Tim Tebow’s 316 yards leads to gospel, Internet salvations

When outspoken Christian quarterback Tim Tebow threw for 316 yards to help Denver upset favored Pittsburgh in the playoffs, millions flocked to the Internet to search for John 3:16 — so much so that the day after the game, that Bible verse was the No. 1 search on Google. As it turns out, some of those Google searches were of eternal significance.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) reports that more than 150 people have made a decision to accept Christ as their Savior as a result of searching for “John 3:16” in Google and then clicking on an advertisement for the BGEA’s PeacewithGod.net website. BGEA can track that data because it began advertising on Google on Monday so that people who searched for “John 3:16” saw an ad for PeacewithGod.net. All total, 8,000 people searching for the verse clicked on PeacewithGod.net. BGEA often uses Google ads to advertise its website. Some examples include searches for “What happens when I die?” and “Does God exist?” The website has tallied more than 1 million visitors since it launched in May.

“We can respond to exactly what people are searching for at that moment — and it’s often a very simple next-step to the gospel,” John Cass, BGEA’s director of Internet evangelism, was quoted as saying in a BGEA article.  (BP)