{"id":1649,"date":"2011-12-02T04:16:27","date_gmt":"2011-12-02T09:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/godonomics\/?p=1649"},"modified":"2011-11-23T10:18:24","modified_gmt":"2011-11-23T15:18:24","slug":"mr-potato-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/2011\/12\/mr-potato-head.html","title":{"rendered":"Mr. Potato Head"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We will talk about the winner of a fight or an argument by saying, \u201che had the last laugh.\u201d \u00a0God says that He will have the last laugh. Not just him, but his son Jesus, the \u201cOne\u201d who is enthroned in heaven. \u00a0The. one sent to earth to proclaim joy. At Christmas, God came to earth to announce and introduce people to his joy. \u00a0But at the end of time, God will have the last laugh.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>4<\/strong> The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. <strong>5<\/strong> He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, <strong>6<\/strong> \u201cI have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Objection: \u00a0Now as I read that, many of us got very uncomfortable. \u00a0We were okay with God laughing, but now he rebukes, has anger, and has wrath. \u00a0\u00a0If you have a Mr Potato Head God, you\u2019re God is missing parts like, \u201canger, wrath, and ability to terrify.\u201d \u00a0In fact, you may think that -that- kind of God is inappropriate or not real. \u00a0And you may think that an angry God, a terrifying God is the antithesis to a God of love.<\/p>\n<p>I remember watching the movie, <em>The Patriot<\/em> years ago. \u00a0Mel Gibson\u2019s character is a father and war veteran. He does not want to fight a revolution. He doesn\u2019t want to go to war. His kids wonder if he is a coward. \u00a0\u00a0There is a scene where the British Red coats come in and take his house and come after his kids. \u00a0\u00a0His kids watch their loving kindhearted father transform. \u00a0\u00a0He grabs weapons, He goes after the evil doers. His kids are stunned watching dad\u2019s ferociously protective love as he attacks and destroys these evil doers. \u00a0\u00a0The look on the kids face is stunning. \u00a0They never knew how powerful their father was. They never knew how far He\u2019d go to love them and protect them. \u00a0\u00a0In his wrath, they saw his love. In his love, they saw that evil doers were terrified of Him. \u00a0\u00a0In this moment, they were overwhelmed that this terrifyingly loving and protectively anger father was on their side.<\/p>\n<p>Why is God angry in this section of the Bible? Same reason: These people have tried to manipulate, control, and offer a false hope to the world. \u00a0They have been unjust, unfair, evil, and tried to make \u201cself\u201d the top of the mountain.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>God says, I have installed MY king on the top of the mountain. And when you climb the mountain, you will find something that truly satisfies. \u00a0A joy that lasts. \u00a0Lasting laughter. When God sees people replace His joy with a false joy, an inadequate hope, he gets angry. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Someone is lying. Something is telling you and I that what will make us happy is&#8230;.. \u00a0Money, Status, Appearance, Pleasure, Comfort, etc.<\/p>\n<p>God is mad because these are lies. You spend your whole life climbing the mountain of self and think it will make you happy. Bring you lasting laughter. Fulfill your wishes. \u00a0And you get to the top. You make it to the Zenith of your journey and discover that \u201cIt\u201d didn\u2019t satisfy. \u201cIt\u201d didn\u2019t cover your guilt and shame.<\/p>\n<p>Do you remember the song \u201cWe Are The World\u201d from the 1980s? \u201cWe are the people&#8230;\u201d We are the ones who make a brighter day so let\u2019s start giving&#8230;&#8221; That message is not only different from the Bible\u2019s teaching on Christmas, it\u2019s the polar opposite. \u00a0In 1985 at the Live Aid Concert, with all the famous people singing this&#8230; Bob Dylan was up there looking very uncomfortable&#8230; Afterwards, there was a press conference and he explained why he was so uncomfortable. He said, \u201cI felt uncomfortable singing that song because human kind cannot save itself.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Our society, religion, and philosophies try to put someone on top of the mountain to \u201csave you.\u201d \u00a0But education won\u2019t cut it. Being nice won\u2019t cut it. \u00a0Being Greedy won\u2019t cut it. Being selfish won\u2019t cut it. Good and Bad things BOTH can\u2019t help human beings Save themselves.<\/p>\n<p>So we learned that God laughs, God laughs best, and God laughs last&#8230; How can you and I have the last laugh?<\/p>\n<p><strong>How to Have The Last Laugh<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>7<\/strong> I will proclaim the LORD\u2019s decree: \u00a0He said to me, \u201cYou are my son; \u00a0today I have become your father.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Lasting joy and lasting laughter comes from knowing that Your maker offers to adopt you back into His family even after you \u201cran off\u201d. \u00a0\u00a0Jesus died on a cross to make a way to pay for all the ways we\u2019ve tried to Conspire against God, and replace God with our Mr Potato Head replacements. \u00a0If you will admit to God, \u201cI\u2019ve tried to replace you&#8230; I\u2019ve tried to outmaneuver you&#8230; Instead I want to embrace you. \u00a0I want to know that I am your child. That the mountain I am climbing is about making You my Zenith. \u00a0I will spend my life not at the mountain of self, making myself famous, fulfilling all my wishes. \u00a0But spend my life resting on the mountain of God, making His anointed famous, and fulfilling His wishes. \u00a0\u00a0Jesus makes this offer \u201cTODAY.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Will you take him up on his offer today?<\/p>\n<p>You know you are the son of a father who is both passionate, compassionate, and tender as well as incredibly powerful, a warrior. You can have the same feelings those children had in patriot. I have a dad who loves me, and he is a warrior who will defend me. The reason this laughter and joy lasts is because it\u2019s the one thing that matters and the one thing that can never be taken away. \u00a0The joy of knowing my all powerful, loving Father loves me and adopts me is something that overshadows the economy. The next upgrade. The next tragedy. I could lose everything, but I will never lose the one thing that matters. This is real joy. \u00a0If you are a Christ-follower, here\u2019s how you have lasting laughter.<\/p>\n<p>You know&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cancer will not have the last laugh&#8230; God offers you a new body&#8230; you have hope.<\/li>\n<li>Injustice will not have the last laugh&#8230; God will judge evil doers who think they got away with it, therefore I can forgive and let God be judge.<\/li>\n<li>My savings won\u2019t have the last laugh&#8230;whether the economy is up or down, God will reward me for my generosity to others.<\/li>\n<li>My circumstances won\u2019t have the last laugh&#8230;God can bring joy even out of troubles, therefore I persevere.<\/li>\n<li>God will have the last laugh&#8230;and I enter into His joy as His child seeing Him as the ultimate prize.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For a free first session of Godonomics, visit:<a href=\"http:\/\/www.godonomics.com\/watch-session-1\" target=\"_blank\"> http:\/\/www.godonomics.com\/watch-session-1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Story:<br \/>\nOnce Sammy the Squirrel was scampering from tree to tree near the roof of the Great Forest. He heard crying beneath him, and he climbed down to have a look. \u00a0\u00a0He did not like what he saw. Six crows had made a circle around Charlie the Chipmunk. \u00a0They walked back and forth, making their awful crow sounds and taking turns pecking at Charlie\u2019s side. They weren\u2019t trying to kill Charlie (crows usually let other animals do that for them), they were just trying to make him miserable. They were doing a very good job of it. Sammy saw what those crows were doing, and he knew right away that it was unfair and mean. Sammy grew angry, very angry. His ears turned red. His eyes burned like fire. And his legs launched him into action. Sammy went after that circle of crows like no squirrel you have ever seen before. \u00a0He jumped on them, swatted at them, and hissed at them until they gave up and flew off. It took Charlie\u2019s heart a long time to slow down; it had been beating so fast with fear. It took Sammy\u2019s heart just as long to slow down, it had been beating so fast with anger. Sammy\u2019s anger was a good thing. \u00a0\u00a0It saved Charlie the Chipmunk. \u00a0At the same time, Sammy\u2019s anger was a dangerous thing -\u2013 but only for those nasty crows. \u00a0Three cheers for Sammy!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.travistheterrorclark.net\/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=52:righteous-anger&amp;catid=35:about-the-sponsors\">http:\/\/www.travistheterrorclark.net\/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=52:righteous-anger&amp;catid=35:about-the-sponsors<\/a> Bryce James Worthington, 11 years old, \u00a0was diagnosed with brain cancer, on August 31, 2008. \u00a0For two days he had a headache and vomiting &#8211; normal flu symptoms. Suddenly he had a loss of movement in his left arm, we rushed him to the emergency room. \u00a0\u00a0The first thing Bryce said after he found out about his tumor was &#8220;This wasn&#8217;t suppose to happen to me.&#8221; \u00a0\u00a0On Sept. 1st at Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan a cancerous tumor the size of a cue ball was removed from his right frontal lobe. Three weeks later it was discovered that his brain tumor had grown back to the size of a golf ball and Bryce under went a second brain surgery where the tumor was removed for a second time. \u00a0\u00a0Bryce had 6 titanium plates and 36 screws now holding his skull together and an incision the stretched from ear to ear with 52 staples in his head. \u00a0\u00a0Yet his spirits remained high beyond imagination.<br \/>\nOn Oct. 2 Bryce was accepted into St. Jude&#8217;s Children&#8217;s Research Hospital and was flown to St. Jude&#8217;s in Memphis, TN and where he was diagnosed with ATRT brain cancer.<br \/>\nThe tumor, called atypical teratoid\/rhabdoid tumor (ATRT), is a rare aggressive cancer that arises either in the cerebellum or cerebral cortex and often spreads through the central nervous system. \u00a0It sometimes would metastasize to the kidneys or the bones. \u00a0\u00a0The St. Jude team showed that, while children with ATRT under 3 years of age have a dismal prognosis, children older than 3 can be cured by upfront treatment with radiation followed by chemotherapy. On Oct. 7 Bryce began his full brain and spine radiation.<br \/>\nBryce&#8217;s protocol was 6 weeks of radiation (30 treatments) in all (4 weeks full brain and spine and two weeks of focal radiation where the tumors were&#8230;.6 weeks rest..and then 4 months of high dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplant\/recovery.<br \/>\nBryce made it through the radiation with hair loss and nausea. But he made it. \u00a0There were no signs of his brain tumor having grown. \u00a0While we were home for his six week rest before he was to start his chemo, Bryce developed a cough. \u00a0December 19, 2008, we took him to the doctor and they did a chest xray of his lungs to discover that Bryce&#8217;s cancer had infiltrated his lungs with 15 tumors in all lobes of his lungs. \u00a0We heard the most dreaded words that a parent can hear, &#8220;There is nothing more we can do.&#8221; \u00a0\u00a0Bryce&#8217;s type of cancer does not usually spread to the lungs and they said that it took on an &#8220;unusual presentation.&#8221;<br \/>\nWe brought Bryce home from the hospital and watched as he fought for every single breath until God took him home. \u00a0Bryce died in our arms at home in bed with us telling him how much we love him \u00a0and how proud we are of him and asking Bryce to ask God to heal him and send him back to us.<br \/>\nAs for our Righteous Anger, I was never angry at God (my husband was for a short while). \u00a0We did pray for a miracle every day that Bryce would be cured from his cancer but found Bryce must have fulfilled his purpose in his short 11 years on Earth. \u00a0Having said that, we are very angry at cancer, and want to help St. Jude&#8217;s Children&#8217;s Research Hospital find a cure by making donations for research.<br \/>\nThank you for telling Bryce&#8217;s story.<\/p>\n<p><strong>7<\/strong> I will proclaim the LORD\u2019s decree:<br \/>\nHe said to me, \u201cYou are my son;<br \/>\ntoday I have become your father.<br \/>\n<strong>8<\/strong> Ask me,<br \/>\nand I will make the nations your inheritance,<br \/>\nthe ends of the earth your possession.<br \/>\n<strong>9<\/strong> You will break them with a rod of iron<strong><\/strong><strong><\/strong>;<br \/>\nyou will dash them to pieces like pottery.\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>10<\/strong> Therefore, you kings, be wise;<br \/>\nbe warned, you rulers of the earth.<br \/>\n<strong>11<\/strong> Serve the LORD with fear<br \/>\nand celebrate his rule with trembling.<br \/>\n<strong>12<\/strong> Kiss his son, or he will be angry<br \/>\nand your way will lead to your destruction,<br \/>\nfor his wrath can flare up in a moment.<br \/>\nBlessed are all who take refuge in him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We will talk about the winner of a fight or an argument by saying, \u201che had the last laugh.\u201d \u00a0God says that He will have the last laugh. Not just him, but his son Jesus, the \u201cOne\u201d who is enthroned in heaven. \u00a0The. one sent to earth to proclaim joy. At Christmas, God came to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":353,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447,72],"tags":[491],"class_list":["post-1649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebrate","category-gospel","tag-father"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mr. Potato Head - Godonomics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/2011\/12\/mr-potato-head.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mr. Potato Head - Godonomics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We will talk about the winner of a fight or an argument by saying, \u201che had the last laugh.\u201d \u00a0God says that He will have the last laugh. 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At Christmas, God came to&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/2011\/12\/mr-potato-head.html","og_site_name":"Godonomics","article_published_time":"2011-12-02T09:16:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-11-23T15:18:24+00:00","author":"chadhovind","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/2011\/12\/mr-potato-head.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/2011\/12\/mr-potato-head.html","name":"Mr. Potato Head - Godonomics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-12-02T09:16:27+00:00","dateModified":"2011-11-23T15:18:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/#\/schema\/person\/b94809cbc6e13eafdb08a63d1825e37a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/2011\/12\/mr-potato-head.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/2011\/12\/mr-potato-head.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/2011\/12\/mr-potato-head.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mr. Potato Head"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/","name":"Godonomics","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Chad Hovind","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/#\/schema\/person\/b94809cbc6e13eafdb08a63d1825e37a","name":"chadhovind","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/5ce\/5ce450f147d7562d63fa6a7f70df8143x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/5ce\/5ce450f147d7562d63fa6a7f70df8143x96.jpg","caption":"chadhovind"},"description":"Chad Hovind is Senior Pastor of Horizon Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated from Moody Bible College in Chicago, majoring in pastoral ministry and communication. His love for ministry and creativity can be seen in many forms: leading teams, expository teaching, acting, and video production. He has served as pastor at two high-impact churches in Georgia: Cumberland Community Church and New Community Church. Chad received an M.A. in Ministry from Moody Graduate School in 2008. He loves volleyball, movies, and hanging out with his wife Beth and their three children.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.godonomics.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/author\/chadhovind"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1649"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1651,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1649\/revisions\/1651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}