EVERGREEN – Philip Klevmoen was poring over the Bible one day when he read the lines: “The faith in the Flathead Valley will be spoken of around the world.”
“I was stunned. ‘That’s not what it says,’ I told myself, but then I read it again: ‘The faith in the Flathead Valley will be spoken of around the world.’ Jesus was speaking to me,” Klevmoen says.
He answered God’s call, and opened a “10 Commandments Park” in Columbia Heights off U.S. Highway 2 earlier this month. The park, which consists of large signs with the 10 Commandments from the Bible and three wooden crosses, is the latest addition to Klevmoen’s efforts to spread the word of God. He has been distributing signs, billboards, magnets and stickers with the 10 Commandments for years.
The barns on his ranch in Evergreen are adorned with massive posters, including one that reads “Legalize Jesus” with the punctured hand of Jesus curled in a bloody fist. The stalls that aren’t occupied by thoroughbred horses or sheep are filled with 24-by-12 foot signs.
Klevmoen wasn’t always Christian; he made his money at the poker tables of Las Vegas, through “the misery of others,” as he puts it.
Although he has given up gambling, Klevmoen has turned the skills that made him a formidable poker player to what he considers God’s work. He says he reads the discomfort in people at the mention of Jesus the same way they used to call out players’ bluffs. His remarkable memory, once used to remember every card that had been played, now bolsters his theological arguments with constant quotations of scripture. He often breaks off his quotations or turns them into a question to make sure his listener is on the same page, but inevitably finishes them off himself.
“There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance,” he says.
The new, 10-acre park in Columbia Heights is barren, save for the wooden crosses and large posters of the 10 Commandments.
“Our only purpose is to reach people, to help them,” he says. “2.2 million people go past our signs every year; most of them pass by it on their way out of (Glacier National Park) as well … If we can reach one in a thousand, that’s a big deal.”
Flathead County planning and zoning director BJ Grieve said his office has received about a “half dozen” calls regarding the park, with many of the callers asking about the regulations for billboards, which the signs on the property technically are not.
“The information being displayed essentially equates to large statements of his personal beliefs on his property,” Grieve told the Beacon in an email.
The displays are therefore not “standard outdoor advertising … designed to convey a message or to advertise products, services or businesses not located on the premises on which the sign is located,” per the county zoning regulations.
Additionally, Grieve said the displays and structures are permanent fixtures within the park and are not “designed and built with a surface on which poster panels or painted bulletins are mounted,” like those that would be on a billboard, which allows for changeable copy.
Klevmoen accepts that some people might disagree with his message and that others may find his signs ugly and offensive, and he sees the disagreements as a sign of a healthy democracy. For years, he has had posters on the billboards of Las Vegas that read, “What happens in Las Vegas … GOD KNOWS!”
Due to complaints and a threatened lawsuit, he considered taking them down until he heard the story of a married man about to walk into a brothel. When the man saw the sign, he returned to his car where he sat shaking before leaving the city.
Despite his intentions to spread the word of God to those who open their hearts, Klevmoen’s park has attracted the attention of some who question its placement given the scenic nature of the canyon.
According to Grieve, the land the park is built on is zoned with a scenic corridor overlay, which only regulates cell towers and off-premise signs.
“Large signs containing statements of religious beliefs do not meet the definition of (an) ‘off-premise’ sign,” Grieve wrote.
Despite the zone being called a scenic corridor overlay, it only regulates these two items, Grieve noted, and covers just a quarter mile on either side of the highway.
Some residents call it an eyesore, but Klevmoen says it’s ridiculous to call the word of God an eyesore in a town full of boarded-up houses and liquor stores. He thanks the Flathead community for their support, and said that many people in the community have thanked and supported him, far more than have criticized the park.
“He’s a pain … reminding me about God whether it’s a Saturday night in Vegas or I’m spending the summer in the Flathead,” said a Christian man who declined to give his name but preferred to go by “Bob.”
As long as his signs lead the occasional passerby back to God, Klevmoen said he would accept all the vitriol he gets.
Jesus was persecuted, and anyway, “it’s not about me, it’s about Him,” Klevmoen insists. “Jesus said, ‘If you love me, keep my commandments.’”