God May Already Have Won!
I don't have to ask you if you've ever gotten one of those "official" looking envelopes with an "you may have already won!" message plastered on it. Neither will I ask if you've ever responded to such psychological pressure, it's just too embarrassing. Well, yet again I give you empirical proof that truth is stranger than fiction!
TAMPA--American Family Publishers found God in Sumter County. And He may be very, very rich.
A sweepstakes notice arrived at the Bushnell Assembly of God this month announcing that God, of Bushnell, was a finalist for the $11 million top prize.
"I always thought he lived here, but I didn't actually know," said Bill Brack, pastor of the church about 60 miles north of Tampa. "Now I do. He's got a P.O. box here."
"God, we've been searching for you," American Family wrote in the letter, as first reported by the local weekly newspaper, the Sumter County Times.
The message was centered between two round seals requesting God to "come forward."
If God were to win, the letter stated, "What an incredible fortune there would be for God! Could you imagine the looks you'd get from your neighbors?"
Sweepstakes officials did not return several telephone calls for comment Thursday.
Brack said a youth pastor collected the mail that day and pointed out the addressee.
"I read it in church a couple of weeks ago and everyone got a kick out of it." he said. "It's funny, and everybody seems to enjoy it. It lifted everybody's heart."
Brack said his 140-member congregation is considering whether to mail in the entry. the church could use the money.
If the church wins, Brack said he'd settle with American Family for 10 percent on the dollar and call it even.
"I'm willing for them to show up here at the church with cameras and me in my bathrobe, as long as they write a check," He quipped.
And if American Family chooses a different winner?
"God would be disappointed, " Brack joked.