Texas megachurch pastor uses drones to spread his message

SAN ANTONIO - Drones, dubstep and... God?

A North Texas megachurch pastor is using drones, which have killed more than 4,700 people in the past decade, to spread his message of the omniscient power of God through sermons and in a 45-second video ad.

The ad, which ran in Dallas-area theaters during previews for the movie "Guardians of the Galaxy," promotes "Drone Month" at Pastor Ed Young's Fellowship Church in Grapevine. The video features Young, standing in front of a predator drone armed with missiles, comparing drones' ability to "know it all" and "see it all" to God while dubstep music plays in the background.

"The drone metaphor is a terrible and disturbing one," said Matthew Gault, who wrote about the ads in Medium's War is Boring blog. "It trivializes the big questions about a scary new technology and equates God with a weapon of war."

Young, a controversial figure in Dallas because of his millionaire status and unconventional preaching practices, has sermonized drones at least three times this month, which have been broadcast to eight other Fellowship satellite churches and online around the world.

Ed Young, a North Texas megachurch pastor, is using drones to spread his message of the omniscient power of God through sermons and in a 45-second video ad. The video features Young, standing in front of a predator drone armed with missiles, comparing drones' ability to "know it all" and "see it all" to God while dubstep music plays in the background. less Ed Young, a North Texas megachurch pastor, is using drones to spread his message of the omniscient power of God through sermons and in a 45-second video ad. The video features Young, standing in front of a ... more Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Texas megachurch pastor uses drones to spread his message 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

"We try to use things that our culture can identify with," Young told the blog. "I hadn't really thought about it being ominous but you probably have a good point."

Young, who is also an author and television host, made national headlines in 2008 for his "sexperiment" sermon in which he encouraged couples in his flock of 20,000 to have sex for seven days. He called for a week of "congregational copulation" among married couples while on stage with a large bed.

kparker@express-news.net

Twitter: @KoltenParker