Contact: Jon Hirst, The Well, 719-362-5235, jhirst@dotheword.org

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., Feb. 23 /Christian Newswire/ -- In an effort to gauge the success of the Tim Tebow commercial put out by Focus on the Family, the Barna group conducted phone surveys revealing that of the minority who saw and understood the Tebow commercial, only 4% of those who are pro-choice "reconsidered" their stance on abortion. House church leader Ken Eastburn commented on the findings, "It is not at all surprising. Commercials can't change lives."

The survey found that less than half of Super Bowl viewers (43%) said they had seen the commercial, but only 9% were able to recall the commercial without prompting. Of those who did see it, there seemed to be confusion as 20% of viewers were unable to venture any guess about the main message and only 14% of viewers identified Focus on the Family as the sponsor of the commercial. Among pro-choicers who saw and understood that the commercial was intended to influence their views on abortion, only 4% said it caused them to reconsider their stance.

"Super Bowl commercials are great for making people laugh and maybe even to convince them to purchase a product," says Eastburn, "But we shouldn't trust a Super Bowl commercial to change anyone's life. Commercials just can't do that. But people can."

Eastburn is a leader with The Well, formerly a traditional Southern Baptist church that transitioned in 2005 to a network of home-based churches in California and Colorado.

He continues, "I'm glad that Focus on the Family is shifting their strategy from political process to changing hearts, that's a step in the right direction. But if they think mass media is going to do the trick, they're wrong. The lesson that we all learn is this: ending abortion is a matter of spreading the redemption offered through Jesus Christ to those who don't know him. And that is a deeply personal process. It requires the people of God to reach out in personal love to others."

The Well hosts 10-15 members at each of its five locations on a weekly basis. Eastburn and other members post their experiences on a blog maintained by the church, www.leavethebuildingblog.com, with the purpose of interacting with individuals from traditional and house church backgrounds.