Category: Serving Mentally Ill Christians

Serving Jesus by serving you.

Psych Humor

I got very depressed so I called and got through to a call center in Pakistan.  When I told them I was suicidal they got all excited and wanted to know if I could drive a truck.

A transcript of the new answering service recently installed at the Mental Health Helpline:

 “Hello and welcome to the mental health helpline…

  • If you are Obsessive compulsive, press 1, repeatedly…
  • If you are Co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2 for you…
  • If you have Multiple Personalities, press 3, 4, 5 & 6…
  • If you are Paranoid, we know who you are and want what you want. Stay on the line so we can  trace your call…
  • If you are Delusional, press 7, and your call will be transferred to the Mother Ship…
  • If you are Schizophrenic, listen carefully and a small voice will tell you which number to press…
  • If you are Manic-depressive, it doesn’t matter which number you press…no-one will answer…
  • If you are Dyslexic, press 96969696969696…
  •  If you have a Nervous Disorder, please fidget with the hash key until a representative comes on the line…
  • If you have Amnesia, press 8 and state your name, address, phone number, date of birth, social security number and your mother’s and grandmother’s maiden names…
  • If you have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, slowly and carefully press 000…
  • If you have Bipolar Disorder, please leave a message after the beep. Or before the beep. Or After the beep. Please wait for the beep…
  • If you have Short-Term Memory Loss, please try your call again later…

 I know this is an old one.  But it is a classic!

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“Let’s Trade Your Salvation” by Isaac Air Freight

Episode: “Let’s Trade Your Salvation”

Isaac Air Freight was a Christian comedy team first formed in 1976. It originally consisted of three people, Dave Toole, Dan Rupple, and Larry Watt. Watt left after the release of their first album. He was replaced by Mitch Teemley, who largely did serious or “good guy” parts, for the second and third albums. (Watt and Teemley did not contribute to the writing. After leaving Isaac Air Freight, Teemley formed the team Mitch & Allen for which he wrote as well as acted.)

Rupple and Toole released five more Isaac Air Freight albums. The last of these, Over Our Heads (1987), featured contributions from members of Christian rock band Daniel Amos.

Comedy is not our usual fare here on BB, and maybe that should change.  IAF brought a slightly more sophistication to the Church theater or skit scene.  They inspired a lot of believers to work in the creative arts.  In some sense I suppose you could describe them as a Christian version of Monty Python, but that isn’t a real good analogy either.

Here at BB we have the Contemporary Christian Music Index.  It is a link that opens up early Christian music of the 70s-80s.  You’ll find this index (which is constantly growing,  https://brokenbelievers.com/?s=CCM

 

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Total War & Total Power

 

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Humans have weapons that will level entire cities, destroying everything almost instantly. The first bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 completely obliterating five square miles and killing 140,000+ people. This bomb completely altered the way nations go to war. We now understand “total war.” This power is man’s, but an ultimate power is God’s.

 “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes.”

Romans 1:16

There is a potency about God, he is supremely able to govern the universe. He sustains the farthest galaxy. His miraculous deeds rule the affairs of men. His gospel saves the worst from their sins. It is indeed his power that can transform you, and he doesn’t get discouraged and give up on us. He will never get discouraged by me.

“God at work” and we should recognize that. God’s “gospel-power” is in the broken believer, transforming us into new men and women. His power is infinite and total in the wayward hearts of men.  He loves us and is for us.

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

1 John 4:4

Remenergizer-bunnyember the “Energizer Bunny?” When he was loaded with a certain battery he would last and last. That little guy could go– he beat his drums to show us his prowess. The believer who is filled with the Spirit has a “battery” in him that allows him:

  • to live in power,
  • to live in love,
  • peace,
  • kindness,
  • purity (self-control),
  • and much more than this (Gal. 5:22-23).

We have inside our spirits something far more than a mere battery. Not only the “fruits of the Spirit” but the “gifts of the Spirit” as well. These are more than mere trifles; these are mighty things of God. We should be eager to meet the needs of those who surround us daily.

All of this must be set in God’s love in order to operate. An atomic bomb is launched only with a secret code; I believe love is that code for the believer. All must proceed from that, and that alone. Love is the launch key.

God has recruited us, and is training us. Can we imagine anything greater than this? In spite of our weaknesses, nay, because of them, the Lord’s power is seen clearest and best. We who are the weakest become the strongest. (1 Cor. 1:27, 2 Cor. 12:9-10.)

“Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. 25 All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.”

Jude 24, 25

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Picking Out a Kitten

cute-kittensOne of the highlights in a child’s life is choosing a kitten, it will rank up there with many other memories. It’s often the first big decision they will make on their own.

The child will be introduced to a litter, and then be encouraged to choose. And typically there will be some hard picks, but often it comes down, not to the most playful and adorable, but the kitten in some way different from the rest. 

Often the kitten chosen will not be the prettiest or liveliest of the bunch. It maybe lame or “weak” in some way. However once that child embraces that kitten, the bond is irrevocable. We could insist they make a better choice– thrusting another kitten at them, but ultimately it’s their choice. We shake our heads, acquiescent to our child’s choice.

The bonding is surprisingly quick and strong. They’ve made their pick, and they won’t be persuaded to take another. The parent must be content that things will work out somehow. They have decided. 

“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”

! Thessalonians 1:4, ESV

To be chosen is the highest privilege and honor there is.We may not be the best or the brightest but God has selected us to be his very own.

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”

1 Corinthians 1:26, 28-29

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A little rough around the edges

We might be mangy,  flea-bitten. Many are deeply dysfunctional and profoundly flawed. Often we are the misfits and the loser. Yet he has chosen us to be his very own. He loves us not because we are special; but he makes us special because he loves us. 

Someone once said that if God had a refrigerator that your picture would be on it.

Beloved, this kind of love is good news for most of us. We are not chosen because we are pretty or talented, you see we are not vital to the kingdom. Rather we’re chosen because he wants us.

“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!”

1 John 3:1, NLT

You are God’s choice. Now the trick is to learn about walking as it. Prayer, worship and fellowship with the many others who are also chosen will bring you understanding. The Holy Spirit will show you how.

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