Feb

A Rose By Any Oher Name...

Fri Feb 10th 2012 @ 5:55 pm

I had the opportunity to interview a nationally known pastor, speaker and author the other day on my radio show. At one point in the conversation, we were talking about the blog I wrote last week on happiness. He said to me. “You know, Ed, happiness is not the goal for a Christian. We’re here to worship and obey God and if we do that we’ll find the joy that come through faith.”

Hmmm. The implication is that “joy” and “happiness” are two separate things and that Joy is okay for Christians: Happiness not so much. Joy is deep and spiritual, Happiness is shallow and frivolous. “Happy” is a word used by the world, “Joy” is reserved those of us who are enlightened.   Seriously, I personally don’t ever remember using the words Joy, Joyful or Joyous before I became Christian: now they roll off my tongue at the drop of a scripture reference. And that made me curious. What is the difference between “Joy” and “Happiness?”

So I did some research. First move, look in a dictionary and see what IT says:

Joy   noun
1 the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation

2 a source or cause of keen pleasure, happiness or delight; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated.

3 the expression or outward display of glad feeling; pleasure or delight; rejoicing, a state of happiness or felicity.

Hap•pi•ness   noun                                                                                                                        1 the quality or state of being happy.

2.good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.

No help there. Both definitions look pretty much the same. So how about the Bible? Let’s do a quick scripture search. Here’s what I came up with:

Esther 8:15-17 For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor.

Leviticus 9:24   And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.

At this point I have to throw in another, hmmm. I don’t see any difference there, either. Is one word holier than another? I don’t think so. When I stood in that parking lot and cried out to God for salvation, I said, “Jesus, if you’re real, all I want is peace and…happiness!” Apparently God either didn’t notice or didn’t care that I used the lesser word “happiness” because He took me in, anyway. Could it be that we Christians are, unknowingly, trying to set ourselves apart and above the rest of the world through the use of some sort of coded language: let’s call it “BibleSpeak!” And if we are doing that then we would be guilty of….GASP….being prideful! Surely not! Why, being prideful would diminish our joy. Or is it our happiness.

In any event, we all need to be aware that using Biblespeak tends to turn off seekers and can be a stumbling block on their path to salvation. Paul warned Timothy to beware of nitpicking Christians: we should take that warning to heart and quit trying to sound more “Christiany.” After all:

A rose by any other name is still a rose.

Epilogue

Examples of unintentionally hilarious "Plain English" as reported in Knight-Ridder Newspapers. Even when grammatical, the examples are uproariously incorrect.

In a Paris hotel: 'Please leave your values at the front desk.'

In Bucharest: 'The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.'

In a Japanese hotel: 'You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.'

In an Austrian ski resort: 'Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension.'

A Hong Kong tailor shop: 'Ladies may have a fit upstairs.'

In Germany's Black Forest: 'It is strictly forbidden on our black forest camping site that people of different sex, for instance, men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for that purpose.'

In a Zurich hotel: 'Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom it is suggested that the lobby be used for that purpose.'

Hong Kong dentist's advertisement: 'Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists.'

In a Rome laundry: 'Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time.'

A Tokyo car-rental brochure: 'When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigor.'

A Copenhagen airline office: 'We take your bags and send them in all directions.'

In an Acapulco hotel: 'The manager has personally passed all the water served here.'

Thought for the Day

It's not whether you win or lose, but how you place the blame.

Turn the radio on

Listen to God & Ed’s Excellent Adventure on the Radio. Monday through Friday at 4pm on “The Word,” 98.5/99.3 FM. Or listen on-line at KLGO.net. It’s the place for Christians of all varieties to hang out and be loved, entertained and uplifted.

Semi-interesting fact

Snow is not frozen raindrops. A frozen raindrop is sleet. The technical name for a frozen raindrop in meteorology is - ice pellet. Snow crystals form directly in clouds and do not melt or refreeze on their way to Earth.

Forward…Mail!!

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Joke du Jour
A man went to the Police Station wishing to speak with the burglar who had broken into his house the night before. "You'll get your chance in court," said the Desk Sergeant.

"No, no, no!" said the man. "I want to know how he got into the house without waking my wife. I've been trying to do that for years!"

Cool Music

We’ve added more cool songs you’ve never heard on radio. Check the player on the upper right, click and brighten your day.

Questions I ask myself

If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?

Really?? Actual News Stories

Thtick 'em uppers A woman who appeared to not have any teeth

in surveillance photos from a western Pennsylvania bank robbery last month has confessed, apologized and told police she planned the heist because she needed the money for dentures. Evelyn Marie Fuller, 49, remained in jail unable to post bond on bank robbery and other charges filed by police in Waynesburg, where she allegedly robbed the First National Bank. Arresting Officer Tom Ankrom said Fuller explained her motives when she confessed to the crime. "During her confession, she stated she wanted to use the money to pay for dentures she was unable to get through welfare until next year," Ankrom said. After her arraignment, Fuller told a reporter, "I'm very sorry for what I did and I know God is going to punish me for it," before explaining that her pastor told her to tell the truth about what she did.

Tag, I'm rich!A graffiti artist who accepted shares instead of cash when he painted Facebook's first HQ seven years ago is set for a $250 million payday. David Choe, 35, was asked to paint the walls of the offices in Palo Alto, California, in 2005, and was offered the choice of a few thousand cash or the equivalent in shares. And, even though he considered the idea of Facebook "ridiculous and pointless" at the time, he took the stock, reports the New York Times. Now, after a blockbuster $5billion Facebook stock IPO, he is one of at least 1,000 employees on their way to becoming millionaires. Mr Choe refused to be interviewed about his windfall. He recently went to the new Facebook headquarters to spraypaint a wall, and can be seen in a video getting the help of founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Some people have lousy luck, and others just can't catch any breaks. A man in Chicago can count himself a member of both groups after he was rescued from a stuck elevator only to get trapped in a second elevator on the way down.

Firefighters said the man called for help after the elevator he was in stopped working between the 21st and 22nd floors at a downtown Chicago condominium building. A firefighter traveled up in an adjacent elevator, climbed up through the emergency ceiling hatch to the stuck elevator and pulled the man into the working elevator. However, as the pair were on their way down to the main level in the working elevator, it stalled as well. The man and his rescuer were finally freed after a three-hour ordeal, when an engineer from an elevator company reset the elevator cars to be operated manually and they reached the ground level. There's no word on whether the rescued man had broken a mirror, crossed paths with a black cat or walked beneath an open ladder on the way out of his condo.

Judge orders date night for fighting couple A Florida judge has ordered a man accused of domestic violence to take his wife out on a date. Instead of bail or jail, Judge John Hurley said Joseph Bray, 47

, must give his wife flowers and a birthday card and take her out for Red Lobster and bowling. What began as a spat between Bray and his wife — when he failed to wish her a happy birthday — escalated to the point where Bray allegedly pushed her onto the couch, put his hand on her neck and held up his fist to hit her, but did not strike her. The judge called it a "minor incident." He also ordered the couple to get marriage counselling. Hurley said he wouldn't have imposed such an unusual sentence if the charge had been more serious or if the woman seemed to be injured or in danger.

Are you kidding me???

The longest word in the Bible is "Mahershalalhashbaz" (Isa. 8:1)

Groaner

A three-legged dog walks into a saloon in the Old West. He sidles up to the bar and announces: "I'm looking for the man who shot my paw."

Point to Ponder

AMEN
"For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us" (II Corinthians 1:20).

The word "amen" is a most remarkable word. It was transliterated directly from the Hebrew into the Koine Greek of the New Testament, then into Latin and into English and many other languages, so that it is practically a universal word. It has been called the best-known word in human speech. The word is directly related--in fact, almost identical--to the Hebrew word for "believe" (aman), or "faithful." Thus, it came to mean "sure" or truly," an expression of absolute trust and confidence. When one believes God, he indicates his faith by an "amen." In the New Testament, it is often translated "verily" or "truly."

The word is even a title of Christ Himself. The last of His letters to the seven churches begins with a remarkable salutation by the glorified Lord: "These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God" (Revelation 3:14). It is, therefore, profoundly meaningful that the entire Bible closes with an "amen." "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen" (Revelation 22:21), assuring everyone who reads these words that the whole Book is absolutely true and trustworthy. Amen!

Remember, Christianity is more about walking than about talking