A Comedic Christian

            Although April Fools passed a while ago, I’ve been wondering about the relationship between humor and Christianity. There are quite a few different viewpoints on the matter. Some Christians I know, including my dad, think laughter is fine so long as it’s not dirty or offensive. My dad especially can’t stand jokes about Jesus. Other friends of mine don’t see the line so clearly. I have one Christian friend who likes to analyze jokes, specifically Jesus ones, to see whether or not they are offensive or not. There are even more strict friends who stick to kid-friendly jokes.

            So where’s the line?

            I think this can be a difficult question, especially with teenagers. So many people like dirty jokes, sexist jokes, racist jokes, etc. Personally, I find it difficult to not laugh. I kind of laugh at pretty much anything. I should probably work on that.

            What I really want to focus on are Jesus jokes, though. Or mainly, humor and where it stands in Christianity. I don’t think Jesus jokes are bad, to be honest. I mean, of course I don’t want to hear an offensive joke, such as one that a friend from high school told me:

“If the Lord’s Supper has us eating the bread that represents Jesus’ body, which part of His body are we eating, if you know what I mean?”

That’s not the kind of humor I’m talking about. I’m with my dad on this one; that’s an offensive Jesus joke. There is some humor in relation to Jesus that I think is okay, though. I remember seeing one photo that showed a sign that read, “No running!” but the place was flooded so there was clearly no place for anyone to run. Someone commented, “Behave Yourself, Jesus.” Personally, I laughed. It made sense. Jesus is the only one who has ever walked on water, so He is the only one who can run on water. Why is that offensive?

All right, so maybe this isn’t that deep a subject to discuss, so I won’t babble anymore about it. But I will leave this video of Stephen Colbert arguing with a Bible Critic. Stephen not only has a great argument, but he uses humor as he makes it. Hopefully, this video can show my point a bit clearer.

A Valentine’s Day Post: If I Don’t Have Love

                  At the risk of sounding corny, I’m just going to come on out and say it: Love is everything. It really is just everything. It’s what makes life worth living, what makes the world turn round, what makes the sun shine, etc. I love love!

                  Yeah, someone’s in the valentine’s mood, sorry!

                  All right, so love is great, but what’s my point? Well, the thing is, it bothers me that most people just associate Valentine’s Day with love between couples. Now that’s all well and good, but there are so many other types of love. There’s the love between friends, between parents and their children, between family members, etc. Why aren’t those kinds of love celebrated on Valentine’s Day? Sometimes they are, such as in elementary school where children make valentines for their classmates and parents. Why stop at elementary school, though? I think these different kind of loves should be celebrated more, and here’s why:

                  Because all kinds of love stem from one source: God’s love.

                  God’s love shines through us every time we love someone else; whether it’s the love we have for our parents, our friends, or our boyfriend/girlfriend. God commands us to love, not just on Valentine’s Day, but every day. Without love, there really is no point to anything. Like the Bible says:

“¹If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13: 1-3)

                  Our actions don’t mean anything unless we do them with love. Love really is everything because God is love and the act of loving is just one of the ways of sharing Him with the world. However, that love shouldn’t be restricted to Valentine’s Day, and definitely not just within couples. Everyone deserves to love and be loved.

                  So, this Valentine’s Day, I want to show God’s love not just to my Valentine, but to my family, my friends, my fellow church members, and anyone I meet.

Psst...Check out this song I love to celebrate the day!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Tattoos for Jesus?

            I’ve recently been hearing a lot about the topic of tattoos and whether or not Christians should get them. Since I don’t have a tattoo or even know if I would ever get one, I don’t know if I can really talk much on the topic. Honestly, only lately have I actually thought seriously about the whole idea.

            With the topic on my mind, I brought it up to another Christian friend of mine. She was pretty indecisive as well, but she did show me this video that got my attention.

            It got me thinking, what would Jesus really think about a Christian having tattoos? The main argument is always that we aren’t supposed to mark up or destroy our bodies because they are temples of the Holy Spirit, but what if we’re just decorating our bodies for the Holy Spirit?

            It’s an interesting thought worth meditating about.

Turning from Porn, Turning to Jesus - Guest Post

By: Drummer for Jesus

One of the biggest problems I think we all face is sexuality. Whether it’s an awkward parental conversation, talking about it with friends or maybe even at Youth Group, we all hear about it at some point and, needless to say, it draws attention. I think what truly draws our attention is the Internet and, along with it, pornography. Today I will share my experience with porn as a Christian teen.

When I was fifteen years old, I started my decline into a pornography addiction. It was one of the worst decisions I ever made. The constant sexual thoughts and images in my head never went away. It was so hard to go a day without it. It drove me away from Jesus because I thought He would never forgive me and I was too far in.

For me, it was worse because I had trouble learning what it meant to love. I struggled to even look at a girl in my classroom without seeing her as a sex object. It only got worse as, along with that, I had a loss of confidence in myself due to my mental state at the time.

I grew to hate both my mind and body. It was so hard for me that I even grew depressed. Pornography had me in its grasp and I didn’t want to let it go. But God had a plan the whole time. He wasn’t going to let me continue in this state.

Three years after it started, I went to Christian camp and met a girl there. I was very shy and didn’t really talk to anyone, but she came up to me and for the first time, I felt something different. Little did I know that this would lead to something greater.

Months passed and college started. I was still in my addiction, but I was brave and started to face it along with the friend I made, who soon became my best friend. I gained confidence, started exercising and going to church again, and prayed constantly for God to help me keep going.

Next thing I knew, I went a day without pornography, then a week, then a month. It eventually turned into several months (with occasional relapses) until I ultimately triumphed over my addiction thanks to the grace of God. Thanks to Him, not only did I get out of my addiction, but also one of the most wonderful things happened.

I fell in love with my best friend who helped me through it all. I’m grateful to her because she was the miracle I needed at that exact moment. Now, I’m blessed to say I’ve been almost half a year sober and started to get counseling and I’ve never been happier in my life!

Now you might think just one peek won’t hurt, but let me refer you to a scripture I keep close to my heart at times like those. 1 Corinthians 6:18-19 says to run away from sexual temptations and sin because, though it might not seem to affect you at first, it might lead you to do something you’ll regret.

If you have a pornography addiction, boy or girl, I urge you to talk with anyone who could help. Many pastors have dedicated years of study to this and can help. I suggest you watch this video from Robert Cook, a youth minister who has helped people turn from pornography, as a push to help you receive the forgiveness and blessing of God.

May God bless you all and thanks SWIACT for letting me be a guest writer!

Blessings, Take off Your Disguise

            One of my favorite Christian songs is “Blessings” by Laura Story. I think the chorus pretty much sums up what the song is about. Listen to it here.

            The song is about how sometimes the most difficult parts of our lives might really just be God’s blessings in disguise. Like the chorus says, the raindrops, tears, sleepless nights, and trials might really be blessings in disguise and that’s why we can’t see them.

             I want to take that one step further.

I think any blessing in general can seem like it’s in disguise if I’m going through a tough time. If I’m having a good day, for example, I’ll be more aware of all of the good things in my life. If I’m having a bad day, though, all of a sudden all I can see are the bad things and not the good.

            The perfect example would be comparing how I am now to when I was depressed. When I was depressed, I was blinded. I couldn’t see any of the blessings I had. My family, friends, school, job, etc. seemed like nothing to me, perhaps even more of a burden.

            Now, all I can see are my supportive family and friends, my great education at my school, my job that will look great on my resume for when I’m older, etc. I am so thankful for all of these blessings that I know so many people unfortunately don’t have.

            What changed, then?

            It wasn’t the blessings that were different. I still have every single blessing now that I had when I was depressed. It was me. My depression wouldn’t let me see what I still had. All of the blessings I had seemed like they were disguised as trials, but they weren’t really. I was the one, subconsciously, giving these blessings a disguise.

            Personally, whenever things are going well in my life, I’m extremely grateful for all of the blessings I have. When things are not going so well, I become blinded and suddenly every blessing seems like it’s gone. When things start to go well again, though, the disguise comes right off and I am grateful for all I have again.

            I honestly wish I didn’t do that.

            From now on, I think I’m going to try something. Every time my life seems to be full of nothing but problems, I’m going to take a minute and think about all of the blessings I still have in my life. If I can’t see them, maybe it’s because I’ve given them a disguise they don’t deserve.

            I’ll just ask God to help me see through the disguises to find His blessings. I know they’ll always be there if I look hard enough.

"Lord, Help Me" Poem

NOTE: Before watching the video, I suggest (please?) to read the blog post to fully understand what I was going through when I wrote this.

            I recently submitted my poem, “Lord, Help Me,” to a poetry slam (even made a video for it) and I thought it’d be a great idea to share it on here as well.

            First off, I would like to give some background. For a few years, I’ve had on/off depression. I know, it doesn’t really sound like that’s possible. I didn’t think it was either, which is why I didn’t believe I was sick. It wasn’t until last year, when I wrote this poem, when I found out what it was I actually had.

            Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

            What is that? It’s a type of depression that only occurs during a specific season, mainly winter, although there are some cases with summer. For me, it was winter.

            Seriously, during the rest of the year, I was a completely different person. I felt like myself; silly, outgoing, creative, healthy, alive even. But in the winter? I felt sour, drained, and sick, like I was slowly dying.

            I would go to bed at five and wake up at seven for school for months at a time. I only ate when people were around me. I’d lie to my mom when I got home and say I had a big lunch so I wouldn’t have to eat dinner. My grades would slip. And worst of all…

            I would hurt myself.

            Each winter, the self-abuse would escalate a little more. I knew I had to stop, but the more I tried, the more difficult it was. It got to the point where each time I tried to stop I would end up hurting myself even worse.

            Then came last winter.

            Some of my hair started to fall out. I became underweight. I almost lost two of my best friends. My own mother, who I have always been extremely close to, and I began to fight in ways we have never fought before. It was the worst depression I had ever had and I honestly thought I wasn’t going to make it through.

            Until God intervened.

            God sent me an angel, in the form of one of my best friends, to help me come back to life. My friend would listen to me, help me calm down, pray for and with me, and gave me the nudge I needed to get help. If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have gone to my mother about what was going on. If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have gotten the help I needed. If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have asked God for forgiveness or even turned to Him.

            If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t be writing this right now.

            It took time, and a lot of work, but I got myself back. I wrote this poem when I hit rock bottom and finally started to listen to God speak through my friend. I yearned for the Lord’s hand to touch my aching soul and make me feel anew. I never wanted to feel that way again.

            And thanks to the Lord, I haven’t.

            This past winter (which is actually when I started this blog) I made it through. It was difficult at first, but in the end God opened up so many doors for me that I now know I am never going back. The devil will never have ahold of me like that ever again.

            Now, without further ado, I present my poem, “Lord, Help Me,” and to anyone who can identify with it, I promise you that if God could get me out of it, He can help you too. Just don’t be afraid to say those three little words: Lord, help me.

            He always will.

Need help yourself? Here are a couple of resources where you can start to look:

American Association of Christian Counselors –http://www.aacc.net/references/treatment-centers/

To Write Love On Her Arms – http://twloha.com/find-help