Cranky grandpa was asleep on the living room couch. Little Johnny decided to pull a prank on grandpa by putting a little Limburger cheese on his mustache. Presently grandpa awoke and sat up. “Boy, this couch stinks,” he said, walking into the kitchen. After moment or two, he announced, “This kitchen stinks, too,” and stepped outside for some fresh air. In time he delighted Johnny by shouting, “The whole world stinks!”
The next time we announce that the whole world stinks, perhaps we should check ourselves out. Perhaps the problem is our own stinkin’ attitude. If I expect to be treated badly, I surely will be treated badly. Perhaps if put a little positive spin in my life, some positive stuff will return. The problem is not in the circumstances, its with my attitude.
Tags: attitude, humor
This morning I was watching the news from earthquake devastated Haiti. They were interviewing the leader of a Christian mission team waiting to get on a military transport or something to get home. I thought to myself, “You’re on a missions trip! Go do some mission work and help dig out somebody”. I understand the team cannot be cared for without water, but it just seemed a little out of place to want to run away.
Haiti seems to go from one crisis to another. This morning Pat Robertson was the big talk as they showed him saying that the earthquake was the fault of the Haitians. He explained that Haiti made a pack with the devil decades ago where they agreed to serve Satan if he would deliver them from the French (cultural carry-over of voodoo from Africa). News commentator Ju Ju Chang noted that this was an “old legend”. What the media doesn’t understand is that the duly elected president of Haiti goes through a formal ritual every year during their version of Mardi Gras rededicating the country to the devil. Is it any wonder Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere?
So, I would agree that Haiti’s economy is their own fault, but, can we be sure that this earthquake was God’s judgment for their sin? We Christians will ruin our witness if we blame every unfortunate event on God. What do you think? Was the earthquake God’s judgment?
Tags: earthquake, Haiti, judgment
A big dog saw a little dog chasing its tail and asked, “Why are you chasing your tail so?” Said the puppy, “I have mastered philosophy; I have solved the problems of the universe which no dog before me has rightly solved; I have learned that the best thing for a dog is happiness, and that happiness is my tail. Therefore, I am chasing it; and when I catch it, I shall have happiness.”
Said the old dog, “My son, I , too, have paid attention to the problems of the universe in my weak way, and I have formed some opinions of my own. I, too , have judged that happiness is a fine thing for a dog, and that happiness is in my tail. But I have also noticed that when I chase after it, it keeps running away from me, but when I go about my business, it follows me.”
What have you learned about happiness?
Tags: happiness
If you’ve ever watched an old Japanese movie, you know that their cultural expressions can be humorous, because their culture is so different. But perhaps we can learn a few things from the Japanese culture.
For example, an individual who feels very angry is likely to show it by excessive politeness and neutral expression instead of by furious words and actions, as we see in America. A Japanese who shows anger the Western way is admitting that he has lost control, and therefore lost face; he is thus at the extreme end of a negotiation or debate.
Perhaps you’ve never thought of it that way. We would never want to be seen as losing control, yet that is exactly what a demonstration of anger really is. The next time you’re tempted to blow up at someone, put on your Japanese face, act extra polite, serve up a few encouraging words and know that you are the one who is in control.
Tags: anger, happiness
When our children were small, there was a new Christian music record released for children called The Music Machine. Jenny and Nathan both listened to it for hours. Churches with a progressive view toward reaching children were using the songs in their children’s ministries. The premise was that this music machine had some magic about it. Whenever you put something into the machine, out would come a song about what you put in. The songs were all from a child’s perspective but excellently done. The songs were a teaching tool for children, as each song pertained to the fruit of the spirit.
Well, The Music Machine was released as an LP (Long-Playing record, for you high-tech guys) and was released in the 1970s. Today those kids who loved the songs are now parents and The Music Machine is making a resurgence. It is again available on CD but no one knows the words. For Christmas we dusted off our antique LP with the words printed in story form, and wrapped it up for our 5-year old granddaughter. Now she can teach her friends the words to the songs everyone is learning.
As Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun”. Do you remember The Music Machine?
Tags: music
An Easterner walked into a Western saloon and was amazed to see a dog sitting at a table playing poker with three men. Shocked, he asked, “Can that dog really play cards?”
One of the men answered, “Yeah, but he ain’t no good at playin’. Whenever he gets a good hand he wags his tail”.
How transparent are you? Can people read what’s in your head just by looking at your face? Some folks wear their emotions on their sleeve so everyone can see. Others wear a ‘poker face’ and gamble that no one knows what they are thinking.
Some people say things to me, as a minister, for shock value. They want to see if they can surprise me into rejecting them. I’ve learned to keep that ‘poker face’ with such folks. But when I’m with my Christian friends, I want them to see joy, compassion, frustration, disappointment, in my face. I want them to see that I care and can empathize.
Tags: emotions, feelings, honesty
Pent Somkit passed away Friday night and she will be missed. She and her family immigrated to Indiana from Cambodia in the early 1970s. They have attended our church from the very beginning of their experience here. She spoke very little English but told Anita through a translator of hard days in Cambodia where she lost a child in a bombing at the school. These were the days of Pol Pot’s regime (The Killing Fields).
I remember we hired the Somkit boys to demolish a large chicken coup at our former residence. We couldn’t find Americans who would work as hard as they did.
I also remember officiating at Yort Somkit’s wedding. They were a part of a fellowship of oriental immigrants from the Ft. Wayne area. Some of these immigrants were chefs at restaurants and hosted a big oriental reception. I remember eating soup with octapus tentacles, among other mysterious stuff. But we also had the American influence: we drank out of Pepsi cans and had apple pie for dessert.
What will you remember about Pent Somkit?