Sunday, August 26, 2012

Simpsons and Church

Since we've moved to Kentucky we've been to three different churches. One option would be just not to go to a church since we're new here and don't have a connection. No way. I saw an episode of the Simpsons last night where Homer did that and it didn't turn out well at all for him. He did get to meet God, though. Cartoon figures always have four fingers because that is easier to draw. God had five. Nice theological touch.

Related to that, yesterday I was in a comic book / game store. They had a first edition Ralph Wiggum comic book. I didn't even know that existed. He's my favorite Simpson character. On the cover Ralph was saying, “I'm in mint conditioner.” I love you, Ralph.

Anyway, there are two Methodist churches nearby. I'm thinking we switch off going to them every other week. That has not met with unanimous approval, but I think that sounds like a good plan. I'm not sure exactly what makes one a Methodist, but they seem up my alley. What at least these two have in common is they each seem have services that go not more than one hour. Perfect. I've though for a long time that if I was going to start my own church (I am not planning this) one of the requirements is that we would not go over an hour. I know the hard core Christians could stay there well into the afternoon, but as we say in the south, “You're preaching to the choir”. If you are trying to reach non-Christians and those with short attention spans (me) one hour is plenty.

Regarding the third church we were at. Our first weekend here, we went out on Sunday morning and thought we would just go to the first church we found. Note – this is not an effective strategy. I'll have to tell you about that sometime. To each his own, I suppose, but I came away from that experience just a bit shaken.

1 comment:

Kimberley Otto said...

Seriously, Jim. You are doing God's work and answering a very important call, however, have you ever thought of doing stand-up? You are probably one of the funniest individuals I have ever listened to/read! I never wanted to share that with you while you were my boss for fear of appearing to be a 'suck up!' So, for the record, you are hilarious! Just the perfect read after a long day at school! Thank you for uplifting the masses! =)