by Teresa Lockhart   God loves you.   The message is simple, but it’s also a truth that in the words of Martha Williamson, executive producer of the Touched by an Angel television series, “resonates with people.” This simple truth, the underlying theme of every show since its premiere in 1994, continues to change people’s hearts today.   It’s also a truth that changed Williamson’s life, inspiring her to produce a show that would depict God, as a loving, merciful God who desires to be reconciled with His children.   Ironically, Williamson almost turned down the series. She was put off by the original pilot’s irreverence for God. However, after praying, she decided to give the show another shot, provided she could persuade CBS media executives to produce a show she could stand behind.   In her book Touched by an Angel: Stories from the Hit Series, Williamson says, “I believed that people who would want to watch a show about angels wanted their angels to reflect a God who knew what He was doing. God can’t make mistakes or change His mind.” She also stressed that “the angels were messengers of God, not ends in themselves.”   Considered to be one of the edgiest shows on TV, the series has tackled intense subjects, including Internet pornography, adultery, suicide, and post-abortion syndrome. Yet perhaps the show’s most controversial subject is its theological foundation. Is it based on Christian beliefs?   It’s an issue Williamson has confronted on numerous occasions. In a Focus on the Family article, she describes the criticism she faces in producing a show that regularly airs Scripture and theological discussions while veering away from “preachy” or judgmental tones.   “Talking about God instead of Jesus as Saviour wasn’t a conscious choice because we never had a choice,” she says. “Network television is one of the most highly competitive businesses in the world, and they have absolutely no interest in becoming a soapbox for Christian beliefs.”   However, while Hollywood executives may choose to remain ambiguous about the show’s relationship with Christ, Williamson is clear about her own relationship with Him. A Christian since the early years of her Hollywood career, Williamson was brought up in a moral, church-going family, but it wasn’t until she, a non-believer, was organizing an Easter pageant for her church, that she finally understood what being a Christian truly meant — accepting Jesus as her Saviour and having a personal relationship with Him.   According to her testimony in Focus on the Family, Williamson says, “I was standing in back, and the performance was going on. I couldn’t stop and fix anything. I realized suddenly I had been directing and moving people around the stage, and I never really paid attention to what they were saying. And then it hit me when they were singing ‘I Am Alive.’ I remember the moment, saying, ‘Wait a minute, you’re saying that the same person who died 2,000 years ago is alive right now?’ “   In a Christianity Today article, Williamson states, “Before I committed my life to Christ, God was outside the circle waiting to come in.” She continued to put off making the decision to accept Jesus as her Saviour, but then in her mid-twenties, she “realized that God was not outside of the circle, nor was He at the centre.” He was “the circle that holds it all together.”   Today Williamson relies on Jesus to hold each part of her life together, including her marriage to Touched by an Angel’s co-producer, Jon Anderson. Incidentally, according to Focus on the Family, Jon’s own conversion to Christ “came in part because of the show.” The couple have one child, Isabel.   “The best thing my husband, Jon, and I do together is pray every morning — before we get out of bed,” Williamson shared in Today’s Christian Woman. “Once you’re up to start the coffee, it’s all over. At the end of the day, we take inventory with God and thank Him for what He did in our lives that day.”   Williamson relates the importance of God in marriage in her book Inviting God to Your Wedding, a bridge to non-Christians, which shows them how God can sustain them through life’s trials.   Each season Williamson continues to receive countless letters that describe how saved marriages, restored relationships, and averted suicides are the result of the show’s uplifting messages. However, she remains reluctant to take credit for the positive results.   “As far as I’m concerned,” she says in Guideposts, “God is the show’s true executive producer.” [LLN-Online] [Adopt-a-Block] [Newsbriefs][Event Calendar] [Lifestyles] [Juke Box] [Cover to Cover] [Movieguide][Casting the Net] [Viewpoints] [General Info] [Rates & Sizes][Marketplace/Classifieds] [Volunteer Ops] [Writing Guidelines] [Contact Us] [Subscribe][Archives][Good News] [Church Directory][About Us][Links]