Finding Laughter In Difficult Times

Sometimes in life, we need to rid ourselves of unwanted/unneeded things.  We need to cast away stones from our lives or from our properties.  It’s good to dispel things such as foolishness and gossip; things that bind us and restrict our growth.  We need to purge ourselves. If we’re moving or building, there’s a time to cast away unnecessary junk, and only use the essentials.

Jesus once told the religious leaders that the stone the builders cast away (rejected), was now become the corner stone (Mark 12: 10,11).  In other words, the way I once heard it, sometimes a corner stone for a building foundation is found but pushed aside because it doesn’t seem like it’ll work; yet, in the end, its’ the one that works after all.  The people had rejected Jesus because He didn’t fit their vibe; He didn’t follow the patterns they followed and He didn’t walk in their footsteps.  He stirred the crowds with new teachings.  But they weren’t new at all.  He was bringing His Word to life.  He wasn’t wrong at all because, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him…And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us…” (John 1:1,2,3,14a).

Meaning, Jesus is the actual Word of God materialized in the flesh!  If there was a written law and that law became flesh, then everything that person would say, would actually be the law itself. Although, He was the stone the people cast away, He was the True Foundation to everything in their lives; their beliefs as God’s Chosen Deliverer and the Messiah whom they awaited; and still is!  He’s always been the stone they needed.

As today’s idiom goes, “Throw out the baby with the bathwater.”  The hope of their salvation was cast out due to the hardness of their hearts.  Scripture was alive and being fulfilled before their very eyes, yet they failed to see it, thus casting Him too.

There are stones of remembrance, sometimes, evil, that we can do without.  Those stones of bad memories may be like giants in your life choking you of joy, stability, etc. needing to be cast away. Today, we can cast all our cares and worries before Him. Cast them out right now, in Jesus’ name!

Until next time when we gather…

Sam

Recommended Song: Cast Down Your Cares-John Michael Talbot

“You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent” (Psalm 30:11,12 ESV).

When one stands before the presence of Almighty God, we can prostrate ourselves before Him, stand in awe, jump and leap  with exuberant joy, or dance out of excitement.  For some, Jehovah, is a straight-faced, extremely serious God who never shows His teeth. He doesn’t laugh, wears a frown, isn’t moved by our antics, and drinks lemon juice all day long (a sourpuss). He is viewed as one to be revered in utter silence.  And if we sing, it’s monk-style chants.  If we rejoice, we dare not smile.  As I shared a few years ago, the praise and worship leader of our NY-based church, had a special dance for him and his wife.  His father, a pastor at another church, grabbed his wife’s hand, and told his group something like, let’s go to be with real Christians, as they exited the event.

 NEWS-FLASH!! God’s alive!!  Always has been!  “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Him” (2 Corinthians 5:19). 

There are millions of reasons for desiring to dance and leap before His presence!! He’s not a dead God.  Now, we’re not talking about sensual dances, here.  We’re talking about adoration, gratitude, worship, thanksgiving, etc… A grateful heart cannot contain the joy that comes from knowing you’re saved.  Additionally, knowing your name is written in heaven is doggone good enough for dancing before Him!  

Look at it this way, every year near Christmastime, some well-off man heads out to some Walmart and pays off up to $20,000 in dept for unsuspecting customers.  Some owe a little, others owe a lot.  Almost everyone has a story to tell; one may have lost a job, another doesn’t know how to pay their rent; another might be unable to get their kids gifts, etc…But when they hear their debt has been paid off, they’re exuberant! Imagine!!  Your debt of sin has been paid off by Jesus!!!  That’s a whole lot more than any outstanding debt!  It’s a debt no man can pay off on their merits.  You should be having the greatest Christmas boogie of all time!

King David’s wife, Michal, probably viewed God as described above-boring and unmoved, which caused her to judge and criticize the King.  For that, she remained barren all her life.  It’s better to dance!

So, go before Him now.  Thank Him for all His wonderous gifts, including forgiveness of sins and His love for you. Receive His acceptance by faith. In confidence, dance before Him!  If you’re in a rush, dance the Hustle!  Otherwise, slow-dance before Him as you enjoy His presence!

“Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry.  I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow” (Jeremiah 31:13).

God Bless!
“let them praise his name in the dance:” (Psalm 149:3a).

Sam

Though not mentioned in scripture, I’m very sure Adam and Eve mourned their severance from the beautiful Garden of Eden and their separation from God.  I’m sure they probably kicked themselves for their actions.  Although it wasn’t completely their fault as far as having pre-conceived knowledge of the consequences is concerned; their job was simply to obey God’s command: “Thou shalt not eat of the tree of good and Evil, for in the day you do, you shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

They didn’t know what sin was.  They didn’t know what separation from God meant.  And they had never seen death. Not only did they regret their choice, they also mourned the death of one of their little ones.  See, however many years transpired before the fall, Adam & Eve enjoyed the company of God’s creatures.  After the fall, God sacrificed a lamb to clothe their shame (Genesis 3:21).  Their sin, disobedience, produced “spiritual” death: separation from God.  There was now discord between them.  That’s where humanity stands today: dead spiritually.  The naysayers claim contradictions in scripture because our first parents didn’t experience physical death.  But they died spiritually, and were as dead as those writing those things, are.

From having it all, they went to being homeless with a broken relationship with God.  The pure, unrivaled fellowship they had, was gone.  His angels and creatures, were in a different realm now.  They now experienced hunger, fear, sadness, loneliness, and remorse. The very animals they petted, would soon attack them. And farming would never be the same (Romans 8:22; Genesis 3:17-21).  Sin seeped into every facet of life.

Today, thousands of people have broken fellowship with God.  In that sense, their homeless.  They don’t tabernacle with Him anymore.  What things were blessings, are now curses. Many mourn the death of that relationship as well as that of dearly departed ones.  Mourning is real.  It hurts deeply.  God wants us to have periods of mourning, but life must go on. I’ve known people who have mourned for more than a decade or two. After its season, it’s time to move on with God’s help.

Life’s changing seasons help us adjust and go on living. We can’t take back our sins, but fortunately, Jesus took them all to the cross for us!  Where man disobeyed God in the garden, Jesus, in a garden nailed them there on a tree and redeemed us to Himself. 

What’s that? If you were Adam or Eve, Jesus is saying, “Yo, come back! I’ve made it all right with the Father.” “I’m the perfect Lamb who takes away the sins of the world, and I love you so much, I’ve laid down my life for you.”  “Yeah, yeah, I’ve reestablished the broken lines of communication.”  “Come on, let’s fellowship with a clean conscience, as if nothing ever happened between us.”  That’s the Good News!

It’s time to change that mourning into…

Sam

AHHH, it’s here, it’s finally here!  It’s a time to laugh, though not everyone likes to laugh.  When teaching in New York, I had a supervisor who’d tell me different things needing to be done.  She would also point out negative things she’d seen around the room.  I’d laugh.  She’d get upset and say, “Why do you laugh?”  “What’s so funny?” I told her a few times, “It’s either laugh or cry, so I rather laugh.  The expectancies were ridiculous. 

My wife often says, “Ha, ha. Very funny.” She doesn’t always laugh.  Same thing with our oldest daughter (arms in casts) but, they do have their moments, and when they laugh, they laugh hard. I guess it’s accumulated laughter.

“Laughter is like taking a good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22). We don’t always want to have a prune-face, or be a sour-pus.  Laughter offsets the sad and hurtful things going on in our lives.  It reminds us of better times; both from the past, and those to look forward to.  Laughter says, this ordeal is over!  People in scripture laughed.

“Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear” (Genesis 17:17)?

When 90-year-old Sarah was told she’d have a baby, she laughed (Genesis 18:12)! What woman wouldn’t?

“And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me” (Genesis 21:6).

Imagine the Hebrews, who after 430 years of slavery, were now set free!  Their expressions are quoted below:

“Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.  Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them” (Psalm 126:2).

Are you still doubting you should have anything to laugh about?

 “Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled.  Blessed are ye that weep, for you shall laugh” (Luke 6:21).

My wife and I recently laughed at something our youngest daughter shared. As a family of bookworms, it was only natural that during the passing of hurricane Helene, our two daughters along with two kids and a husband of one of them, shelter-in-place in the laundry room to read.  The youngest picked out a book for her sister.  It was one she gifted her when she married-13 years ago!  Having never read it she didn’t remember she had it.  She enjoyed it so much, she wished there were more. Ta-da, her sister had 7 more for her to enjoy!  She was hooked!

That’s life; we’re sometimes so busy, we don’t find time to enjoy good times or the gift of laughter.  Now, I’m not in any way promoting the silliness of just laughing like you’re nuts, and claiming it’s the Holy Spirit. Laugh at funny things.  Laugh at things you do, or mistakes you make.  Laugh at life.

One of my brother’s funny verses is, Song of Solomon 6:11: “I went down to the garden of nuts…”  He always said crazy people lived there!

We’ve had a ton of trials.  Most, not funny at all.  But we’ve learned to laugh at some of them.  Here’s a pic. from late night, June 5^th, 1981, hours before we tied the knot!  We don’t recall the joke, but know it had to do with chicken, since we bought a box of 26 whole chickens for $28! That would be our wedding meal with all the other goodies cooked by our church friends.  Evidently, we were having a blast!

Laugh while you can!

Sam

Sometimes we hold things in for long periods of time.  At a given time, we need to release all tension, anger, hurt, and emotion we’ve held captive within.  That release is most safely done through tears.  Weeping is healthy.  Think of those who have lost their homes during recent storms, or through fires, or scams.  Some may have lost loved ones-unexpectedly.  People are known to have been betrayed by close friends.  Jesus can relate: “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9 NKJV).  Judas betrayed Him. Weeping can release hurts we are not even aware of.

Weeping is temporal.  Aside from God’s love, nothing on this earth is forever.  God shows us there’s a balance to every emotion and every trial.  Today we weep, but tomorrow we’ll rejoice.

I don’t know if Jesus will have us stand with our hands at our sides while He unravels his quadrillion rolls of paper tissues and  proceeds to wipe the tears from our eyes, but He will end our suffering.  He will make sure nothing else ever, brings tears of sadness or hurt to our eyes.  In a nutshell, today’s your day to weep.  Tomorrow’s a different story.

Meaning? Your weeping’s almost over!  Time to start rejoicing!  In the meantime, don’t keep it all to yourself!  Remember, you’re not the only one weeping!   Jesus knows your hurt and pain!  He lost a very dear friend-Lazarus.  At seeing his sister and the Jews that accompanied her weeping, He was deeply moved within.  One Bible commentator said Jesus trembled with emotion.  At that moment, we’re given the Bible’s shortest verse: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). See, He’s not this distant robot-of-a-person who randomly, and distantly performed miracles.  He has feelings just like you and me.  He can relate to us because He lived amongst us as a human.

So, now that you know…You have to share with others your pity-party-but in victory!  “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep” (Romans 12:15).  Show your compassion to others who are in the same boat you’re in.  Be the strong one.  Strengthen another person.  Remember:

“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

See ya on the other side of weeping,

Sam

So, between 1985 and 1988 we had a dream of building a cabin in the woods so our three little jack-rabbit kids could have a place to roam and hop around in. We knew we couldn’t afford a house in New York, so we aimed for Puerto Rico-somewhere we knew nothing about but my parents had just relocated there. We accomplished our dream. Bought a log cabin kit without any land to build on or a builder to erect it. Later, purchased land unseen, met our builder, realized our dream, and worked hard at it for the next 34 years.  Built it the way we wanted it with lots of sweat and tears.  There were new experiences everywhere.

Building together can strengthen a relationship and strain it as well.  In the end, we’re better for it.  Our three kids also had major experiences as well which have helped them in their current lives.  Building up is an opportunity to start afresh.  It’s a time to dream, and to see if God was factored in or not.  If He wasn’t, now’s the time to invite Him in. How? First, don’t try to fix your mess. Instead, look within yourself.  Acknowledge yourself a sinner in need of a savior. Open the door to your heart, invite Him in.  He’ll work changes within you.  You’ll “see His face” in that you’ll sense His presence in your life all the time.  As you read His word, you’ll see what He’s like. As you build your life around Him, He’ll build you up.  He’ll mature you as a believer.  He’ll nourish you to withstand Satan’s guiles and fiery darts.

Just as building our home has taken years, don’t expect to build up your life overnight.  Early on, I learned a lot of what the Bible taught and I mastered just about everything in the book of Revelation.  I thought I was done. I knew it all. While, yes, I had the knowledge, the experience part was missing. Now, that’s where I’ve been at for most of these 29 years!  On-the-job-training!

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” (1Thessalonians 5:11).

Pics: Top Left-Logs Galore! Top Right-Time To Build! Above Left: Work Crew, Above Right-Built!

God Bless!
Sam

It was a coldish day on November 22^nd, 1963 when I remember a sudden rush-rush everywhere. Teachers were sobbing as they rushed us 6-year-old kids to quickly get on our coats, line up, and were rushed outside.  Out there, I met up with my older brother, Vincent, who was in the same school, in the 8^th grade.  I told him about our being rushed out and the teachers crying, and he told me the president had been shot. It was a day where things in the USA changed. The respect for authority was gone.  It would mark the beginning of break downs, with more to come.

On September 11, 2001, the USA had another major breakdown.  The world would never be the same after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center Twin Towers.  My youngest brother worked at one of the towers and he usually changed his entrance schedule with his boss alternating between getting there at 7 and at 9.  That day, he was to arrive at 9 when he saw one of the planes flying low overhead.  Thankfully, he was a block away when it all happened.

Ours is a broken-down world, not just in buildings and deaths of leaders, but in morals, communication, dignity and respect for human life, as well as in relationships with others.

Has your life come toppling down lately? Like a giant tower, has every “floor” toppled after several bad experiences? Let’s see, you lost your job?  You fell behind on the rent?   Your schmucky boyfriend dumped you for the bratty blonde? Oh, you’re the bratty blonde?! Sorry. The nose job doesn’t look so hot?  Oh, it was a bloody nose caused by…

Regardless, breaking down can be a good thing; heck, even a great thing.  It won’t seem it at the moment, but it is. To everything, there is a time and a purpose.  When our lives break down, it’s normal. We can’t escape them.  And while we don’t condone terrorism, the actions God requires from us are:  “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

As individuals and nation, we tend to allow pride to reign over us. There are many things we need to break off.  God tells us to break off the horoscopes, the psychics, the witchcraft, the drinking, the gambling, the illicit affairs, the lying, the cheating, etc. (Deuteronomy 18:10-13).  Let me break it down for you: This is your time to break away from bad experiences and break down the walls you have put up that separate you from God; namely, sin. Read it!

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).

You do want to see His face and be heard, right? Tune-in next time!

Sam

PS Listen/watch This World by Caedmon’s Call. The world offers plenty; just not what we need.  Break off with the world.

Our son is a great example of ignoring signs, warnings, directions, etc.  Back in 1990, our dirt road had just been created. The gravel on it were large.  We were excited to see a mountain carved and a road appear. All five of us along with my mom and youngest brother were there checking it out.  We told our son not to run-but he did, downhill. Pretty quickly, he fell forward and the screams rang across the mountain range.  He was almost ten, but the rock stuck within his knee as the blood gushed out, made him feel like a 5-yr old. I picked him up. Threw him in the car (ok, I placed him), and off we went to the hospital. After treatment, he learned his lesson-for the time being.

Another time, he was about 16 when like a mad rider, he whizzed across our roads downhill on his miniature bike.  I told him, “Be careful, remember: it’s to the dentist we’re going, not to the doctor.  A few minutes later as we waited for him, and he didn’t show, we thought something might have happened to him.  A few minutes later, he came home staggering in pain.  “What happened?” I asked. “I fell on the turn” he said.  “So, where’s the bike?” I asked.  “And where are your glasses?” I drilled him. “They’re out there on the back road where I hit a hole” he said. I headed back and found his pretzeled bike and equally disfigured eyeglasses!  Back to the hospital.

Fast-forward about another 10 year: our son was dropped off a few blocks from his house by a friend and coworker. “Go straight home and don’t hang out around here” he was told. It being a few days before Christmas, he decided to hang out near a bakery.  He soon noticed a car coming towards them and suddenly slow down.  The minute he saw that, he realized what it might be: a drive-by-shooting! He quickly rose, attempted to run, but fell.  He couldn’t understand why, but got up again, and fell again.  He realized a bullet had ricochet off the sidewalk and pierced his shin bone. The intended target, however, never got  up again.  Back to the hospital; only this time, for a long while and returning on a wheel chair for several months before graduating to crutches.  Did I fail to mention our daughter fracturing her two arms…?

After each “accident” he needed healing.  True, he disregarded all the signs, but thankfully, God is merciful.

“But You, O LORD, are a God merciful and gracious, Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth” (Psalm 86:15);                    

Your issues might be more serious than these trivial ones.  But, nonetheless, might require healing.  Whether it’s physical, mental, or verbal abuse, sickness, a disease, losing a job, your home, your loved ones, or a splintered relationship, God is better than any glue out there and able to put you together.  He can heal every part of you. Are you heeding His warnings?  Are you following His signs?  Are you listening to His voice?  Fear Him! Cry out to Him!  Check it out: “But for you who fear My name, shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings;” (Malachi 4:2a).

“Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise” (Jeremiah 17:14).

Healing is for the hurt who need it from God.

Sam

REALLY??  But not exactly what you might think. See, because of sin, God ordered the death of Israel’s enemies all the way from men and women, to children and infants.  Why? To prevent offsprings’ claims to false promises, as well as to prevent retaliation.  But that’s in the natural, everyday living.  In the spiritual realm, things are different.

Jesus has never wanted His body, the church, to fear men for their violence, threats, or acts of torture.  In fact, in Luke 12:4-7 NKJV, He said:
“And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”

In other words, Satan may send man to kill off God’s people for different reasons, but that’s all he can do.  See, Jesus defeated him at the cross.  Jesus defeated Death.  Jesus has the keys of Life and Death. Satan’s powers are limited.  But God, can not only kill, but also cast one into hell.  Additionally, in Matthew 10:28, we’re told that the enemy can’t kill the soul.  However, God is able to destroy both the soul and body in hell.

Does that mean that those false teachings out there are true-that God will annihilate those in hell? Nope. Does it mean we create a following declaring that the soul can be killed? Nope! Notice, only God can destroy us because He has the power.

So, do we kill? Nope, not unless it’s gossip, discord, infidelity, etc.  We should “kill” things that hamper life. What of those who bully and torture us? In due time, they’ll be gone.  Either God will convert them, or bring them to accountability.

In Psalm 37:35, 36, the psalmist said, “I have seen wicked and ruthless people flourishing like a tree in its native soil.  But when I looked again, they were gone! Though I searched for them, I could not find them!” (NLT)

God says: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9).

Time to move on!

Sam

Recent hurricanes, Helene and Milton, plucked up or uprooted vegetation, trees, houses, and bridges from their foundations and scattered them about.  A lot of items, including vehicles, were destroyed and sent down rivers in South and North Carolina as well as Tennessee, and parts of Georgia.  Hurricanes and tornadoes are devastating; yet, as painful as uprooting things can be, that’s what God has in mind for us, in a different sense.

In the gardens of life, along with plants and flowers, grow vines and weeds.  Left unchecked, they overrun everything to the point of choking the goods and overtaking the garden.

We may be firmly planted in Christ, or at least planning on serving Him in the near future, but there might be seeds, weeds, or vines needing uprooting. Do you have need of plucking out envy, jealousy, gossip? Are there seeds of indifference in your garden? Do you need to uproot bitterness  or unforgiveness? Are you holding grudges against friends, your ex, or your spouse for past or recent transgressions?

What about anger and malice, do I throw in spite and defamation? Couples can live together and still be separated by un-plucked plants/vegetation.  All these issues are addressed elsewhere throughout scripture.

God seeks for our lives to be like the garden of Eden; pleasant, serene, and bringing forth life.  But we can’t if our lives are overrun by weeds.  They need plucking immediately!  See, once sin was introduced to the garden, man was kicked out (Genesis 3:22-24).  That’s why He said, “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you.  It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire” (Mat 18:9).

A garden is to be a place of harmony and wholeness. It’s where we commune with God, the Father.  It was in a garden that Jesus was communing with His Dad when He was arrested.  Once again, peace was disturbed; but this time man wasn’t uprooted, but God was by sinful man.

A time to pluck that which was planted is serious business. Satan, our enemy, loves to plant into our lives, seeds of contention along with everything that causes discord (Matthew 13:24-30).

This season is designated to bring us closer to God.

God Bless!
Sam