Laughing in Church

[steveorino 7]

Once at a big church assembly I was asked to get a crowd stirred up before the service

Different sayings stir up different churches. If you want to get the people excited in a Baptist church you say, "Let's build something!" In an Assemblies you say, "Satan, we bind you from this place!" In an Episcopal church you say, "Somebody backed into a Mercedes in a parking lot." In a Catholic church, "Mass has ended, go in peace." In a Holiness church, "We seem to be missing a snake up here!"


Its okay to laugh ... Have you ever had to supress laughter in the middle of a service? You should experience this from the platform! You bow your head ... so you look like you're praying. You hold your breath and bite your lip. Vainly you try to think of sad things... As the hilarity builds within you silently repeat, I'm not going to laugh, I'm not going to laugh. You begin to make snorting sounds; your shoulders shake; you're now trembling all over. You sneak a peek at the congregation. Many of them will be laughing, thus intensifying your desire to laugh all the more. Then you see the stares of the saints who do NOT laugh in church ... it only makes things worse. Tears begin to well up in your eyes. Some now think you're broken hearted over some lost soul. The elders lay hands on you as they think you're moved by the Spirit. Soon the convulsions cease. The elders silently slip back to their seats, saying "Isn't it good to be in God's house?"


Psalm 2:4

steveOrino

[Butters 0]

Laugh, let it out, laugh ...

"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch

[akarunway 1]

Many many moons ago when I was a catholic alter boy we were doing communion and the priests robe stayed stuck up in the like a ducktail when we let go of it from all the starch. me and the other kid busted out laughing and couldn't stop to the horrification of my mother and the priest. We were let out by the napes of our necks by the priest. To say the least the kid and I kid were never allowed to serve mass together again. And before it gets there I was never sexually abused. Beat maybe. LOL

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[kallend 2,182]

Quote

Once at a big church assembly I was asked to get a crowd stirred up before the service

Different sayings stir up different churches. If you want to get the people excited in a Baptist church you say, "Let's build something!" In an Assemblies you say, "Satan, we bind you from this place!" In an Episcopal church you say, "Somebody backed into a Mercedes in a parking lot." In a Catholic church, "Mass has ended, go in peace." In a Holiness church, "We seem to be missing a snake up here!"


Its okay to laugh ... Have you ever had to supress laughter in the middle of a service? You should experience this from the platform! You bow your head ... so you look like you're praying. You hold your breath and bite your lip. Vainly you try to think of sad things... As the hilarity builds within you silently repeat, I'm not going to laugh, I'm not going to laugh. You begin to make snorting sounds; your shoulders shake; you're now trembling all over. You sneak a peek at the congregation. Many of them will be laughing, thus intensifying your desire to laugh all the more. Then you see the stares of the saints who do NOT laugh in church ... it only makes things worse. Tears begin to well up in your eyes. Some now think you're broken hearted over some lost soul. The elders lay hands on you as they think you're moved by the Spirit. Soon the convulsions cease. The elders silently slip back to their seats, saying "Isn't it good to be in God's house?"


Psalm 2:4

For everything there is a season,
And a time for every matter under heaven:
...
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
...

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Nightingale 0]

Isn't there something in Psalm 98 about making a joyful noise?

[shortyj 0]

yep I go to a small church like we have 50 people. Sometimes I am the only one laughing it's o.k. I don't hold back either.

Playtime is essential.

[Airman1270 0]

You'd feel quite welcome at our church. We don't usually shout things out from the congregation, but one day last year the speaker was describing marriage issues and said "Men are argumentative." I was working the sound board that morning. Without missing a beat I shouted "NO, we're not!"

Another source of laughter occurs on stage with the band. Most of the time when we blow a song it's the kind of situation where only the band knows about it. We're up there smiling and trying not to laugh too loud & cause a distraction. What a hoot.

The funniest band siutation occurred a few years ago at an outdoor Easter sunrise service in the gazebo at a nearby park. The lighting was not very good and it was chilly & my fingers were getting cold. It was a very sensitive moment, as I was playing solo acoustic guitar during a quite part of the song. I think I played an F#m instead instead of a C#m. (Note to non-musicians: This is not like playing an Em instead of a G. There are few moments in music history when F#m and C#m can be interchangeable.)

That horrible sound wriggled its way out of the speakers and lay there like a turd on a hot sidewalk. The singers kept up the momentum as I briefly stopped playing to get my bearings. Through it all, the drummer, sitting right next to me, looked in my face and laughed so loud he almost drowned out the singing. It was wonderful.

Cheers,
Jon S.

[Zing 2]

I come from a large family, 5 brothers and 4 sisters. When I was about 10 years old, the church my folks went to finally built a new house of worship after years of fundraising.
The first Sunday that services were held in the new place, our entire thundering herd was sitting in a pew with mom and dad trying to keep us all in line, a tough assignment because we were hell on wheels.
I was bored with the whole service thing and started digging in the hymnal holders on the back of the pew in front of me.
There sat a plexiglass clipboard with a card on it for the attendees to note their impressions of the new church, make suggestions, etc.
Looking at the pencil stuck in the clipboard holder, I saw this ... "We're here to help you get what you want." This was actually the slogan of a local bank, but you couldn't see the bank's name, merely the slogan line.
I pointed this out to a couple of my siblings, which started a wave of giggling, which pissed off my dad, which caught my mom's attention. As her fingernails started digging into me arm to shut me up, I pulled the clipboard out, and showed mom what was so funny.
Her face froze, then she looked at me, looked back at the pencil's logo ... and burst out laughing with her distinctive sound that reverberated through the sanctuary. Everyone in the church knew who that cackle came from.
My dad looked like he just wanted to die right then and there and other worshippers were ahgast at this breech of ceremony in a church, but my mom couldn't stop laughing ... and had to get up and leave the sanctuary, dragging me out with her. I thought I was going to get killed.
Years later, not long before she died, my mom claimed that that was the most precious moment she ever had in a church.
Our family still treats it as an inside joke, and outsiders have often been baffeled when one of the Engstrom clan blurts out, "We're here to help you get what you want!"

Zing Lurks

[windcatcher 0]

I love to laugh in church Steve!

And I loved reading about your story-that would be quite hard, trying to stifle laughter when you're trying to look like you're praying!

Mother to the cutest little thing in the world...

[pajarito 0]

Why not? It should be a joyful experience to worship. However, there is a time and place for it. I have a problem with it when it takes away from due reverence to the Lord (e.g. praying or reading God's Word). I also think using the Lord's name in a casual joking sense falls into the category of blasphemy (e.g. Jesus jokes).

[Andy9o8 3]

You know what? - I'm willing to bet that Jesus had a good sense of humor, and like the proverbial guest of honor at an Irish wake, would appreciate a few laughs at his expense.



Jesus is dying on the cross, and Peter is down the hill comforting Mary Magdalene when he hears Jesus' faint voice, "Peter. . . Peter. . ."

"I must go and help my Savior," he said and went up the hill, only to be beaten and kicked back down by the Roman centurions guarding the cross. But soon he hears, "Peter. . . Peter," in even fainter tones but he cannot ignore the call. Peter limps up the hill, leans a ladder against the cross, and gets halfway up when the centurions knock over the ladder, beats him brutally, and tosses him back down the hill.

Again he hears, "Peter. . . Peter. . ." ever fainter, and again, he cannot refuse his Lord. In pain, he slowly staggers up the hill, drags himself up the ladder, and finally gets even with Christ's face. Just as the centurions are reaching for the ladder, Jesus says, "Peter. . . Peter. . . look, I can see your house from here."

[downwardspiral 0]

One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the evil that was going on. He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out. So He called one of His best angels and sent the angel to Earth for a while. When she returned she told God, yes it is bad on Earth, 95% is bad and 5% is good.

Well, He thought for a moment and thought maybe He'd better send down a second angel to get another point of view. So God called another angel and sent him to Earth for a time too. When the angel returned he went to God and told him "Yes, the Earth is in decline. 95% is bad and 5% is good." God said this was not good.

So He decided to send e-mail to the 5% that were good. He wanted to encourage them, give them a little something to help them keep going.

Do you know what that e-mail said?




































































































Oh, you didn't get one either, huh? Bummer.

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[akarunway 1]

Quote

One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the evil that was going on. He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out. So He called one of His best angels and sent the angel to Earth for a while. When she returned she told God, yes it is bad on Earth, 95% is bad and 5% is good.

Well, He thought for a moment and thought maybe He'd better send down a second angel to get another point of view. So God called another angel and sent him to Earth for a time too. When the angel returned he went to God and told him "Yes, the Earth is in decline. 95% is bad and 5% is good." God said this was not good.

So He decided to send e-mail to the 5% that were good. He wanted to encourage them, give them a little something to help them keep going.

Do you know what that e-mail said?




































































































Oh, you didn't get one either, huh? Bummer.

I got it but it contained a virus and crashed my computer

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.