The Golden Telephone
This is for all the Southerners out there and all the people who want to
be Southerners!!
A man in Topeka, Kansas, decided to write a book about churches around
the country. He started by flying to San Francisco, and started working east
from there.
Going to a very large church, he began taking photographs and making
notes. He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was
intrigued with a sign which read "$10,000 a minute."
Seeking out the pastor he asked about the phone and the sign. The pastor
answered that this golden phone is, in fact, a direct line to Heaven and
if he pays the price he can talk directly to God. The man thanked
the pastor and continued on his way.
As he continued to visit churches in Seattle, Salt Lake, Denver,
Chicago, Milwaukee, and around the United States, he found more phones,
with the same sign, and the same answer from each pastor.
Finally, he arrived in the lovely state of Florida.
Upon entering a church, behold, he saw the usual golden telephone. But
THIS time, the sign read "Calls: 25 cents."
Fascinated, he asked to talk to the pastor. "Reverend, I have been in
cities all across the country and in each church I have found this
golden telephone and have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and
that I could talk to God, but, in the other churches the cost was
$10,000 a minute. Your sign reads 25 cents a call. Why?"
The pastor, smiling benignly, replied, "Son, you're in the South now,
and it's a local call."