Here's another excellent post from Prodigal Jon over at Stuff Christians Like.

And may God have mercy on us.

Case in point, last night I heard an ad for a church that is giving away a car. They want you to take their church for a "test drive" so if you visit them you can register to win a new car. When I went to their website I saw they also offered a free continental breakfast on Sundays and an inflatable thing for kids to jump on.

I like advertising. It's my job and is the reason I am able to wear such comfortable socks, but stuff like this drives me a little crazy. And here's why, when it comes to advertising and sales, customers renew the way they first purchased. By that I mean, if a special sale is why you first bought your watch, then if that watch store ever wants to get you to buy again, they have to run a similar sale. Study after study has shown that we are creatures of habit. We repeat ourselves, so if you attract a big crowd with a car giveaway or hot new worship band or anything else, you create a relationship built on a reward not a redeemer. And when you try to take away that reward you'll lose a lot of your guests. Besides that, I think they missed some really great headlines for the car promotion:

1. Forget hot rods, come win a God rod.
2. If you liked the free car, you'll love not burning in hell in a fiery lake of sulfur for an eternity.
3. Come for the car, stay for the intimate relationship with a tender savior.
4. Drive home and to heaven when you visit this Sunday.