Scott Kinney is not a pastor or professional counselor, but people from around the world began to “unload their problems” on him when he launched a website in July.
Kinney’s site features brief Flash movies based on the Bible.
“My intent was just to put these movies out for people to enjoy,” he said.
But many viewers have written to him with profound spiritual questions and life-changing testimonies.
“I try to respond to people and just be there for them,” said Kinney, an e-card developer in Siloam Springs, Ark.
His most recent web movie is based on the Lord’s Prayer of Matthew 6: 9-13 and Luke 11:1-4. The Bible text has a background of nature photography and music.
The prayer Jesus taught his disciples drew the attention of many Americans when media reported that it was recited by one of the heroes of Flight 93 on Sept. 11. Todd Beamer prayed the familiar litany along with an Airfone operator before he and other passengers rushed to the front of the plane to overwhelm the terrorists.
The timing of Kinney’s Lord’s Prayer movie could not have been better. One day after its Nov. 7 debut, President Bush recalled Beamer’s story during a nationally televised speech in which he sought to reassure Americans amid further terrorist threats. The number of visitors to Kinney’s website doubled in a day, and the movie now has been viewed about 300,000 times.
“I get a lot of people who tell me it’s brought them to tears, that they start their day with it,” Kinney said. “I have people write me and say, ‘In the morning before I go to work, I play this movie just for some calming and some peace.'”
Some responses come from people who say they don’t go to church. They remark how the presentation has “opened my eyes,” Kinney said. Some have said they don’t feel right with God, but this has helped put them “on the right path.”
One viewer wrote to Kinney: “God bless you for creating this site for those of us who need it, are humbled by it, and share it with those in our lives who need it as well. Absolutely a blessing from God.”
Kinney said he has forwarded some of the queries to pastors and sometimes asks them for advice in responding to people with spiritual needs or questions.
“But I’m also someone who loves to get into the Bible, and I just try to use that as my guide when I’m responding to people,” he said. “I try not to give them a lot of my own opinions, because I’m not a psychologist or a theologian.”
Kinney says he gets viewers from all over the world, including the United Arab Emirates. He plans to begin translating the movies into other languages.
The Bible obviously has transcended cultures, with translations in hundreds of languages. Many followers of Jesus around the world see the Lord’s Prayer as a blueprint, Kinney said.
“I think a lot of Christians take the Bible very literally, and when Jesus told his disciples to pray in this way there is a certain percentage who take that as the Lord saying this is the way I should pray,” he said. “They like to pray it even in the King James (17th century) language, which is the text I use.”
Others use the Lord’s Prayer as a pattern, Kinney said. “They pray in the same order and add more depth and personality to the different parts of the prayer.”
Kinney’s site has another web movie called “Interview with Jesus.” It uses Bible verses as the basis for Jesus’ responses in an “interview” that presents the Gospel.
One viewer wrote of receiving a link to “Interview with Jesus” from a friend and thought: “Why would anyone send this to me?” After watching it, the viewer wrote, “My heart became so full with emotion that it was unbearable. I played it over and over again, each time finding myself weeping uncontrollably.”
For Independence Day, Kinney created another Flash movie as a tribute to the birth of the United States.
Kinney said he puts time into his site almost every evening after work. It takes him about a week to put together a movie, but most of his hours are spent responding to letters and solving technical problems. Some technical glitches are a result of his site’s popularity as viewers advertise it to their friends, e-mail by e-mail.
“I didn’t really expect it to grow that fast and that big,” he said. “In fact, it has caused my web host some difficulties.”
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