They have even revived some old material. Remember the joke about Oral Roberts starting his own record company? 

It's going around again: 

"Hear about Oral Roberts starting a record company?" 

"No, what happened?" 

"He went out of business. The hole in the middle of his records kept healing shut." 

I liked the one about Jerry Falwell running into Jimmy Swaggart in an airport one day. 

They began to chat and quite naturally conversation got around to money. 

"How, Brother Falwell," began Brother Swaggart, "do you decide what part of the money you receive from your believers each week goes to the Lord and how much you keep for yourself?" 

"Very simple," Brother Falwell explained. "Each week I take all the money my flock has sent in and put it into a large cardboard box. 

"Then, I go into my office where I have a line drawn on the floor. 

"I throw all the money up into the air and what falls to the left of the line, I give to the Lord. What falls on the right, I keep." 

"Very good," Brother Swaggart replied, "I have a similar system of deciding how much I give the Lord and how much I keep. 

"I also go into my office with all the money, and I also throw it up into the air, and, whatever the Lord catches, he can keep." 

I know people who now are admitting publicly they were regular watchers of the PTL Club. They didn't watch for the salvation, however. They watched for the humor. 

"Jim and Tammy Faye were the best husband and wife comedy team since Burns and Allen and I miss them," a friend was saying. 

"My favorite routine of theirs was when Jim and Tammy Faye both dressed up in sailor suits and Jim begged for money to pay for the water slide at Heritage Village while Tammy Faye cried." 

"After she had cried for a few moments she looked like Soupy Sales had just hit her in the face with a mascara pie. 

"I really miss both of them," my friend continued. "Watching PTL now is nothing like it used to be. 

"Richard Dortch and Jerry Falwell both look like they're constipated and I can't stand to watch Jimmy Swaggart. He seems to be in such pain. Maybe he has the same problem as Dortch and Falwell." 

I remain convinced humor is just as good for the soul as watching a television evangelist and I close with the following gems currently making the rounds: 

Did you hear Oral Roberts died? The check bounced. 

How is Tammy Faye Bakker's face like a ski slope? Five inches of base, six inches of powder. 

Did you hear about the television evangelist who is a cross between Jim Bakker and Oral Roberts? If he doesn't have sex within the next two weeks, he is going to die. 

Say good night, Tammy Faye.