It is who you talk to

After a conversation with our church treasurer, I decided to call AT&T to see if we could reduce the cost of our DSL Internet service. That decision opened the door to "bizarro world." When I worked my way through the maze of automated voices and finally found a live person, I encountered the "Nurse Ratched" of the phone company. Her first questions were "Who are you? and are you the authorized person on the account?"

I assured her that I had been making the decisions on the phone for the last twenty years and that's when the stone walling began. She told me she didn't have my name or social security number on her list and she couldn't talk to me. I explained to her that I was the one in the office who always made these decisions. As a matter of fact, I ordered the DSL. I explained to her that we had a treasurer who paid the bills and maybe his name was on the account. When I gave her Bob's name and social security number, she blew me away by saying, "Sorry, his name is not on the account either."

I asked her what I needed to do and she told me there wasn't anything I could do. Only the authorized name on the account could ask questions and make changes. I immediately thought of Jesus' saying that some will get to the gates of heaven and say "Lord, Lord" and he would say "Who are you? I never knew you."

To make a long story a bit shorter, I eventually hung up and called again and got another lady who was very cordial. She told what to do to rectify the situation. Now I am back in business again. After I hung up Bob said to me, "You just got to talk to the right person."

That's how it is with our faith. You can try to get into heaven by good works. You can read all the philosophers and explore every theology. You can know the Bible inside and out. Unless you know Jesus, you are not going to get through the gate. You got to talk to him and he's got to have your name. So why wait? Dial him up now and get started.

Cal