Do you wonder if Jesus ever laughed? Does it feel incongruous that Almighty God might enjoy a belly laugh?

Most of the pictures we have of Jesus reveal a strong but serious man. After all, he drove out the moneychangers and regularly rebuked the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. He never wavered from his eternal mission to seek and save the lost.

But Jesus was fully man and fully God. As a result, he felt the full gamut of emotions. He wept over the death of Lazarus (John 11) and grew angry at the hard-hearted response of the religious leaders. He certainly bore all the fruits of the Spirit, including joy.

Robert Funk put it like this, “Jesus used humor and hyperbole to punch holes in pomposity … Part of Jesus’ charisma, was that he attended parties, drank wine, used irony, and hung out with outcasts.“

Portraying Jesus in His Humanity

Tim Washer, on episode 141, reminded me of the painting by Ralph Kozak which portrays Jesus laughing with his head tilted back in pure delight—perhaps even a belly laugh. This painting was inspired by Willis Wheatley, one of the first modern artists to see a side of Jesus that includes laughter and joy.

Show notes: https://maninthepew.com/142

Do you find it easy or hard to laugh at life? The bible says laughter can be like medicine to the soul.

A study conducted by the University of Maryland found that laughter reduces stress, pain, and conflict. It literally makes the heart function better.

The Bible references laughter nearly 50 times. Laughter makes the heart cheerful and helps us cope with the unexpected., In Genesis 18, Sarah laughed when God promised something that seemed too good to be true—a son at the age of 80. When it came true, she named her son Isaac which means “he will laugh.”

It seems God has a sense of humor. Have you ever looked at a giraffe, a baboon, or a dolphin? Dolphins seem to be born to laugh with us. Monkeys laugh at us.

Tim Washer teaches laughter

In episode 141, Tim Washer and I discuss how laughter helps us get through life’s ups and downs. Tim studied improv under Amy Poehler, and has worked on Saturday Night Live, Conan, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. He’s also worked in marketing communications for IBM and now works as a virtual event speaker and emcee.

Tim regularly teaches marketers how to use humor and laughter as a way to discover new ideas. He explains that laughter helps us face hard things like a global pandemic or more personal issues such as brain surgery.

Show notes: https://maninthepew.com/141

If I looked at your bookshelves, who would I presume has had the biggest influence on your life?

Thankfully the number of books you own by an author doesn’t necessarily translate to impact—otherwise, you might think John Grisham is my mentor. I do love a good fast-moving legal thriller, but I don’t plan to go into law or to write novels.

Outside of fiction and bible commentaries, you would find more books by Dr. Larry Crabb on my shelves. Some of them I’ve read multiple times. They have all impacted me, and in some cases transformed me.

Larry (he preferred we drop the doctor) passed away on February 28, 2021. I want to pause to honor a man who showed me how to follow Jesus.

Show notes: https://maninthepew.com/140

Do you think it’s wrong to make money? Have you been taught that those who prosper financially must have done something wrong or evil?

Ray Edwards believes that we were all meant to prosper. For some our prosperity is a spiritual abundance that is accompanied by a vow of poverty. Most of us are called to greater prosperity than we’ve dreamed, but we’re afraid to pursue it because of faulty beliefs.

Introducing Ray Edwards

While I ultimately realized it wasn’t my calling to awaken the church out of economic lethargy, I’m happy to say that Ray Edwards is joining his voice with the likes of Dave Ramsey to call the church to prosper so that we might be a blessing to the world. Ray’s new book, PermissiontoProsper.com, serves as a clarion call to all believers to shed our debt and embrace our God-given mandate to be fruitful and multiply. 

Ray Edwards is a Communications Strategist, Copywriter, and the author of How to Write Copy That Sells. His podcast, The Ray Edwards Show, is consistently one of the top-ranked shows on iTunes and has been downloaded over 1 million times. Ray has worked on copy and marketing with some of the most powerful voices in leadership and business. He's helped generate an estimated $300 million in revenue for clients like Tony Robbins, Michael Hyatt, Dan Miller, Jeff Goins, Jack Canfield, Frank Kern... and many more. He's been featured on Forbes.com, SocialMediaExaminer.com, and Entrepreneur.com.

Ray was also the very first guest on the Man in the Pew show. Click here to hear that interview.

For full article and show notes, go here: https://maninthepew.com/gc90

Are you afraid of your imagination? Do you imagine you’ll get yourself into trouble if you dream too much?

The church and imagination

The Church has historically discouraged imagination out of a fear that we will violate the second commandment, “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below” (Exodus 20:4 NIV).

This fear is somewhat merited. Many times our imaginations do get us into trouble. Aaron gave into the people’s demands to create a golden calf, even while Moses was on Mt. Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments! The danger is when we worship the objects of our imagination.

Fantasy and imagination

In my own life, I spent countless hours as a youth fantasizing and imagining myself flying, walking on the moon, or dating the girl of my dreams. When I took a recent personality test, I was even labeled as a dreamer.

Proverbs 14:18 (MSG) says, “Foolish dreamers live in a world of illusion; wise realists plant their feet on the ground.” Ecclesiastes 5:7 says, “Much dreaming and many words are meaningless.” 

While these warnings are merited, they miss something key: God made us in his image. When God thought up something in his mind he then spoke it into being. We were designed to do the same. 

At its core, imagination can release all kinds of possibilities and free us from many ailments.

For the full article and show notes, go to: https://maninthepew.com/gc89

You’ve heard the phrase, “Fake it ‘til you make it.” Does that apply to gratitude? Does that feel inauthentic to you? Maybe even like you’re lying?

Raised as a Christian, I was taught to never lie. So to suggest that I fake gratitude feels counter to my moral fabric. 

But researchers suggest that faking it may actually be a good strategy.

Dr. Alex Korb is a neuroscientist at UCLA and the author of The Upward Spiral. He explains: “You can turn a tendency toward a downward spiral of depression and anxiety into an upward spiral of joy and clarity in your life. Expressing gratitude activates serotonin production, which improves your mood and allows you to overcome bad habits, giving you more to be grateful for.”

Does the Bible teach you to fake it?

I hear that and wonder if the Bible supports this. We can actually see the Bible teaching this implicitly. In Psalm 103, David says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (v. 1). He’s reminding himself to praise God. He may not be feeling like praising God at the moment, but he has a long list of reasons to be thankful.

In Psalm 42, David asks, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” He answers himself by reminding himself about what will one day happen, “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

Let’s be honest, David doesn’t feel hopeful at this moment; he feels depressed and despondent. But he knows his mind controls his emotions, not the other way around.

Full article and show notes available at: https://maninthepew.com/gc88 

Did you grow up singing the Doxology every Sunday in church? If you did, what associations do you have? If you didn’t, how do you feel when you hear it?

In many liturgical churches, the Doxology is sung immediately prior to the offertory. In essence, we remind ourselves to “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow” before we return our gifts to him.

Whether the singing of the Doxology feels natural or arcane to you doesn’t really matter. The truth behind it demonstrates an important gratitude principle: gratefulness flows most easily when someone does something special, unexpected, and undeserved for us. And the corollary: gift-giving flows most naturally from a grateful life.

Secrets of Thoughtful Gift-Giving

I have three friends who are very good at gift-giving who showcase several ways we can all learn to give better gifts. As you hear these stories, think about people you know who are great gift-givers.

For the full article and show notes, go to https://maninthepew.com/gc87

How easy is it for you to keep your thoughts thankful, positive, and joyful? When Paul challenges us to “take captive every thought,” does that feel hard or easy?

If you’re like me, that feels impossible. My mind feels like that commercial with the cat-herding cowboy. As soon as I take one thought captive, all the other thoughts go scattering in all directions.

Of course, it’s not like that all the time. On good days I can sustain focused thought for hours and I can recount numerous reasons to be thankful. For example, I’m grateful to have a loving wife, amazing friends, gifted children, and countless books, adventures, and fond memories.

Toxic Thought Bombs

But it doesn’t seem to take a very large “toxic thought bomb” to make all those good thoughts dissipate. Dr. Caroline Leap actually describes it as hot air. When a new thought pattern hasn’t fully taken root—which takes a minimum of 21 days—it will turn into vapor if not cultivated to maturity.

That’s what happened recently when my wife and I started talking about finances. We started with prayer and level heads, but it didn’t take very long for me to become overwhelmed. 

In my Monday morning quarterback seat, I know and remember that God has always been faithful to us. I also know my wife loves me and that we have committed to weather every storm together. But on that night the stress was mounting and my thoughts started turning negative.

I wish I could tell you a story of a valiant recovery. The truth is I lost this skirmish, but I haven’t lost the battle. I’ve actually recovered more quickly than ever before.

For the rest of the show notes, see: https://maninthepew.com/gc86

What’s the longest range goal you’ve ever set? Did you accomplish your goal? Most of us lose the battle for gratitude because we don’t have the right plan.

Long-term battle plans

In England, they estimate it takes 250 to 300 years to build a cathedral. That’s a lot of planning and preparation.

At New College, Oxford beetles infested the oak beams in the dining hall. Trying to find replacement beams seemed impossible, except that the original architects planted oak trees with the express purpose of being used to replace the beams. When were those trees planted? Over 500 years prior to when they were needed.

I share these two stories to give you the perspective that your battles really aren’t that long and you would benefit from taking a much longer view of your life.

I shared on day 84 how I almost quit this Gratitude Challenge after only 80 days. 80 sounded like a big number until I read about the perseverance required to build a cathedral or win a military war.

Battle of Verdun

The battle of Verdun, in World War I, is the longest battle in recorded military history. Fought between France and Germany, over one million lives were lost in a battle that lasted 302 days. While the French ultimately recaptured their forts and villages, the battle was mired in deception, counterattacks, and heavy losses. 

Can you imagine going to the frontline in that war? The likelihood of survival doesn’t sound very high, but personal survival wasn’t the goal—victory was.

Battle for our minds

You’re fighting a much more significant battle when you fight for control of your mind. Toxic thoughts and negativity lead to defeat and make you susceptible to the attacks of the enemy.

Full article: https://maninthepew.com/gc85

Have you ever started a project only to find it feels pointless or a waste of time? Have you ever quit something just because it became too hard?

I have a confession to make. I almost quit this 90-Day Gratitude Challenge on day 80.

Why I almost quit the 90-Day Gratitude Challenge

On Day 72 my wife woke me in the middle of the night with some very troubling news. But I couldn’t comprehend what she was saying because I had taken some melatonin to help me sleep—a major issue for me I discussed on day 45. My brain was foggy and her words didn’t compute.

When I awoke the next morning I remembered that something significant had happened so I asked her about it only to discover it was worse than I feared. I froze.

While I can’t share specifics, suffice it to say it’s news that would make any parent panic. It’s like the call we received in 2019 from a stranger telling us that our daughter had been in a car crash. But this was worse.

I had already written and recorded a couple of episodes for the challenge, so I took a break from writing while we worked on the problem. But when it came time to start writing again the words stopped flowing. I went into my archives to find things I had written before that I could repurpose. That worked for a few days.

And then day 80 confronted me. I had nothing written or recorded. I spiraled into a new level of depression and felt stuck. In fact, I didn’t feel grateful and felt hypocritical telling others to be grateful, even though I knew that was part of my escape path.

For full article and show notes see: https://maninthepew.com/gc84