Still Got A Sense Of Humor, Believer? Why not?

If we don't have some joy in our Christian experience today, then they say it's our own fault. Dunno for sure, but I'm still laughin' at some things. Come on, no worries, read further...

Now I know that you might have been through a lot of very hellish junk to get to this point and I certainly don't mean to come off as crass, insensitive or cavalier at all. I never want to rub salt in a fresh or old wound. But God can help us get over the bad stuff so we'll laugh again. 

I read in a Better Homes n Gardens mag: "Laugh Your Way to Good Health." The guy who wrote the article, Nick Gallo, made a cool observation . Nick said, "Humor is good medicine-and can actually help keep you in good health." He cites what William F. Fry, M.D. said, who carefully described humor and laughter as "inner jogging" and says that it's good for a person's cardiovascular system. Perhaps you've read similar stuff from other authors before?

Anyways, comparing laughter to physical exercise, Gallo said that when a person laughs heartily from deep down in his gut, several physical benefits will occur. There's a lowering of blood pressure for a period of time, and a good reduction in their muscle tension. Ever tense up with stress? Let me reword that: Ever get in traffic and go shopping at the mall during this time of the year? Better than any chill-pill is God's advice for the worried and sad people! Doctor Fry goes on to tells us that many people sense a more "relaxed afterglow" of sorts following laughter.

He even concluded his article by saying, "An enduring sense of humor, especially combined with other inner resources such as faith and optimism, appears to be a potent force for better health." Want health on multiple levels today? Appropriate God's joy as you apply His Word! 

Christians express their joy in different ways. Some are more outwardly expressive due to nurture and how God made and gifted em, but above all other people, born again believers should benefit from laughter gobs because we have the most to express gratitude for, and the greatest Reason to be joyful about - His Name is Jesus!

Yes, it's later than it's ever been before, but it's certainly not too late for you to have humor!

Go have a chat with God 'bout it. Of course we aren't to be inappropriate by laughin' all the time or at what just isn't funny.. or to be strangely laughin' "allegedly in the Spirit" as some of my dear friends have done in past decades (don't ask; you don't wanna know about dumb fruitless fads). But I find that life rarely gets so horrible, that we in Jesus can't find something to laugh at ..or some real church friends to laugh with. This is just a natural and wholesome part of living ..or should be.

Think about how it should and shouldn't play out, this laughter stuff.. Christian humor ain't ever dirty, distasteful, hurtful to others, ill-timed, de-edifying, or tactless. It is never degrading of people or of God.

It does have the right tone, timing, topic and tact! It can even have a hook in it (I've personally seen comedy as good bait for the Gospel's sake, in drawing a crowd to listen)! In fact I pray for more Christian comedians and excellent comedian teams, because this can be a real ministry to fish with where other things don't seem to get the Message through. Lots of people will go hear Christian comedians outside of a church building somewhere neutral long before they'd ever darken the threshold of a chapel or church building. Perhaps you remember Isaac Air Freight?

Humor can be a great fishing tool. Sure! Besides, why would any sinners want to hang tight with, or even listen to some pious sourpuss?

The Spirit can give you wisdom coupled together with humor today..for a Purpose! Do you ever ask Him to?

Perhaps you have a gift in this area? Commit it unto Him. Maybe you are like me and have zero gifts in this area. Still use and enjoy clean humor - don't be afraid to laugh in public no matter what "leader" has beat you down!

Some people try too hard to be funny (please don't..) for perhaps the wrong reasons and they are not funny. Not at all—it's sad and very pathetic! You've met people like that. Not really sure about what they are after ..attention, applause, fame? But we don't need people's attention on us really and we can honor the Lord with humor in the right way if we choose.

"But how can God use it, Kurt?"

Well, He can use it to bring joy where none exists and also help outsiders get a glimpse of how cool it is "inside" (in His Kingdom even down here). Jesus still wants people to better see what the Father is really like. Who wouldn't like Him? You know that He's not some bitter, uptight, stiff-necked-kill-joy that's out to wipe out "the masses of infidels" as the Quran describes Allah (who isn't the Bible God..) to be about. Question: Does your life clearly reflect the Bible God because you are in-touch with Him? Got His joy welling up inside you daily?

No the real God is never a dim or cold-hearted Barney, but He is out to help and heal and restore and rescue all who need that. So many still need to be rescued today!!!

Righteous humor uplifts hurting peeps; it lightens their spirits in a very broken world that comes down on us heavy at times. Good humor energizes people's minds in the right direction. We can casually witness with it. 

You can inject Scriptural truth into the convo along with your humor!

"Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them.'" ~ Psalm 126:2

"Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools…You are well thought of, but we are laughed at." ~ 1 Corinthans 4:10

I really thank God for a sense of humor! It helps us people to step back, to not take ourselves so seriously, nor to take this fleeting earthly experience so seriously.

Ever had a brain-lapse before? Man, I have done some pretty lame things that make others laugh hard ..and then that makes me also lose it. ROTFLOL!

I need to get out of myself at times to look at me from their perspective.

You know we aren't to join in and laugh at the filthy stuff and abysmal jokes the world is laughing at or join them in scoffing or mocking at our brothers and sisters. But why not join em (and other Christians..) in laughing at some of the stuff they laugh at you about? Sure, lighten up. Be free and healthy in your thinking!

The world needs to see a more casual, relaxed, joyous Church, rather than gobs of depressed dishonest church folk into religion, or into their own "dignity," self-preservation and image! 

Heaven will be a place of LAUGHTER!!! It's already a spot for humble joy, all out worship, and full-throttle celebration! It rocks and won't ever be a step-on-the-brakes-rad-boring place for dead religion. No, cuz Satan is the religious one.

Never forget that no exciting party down here will ever be close to comparable with Heaven at all!

Listen, God says, "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength" (Prov. 17:22, nlt). Yes, in the Bible king Solomon tells us about three things that will occur when people have lost their inner sense of humor: 1.) A broken weak spirit, 2.) A lack of inner healing, and 3.) Dried-up bones (Prov. 15:13, 15; 17:22). Who wants have or be a desolate lonely bag-a-bones?

Question for ya, naw three of em instead... Can you laugh at your own mistakes and quirky human foibles? Can you discern well in Christ and restrain yourself when laughing just isn't fitting? In your personal relationship with the Lord (who ain't ever stuffy..), can you enjoy humor all alone, or with your family members in a natural sorta way? Know Him well and you can start! 

O that more children would know God's tender love, holy affection, gentle encouragement, superior wisdom and boat loads of hearty laughter in Christian homes. Too many only know of laughter in video games and on TV while sharp fighting is happening elsewhere. Belly laughter instead of strife in the home is so much better ..for the belly and for the heart, parents!   

If you can't yet answer yes to those questions, then please prayerfully and carefully read the Bible again. You might notice some things about your good natured Lord that you haven't noticed before. You might even feel your strained neck muscles start to relax as your burdened and troubled thoughts are chased away by good old-fashioned laughter! Cheer up, chuckle a bit, obey a lot, and choose to be happy in the Lord. The Spirit makes it easy to be ..and why else? Well, because lives are at stake. 

Fish With Joyous Laughter

Many people unfortunately don’t drive so good in Texas. In fact, my beautiful wife has been through a lot lately due to that fact. Liney, got rear-ended while driving home from a glorious wedding (with Eric and Chris Betts) that I performed in Mckinney with the Firth family the other day. Ouch!—more than her neck has been hurting too, so she’s been going to the chiropractor everyday and today after taking some x-rays the doctor discovered that she had actually fractured her wrist. And you really wouldn’t have known it this past week as she went about her normal routine joking on occasion, except that she’s been taking a little Tylenol when she almost never wants any pain killers. I have not been able to protect her from everything that pains or harms her ..and that really bugs me a lot, because I feel zealous about that. She’s the greatest Christian I know. She's daily in the Word each morning and constantly applying it selflessly. 

 A couple nights ago Liney insisted upon making a cake for a friend one handed... that collapsed due to so many raspberries she put in it, so without a break after her day at the office, she had to do it all over again. I can't stop her. Anyways, she has a great attitude and really cares about people. She makes me laugh and senses the Lord’s joy in everything she does. I'm telling you, it takes a whole lot to stop her ..or slow her down. The last time someone crashed into her a couple years ago, the car came at her from the front side. And she was driving real slow in a left hand turn lane, but the other lady swerved right into her. Nothing seems to move Liney or shake her loose of the joy she has in a relationship with the Lord. 

She never gets bitter and never stops praying for people. I’m grateful she’s there. In some ways her devotion reminds me of Paul’s. He said, "But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy…” (Act. 20:24). I ran into another Christian this week that was very depressed and angry at people. He’s sadly been like that quite awhile—I keep running into him in that condition. I wanted to tell him to stop listening to a certain Word-faith TV preacher that he adores, but the timing wasn’t quite right. Christian, why be all caught up in your circumstances and in this world system, when you could be focused on Him? 

We have something in the Lord that people don’t understand, but cannot be beat ..ever! But if you and I are not genuinely exited inside or joy-filled, why should we expect anyone to want what we have? If you were an unbeliever and you came across a real believer who acted just like you do, would you want that believer to talk with your or pray with you so that you could get to know the Lord? 

 In the book of Acts we read the story of a handful of men and women who were filled with joy and power. They lived victoriously in spite of fierce persecution and trials; in fact, they did not leave their world the same as they found it. They turned it upside down. They were just ordinary folk like you and me—people whom God invaded and enabled to do extraordinary things as they went everywhere spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. Here's a devo I did last night that might help you.

Do you still hear yourself laugh?

There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven... A time to cry and a time to laugh. —Eccl. 3:1-4

Too many Christians take themselves way too seriously. I know there's no time for the laughter of compromise. Coarse jesting, crude joking—that stuffs out! We want to be creative, but we don't win people to Christ with smut or being like the world (see Eph. 5:4).

It's ok to poke fun at yourself, and be self-abasing ..minus the foolish self-deprecation on occasion. Sure some Christians are silly and goofy all the time and that kind of stuff wears on people's nerves. But too many Christians are mostly sullen, inverted, and morose these days. They're against too much—yup, all up in arms against stuff that's not even sin or error. The world sees them as prudishly negative sour bigots who look down on others. But we need to joyously communicate what we're for …not in some condemning hateful way.

Maybe it's time for a break to go look in the mirror! I do that and I'm convinced that God's not uptight. I think He has a huge sense of humor.

God has even blessed me with a couple friends like that, who role with the blows that life deals out... and they role-model Christ's joy for me consistently. They take life as it comes in an upbeat winsome fashion. They stay sweet when things go rancid. Sometimes I cause them some small blows too when things get too mundane. Not too bad, but they seem to like it when I pick on them… and they also pick on me right back.

None of my friends enjoy how I sing though ..like a skilled, animated, agile rock-star that's movin' about is how I can see it—yep, got it going on and they quickly get movin' on away from me. My cat even left the room. Of course I would never want to say their names here, but.. hey guys; cheer up Russ, Bill, and Dave.. we all can't dance so serious like a pro or be all buff, handsome and gifted. They only try to hurt my feelings.(1)

But Christians can get down too, and we certainly don't need to fake it during times like that (that's when we really need intercede to lift them up). I have more than one dear friend who has lost their love one lately and man, does that hurt. Please pray for the Laurie family and their ministry; they just recently lost a son.

But it seems like other saints won't let go of their valued depression session even though they've really lost nothing of value. Do they equate "holy" to being some poor-old-me pitiful beat-down?

Sure, we've got to be sensitive around some who are weak and weeping. We need to be cryin' real crocodile tears with those who are crying. But sometimes I talk straight with those who cry too much ..ya know, for ooos and awws and a show.

Jesus was R-E-A-L as could be--still is--and I can't see where He ever flt sorry for Himself or recruited sympathy. Things weren't always peachy, but Christ was and is the perfect man—a man's man. He was described as "a man of sorrows," intimately acquainted with grief (read Isaiah 53:3).

Wanna chuckle, smile and snicker more and know that its right? Know Christ and live full-bore for Him!

http://www.fish4souls.org

Can You Find A Reason To Laugh?

Liney and I finally bought a stove and are getting ready to saw up the kitchen counters a bit for it. I'm stoked to be with her today. She is one interesting personality who speaks tongue-in-cheek to me sometimes and makes unexpected satirical remarks that catch me off guard. That kind of thing helps when things get serious, intense or half-boring. News flash: Life ain't all trials and trouble. Seeing some of the stuff that's ironic and whacked in situations is OK.

Our friend Dee-Wayne (that's what his peeps call him), his wife Rachel, their two lovely daughters, as well as other friends (Herb Clark, the Gandias, Stropes, Fergusons, Cunninghams etc) came by the other night and were all a lot of fun. That's a pic at the top of Tori, the Page's oldest with her rightfully-fearful-of-her-dad boyfriend (Dwayne as the family protector actually purposely cultivates that feeling in young lads on purpose, but we don't tell them that Dwayne is really a very friendly NASCAR fun-loving redneck. NASCAR and football are big here in the South.

Liney and I were out walkin' and talkin' together today ..and a lady out jogging around, who we didn't even know ran up behind me excitedly tapping me on the shoulder. Before we could turn to see who it was, she surprised me saying.. "Yes!"

OOoooKay, I scratched my head thinking, Yes what?--and wondered what this lady meant. I guess I wasn't thinking about it when I put on a certain t-shirt that morning. I had originally designed this shirt and distributed them to all our students at Calvary Chapel School where I used to be the principal for some years. The shirt asks: "Got Jesus--the Bible Jesus?"

Some people get angry when I wear it and others are happy to see it. There's power in that Name, it's comfortable, and it's an ice-breaker. People like to stop us in the stores whenever I have it on. Like them, you might be wondering why I had it made with that particular question on there ...like some wild-eye fanatic. But when you live where I live with many people who are out there preaching the God-will-make-everyone-a-billionaire-if they'll-give kind of Jesus ..rather than the real One, it's good to make things clear. 

Anyway, the jogging lady told us about her Bible church she loves so much that's around the block from us and that. She said, "I've happily known Him (the Bible Jesus) for four years now!" Whenever Liney and I take our dog out, that's what normally starts all the conversations with strangers, but today it was due to a cheap shirt.

Smile and Snicker Some ...Make Em Wonder What You Pulled Off

"There is a time …to laugh." —Ecclesiastes 3:4

A Seattle third grade teacher was testing her class on the parts of the human body. All of the pupils passed her test except for one. When asked what the body was composed of, this sandy-haired, freckled-face lad voiced his response: "The human body is composed of three parts: the brainium, borax, and abominable cavity. The brainium contains the brain. The borax contains the lungs, liver, and the living things. And the abominable cavity contains the bowels of which there are five—a, e, i, o, and u."

I LOVE IT!!! Got a question… would your friends say that you possess a healthy sense of humor? Are you a fun person to be around? Do you love to laugh with your buddies? Did you know that having joy inside is a wonderful gift from God? Even our Lord was filled joy-filled and He gladly expressed it upwards: "Then Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit and said, 'O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you'" (Lk. 10:21).

Though Christ understood what mourning and tears were about; though He was, "despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief", I bet (if a Christian can say that..) that there were times when Jesus laughed out loud with a hardy belly laugh and even made his disciples begin to chuckle. He knew about jollity and mirth too. Some of the most godly men and women I have ever met just about put me on the floor with their humor.

Spiritual giants like Charles Haddon Spurgeon and Martin Luther were very humorous. Luther once kidded, "If they don't allow laughter in heaven then I don't want to go there." He then added, "If the earth is fit for laughter then surely heaven is filled with it. Heaven is the birthplace of laughter." Spurgeon was once approached by the elders of his church and asked to tone down his humor in the pulpit. The great English expositor replied, "Gentlemen, if you only knew how much I held back!"

Bill and Vonette Bright (who started Campus Crusade for Christ) enjoyed laughing with each other a lot. They would pick on each other sometimes, but not in a hurtful way. Have you ever heard Chuck Swindoll, pastor, author, and radio personality live at Stonebriar Church or somewhere? He goes right up to the edge of propriety and walks that tightrope of a line with his joking around ... and according to the religious folk's estimation of him, he goes well over the edge with his humor and so called "vulgar language" (yup, "buns," and "heck"). He does this especially when he is with his sister Luci too.

Lucy Swindoll once shared a funny story with some ladies about a time in her youth when she "taught" Chuck how to "smoke"! She rolled up some paper, had her younger brother put one end in his mouth, commanded him to inhale and then swallow at the time when she lit up the other end. Well, Luci lit it and flames shot right up and burned Chuck's big white-man lips and His tongue! Well, it's funny to them now! Lucy claims that she is the one that first got him "on fire for God!" But Chuck has people who love his robust laugh almost as much as his preaching! His hero, Howard Hendricks, a respected professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, peppers his messages with hilarious stories too and some of the funniest facial expressions you've ever seen. 

My ex-alcoholic dad isn't religious either. He loves the Lord now too, and he can also tell some hilarious stories of what he and his drunken buddies used to do in a haze. He doesn't glorify his past life or go into all the gory details that we shouldn't hear, but he is lowly and relatable to people struggling with different addictions, people who want to learn to walk with the Lord and learn to laugh at themselves. He talks of how most of his friends would misplace their cars when the bars closed—that's goes hand-in-hand with that lifestyle. But one drunk was a train conductor with the Union Pacific Railroad who would stop in Indo California to frequent his favorite bar and later on at 2:30 AM when it was time to go, he would misplace his train. He couldn't figure out where he parked it. For real!

He will fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. —Job 8:21

Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face. —Victor Hugo

Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, and looks to God alone; laughs at impossibilities, and cries it shall be done. —Charles Wesley

I have a lot to learn, but did you know that it's been psychologically documented, that laughter along with having a well-rounded sense of humor in a person is one of the sure signs of intelligence. I saw this in an interesting TV documentary. Laughter releases chemicals in our bodies called endorphins that serve as painkillers to a degree.

Proverbs 15:13 says, "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken." Having a merry heart inside will express itself right.

It's having the God-given ability to capture, appreciate and enjoy all the wonderful times of life and then let it turn into laughter. The Bible says there's, "A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance" (Eccl. 3:4).

That's right, there's a time to dance about all filled up with exuberance! Jesus said, "God blesses you who weep now, for the time will come when you will laugh with joy" (Lk. 6:21).

Hey, be open to chuckling, smiling and snickering some more. People might wonder what you got away with.