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I believe many of you will find this page particularly enriching as you draw upon the wisdom pasted here! I am thrilled that my first guest article on my site comes from Rev. George Canty. To read many more articles like this one and to get in touch with him, you may do so via his own site.

http://www.canty.org.uk
Has over 50 years of pastoral, Divine Healing, radio broadcasting ministry.

(Pictures are Shona's)
THOU HAS MADE ME TO LAUGH by George Canty

A BBC radio discussion has remained in my mind. A member remarked how serious and humourless Jesus was. Lord Hailsham demolished him, quoting instance after instance of Christ's wit. It reminded me of a lecture I heard by the late Dr. Norwood of the Methodist Women's College, similarly showing how humorous Jesus could be. . If brevity is the soul of wit then Christ's words are like the Bible says apples of gold in caskets of silver. He would not always answer questions because it was a waste of words.

Take the Sermon on the Mount and one of His pithy remarks "Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted". To listeners then, it put things in a nutshell so neatly it would make them smile. Certainly it didn't bore them. "They heard Him gladly." Much in those three chapters is so out of the normal. "If your eye offends you pluck it out". Spoken with His graciousness and that voice, the greatest sound ever heard on earth, they would see His smiling eyes and realise it was truth expressed with the brevity of humour. Jesus startled hearers with laughable absurdities conveying truth unforgettably. People loved to hear Him because His speech was seasoned with the salt of brevity, wit and charm.

Dr. Norwood told us about the proverbial camel going through the eye of a needle. He amused us with explanations he had heard. The camel being camelhair rope, for example. He was especially entertaining about the camel passing through a narrow gate at the side of the main city gate. In fact, there never was such a gate at all. By such absurdities Jesus heightened people's understanding. He talked about a man with a bit of dust in his eye being treated by a man with a 'beam' in his eye – a whole plank. If we don't laugh at a man walking around unconscious of a plank in his eye, we don't know how to read Christ's words.

There is the idea that laughter is not for serious believers and God isn't funny. Well, I have prayed for many sick people, and I do a lot of smiling because of His wonderful and often hilarious blessing. God made this world, and the fun, laughter, merriment didn't generate themselves. God put it all there, the play into young creatures, like the mother and two fox cubs rollicking on my lawn, and those squirrels such a nuisance but such comedians in their antics. A duck and drake began visiting my garden this year, my first close encounter with ducks and I laughed and laughed over them. Even the goldfish flashing in my garden pool don't make us miserable but always put a smile on everybody's face.

I find the world is intensely interesting. God gave us risible faculties and fills the world with situations to match, My work is with theological issues and again and again the humorous strikes me. Christmas is the time to be glad. It was God's humour to let Roman emperors kid themselves while a babe in a crib fresh born in a minor part of their empire had a destiny the Caesars and Augustus's could never imagine. The Emperor Nero's name is now used for dogs. God is a fountain of joy. We have everything to laugh about, Perhaps it should become more obvious?

SEE ALSO: GEORGE CANTY PUBLICATIONS @ link: http://www.canty.org.uk/iwt17.htm#Publications

JOHN'S GOSPEL

George Canty has made this Gospel his special interest for many years. He knows what the commentators and scholars say, and has insights of His own. He is at present giving two one-hour public studies per month on Saturday mornings in the Renewal Christian Centre, Solihull.

CANTY'S CHRONICLES

George Canty has clear Pentecostal memories from 1924, and has kept diaries of developments. He knew international pioneer leaders, and has himself travelled widely gaining information and impressions. Pastor David Carr asked him a series of questions about events of several decades. What he had to say about them is available in a box of three CD recordings, priced at £13. Possibly no-one else alive can cover the scope of events from the earliest days with such vivid recall. Media Sales, Renewal Christian Centre, Lode Lane, Solihull. W. Mid. B91 2JR. UK

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