Luther Quote
“…The devil, when he preaches Christ in his ministers,
intends to destroy Christ…”
– Table Talk, p.284
What About Laughter #1
Those who know me well know God gave me a loud laugh. In totally unexpected situations, provided all is proper, I’ve enjoyed many spontaneous moments of laughter. God also gave me the ability to not laugh if I choose not to; A.) Someone is seriously hurt, B.) Someone would be greatly embarrassed, C.) The joke/situation is off-color. The posts that follow are not anti-humor. What I warn of is too much attempt at humor in church & among men charged with the solemn duty of the Gospel. Read on.
-eab, 10/18/17
USEFUL WASTE [1]
The coconut came to land,
On the damp and even sand,
Of an island in the ocean, in the east.
On its third side it set,
Its face all dark and wet,
Glad the ceaseless surging had ceased.
It had been long at sea,
Or at least it seemed to me,
That it might have come from a land afar,
Where the wind had forced it in,
To the home of scale and fin,
And it blinked on the blue like a star
Till in due time and space,
It was left as useful waste,
Settled by the sea, on the sand.
It was life in its beginning,
A palm in the making,
When the coconut came to join the land.
– eab, Oct. ‘67
What About Laughter #2
The pastor or evangelist is not a “master of ceremonies” at a club – When he steps behind the pulpit on a Lord’s Day he’s on one of the most sacred & important spots on earth (think Moses’ “holy ground” Exo 3.5). From that square yard of carpet or wood he has the awesome privilege of bringing earthly souls in contact with the next world. And, of delivering a message from that next world to their hungry hearts. A smile is in order. A joke is not only not necessary, but is most-of-the-time, Out-Of-Place.
– eab, 10/18/17
“If you don’t have a hungering for holiness
you have reason to question your relationship with God.”
– V O Agan, IHC sermon, 4/21/92
What About Laughter #3
The desire/demand for humor has entered the worldly church. They may argue their humor is clean, i.e. not off-color. But there’s a lightness about joking/jesting which is foreign to the Lord Jesus Christ. People who’ve daily fed on hollywood’s flippancy & “canned” laughter” bring this craving for hilarity to church. Even churches once known for preaching holiness now have in “christian comedians.” (Whatever they are?) Was the new pastor chosen, in part, because he was witty? Really?
– eab, 10/18/17
Luk 21. 8
“…Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, ‘I am Christ;’ and ‘the time draweth near:’ go ye not therefore after them.”
What About Laughter #4
As expressed in #1 there’s a place for wholesome laughter – church is not that place. Preaching about & trying to prepare souls for Heaven is Serious Ministry. Warning of the horrors of Hell & attempting to stop souls headed there is Serious Ministry. Allow me to urge a reduction in silliness (“…Every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” Mat 12.36). And Please, Preacher & People, make sure the little humor that’s at church is spontaneous, not planned by man.
– eab, 10/18/17
[1] My first song, written either on the beach (or from memory of it) at Hobe where I was at my first teaching position, teaching Literature, Hobe Sound Bible College, FL.
Separate-Holy 