer’s baptism or submersion. I have to separate from this flying disc of liberalism.

        3. @Liutgard, your idea comes to life when you beat someone over the head with your Wintess Stick. 😉

    2. Agreed. This is the first time I’ve ever seen blue included. Is it just for baptism, or is that where you explain that God loves Baptists more than any others?

      1. Congregational Guy . . .

        You mean there’s ANOTHER Congregational guy?? Welcome to this forum, Bro! 😀

    1. Pffft. And they call themselves literalists.

      Seriously, when I learned the Wordless Book as a young’un, I always wondered why sin=black. Especially since the Bible says otherwise.

      Oh, wait. It’s probably because scarlet + blood red = white as snow wouldn’t be as dramatic as black + blood red = white. Who cares what the Bible says, we’re working on a visual aid, here!

      1. When you mix paint, black + blood red = dark red.
        When you mix light, black + blood red = blood red.

  5. I love how they thought it was important to note that the cross is in the middle of the design. As if that “blood of Jesus” label and the distinct edges wasn’t enough.

  6. No True Christian™ would be caught with one of these. It is just some liberal seeker-friendly church trying to get their tickle-the-ear-preaching message out to the unwashed masses. Who uses frisbees? Liberal, long-haired, drug popping hippies, that’s who!
    Aside from that brothers and sisters, the message on the frisbee is incomplete. Where are the colored slices for the King James Bible? How about a slice that represents the tithe? Nothing about God-honoring music either. This really is just a ploy of Satan of get people away from the one true church. The church Jesus was a member of, His local Independent Fundamental Baptist church. Amen?

    2. Preach the fire down, Bro. Scorpio! Avoid the appearance of evil–this flying disk definitely sends mixed signals.

    3. The cross in the middle is marked as the blood of Jesus. I assume the red around the edges signifies The Trail of Blood.

      1. Excellent observation–the circular reasoning of the Trail of Blood is remarkably well-visualized in this witnessing tool.

    5. Plus, most people who play with frisbees do so on Sundays, on the beach, practically nekid – making a mockery of the Lord’s Day and modesty. Not to mention the fact that frisbees are based on the Egyptian god Aten – the sun disk god. Like Israel wanted to go back to Egypt, so the church is longing for the same today with frisbees. Amen??

    6. Frisbees are associated with Frisbee Golf and that “sport” is clearly associated with potheadery.

  7. My Boston Terrier would love this. We’d play for hours;until he had throughly digested this and absorbed the “Gospel Message” plastic.

  8. Why, oh why, do so many fundies and evanngelicals think they have to resort to gimmicks like this in order to attract people? All this stuff just makes me wince.

    2. Gospel gimmicks and Jesus Junk fill some IFB religious corporations to the brim. The justification for expending scarce resources on such falderal and foofaraw is that “souls are being saved…” (blah, blah, blah). For me, the true test of orthodoxy for such gimmicks would be if you can imagine Jesus and His apostles tossing a Frisbee to each other as they landed on the sea shore. You can’t? Well then, $$$ shouldn’t be wasted on such junk. But facts, logic, and reason is sometimes lost on members of Bullheaded Baptist Church.

  9. This is a visual illustration of how the Gospel is treated at the Sword of The Lord conference. They just fling it around, use tons of religious cliches and trot out their idea of Jesus as an appeal to authority who just happens to agree with everything the M-O-g is screeching. 😯

    2. Wow! Great observation!

      And of course, the “Gospel” is reduced to a small number of “steps” and catch phrases. Kind of makes the rest of the Bible unnecessary, except for the parts you verbally abuse others with.

      1. And the whole thing wraps up with the magical words of the sinner’s prayer.

        Hey, the really big time soul-winners will count you if you just merely give and affirmative answer to the question: “If you died right now, do you know you heaven would be your home for all eternity.”
        Cha-ching!
        Ring another one up and put them on the tally sheet.

    3. The ad for this frisbee was in the Sword of the Lord (or to be more specific, an insert in the SotL with items for sale).

  10. I have no problem with this actually. It certainly has some cheese factor, but it’s basicallly a glorified tract, and fundies don’t have the market on tracts. The reformers were writing them long ago.

    1. I do understand your desire to have the Gospel spread, but I just think this is more demeaning than effective.

      It’s definitely not a GLORIFIED tract! It’s definitely been devalued, the glorious Gospel reduced to a few brief words and colors printed on a cheap toy. It’s almost as if one were to write the plan of salvation on toilet paper. Yes, it might get read, but still . . .

      1. exactly. Tracts and things like this frisbee reduce the message of the Gospel to a “get out of Hell” equation.

  11. And frankly, I do believe tracts work sometimes. I’ve known people who came to Christ through them, and in other cultures, I’ve witnessed an eagerness to take any literature we offered. If it points someone to Christ, I’m not knocking it. However, if it’s a seemingly angry cartoon like Chick tracts, I’ll probably toss it.

    1. Hey, don’t toss Chick, he’s always good for a cheap laugh! And how could you not enjoy Fang the Dog, haw haw haw? 😛

  12. Asking this makes me wince but is the Hell Chargin’ Squirt Gun real? I would have thought the Frisbee was a joke too but who can tell anymore?

    This is really weird.

    1. Yeah, why don’t they just stick to the tried and true Testa-mints? They are sufficient for all of my soul-winning needs.

      1. Here’s an evangelism tool: Condemning Condoms! Leave them in public restrooms (guarantee they’re more likely to be picked up than a tract) for the unsuspecting to take. The packaging is nondescript, but Scripture verses condemning adultery & fornication are printed on the product.

        They’re also lubricated with Icy-Hot & come in obnoxious flavors, like Brimstone, Gehenna, & Lot’s Wife.

        1. No, don’t. I can’t take anymore. I imagine this would be incredibly effective, though. Icy-Hot on the tenders would bring any man to his knees in prayer!

  13. Because nothing says reaching the lost and fulfilling commission like playing a terrible intramural game that people take way too seriously.

  15. “You throw that plastic disk with such authority and accuracy. Tell me about this Jesus.”

      1. Oh man…

        He’s been gone more than 30 years now, and I still miss his voice. And so much of his work, like that song, can reduce me to tears in no time flat.

        1. Dear Liutgard,
          Thank you for posting the song. Reminded me of days at Dallas Seminary 30 years ago. Also reminded me of why I won’t fly in small aircraft ever again. He was tragically taken from us, and too young.
          -BJG

      1. This was supposed to go under the comment that Keith Green called this stuff “Jesus Junk”.

  19. As long as the cross stays inside the circle it’s ok. It’s only evil when the edges of the cross are outside of the circle that… wait maybe that was for a pentagram… Lets se-e-e… no, no here is its in the Book of Christian Majik, Chapter 13, “The allowed use of symbols and types.” Right after the Chapter on “Flags: How to properly use for Christian Activism.”

    1. george has officially started and affair my fingers now that they have divorced themselves from my brain… it is is what it was not is its

    1. It is not a good message in the states as well but being cross cultural is not a strength of some American Christians.

      1. When I was a kid some of us were recruited to share the wordless book at the CEF tent at the local county fair, our parents also participated. My Dad brought up that very issue regarding black and white. He suggested that we refer to the black page as representing “nighttime in your heart” and white to represent the true light to avoid the idea of a bad “black heart” especially when sharing with a black child to perhaps avoid being offensive. It seemed a good idea to a young naïve fundy teen such as myself at the time.

    3. Dear Missionary Style:
      I couldn’t agree more. Anglo culture in the US has historically taught children that black is bad, white is good. This is one of the more noxious motifs in popular culture. We teach little children to hate themselves if their skin is not lily white.
      Respectfully,
      BJG

        1. Why so Serious?
          I mean think about it, who was the more beloved character: Bale’s Batman or Ledger’s Joker? I believe the Joker was the main character in that movie by far.

    4. A LONG time ago I sat in a racially mixed group of kids listening to a CEF lady present the Wordless Book. It was 1969 and Black Power was important in our neighborhood. There was a small gasp when she got to the “black” page and started talking about sin… I’m white, by the way, but I was very uncomfortable. Now it’s called the “dark” page, but I’m still not comfortable with the imagery with little concrete-thinkers.

  21. I have a disdain for the conversion theology and evangelism style of the IFB. The God I see in the Bible is relational and the Church was very much relational. This reducing the Gospel to a gimmick or an equation is so cheap. And the focus on conversion cheapens the Gospel in my opinion.

    1. Good comments about the God of the Bible and also the church being relational.

      Not all, but too many IFB churches behave as though they believe that Christians, from the new birth through growth in grace, can be manufactured.

  22. So you’re supposed to throw the Blood of Jesus around and play with it?

    All righty-dighty, then. 😐

    2. That sounds like the byline for a Xtian-style Saw film, oh the possibilities…. 😛 😯 😈

    1. Oh, I know!
      Paint a baseball bat like a Witness Stick, and a baseball black, and you can whack the Horsehide of Sin with the Bat of Salvation.

        1. Yes, I know, but they are still popularly called “horsehide.”
          Just as footballs are called “pigskin,” though they are seldom (if ever) made of pigskin.
          It just sounds better.

      2. BG

        My bad. Didn’t realize that a baseball was referred to as horsehide in the same way that a football is referred to as pigskin.

        Why all this discrimination against cattle anyway?

        1. I dunno. I don’t discriminate. Why, just yesterday I took a bite of my kid’s bacon cheeseburger.

  25. Great, now I have the “Wordless Book Song” running through my head!

    “My heart was black with sin, until my Savior came in.” AAAAAAAAAARRRGGGHHHHHHH!

    1. It was not nice of you to type the words to that song. Now it is stuck in my head! 😥

  27. I read a book years ago about ‘Jesus junk and holy hardware’. I think it was called ‘The selling of Jesus’ by Jack Chick.

  30. O MY GOODNESS!!
    What a treasure trove!
    How about a:
    Win With God Soft Football
    or
    God’s AMAZEing Love Pen
    or
    Jesus Saves Z-Grip Gel Pen
    and you just can’t live without
    Jesus the Sweetest Gift Plastic Party Tumbler

    But the Pièce de résistance has to be:

    Man of God LED Clip Light

    and you will never guess were you can purchase these Holy Artifacts…
    Sword of The Lord Online Bookstore

    http://swordbooks.com/miscellaneous-7.aspx

      1. Dr. John Hamblin rails against “Professionalism and Intellectualism”???

        Rather self defeating isn’t it?

      2. One the one hand it’s genuinely nice to hear that someone from John Hamblin’s branch of Fundamentalism recognizes that racism and narcissism are both wrong. On the other hand,and I don’t want to take a cheap shot here, most of the guys Mr. Hamblin associates with are in no danger from excessive intellectualism.

      1. I was reminded of dinner when I read that last one. Disgusting, absolutely disgusting.

        Are we so blind as to not even know we can’t see?

        B.R.O.

        1. YES, yes we are.

          Until God opens our eyes to it, we wander in darkness, listening to the instructions of those who glory in leading the blind deeper into the ditch.

      1. I’m sure they have a: “Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled,” tract you can purchase to give the homeless.

  31. I have seen people leave tracts instead of tips. That seems to me to be the absolutely best way to ensure than a person who does not believe won’t be willing to believe the message.

    Perhaps tracts are being used as instruments of damnation?

    I don’t leave tracts myself. My wife does. When we are together I make sure that there is a very generous tip included – very generous.

    But I am pretty sure that a lot of people exposed to the tracts have written Christianity off as idiotic, inane, inconsiderate, and stingy. Can’t blame them, myself.

    1. I’ve lurked around here for a couple of years (on and off) and wasn’t going to say anything but this really got to me – leaving tracts instead of tips. (And thank you to anyone that gives an actual tip with the tract.)

      My extended family (mom’s side) covers a giant spectrum of “christianity” (they all call themselves that, but they don’t call each other christians, hence the quotes) and all of them are on the “I’m the only one that has the TRUTH” bandwagon. Entrenched fundamental baptists, mormons, seventh-day adventists, catholics, pentecostals, and dominionists all are represented by my aunts/uncles/cousins/etc. and of course, they all have their own congregations / churches / etc.

      As it just so happens, they all had brilliant ideas for how I could save up to go to college (their *chosen* institution, of course, and only because as the ugly duckling, the MRS degree wasn’t going to happen unless I went to college apparently). Those brilliant ideas all consisted of me working for them/their church for pennies. (All of them… apparently I was a ‘good enough’ christian to employ for $0.07 / hour.)

      For an entire year I took care of their babies (as in “Could you just watch Emma while I go to this ladies meeting that’s only going to last *8* hours, oh and she has explosive diarrhoea right now”), cleaned church bathrooms/kitchens, handled paperwork/accounting “oh hey, you know excel, right?”, and other stuff like that. I would have made more money working in fast food, to be honest… but the kicker – the one that stands out so much even now was the big fat wedding reception (1-200? people? I don’t even know).

      I was asked to simply ‘help out’ (not volunteer!) at the reception for a church wedding by the MoG & his wife one day after I finished doing some grocery shopping for them. No big deal, right?

      I ended up overseeing the cooking / cooking a lot of the food myself / serving / getting more supplies “Would you be a dear and go get more ice from the store 30 miles away? The sparkling apple juice is getting warm!” / handling the gifts and gift registry / taking people to their assigned seats / cleaning up after the bride & groom / managing all of the children / etc. It was the most work I’ve ever done in my life and it was because the MoG (or his wife) had told the couple not to worry that they had a ‘wedding coordinator’ for the reception (me).

      At the end of the night, after I had also helped clean everything up, I was helping the valets retrieve the correct cars for people when the MoG’s wife handed me an envelope. After they got in their car, I opened it thinking it was going to be a payment… it was a “wordless book”-style tract with a dedication card and nothing else.

      I stood there, trying not to scream/bawl/collapse as I stared at the dedication card that I had helped design/get printed in complete and utter shock. It had even (helpfully) been pre-filled out by the MoG’s wife (I knew her handwriting) and included the date of the reception on it.

      There was a couple that had been waiting for their car that had seen my response (I wasn’t fast enough to cover it up) and after glancing at the door where the MoG and his wife had just left through, the woman flipped open her wallet and handed me all the cash that she had in it without saying a word.

      The MoG was, of course, one of my extended family. And this was one of the many, many appalling religious incidents in my life caused by my extended family.

      Sorry for the long story! I’ll go back to lurking now!

        1. 🙂 I previously lurked because if my mom or any of my assorted “the outside world is the realm of Satan” relatives caught wind of me reading/posting here… hell would be a very real place for me.

          I am, however, *very* far away now and there is very little they can do to me! I don’t have to lurk, I’m freeeeee! lol 🙂

      2. We’d be proud to have you as a lurker, but you’re more than welcome to share some of your secrets, bet you’ve seen/heard/experienced more than a little. 😀 :mrgreen: 🙂

        1. Yeah… just a little. 😉
          My relatives – the fundies, mormons, catholics, seventh-day adventists, pentecostals and dominionists (even though they deny they’re a thing, they’re a thing) fought it out over my soul for over twenty years of my life.

          It was a perverse obsession with my extended family as to which denomination would convert the heathen (me) to their church as ‘proof’ of its superiority.

          I got hauled off to every possible church meeting/mass/sermon, vacation bible school, youth camp, church camp, church outing/picnic/event that could be possibly crammed into a single week from the time I was four until I graduated from high school (and then came the bible college ‘help’). Three to thrive…but seven to get to heaven!

          I changed schools *10* times because of them. (My mom was the spoiled baby of the family and was used to having my aunts and uncles always doing things for her, and that translated into them having a tremendous say over my schools, camps, friends, clothes, etc.)

          And what started them on this never-ending battle for my soul? When I was three, I told my mom, in front of the entire family at christmas, that I wondered how long reincarnation takes (my japanese dance teacher was a buddhist). I think there’s still a crater where one of my aunts exploded. 😉

      3. I am glad you responded!

        While I am glad to know you are reading, I think all of us would be glad for you to say what you think. I have found it therapeutic.

        You might find it so as well.

        Humor is often a good salve for pain. And talking allows you to put things into perspective.

        So you don’t have to lurk. You are welcome here.

        1. rtgmath,

          Sometimes this site seems like a reasonably good place to vent within earshot of people who actually have some idea of what you’re talking about.

      4. Yay, combining the abuse of relatives with the deep seated urge to reinstate peonage with the and the need to appear uebercompetent. Nice trifecta on their part. That’s a disgusting story; glad you’ve made your escape.
        SFL: confusing “Don’t store up treasure on Earth” with employment/gratuity advice.

      5. roninsheep,

        Der_Berater responded better to your story than I could have.

        Interesting screen name, by the way– a wandering samurai without a master, and at the same time a sheep.

        1. Der_Berater — I did the “drop the bomb and run” method of escaping, as in, I said, “Oh I’ve never been a christian” right before I went all the way around the world to go to a non-religious university (for science, even). I’m pretty sure that I will continue to receive the “your soul is on fire” emails from the family for a long time, but at least they can’t stop by and kidnap me anymore (for my own good, of course — oh and I wish I were joking, but I have been grabbed/tied up/dragged to an exorcism before, three times in fact).

          Ben — I figured it was a fitting name since I get told that all my ‘satanic lifestyles’ (you know, being a vegan and practicing yoga, studying science, stuff like that) are a world-based ‘fad’ I’m following because I’m a sheep (I totally agree… baaaaaa) and because I’m also (apparently, since they all agree on all of these things) ‘rudderless’/dangerous/in danger… so I must be a samurai without a master… *snort*. 😆

    1. Slightly off-topic, but I always thought that the tricks used for Sunday School contests, bus ministry, etc., were wrong. Now I realize why the idea always bothered me. It cheapens the message and changes the focus.

  33. Probably made in China by Buddhists.
    Someday some fundie preacher gonna tell a story on how one of those factory workers got saved after inquiring what the writing on the flying disc meant.

  34. I tried to look at this thing from the perspective of their presumed target audience: literate, sufficiently aware of American Protestant culture to “unpack” the words on the Frisbee, but not a member of the “right” church nor yet burned by contact with same.

    I got hung up on exactly how one is supposed to reach the heart of a stranger with a Jesus Frisbee. Throw it at him? Give them out instead of the expected candy at Halloween? Leave them lying in the dirt at local parks?

    I got nothin’.

    1. The only way would be to play it with them, then give it to them.

      I am not sure fundies would want to “play” with dirty sinners. “No, no! You don’t play with them or make them your friends! Certainly not *best* friends! You don’t make friends with the world. You are separate, kept apart for God.”

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