The Million Dollar Question

Just a quick note: this is going to be cross-posted to a few different groups here on A|N due to possible shared-interest.

I don’t often attend local high school football games, but this was the homecoming game for the school where my wife teaches and our adopted-daughter is a senior. On our way from the parking lot to the gate, we noticed a rather manic street preacher standing atop a makeshift podium/soap-box and there was another guy standing slightly behind him and to his left with a small video camera pointed at the people lined up for the game. No one seemed to be paying him very much attention as he rambled on about Jesus and the dangers of the music these kids listen to and apathy and some other non-sense that I was in no mood to even absorb so that I may regurgitate here for your reading pleasure. I’m kind of kicking myself for this now, because I wish I had paid more attention and I might have noticed who it was that handed me the small slip of paper (a $1,000,000 bill with Grant’s portrait) that I had mistakenly assumed was a coupon for a local restaurant, or something to that effect, which I took as it was put out in front of me and I slipped it into my pocket so I could look at it later (hoping it was for a restaurant where I actually like to eat). I didn’t know that the people handing out these pieces of paper were actually cohorts of the aforementioned maniacal preacher.

Once I returned home and found that slip of paper still in my pocket, I pulled it out and flipped it over from the Grant side to find “Here’s the Million Dollar Question…” written in small, bold lettering, followed by “Are you good enough to go to Heaven?” Before I could even read any further, I exclaimed with great annoyance, “What the fuck?!” and my mind immediately turned to the recent stories about the high school cheerleaders with religious signs at the school’s football games, and other stories about City Council prayers and the FFRF’s effort to squash these pests. Normally, I am not a very confrontational person, but I found this to be in very bad taste and would have liked to point it out to the people handing these things out.

To make a longer story short, two web sites are listed on this piece of paper:
www.OneMillionTracts.com which has a bunch of Ray Comfort books for sale…
and
www.EastCoastEvangelism.com whose front page features a video about a “former lesbian saved by grace through faith for the glory of God” among other equally asinine assaults on human intellect…

This would be easier if I had access to a scanner right now, but there’s some stupid stuff on the front which I found annoyingly funny. In place of the serial number normally found on US currency, it says JN 316RU4GOD. Under and illegible signature, it says “Department of Eternal Affairs”.

For anyone who is interested, here is the full text (verbatim) of the evangelical propaganda I received:

Here’s the Million Dollar Question… Are you good enough to go to Heaven? Let’s see if you are a good person. Have you ever told a lie? White lies, fibs, and exaggerations are all considered lies to God. If you have, then you are a liar. Have you ever stolen anything (the value doesn’t matter)? If you have, then you are a thief. Have you ever murdered anybody? The Bible says “Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15). Have you ever hated anybody? If so, then God sees you as a murderer. On the Day of Judgment, will you be innocent or guilty? If you are reasonable, you will see that you will be guilty, and therefore end up in Hell. The good news is that’s not God’s will. Picture yourself in a courtroom, guilty of many serious crimes. The fine is $500,000 or life in prison. You don’t have any money with which to pay your fine. The guards begin to lead you off to jail. All of a sudden, someone you don’t even know steps in and pays your fine for you. You are free to go. How would that make you feel? That’s what Jesus Christ did for you 2,000 years ago. He paid the penalty for your sins by dying on the cross. He defeated death by rising from the dead three days later. The Bible expresses it like this: “God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “For God so loved the world, that He gave us his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). God promises eternal life to those who confess and forsake their sins and place their faith in Jesus Christ alone to save them. Confess your sins to God (name them) and forsake them once and for all. Then place your faith in Jesus. Don’t put it off until tomorrow! You may not have tomorrow. Read your Bible and obey what you read. God will never let you down.