Malcolm, how did you generate so much media attention?

Well, the short answer is God. Last year, after we took over the running of Outreach Posters, we started work on a campaign to highlight how radical "forgiveness' really is. Right from the start we've prayed continuously that God would use the posters to start a conversation with the Australian public and even beyond. 

So, we thank God that all over the world people were talking about whether the risen Lord Jesus would, should or can forgive a sinner like Osama Bin Laden.

Having said that, we knew the poster would be noticed, but you can't predict to what extent. I think it gained real momentum when John Howard weighed in telling churches that their priority for prayer shouldn"t be with Osama Bin Laden.  That took the story from a national item to an international one.

It led the news in Russia, was on television in the US and South Africa and even made it to the Jerusalem Post and Al-Jazeera! The thing we were most delighted with was the blogging.  All over the world people were blogging about the mechanics of salvation. The wonderful thing was that everyone was speaking about Jesus in the present tense. People know he's Lord.

Was it your strategy to start low-key and let the media create the buzz?

Well, I wouldn't want to claim too much for strategy. Quite unintentionally, a poster was put up early at Central Baptist on George Street, well before the rest of the February posters went up. It was noticed by a photographer and then featured in Melbourne's Herald Sun.

The next day things really went crazy. A friend rang me early in the morning to say [Bishop] Rob Forsyth was going to be on ABC radio to talk about "Jesus loves Osama'. I quickly contacted [Bishop] Forsyth to let him know the poster was not just a one-off but was actually going up all around Australia. I also mentioned the website, which has the gospel explanation on it, and [Bishop] Forsyth did a great job of talking about the love of Jesus, the usefulness of our posters and mentioned the website a number of times!

What was the media coverage and its impact on the public?

Well the answer to that's partly anecdotal. I did put a call through to Rehame, the media monitoring company, to see how the story was breaking. They confirmed radio nationwide was indeed talking about "Jesus Loves Osama'.

Various media organisations, big and small - some I'd never heard of " contacted me. I did lots of interviews from international TV to John Safran to Neil Mitchell on Melbourne's 3AW.  I heard from churches around the country that engaged the topic in their local media. Some printed the poster in their local paper along with the Bible notes that come with the poster.  Wangaratta Presbyterian even paid for the poster and the notes to be printed on the front page of their local rag!  My favourite story was my kids telling me that everyone on the bus was talking about it.
How did other church leaders respond?

The media did ask [Archbishop] Peter Jensen about the posters and his response was mixed. However later he expressed to me that it had been a "win for the gospel' as there'd been good opportunities for him to talk about Jesus on radio.

In Melbourne, Archbishop Freier issued a press release in support of the poster and was subsequently attacked by the tabloids for misreading the people of Melbourne (though not for misreading the Bible!).

I rang Archbishop Freier to thank him and he was very encouraging of our ministry and wants to be kept in the loop.
Rod Benson from the Baptist Union rang to reassure me that Baptist officials were right behind the poster. I felt encouraged and was impressed at the quality of his release, produced at such short notice. This release meant the media also interviewed Rod.

The PM had a go at the sign. How did that make you feel?

I was frankly astonished.  He said: "The prayer priority of the church on this occasion could have been elsewhere".  There's no doubt he reads the mood of the Australian public well.  This was borne out by the ninemsn online poll that asked whether churches should put the poster up.  A quarter of a million people voted, with only 50,000 saying it should be put up.  Which was one of the biggest responses to a poll that they've had.

I would say to Christians that Jesus commands us to pray for our enemies. Prime ministers may disapprove, but that will not stop Christians showing a love for others that is confounding. Christians around the world have been showing love to those who oppress them since Christ gave us this command. Ultimately, this love is in response to the love God showed for his enemies by sending his Son to die for them.

Some say the sign is incomplete?

This poster raises questions. No poster can hope to say everything or answer every question. Posters, by definition, are provocative. They provoke, at the very least, questions and interest. The great thing is that our posters send those who don't know the answers to those who should have them"

Yet people can't see the Bible verse…

Christians have said this but everywhere I've seen the poster discussed, the verse is quoted and included in the discussion.

The design challenge we have is that the poster size is small. So getting people to read the sign and take in detail is difficult.  But the Jesus Loves Osama poster manages to succeed because the big words make you curious about the little words.

Could it be misunderstood as supporting terrorism?

I don't believe so. Without the verse, the poster would be true but puzzling. But the verse shows us that we have to do some thinking about radical forgiveness. We were delighted that two people turned up at our church because of the sign. They came to the service and wanted to know more about it.

Some media ran the line "Fury at church signs'. We oughtn't be intimidated by media that need catchy headlines to sell their content.

It is true the Melbourne media found a man who had lost his son in the Bali bombing who was ready to condemn the poster. When I spoke to him at length on the phone he was full of deep sadness and loss. I found him more bewildered than furious. He needs our prayers.

It seems, though, that the poster offends those who want to say some sinners are worse than others and do not deserve mercy or love. Whilst I sympathise with those who struggle to forgive dreadful evil, we must still struggle.

Yet many who are offended boldly argue that hatred is the only fitting response to criminals.

So the poster really ends up effectively exposing hypocrisy. We're ready to take mercy for ourselves " but we don't want others to have that same mercy.

We mustn't be embarrassed about "offending' our community with the love of God. This is prime gospel activity.

What have you learnt?

Effective communication requires staying on message. We need to help resource church leaders to assist them to use the signs as a launching pad that points to the gospel. If our team suspects that a poster is going to be controversial then we need to provide a detailed brief in advance about what we're trying to do. We did send out a letter in early November explaining the rationale behind the poster and warning that there may be press interest. In future we'll send out a detailed press kit.