Whether you are down with cancer or coping with the side-effects of treatment, laughter can be an effective medicine to take the stress off cancer. Have a good laugh with the jokes below.
Joke 1
A little boy was attending his first wedding.
After the service, his cousin asked him, "How many women can a man marry?"
"Sixteen," the boy responded.
His cousin was amazed that he had an answer so quickly.
"How do you know that?"
"Easy," the little boy said. "All you have to do is add it up, like the pastor said, 4 better, 4 worse, 4 richer, 4 poorer."
Joke 2
After a church service on Sunday morning, a young boy suddenly announced to his mother, "Mom, I've decided to become a minister when I grow up."
"That's okay with us, but what made you decide that?"
"Well," said the little boy, "I have to go to church on Sunday anyway, and I figure it will be more fun to stand up and yell, than to sit and listen."
Joke 3
A 6-year-old was overheard reciting the Lord's Prayer at a church service, "And forgive us our trash passes, as we forgive those who passed trash against us."
Joke 4
A boy was watching his father, a pastor, write a sermon.
"How do you know what to say?" he asked.
"Why, God tells me."
"Oh, then why do you keep crossing things out?"
Joke 5
A little girl became restless as the preacher's sermon dragged on and on.
Finally, she leaned over to her mother and whispered, "Mommy, if we give him the money now, will he let us go?"
Joke 6
Ms. Terri asked her Sunday School class to draw pictures of their favorite Bible stories. She was puzzled by Kyle's picture, which showed four people on an airplane, so she asked him which story it was meant to represent.
"The Flight to Egypt ," was his reply.
Pointing at each figure, Ms. Terri said, "That must be Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus. But who's the fourth person?"
"Oh, that's Pontius - the pilot!"
Joke 7
The Sunday School Teacher asks, "Now, Johnny, tell me frankly do you say prayers before eating?"
"No sir," little Johnny replies, "I don't have to. My mom is a good cook."
Joke 8
A little girl was sitting on her grandfather's lap as he read her a bedtime story. From time to time, she would take her eyes off the book and reach up to touch his wrinkled cheek. She was alternately stroking her own cheek, then his again.
Finally she spoke up, "Grandpa, did God make you?"
"Yes, sweetheart," he answered, "God made me a long time ago."
"Oh," she paused, "Grandpa, did God make me too?"
"Yes, indeed, honey," he said, "God made you just a little while ago."
Feeling their respective faces again, she observed, "God's getting better at it, isn't he ?"
Friday 15 May 2009
Friday 8 May 2009
the battle belongs to the Lord
In March 2009, I received an email from Yeen Lan, a missionary called by God to serve among those she calls "God's least ones in Africa". I got to know this dear sister when we were both serving in BSF way back in 1998, just before she left Singapore for Africa. I hope my facts are correct : I think Yeen Lan first served as BSF Teaching Leader, then BSF Area Advisor for Africa before she was appointed the Director of Rafiki Village in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Rafiki Foundation, headquartered in Florida (USA), began in 1985 with the aim of turning helpless orphans in Africa into godly contributors in their countries. Today it has established a Rafiki Village in each of the 10 countries in Africa ("Rafiki" is an African word for "friend"). Rafiki Villages support the local community by operating a Christian home environment & education for orphans and providing medical care for community residents. You can get involved in the work of Rafiki by sponsoring an orphan. I am blessed to be a sponsor to one of Yeen Lan's 80-over orphaned children. (Read more : http://www.rafiki-foundation.org/)
Yeen Lan's sacrificial love & total devotion to the Lord is most impressive. She gave up a lucrative career & comfortable life in Singapore to live & work among the untouchables in Africa. Yeen Lan has been a great encouragement to me in my battle against cancer. With her kind permission, I am posting her email below so that together we can learn the lessons that Yeen Lan shares from the book of Joshua.
Re : The battle belongs to the Lord
My dear Sock Kim,
I am teaching the Village employees every morning during devotions. We are into Joshua. In chapter 6, God gave him some strange - almost ridiculous - instructions to take over the fortified city of Jericho. God told him to organise the people to follow the priests holding the ark to march around the city once a day for six days, and on the seventh day to march around for seven times and then shout. Then the city wall which was 25 feet high and 20 feet thick would collapse. Now, I thought to myself - it takes a ton of faith and another ton of obedience to do that. Who else has ever won a war that way? So I asked the employees - why do you think God gave such strange and complicated instructions? I offered three reasons -
1. God wanted to make it UNDENIABLY clear to Joshua and the Israelites that the taking over of Jericho was not going to be by the soldiers - not by might nor by power - BUT by His Spirit. The taking over was going to be with the ARK - and who dwells in it? BUT GOD. God was going to do battle for Israel.
2. God wanted to accentuate Jericho's fear - in Joshua 2 Rahab had said all of Jericho was melting in fear because they know, they have heard about the God of Israel.
3. God wanted Israel to trust and obey His specific exact instructions regardless of how "humanly stupid" those instructions seem.
I praise the Lord for the way He has led you and continue to lead you.
He determined the cancer.
He determined the surgery.
He led you through and IT IS FOR HIS GLORY.
I worship Him with you.
I rejoice with you, dear sister.
I love you for your strength and courage in this heartwrenching experience - may He hold you in His everlasting arms.
With great respect for your participation in suffering for the Cross,
Yeen-Lan
3-March 09
The Rafiki Foundation, headquartered in Florida (USA), began in 1985 with the aim of turning helpless orphans in Africa into godly contributors in their countries. Today it has established a Rafiki Village in each of the 10 countries in Africa ("Rafiki" is an African word for "friend"). Rafiki Villages support the local community by operating a Christian home environment & education for orphans and providing medical care for community residents. You can get involved in the work of Rafiki by sponsoring an orphan. I am blessed to be a sponsor to one of Yeen Lan's 80-over orphaned children. (Read more : http://www.rafiki-foundation.org/)
Yeen Lan's sacrificial love & total devotion to the Lord is most impressive. She gave up a lucrative career & comfortable life in Singapore to live & work among the untouchables in Africa. Yeen Lan has been a great encouragement to me in my battle against cancer. With her kind permission, I am posting her email below so that together we can learn the lessons that Yeen Lan shares from the book of Joshua.
Re : The battle belongs to the Lord
My dear Sock Kim,
I am teaching the Village employees every morning during devotions. We are into Joshua. In chapter 6, God gave him some strange - almost ridiculous - instructions to take over the fortified city of Jericho. God told him to organise the people to follow the priests holding the ark to march around the city once a day for six days, and on the seventh day to march around for seven times and then shout. Then the city wall which was 25 feet high and 20 feet thick would collapse. Now, I thought to myself - it takes a ton of faith and another ton of obedience to do that. Who else has ever won a war that way? So I asked the employees - why do you think God gave such strange and complicated instructions? I offered three reasons -
1. God wanted to make it UNDENIABLY clear to Joshua and the Israelites that the taking over of Jericho was not going to be by the soldiers - not by might nor by power - BUT by His Spirit. The taking over was going to be with the ARK - and who dwells in it? BUT GOD. God was going to do battle for Israel.
2. God wanted to accentuate Jericho's fear - in Joshua 2 Rahab had said all of Jericho was melting in fear because they know, they have heard about the God of Israel.
3. God wanted Israel to trust and obey His specific exact instructions regardless of how "humanly stupid" those instructions seem.
I praise the Lord for the way He has led you and continue to lead you.
He determined the cancer.
He determined the surgery.
He led you through and IT IS FOR HIS GLORY.
I worship Him with you.
I rejoice with you, dear sister.
I love you for your strength and courage in this heartwrenching experience - may He hold you in His everlasting arms.
With great respect for your participation in suffering for the Cross,
Yeen-Lan
3-March 09
"The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to Him in song."
(Psalm 28:7)
Sunday 3 May 2009
oh no, not again!?
We are all familiar with the Bible story of Job who lost his wealth, his family, his health all within a short time. Does this describe your own life? Or maybe you know of someone close to that?
Someone once shared with me about a Christian woman who was struck with one tragedy after another - first, she lost her husband to illness, then she lost all her 3 grown-up sons in 3 separate accidents. Unlike Job who got back his wealth & health, and had 10 more children as "the Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first" (Job 42:12), this woman, now in her golden years, had spent most of her life alone ....... with God.
How would you feel if you are threatened with cancer a second time? Two years after my cancer treatment, I was told cancer had spread to my lung. Like me, you might have a feel of what Job & this woman went through. You might have exclaimed, "Oh no, not again!"
Do you feel like your life is getting from bad to worse? How will you carry on living with strength & courage? I hope the story below will encourage you.
Source : TFTD (http://tftd-alansmith.blogspot.com/)
Contributor : Ps Alan Smith
Date : 24 Apr 2009
from bad to worse
Have you ever had one of those days when, no matter how hard you try, things just seem to go from bad to worse?
The story is told of two cowboys who were working cattle one day. One of them discovered he was in trouble when a wild bull, with his head down and nostrils flaring, came charging toward him. The cowboy saw a deep hole in the ground and quickly jumped in it. As soon as the bull passed over him, he jumped out of the hole.
The bull, madder than ever, came charging back again, and the cowboy jumped back down into the hole. When the bull passed, the cowboy jumped out of the hole again. He did this several times.
Finally, the other cowboy, who was watching it all from a distance yelled out, "Why don't you just stay in the hole?"
The cowboy yelled back, "I would, but there's a bear in the hole!"
Maybe some of you feel like every day is like that! If ever there was someone who must have felt that way, it was the apostle Paul. Listen to him describing his life as a Christian :
"From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness..." (2 Cor. 11:24-27)
Sounds like a man who ought to be miserable, doesn't it? I mean, how much can one man take? How much worse can it possibly get? It convicts me to read through that list as I think of the minor problems in my life that I allow to create a dark cloud over my life. If I had to deal with the problems on Paul's list on a daily basis, then I'd really have reason to moan and whine, "Why, me Lord? Why does life have to be so hard?"
The funny thing is, though, that wasn't Paul's reaction at all. He didn't list all those problems to garner sympathy. In fact, he finishes out this section by writing :
"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake....." (2 Cor. 12:10).
Taking pleasure in distresses? When is the last time you took pleasure in locking your keys in your car? When is the last time you took pleasure in running your cell phone through the washing machine (don't laugh! I actually did that this week)? When is the last time you took pleasure in hearing the news that you're getting laid off, the biopsy came back positive, or there was a terrible auto accident?
The "pleasure" in such things is not the ability to laugh and joke. The "pleasure" is found in the last half of 2 Cor 12:10, "...For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Everything that happens to me in life is a reminder that I am not in control, but I am a child of the One who is. It is a reminder that I don't have the power to fix everything that breaks in life, but I serve the One who has that power. It is a reminder that I sometimes don't know how I'm going to have the strength to cope, but I rest in the arms of the One who has promised to be there with me no matter what. And it is during those moments when life throws its worst at me that I feel closest to God.
Someone once shared with me about a Christian woman who was struck with one tragedy after another - first, she lost her husband to illness, then she lost all her 3 grown-up sons in 3 separate accidents. Unlike Job who got back his wealth & health, and had 10 more children as "the Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first" (Job 42:12), this woman, now in her golden years, had spent most of her life alone ....... with God.
How would you feel if you are threatened with cancer a second time? Two years after my cancer treatment, I was told cancer had spread to my lung. Like me, you might have a feel of what Job & this woman went through. You might have exclaimed, "Oh no, not again!"
Do you feel like your life is getting from bad to worse? How will you carry on living with strength & courage? I hope the story below will encourage you.
Source : TFTD (http://tftd-alansmith.blogspot.com/)
Contributor : Ps Alan Smith
Date : 24 Apr 2009
from bad to worse
Have you ever had one of those days when, no matter how hard you try, things just seem to go from bad to worse?
The story is told of two cowboys who were working cattle one day. One of them discovered he was in trouble when a wild bull, with his head down and nostrils flaring, came charging toward him. The cowboy saw a deep hole in the ground and quickly jumped in it. As soon as the bull passed over him, he jumped out of the hole.
The bull, madder than ever, came charging back again, and the cowboy jumped back down into the hole. When the bull passed, the cowboy jumped out of the hole again. He did this several times.
Finally, the other cowboy, who was watching it all from a distance yelled out, "Why don't you just stay in the hole?"
The cowboy yelled back, "I would, but there's a bear in the hole!"
Maybe some of you feel like every day is like that! If ever there was someone who must have felt that way, it was the apostle Paul. Listen to him describing his life as a Christian :
"From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness..." (2 Cor. 11:24-27)
Sounds like a man who ought to be miserable, doesn't it? I mean, how much can one man take? How much worse can it possibly get? It convicts me to read through that list as I think of the minor problems in my life that I allow to create a dark cloud over my life. If I had to deal with the problems on Paul's list on a daily basis, then I'd really have reason to moan and whine, "Why, me Lord? Why does life have to be so hard?"
The funny thing is, though, that wasn't Paul's reaction at all. He didn't list all those problems to garner sympathy. In fact, he finishes out this section by writing :
"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake....." (2 Cor. 12:10).
Taking pleasure in distresses? When is the last time you took pleasure in locking your keys in your car? When is the last time you took pleasure in running your cell phone through the washing machine (don't laugh! I actually did that this week)? When is the last time you took pleasure in hearing the news that you're getting laid off, the biopsy came back positive, or there was a terrible auto accident?
The "pleasure" in such things is not the ability to laugh and joke. The "pleasure" is found in the last half of 2 Cor 12:10, "...For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Everything that happens to me in life is a reminder that I am not in control, but I am a child of the One who is. It is a reminder that I don't have the power to fix everything that breaks in life, but I serve the One who has that power. It is a reminder that I sometimes don't know how I'm going to have the strength to cope, but I rest in the arms of the One who has promised to be there with me no matter what. And it is during those moments when life throws its worst at me that I feel closest to God.
Whatever trials you are facing this day, may you find your strength in God."Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor. 12:10)
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