Christians Can Laugh Too

The Link Shortening Expert: Get Paid to Make Memes

Thu, 27 Jun 2013 16:56:36 -0400

The Link Shortening Expert: Get Paid to Make Memes:

This rocks…

Is the Christmas Tree a Pagan Symbol?

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:17:00 -0500

Sorry I haven’t been posting recently. I should probably get myself down to a schedule of posting regularly. Also, this following article is of a more serious nature, but it is something to think about while progressing into the holiday season.

Today, having a Christmas tree is second nature. But, have you ever wondered how that tradition started? Do the beginnings of the tree relate to the Birth of Jesus?

Long ago, In the Northern Hemisphere during the winter, ancient people believed it was cold because their sun god was ill. The Winter Solstice on December 21st, which is the shortest day of the year, was celebrated with evergreen plants to remind the people that spring was on it’s way, and to celebrate that their sun god was becoming well again.

The same reasoning took place for the Egyptians, except they worshipped their god named Ra.

Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called the Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. To mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with evergreens. Thinking that it was because of Saturn that these trees could survive the longest night of winter.

These Christmas tree traditions eventually started occurring in Germany, and spread from there to the rest of Europe. Christians, however, were much slower to accept this tradition.

Up until the 19th century, Americans found Christmas trees an oddity. As late as the 1840s Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols and not accepted by most Americans.

These Christians were citing the bible, from Jeremiah 10:1-4

1 Hear what the LORD says to you, people of Israel.
2 This is what the LORD says:
  “Do not learn the ways of the nations
  or be terrified by signs in the heavens,
  though the nations are terrified by them.
3 For the practices of the peoples are worthless;
  they cut a tree out of the forest,
  and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
4 They adorn it with silver and gold;
  they fasten it with hammer and nails
  so it will not totter.

For some reason, Americans today have accepted Christmas trees as normal, and have even created songs that are even sung in Churches to glorify these trees such as the song, “Oh Christmas Tree.”
Now that I’ve completely destroyed your love of Christmas trees, I’d like to give you a few reasons not to go back home and burn your family’s tree down.

1. We use them to celebrate Jesus. Look at your ornaments. A lot of them are probably Nativity story related.
2. They have lost a lot of their pagan meaning. None of us, when we see a Christmas tree, suddenly feel the urge to worship the sun God. Hopefully we instead think of the Son of God.
3. With the death of Jesus on the cross, many of the old laws of the Bible became nullified, such as the need to sacrifice animals. Could this passage in Jeremiah be one of those?

What do you think? Is the Christmas tree a Pagan Symbol?

- J.T. Smith

Gary Larson - Funny Cartoonist

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 06:05:06 -0400

First off, I’d like to say sorry for not posting the last few days, I’ve had my full focus on the ACT.

On that sad note, I’d like to review a hilarious cartoonist who I just now discovered. You see, I was with my family (a couple hours after the ACT) at an extremely cheap book sale at a public library. My dad saw the Gary Larson books and decided that we MUST buy them. Leaving the book store $1.50 poorer, I pulled one of the books out of the bag and started reading. Immediately I was hooked. 30 minutes later, I found myself flinching because my cheeks hurt from laughing.

What I like about Larson

Gary Larson is a cartoonist, but not just so, he is one with a twisted mind and a scientific brain. While I’m unaware of Larson’s religious background, I do know that he does a ton of making fun of evolutionary theory in his work. Often including a pun or three, each cartoon fills my eyes to the brim with laughter. Upon doing a quick search for Gary Larson on Google, I found the following cartoon.

This cartoon, featuring a couple of cows living in a furnished home, is funny because they have tons of appliances which obviously require the use of thumbs. These cows are a great example of Gary’s humor, which often includes animals and funny things about them.

Is Gary Appropriate?

None of his cartoons, out of the hundreds I’ve read, contain anything rated over PG. He doesn’t use bad language, but he occasionally makes slightly violent references, funny ways people can get hurt, and jokes about taking vacations to the underworld. These are all in good taste though, as they are always meant to be funny rather than offensive, and are never overly brutal. Compared to most cartoonists, Gary is a pretty appropriate dude. Again, these are only out of the hundreds I’ve read, so if you find anything please do not waste your money on a torch, and especially not a pitchfork (those are expensive these days.)

"God is the creator so I’m not a hater."

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:43:01 -0400

“God is the creator so I’m not a hater.”

- A random button I won in a drawing.

Flaws of Biblical Proportions - Christian Video

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 16:50:30 -0400

Introduction:

This is a funny video with the premise of finding the “perfect” small group leader for a church youth group. The people searching for the leader go through a ton of famous Bible characters and in the process decide that none of them are right for their group due to various small reasons (murder, causing plagues, and denying Jesus three times.) The characters are basically funny versions of their respective Bible people, and make this video awesome.

Lesson

The video teaches us that while we might feel unworthy to serve God because of our history or qualifications, we must remember that even the heroes of the Bible had major flaws and mess-ups yet God still let them do great things. In the end of the video, a regular guy just like us was chosen to be the small group leader. As long as you let God use you, he will allow you to do great things.

Skit Guys - Comedian Review

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:55:00 -0400

Explanation:

One very famous christian funny group is Skit Guys. They write all sorts of plays and make humorous videos. I was searching the most popular comedy videos at Godtube and this one caught my eye. It is probably one of the most disturbing Christian videos I’ve seen because it almost hints at cannibalism, but this sort of humor isn’t necessarily considered dirty. That being said, this video was obviously made for teens based on the humor used, but can be enjoyed by all ages.

Thanksgiving Turkey

The Message:

This video portrays the very vital lesson that there is a ton of things to be thankful for in life. While most people would post something like this on Thanksgiving, I think it is important to be thankful all year round. The obvious humor in this clip helps to play off the message, and makes it stick in your mind for longer than one dinner. Please comment and/or re-blog this post and tell me what you think of the video and being thankful.

Still not good at signing off despite this being about the 20th post,

J.T. Smith

Funny Facebook Comments 1

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:32:41 -0400

Most people would say it is weird to sit there singing along to the whine of a vacuum. My friends aren’t most people…

Obviously, you shouldn’t duet with a vacuum if you are tone deaf!

How To Craft a Knock-Knock Joke

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:25:11 -0400

This guide will teach you how to create a knock-knock joke that will knock-knock your audience’s socks off. If you want further reading, I suggest you attempt to master the pundamentals.

Words you must know before reading:

Joke: A funny statement or conversation predetermined to end in a punchline which delivers a humorous feeling to the receiving audience.

Layman: A person who is not specialized in a specified area (In this case knock-knock jokes.)

Waffles: A yummy food used as inspiration to most comedians.

How a knock-knock joke works:

The joker initiates a knock-knock joke by asking the layman, “Knock-knock.”
The layman answers, if they have ever heard such a joke, “Who’s there?.”
The joker will then respond with a word or phrase.
The layman will respond with the same word or phrase while adding “..who?” to the end.
In some cases the joke will end there, in others the joker will continue on with the format: “(word or statement commonly skewed to sound like a different word) (the long ‘u’ sound) (funny comment or question that makes sense in context.)”

How to Craft a Knock-Knock Joke:

Now that you know how the knock-knock joke works, it will be much easier for you to learn the following steps and suggestions.

First you must understand the inner workings of a knock-knock joke. If you haven’t yet done this then the previous section should enlighten you.
The main thing you must realize is that every knock-knock joke contains a word ending with the vowel sound of the word, “who.” This is the funny part of the joke and is often referred to as the punchline.
Visit a rhyming dictionary and find words rhyming with “who.” You will be looking for words that have at least two syllables. A great page to visit for the knock-knock joke purpose is this one.
Once you have found a potential word, you must examine the syllable(s) before the “oo” sound. For instance, I selected the phrase “pool cue.” The front reminds me of the president with the last name of Polk.
Structure your joke. My joke will be the following (say it out loud.)

Scene: Anyplace a pool table is present.

Me: Knock-knock

Layman: Who’s there?

Me: James K. Polk

Layman: James K. Polk who?

Me: Don’t just stand there. Grab your James K. pool cue and let’s play!

Tips:

Knock-knock jokes are meant to be verbal. It is easier to manipulate sounds if you say it out loud.
Some people are allergic to knock-knock jokes. These are not your friends.
Practice the saying of your jokes so your brain-mouth coordination does not fail.
You can never have too much cheese.
The word, “layman” is pretty outdated. I just wanted to use it to feel professional (like a little boy dressed as a firefighter.)
Memorize your original knock-knock jokes and have one for many occasions.
Do not become the Joker who is Batman’s nemesis.

Knock-Knock Joke 1

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 06:30:05 -0400

(Best said by an angry librarian)

Knock-knock

Who’s there?

Avert

Avert who?

Yes you are… TURN IN YOUR BOOKS!

Ashamed that this joke popped into his head,

J.T. Smith

AP Physics...

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:20:00 -0400

Today I found out that in a school of 2000+ students, there are only 18 students taking AP Physics, and half of that taking the harder version, AP Physics C (which I’m in.) The teacher assigned us two large text books. One of them is for easy reading and the other can be used for weightlifting.

Needing to go pump some iron in preparation for the rest of the year,

J.T. Smith

"I think, therefore I am. Therefore anything not thinking, isn’t. Therefore, every rock or wall..."

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 06:41:00 -0400

“I think, therefore I am. Therefore anything not thinking, isn’t. Therefore, every rock or wall you get hit by or crash into is just an illusion, so don’t sweat it.”

- Kyle Mook Quotes of the Day - An awesome Facebook page.

"‎Everyone is born unique. Then we grow up and decide to copy everyone else."

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 06:21:05 -0400

“‎Everyone is born unique. Then we grow up and decide to copy everyone else.”

- Kyle Mook Quotes of the Day

Facebook Page Quotes

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 19:13:14 -0400

Occasionally, I will publish a post quoting a funny statement made on a Facebook fan page. If you want your fan page to be reviewed specifically, then please find the button that says “Guest Post Here” and email me at the provided email address with a link to your page.

If you want to link to this blog in return, that would be great. Don’t do it though if you think it will offset some of your fans.

Still pondering a pontificating prelude to my posts,

J.T. Smith

Donate = Donut + Ate

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:08:46 -0400

In my mind, food in a church encourages donations. The word structuring can’t be an accident, because the people who wrote the dictionary don’t mess around. They obviously know that there is a huge correlation between donuts and donating. Therefore, I encourage every church in the world to offer donuts to their members. At the end of the day, they should all send those donuts to my address at:

J.T. Smith

Recently Purchased Warehouse for Donut Storage

St. Louis, Missouri 63102

Cletus Take the Reel - Tim Hawkins

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:59:25 -0400

While searching for comedians to review, I can’t help returning to Tim Hawkins. This is another one of my favorite music parodies of his.

This is a parody of Jesus Take the Wheel which I think was performed by Carrie Underwood.

Laughingly,

J.T. Smith

Pay-Per View is a common term used to define a service charged...

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 23:36:27 -0400

Pay-Per View is a common term used to define a service charged to an individual for each item they view. This might take a few seconds to sink in, but hopefully you get the joke eventually. Feel free to share the picture with whoever you want as long as you leave it unedited.

I Don't Have an Emotional Backstory

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 22:06:14 -0400

I was listening to Dancing With the Stars (an extremely old one) in the background as I was messing with my blog stuff, and I noticed that they were all choosing songs that mean something to them. They all had emotional back-stories of how they have been involved with gangs or lost all of their family. This makes me feel like a complete failure because I don’t have anything like that.

Ever since I was a small tyke I’ve waited for fame and fortune to sweep me up. I noticed that I am incredibly good looking, incredibly talented in everything I do, funny, smart and all around a nice, humble person. I have now discovered that my elite skills and beauty are not enough. Emotional back-stories are what make people appealing to mass audiences and that is my problem.

This same problem has come up when people ask me for my testimony as a Christian. I feel inadequate because my story is not interesting at all. I have had to write that testimony for different projects, and I always write about little details that are only slightly related to the concept. That doesn’t mean I can’t share Jesus with other people, it just means I have to do it in a different way.

With the idea of an meaningful song choice being White and Nerdy by Wierd Al,

J.T. Smith

P.S. (Potentially Spam) Please help me get this blog some viewers by sharing it on Facebook, Digg, and through your town crier.

Excuse the Mess

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 00:16:41 -0400

As you know this blog is fairly new and I am a fairly awesome person. I am currently trying out tons of features and widgets that are available on the internet for blogs.

If you notice anything in the formatting of the page that you would like changed or is not pleasing to the eye, please tell me.

Another thing you will notice is the social network sharing buttons below each post. This feature is designed to let you share to all of your favorite sites easily, and is one way to help you help me. Sharing this blog will allow it to gain more followers and get more views, which I would greatly appreciate.

Because this post wasn’t very funny, I decided to share some candy.

The table, which represents comedy, is completely clean. In...

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:03:08 -0400

The table, which represents comedy, is completely clean. In fact, it is so clean that it sparkles. I know you guys love my cartooning skills, but I am not actually for hire as an artist so STOP ASKING!!

10 Things Young People Do In Church Service That Are Frowned Upon by Adults

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:34:36 -0400

I don’t actually recommend doing these because they might be considered disrespectful during some church services. Tell me what pew think in the comments.

1. Text (adults aren’t afraid to whisper.)

2. Fall asleep

3. Make parodies of church songs. (Holy Ravioli is my favorite.)

4. Play monopoly on newfangled devices. (Better than poker.)

5. Edit the church bulliton.

6. Fill out the guest contact information sheet with false information. (My brother is not actually interested in women’s basketball or preschool activities.)

7. Sing in falsetto. (Justin Beiber has got nothing on us.)

8. Clap loudly. (I have a one loud clap policy in order to assure equal congratulatory noise to each recipient.)

9. Do the “robot” to hymns.

10. Write blog posts.

Sillily,

J.T. Smith