The Golden Phones: It seems a man in Topeka, Kansas,

The Golden Phones:
It seems 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. He went to a very large church and began taking
photographs, etc. He spots a golden telephone on a wall and is intrigued
with a sign which reads "$10,000 a minute." Seeking out the pastor he asks
about the phone and the sign. The pastor answers that this golden phone is,
in fact, a direct line to Heaven and if he pays the price he can talk
directly to God. He thanks the pastor and continues on his way.
As he continues to visit churches in Seattle, Boise, Minneapolis, Chicago,
Milwaukee, New York, Atlanta, and on around the United States, he finds more
phones, with the same sign, and the same answer from each pastor.
Finally, he arrives in Texas. Upon entering a church in Dallas, lo and
behold, he sees the usual golden telephone. But THIS time, the sign reads
"Calls: 25 cents."
Fascinated, he requests to talk to the pastor. "Reverend, I have been in
cities all across the country and in each church I 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 25 cents a call. Why?"
The pastor, smiling benignly, replies, "Oh, my son, that's very easy to
explain. You see, you're now in Texas and, of course, it's a local call from
here."