The Gospel Blimp would bring the Word of God - or as much as would fit on an aerial sign - to new hundreds or thousands, an airborne witness on an incredible scale. Inspired by this vision, an enthusiastic group of Christian businessmen set to work to make the Gospel Blimp a reality, and find themselves on a long road paved with good intentions. This book is an embarrassingly accurate commentary on the feverish futility of too many sincere but pathetically misguided evangelical Christians.

The Gospel Blimp is a modern-day parable about consumer-driven evangelism and how Christians often exchange friendship-evangelism to live in their secure Christian bubble. This was written in 1960 and still speaks to Christians today who are stuck in their Christian circles and who are not engaging the world for Christ with Christ Himself. ( )

About half of this book is the parable 'The Gospel Blimp'. The other half is a series of short vignettes by Bayly, some of which are excellent, others not so. 'The Gospel Blimp' itself, however, is a 5 star effort. It is a stinging indictment of the evangelical community in the United States,probably even more so in our time than in the time it was written. The piece was written over 40 years ago and in that space of time thousands of 'gospel blimps' have been launched in the form of mega-churches and other 'ministries' where far more attention is payed to the facilities, personnel and assets of the ministry than to the proclamation of the gospel. As with Jesus' parables, this one is designed to prick the heart of certain hearers. I think every pastor and ministry leader should read it and ask themselves: 'is my focus the correct one or am I merely a blimp pilot'. ( )

Just as Jesus used parables, Bayly's stories can cut right to the heart of the matter. The Gospel Blimp is a great story of how we concentrate too much on the blimp an dnot about the business of God. This book is a quick read but truly makes the reader think in ech chapter. It would make a great gift as well.