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 'Calls: $10,000 a minute.' Seeking
out the preacher, he asked about the phone and the sign. The preacher
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 preacher and continued on his way. As he continued
to visit churches in Seattle , Denver , St. Louis , Chicago , Milwaukee, and
around the United States , he found more phones, with the same
sign, and the same answer from each preacher.

Finally, he arrived in North Carolina , upon entering a church in
Charlotte , behold - he saw the usual golden telephone. But THIS time,
the sign read 'Calls: 35 cents.'

Fascinated, he asked to talk to the preacher, 'Preacher, 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 only 35 cents a call. Why?'

This part you gotta love...............................

The preacher, smiling benignly, replied, 'Son, you're in the South now.
You're in God's Country, It's a local call.'

American by Birth - A Southerner by the Grace of God.=============