January 27, 1999
DOWN HOME:
We could sponsor the
Come to Jesus coin toss
___Unless you're from Atlanta or Denver or you're Dan Reeves' cousin, you probably gag every time you turn on the TV this week.
___The Super Bowl, of course, dominates much of the programming, commercials and news, especially on the nameless network that will broadcast The Big Event this Sunday night.
___The pro football season ended for most Texans, however, on Thanksgiving Day. That's when the Cowboys got stomped by the Vikings. Folks figured out that, as much as they may like Chan Gailey, this team had the same chance of going to the Super Bowl as its cheerleaders had of beingmistaken for a convent of nuns.
MARV KNOX
Editor
___Of course, football has changed a great deal since the Packers edged the Cowboys out of the NFC slot for Super Bowl I. The players are bigger, faster and stronger. Coaches don't dress as impeccably as Saint Tom did. And every part of the game is sold.
___Steve Blow, columnist for the Dallas Morning News and an upstanding Texas Baptist, pointed this out last week. We've got the Coors Light kickoff and the Papa John's two-minute warning, he observed, suggesting the NFL add the Ore-Ida Potato sack and the Mrs. Fields goal.
___He's onto something. Child-rearing guru T. Berry Brazelton should sponsor timeouts. Baylor Health Care System could jump in for injury reports.
___This might work at church, too.
___Worship would start with the Blue Haven Pools baptism and segue into the Buckner children's sermon. Next comes the Baptist Hymnal song service, the Hammond Organ offertory and the Word Publishing special music.
___Then the pastor would step to the pulpit, wearing a suit festooned with embroidered logos--Broadman/ Holman Bibles, Hope for Home, LifeWay Christian Resources. Sermon sponsorship could depend on topic-- Carrier Air Conditioning would get the nod for a blistering barrage on hell, Excedrin might sponsor a sermon on stress, Frank's Florist would handle Mother's Day. You get the point.
___Nike--"just do it"--would underwrite the invitation. And AT&T could sponsor the announcements.
___Of course, if all church members tithed, our congregations would be awash in cash, and our ministries could multiply meteorically. Besides all that, more of our members would know the joy of deeper participation in God's work in this world.
___If all our members tithed, we could afford to advertise on NFL games. How about the Come to Jesus coin toss? We'd work for converts during Heaven or Hell sudden-death overtime.
___If all our members tithed. Maybe if we recruited big and surly NFL linemen to take up the offering ...Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!