Laugh Again with Phil Callaway - The Fruit of the Spirit Is Not Lemons

Thanks for joining us today, you're listening to laugh again with Phil Calloway.

A gentleman phone to say, I don't like your sense of humor, Calloway.

What is laughing after doing it being a Christian?

We're in the last days.

This is hardly a time for laughter.

I said, is that you dad?

He was not amused.

I found his address and put fiberglass insulation in his pajamas.

No, I didn't.

But I told him the greatest punchline in history.

God loves a guy like me.

Sometimes I just have to laugh.

The Bible tells us that the fruit of the spirit is not prunes.

It is as the kids sing, love joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, and self-control.

My son, Jaffa Greese, he loves to laugh.

He can rarely complete a joke on his own.

The guy can't stop laughing in anticipation of his own punchline.

His contagious laugh spills out of the house down the street and sometimes

even into church.

When he was small, he took the screaming during a sermon so I whisked him out the back.

He yelled over my shoulder, pray for me.

Jaff's been making us laugh ever since.

It's interesting that fear, anger, and worry rarely coexist alongside laughter.

These enemies inflate our balloons to the popping point.

Laughter slowly releases the pressure.

Laughter contains no MSG, no cholesterol, no fat grams,

and no sauerkraut that we know of.

It disarms, revives, motivates, and encourages.

While speaking, I noticed a young couple sitting in the front row.

The wife was laughing at all my jokes.

She was a brilliant woman, I thought.

But her husband wouldn't laugh.

He looked so sour he could have sucked buttons off a sofa.

After the final session, his wife shook my hand.

I just want to thank you.

She said, I haven't seen my husband laugh this hard in years.

Well, I don't know his story, but for many of us laughter isn't easy to come by.

Life is difficult, times are tough.

Not so long ago we held our fifth family funeral in just over a year.

Where does the joy come from in the midst of this?

Not from the storm that's brewing in the pea soup fog that's rolling in.

Frankly, the road ahead looks a little bit strewn with potholes and unexpected turns.

But we hang on to the promise that God will be there too.

We take great comfort in knowing that we'll be reunited with those loved ones in heaven.

In the Bible, David was on the run.

King Saul wanted him dead.

David found himself before another king, and when this king's servant squealed on David

telling the king who he was, David knew he was toast.

So he pretended to be insane, scratching marks on doors and drooling.

The king said, am I so short of madmen that you have to bring him to carry on like this in front of me?

In the midst of the uncertainties and horrors that David experienced, he later wrote this,

I will praise the Lord at all times.

I will constantly speak his praises, let all who are helpless take heart.

Come, let us tell of the Lord's greatness, let us exalt his name together.

I prayed to the Lord and he answered me.

He freed me from all my fears.

Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy.

No shadow of shame will darken their faces for the angel of the Lord is a guard.

He surrounds and defends all who fear him.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.

He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.

Whatever you are experiencing today, I pray that like David, your face will be radiant with joy.

How is this possible?

David says it starts with simply looking to God, focus on him today.

He alone gives us real reason to laugh again.

When life squeezes you empty and you don't know where to turn, prayer is where hope begins.

That's why laugh again is offering, praying with the saints.

A small book of thirty prayers gathered from across the centuries.

These were ordinary people just like you and me.

They struggled, they believed, they prayed.

Let their words become yours.

Request your free copy today at laughagain.ca.

Laugh again, true, bringing laughter to life.