Wow - I am SUPER impressed with Obama's recent speech where he referenced numerous
bible passages... including a nice jibe that the Dept. of Defense wouldn't survive
if the Sermon on the Mount guided public policy (turn the other cheek). Very nice;
never had to say anything about backwards bible-thumpers or put down his own religion,
just made the point that the nation can't be steered by the bible alone, and
that while it's a valuable book, it certainly has some questionable content.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/24/evangelical.vote/index.html



I seriously started to scan this in, but you'll just have to believe I'm
not making it up. Having a kid, I can tell you that churches are now trying to compete
with Cartoon Network and Nintendo to get kids into vacation bible school. No longer
do you have vacation bible schools where kids glue macaroni onto construction paper
while they hear about the many ways to hell; now they glue macaroni to construction
paper and hear about how Jesus was like an Olympic athlete in between the petting
zoo and face painting.
Not. Kidding.
Now I don't fault churches for trying to apply marketing techniques, trying 
to make their programs relevant to kids today and fun instead of fire-and-brimstone
revivals. Doing so without losing all focus and dignity is a little tricky, but 
hey, God luv 'em for trying. It beats teaching kids the 'if I should die
before I wake' prayer. (Always thought that was morbid.)
BUT. You can take anything into self-parody. And so, I offer for your considerarion:
a local church is running ads in the state paper about their vacation bible school,
with the theme.... SonWorld Adventure Park, including a roller-coaster graphic.
Not paraphrasing here. I do think a ferris wheel to heaven would've been a better
choice than the roller-coaster, though.
The ad states (NOT making this up): 'SonWorld Adventure Park is where kids will
discover that choosing Jesus is the ticket to the best ride of their lives'.
Apparently there's a church in town that was a little jealous another church
is being called Six Flags Over Jesus.
No word yet on whether they are replacing the baptismal with a log ride, or when
the sleeveless summer choir robes will be in. :)
I swear, that last sentence is the only thing not factual (I really wasn't trying
to be pun-ny with 'I swear', it just slipped in somehow).

LOL!!!!