I Like'em Both
This is not a screwup.
But it is a real, recent text exchange. And it's brilliant!
I like'em both.
If you aren't familiar, The Dark Night of the Soul is the most famous work of Saint John of the Cross, a Spanish Carmelite friar and great spiritual writer. T
The Dark Knight is another appellation for Batman, the superhero persona of Gothamite Bruce Wayne.
Ben Simpson Christian Spiritual Formation, Humor Leave a comment December 12, 2022 December 14, 2022 1 Minute
Don't Party 'Til the Sun Comes Up
This gem via the 8/1/2022 edition of Alan Jacob's newsletter, Snakes & Ladders.
Ben Simpson Humor Leave a comment December 7, 2022 November 30, 2022 1 Minute
Kinda Morbid
Photo by Amaury Gutierrez on Unsplash
In the spiritual formation class that I teach we explore different approaches to prayer.
Most of my students are familiar with extemporaneous spoken prayer and liturgical prayer. Fewer are familiar with the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me [a sinner]." This prayer is most commonly associated with the Eastern Orthodox Tradition and is said to trace back to the Desert Mothers and Fathers of the 5th century, but biblically you can say its origins rest in Mark 10:46-52, when Bartimaeus cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
I asked my students for other short, memorizable prayers that are familiar to them.
Some said, "God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food. Amen."
Others, to the tune of "The Theme from Superman:"
"We thank You Lord for giving us food (put one hand in the air), We thank You Lord for giving us friends (put the other hand in the air), (with both hands up swaying back and forth like flying) For giving us food, for giving us friends (hands up standing still) We thank You Lord, (both hands to hips in superhero pose). Amen."
And still others cited examples from the Bible like The Lord's Prayer or Praying the 23rd Psalm.
But one of my students raised his hand and said, "I know it's kinda morbid, but…'Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, and if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.'"
Slowly, I replied, "Yeah, I think I know that one. It's from a Metallica song."
Ben Simpson Humor Leave a comment December 5, 2022 December 7, 2022 1 Minute
Bad Timing
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
A good stylist is hard to find.
Yesterday I stopped off at my local haircut chain. I've identified a couple of people on the staff at this location who do a great job. I've identified one person who doesn't. As luck would have it, when I walked in, the fates aligned, I had a decision to make. Do I roll the dice one more time, advocate for my next best cut, pray to God I'll be spared bad lines and uneven layers, risk numerous missed strands of hair I'll later have to cut myself, and then likely visit a different stylist for a major fix a few days hence?
I didn't have the energy. I walked back out the door.
Getting your haircut shouldn't feel like playing Russian roulette. But for me, sadly, some days, it does.
Ben Simpson Humor Leave a comment October 15, 2022 October 14, 2022 1 Minute
You've Been Warned
That's right, FBC Woodway. Whenever you play, wherever you are, the risks are all yours.
Ben Simpson Humor Leave a comment August 17, 2022 August 17, 2022 1 Minute
When You Want the Preacher to Move On
Image by Albrecht Fietz from Pixabay
I've been poking around the Paul Powell Legacy Library, an online resource that contains audio, video, and writings from the aforementioned Texas Baptist preacher, who served as pastor of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas for seventeen years. Paul was and continues to be an influential person in my life.
One of those audio files is called, "Funny Stories I Like to Tell." The audio runs forty five minutes. That's a lot of jokes.
Paul sets up one of these jokes by inviting the people of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, whom Paul was then serving as interim, to pray for the pulpit committee. Paul said that it is harder to get rid of a preacher than it is to find one, and that's why it is important to call a good one, and to pray for those who are responsible for the search.
Paul then said:
A church had a pompous preacher they wanted to get rid of. They prayed that he would leave. They recommended him everywhere. But no one would call him.
Finally he received a call to be a pastor in another place. The Sunday he resigned he said, "When I came here five years ago, Jesus led me here. And now Jesus is leading me away."
When he was finished the chairman of the deacons stood and said, "Let's all sing, 'What a Friend We Have in Jesus.'"
Brother Paul was known for his sense of humor, and even compiled a number of his jokes in a book, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Retirement.
I think humor is such an indispensable quality to look for in a leader, not only for the capacity to make others laugh, but in the ability to laugh at your own goofs, mess ups, and mistakes. When I find a good joke, I like to hang on to it.
And to tell it.
Ben Simpson Church Leadership, Humor Leave a comment June 15, 2022 June 14, 2022 1 Minute
Find more Zip Freeman here.
Ben Simpson Humor Leave a comment June 6, 2022 June 3, 2022 1 Minute
"Some People Think They're God"
Texas A&M Head Football Coach Jimbo Fisher said "Some people think they're God" in reference to University of Alabama Head Football Coach Nick Saban.
What Coach Fisher didn't say was what every Aggie thinks, that is, "Some people think they're God, but we all know God lives in College Station."
Ben Simpson Humor, Sports Leave a comment May 23, 2022 May 20, 2022 1 Minute
A Matchmaking Service for Agriculturalists
Photo by Elaine Casap on Unsplash
Tender.
For those who tend the soil.
Like Tinder, but for those who farm, cultivating relationships among those cultivating the earth.
Ben Simpson Humor Leave a comment May 20, 2022 May 11, 2022 1 Minute
File Under: "Could, But Shouldn't"
Photo by Yassine Khalfalli on Unsplash
In 2011, the last time inflation was on the rise, the then-president of the New York Federal Reserve, William Dudley, ventured into a working-class neighborhood in Queens, New York, to give a speech explaining why inflation wasn't a big deal. Finding that he wasn't making an impact, Dudley famously picked up an iPad 2 and told his audience, "Today you can buy an iPad 2 that costs the same as an iPad 1 that is twice as powerful."
"I can't eat an iPad!" someone in the audience shouted back.
Samuel Gregg, "That Doesn't Feel Like $150 Worth of Groceries," via the Common Sense Substack Newsletter
Ben Simpson Humor, Politics Leave a comment May 13, 2022 May 6, 2022 1 Minute
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