Phone Call From God - Inspirational Christian Gift for Believers - Perfect for Prayer, Worship & Spiritual Encouragement

A great blessing my grandpa used to play this all the time for me and my brothers and sister on 8 track . It's nice to find it again . In a updated version .I really wanted a CD of the record.great jerry jordonMy dad loves this so much!!Awesome album to play at church to amuse the congregation!! It is funny and the members will laugh and enjoy it!!I expected the record to be in better condition, since it was listed as a collector's quality it had too many scratches!!!I first heard Jerry Jordan when I was just a kid in the late 70's. My dad had an old cassette tape that was recorded off an LP. For years after that, I remained fond of that album but never remembered the name of the comedian or the album (because the cassette tape had no label). Not knowing if the recording was even available online anywhere or exactly how to start searching for it, I typed in "phone call from heaven, what's that Lord" in a Google search and, to my surprise, I found Jerry Jordan on a website called ArtistDirect. They had a picture of the LP and all the track titles listed (1. Phone Call From God, 2. No Hand To Dismiss, 3. It All Depends, 4. The Hog Story, 5. Overdrawn At The Bank, 6. Prejudiced People, 7. Air-Conditioned Cars, 8. Tell Me The Truth, 9. Don't Call Me, I'll Call You).My two favorite tracks on the album are "Phone Call From God" (which features Jerry receiving a long-distance phone call from heaven with God. Immediately he begins stuttering as God starts asking him questions about his religious life. It's hilarious - although I do think it paints the picture of God as being a little bit legalistic in His concerns, but I still laugh every time I hear it.) and the second favorite track was called, "Don't Call Me, I'll Call You" (which features Jerry driving his truck and asking for the "smoky report" on his CB radio when God interrupts him and then it's back to stuttering again as Jerry nervously tries to update God on how much better he's been doing since the last call... which, as you might have guessed, is not so good).I really enjoy how these are presented, in that they depict a friendship relationship with God and they truly are funny and very clean humor as well. I was glad to see that there are resellers on Amazon.com that have this album listed, unfortunately because of the rarity of the album it's often incredibly expensive. I hope someone re-releases this or at least puts up MP3's for download/purchase. I don't even recall the other tracks on the album so it would be great to listen to them all! If I ever find it cheaper somewhere, I will try to update my review here.The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is because I think some of the doctrinal presentation is a bit "off" when compared with actual Bible text. Traditional religious influences are abundant, more-so than concrete biblical truths. I wouldn't even judge this detail if it wasn't for the fact that the humorous stories are presenting God as having a problem with things that, biblically, He doesn't actually have a problem with. For example, the Scripture does not teach that tithing is a requirement for Christians... nor does it teach that the tithe was ever money or that it was or is intended to finance religious organizations. Since I've studied that topic a great deal, it obviously stands out to me. The other detail that I roll my eyes at a bit is the preoccupation God is presented as having with Jerry not going to church regularly. While meeting together with believers to enjoy fellowship, or to pray, sing or study the Bible may be a beneficial activity (one that I also enjoy from time to time), the Scripture does not instruct Christians to attend or build churches, nor does it ever imply that not attending such an organization is sin. In fact, the Scriptural definition of church has nothing to do with religious edifices or attending programs at all. It is simply a word representing a spiritual reality; God's family (i.e. the body of Christ) are His Church. So Jerry tends to follow traditional concepts on this point too, which may impose a bit of guilt on people (however subtle) because they may not attend a religious organization regularly. I doubt God would lay a guilt trip on anyone for something He never once instructed them to participate in Scripture.I realize this is a comedy album and the author was shooting for an overall message that God is always watching us and cares about our lives - and the material was presented in a fashion that most church-attending Christians will find familiar and humorous and, most of all, uplifting. For this reason I give it a very generous four stars. It is VERY funny and brought back a lot of nostalgia for me. The other stories on the album are great too... This is kind of like a Gospel Jerry Clowers album. I really like it.God bless! :)great