The Good Samaritan

We just completed several weeks of study at our church in the 10th chapter of Luke culminating in the story of The Good Samaritan.  Jerry, Elaine, Castanza and Kramer were not in attendance.

Attracting Old People to Church

The question no one is pondering:

With the emphasis lately on youth bands, inane repetitive singing, casual dress and positive thinking talks, the Church has been overrun with youth. For a more fair and balanced congregation the top priority for the local church should be to address this question: “What can we do to attract old folks?” Here are my top ten suggestions:

1. Hire Tommy Dorsey, Lawrence Welk, or Glenn Miller type big bands with only ONE unnoticeable, seated rhythm guitarist as worship leaders. (Pentecostals: provide area for ballroom type “dancing in the spirit”)

2. Acceptable Dress style: Men---sandals with dark knee socks; Bermuda shorts pulled up under chest with suspenders optional. Ladies---Hair dyed blue and old sweat pants.

3. In place of standard seating....rocking and/or reclining pews, w/electronic control should be provided.

4. Schedule social dinners with plenty of oatmeal w/raisins, tapioca pudding, hot and spicy deep-fried prunes and fruit flavored jello.

5. Keep service under 45 minutes, as restroom breaks occur more frequently.

6. Keep sermons simple. There’s not much time left for newly found wisdom, and the old adage is true, “you can’t teach an old dog new wisdom” .

7. Above all else use “grandkids” as sermon illustrations. Old folks will awake immediately.

8. All sermons should include parishioner’s main interests: eating, sleeping, bowel movements and complaining about young people (grandkids excepted).

9. Open up special senior parking spaces near the front door for those over 65 with a 10% discount on tithes.

10. Utilize old folks as front door greeters as they are used to saying “Welcome to Walmart” anyway.

Newspaper Bias

Quiz: Can you find the left leaning liberal newspaper from the headlines below? (Clues: find the words “reject”, “sieze control”, and “agenda”)

Election Results
...followed by the listing of the election results.
(The Emporia Gazette)

State Election Results
....followed by the listing of the State election results.
(Salina Journal)

Voters reject middle ground in Kansas Senate races
Conservative Republicans scored big wins across Kansas on Tuesday as they set themselves up to seize control of the state Senate and clear a path for Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s agenda.
(Kansas City Star)

(You may also guess which candidates were endorsed by the liberal newspaper and why this conservative "rejected" their choices so that I could "seize control" of my own preferences and "reject" this particular newspaper's "agenda".)

The Slippery Slope...a Solution

"........ is Mr. Sandusky really that bad? Measured by today's norms and today's blogs, he's a certifiable scumbag. That's today, but what about tomorrow? Given another day and another time, Sandusky could find himself the poster child for moral self-expression. Our dominant cultural ethical paradigm turns such plausibility into likelihood." (read more HERE, "Is Sandusky Really Such a Bad Guy After All?")