Hey everyone, Here is an exerpt from a book I am currently reading. The title is "Everybody's Normal till You Get to Know Them"by John Ortberg.
He is talking about how many people can be so serious that they don't want people to see them make mistakes; but how sometimes making a blunder can bring folks together in funny ways and be the real joy in life". Then he gives this example:
The church where I work videotapes most of the services, so I have HUNDREDS of messages on tape. Only of of them gets shown repeatedly.
This video is a clip from the beginning of one of our services. A high school worship dance team had just brought the house down to get things started, and I was supposed to transition us into some high energy worship by reading Psalm 150. This was a last-second decision, so I had to read it cold, but with great passion:
"Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament!"
The psalm consists of one command after another to praise, working its way through each instrument of the orchestra. My voice is building in a steady crescendo; by the end of the psalm I practically shout the final line, only mispronouncing one word:
"Let everything that has breasts, praise the LORD."
A moment of silence. The same thought passes through four thousand brains: Did he just say what I think he did? In church? Is this a new translation I can get at a bookstore?
Then everyone in the place just lost it. They laughed so hard and so long, I couldn't say a thing. I finally just walked off the stage, and we went on with the next part of the service.
I have been teaching at that church for eight years. Of all the passages I have exegeted and all the messages I have preached, that is the one moment that gets replayed before conferences and workshops over and over.
So, everybody LIGHTEN up today and enjoy whatever silliness comes your way! Thank God for laughter and Fridays, especially when they are combined!
5 comments:
oh Manda, thanks for that laugh! Joshua is teething and growing and up every three hours through the night...I needed a good laugh this afternoon. :)
Good, I'm glad you liked the story. It cracked me up when I read it. Hang in there, what a tiring but exciting time in Joshua's life it sounds like!
John Ortberg is awesome. Maybe I should borrow that one when you're done!
Yeah, it's a really good book. I will bring it to church for you because you will probably read the whole thing by the time I pick it up next. I am reading 4-5 other books at the same time:).
I really like the picture of the prairie dog.
Post a Comment