{"id":3575,"date":"2019-09-09T04:00:27","date_gmt":"2019-09-09T08:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/?p=3575"},"modified":"2019-09-08T23:12:46","modified_gmt":"2019-09-09T03:12:46","slug":"i_nearly_died_laughing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/i_nearly_died_laughing\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI Nearly Died Laughing!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3575\" class=\"elementor elementor-3575\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-e289e1a elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"e289e1a\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-65356274\" data-id=\"65356274\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-68728622 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"68728622\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.21.0 - 18-04-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p><iframe style=\"border: none;\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.podbean.com\/media\/player\/tmgcd-be7ad2?from=yiiadmin&amp;download=1&amp;version=1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"122\" scrolling=\"no\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.podbean.com\/media\/player\/tmgcd-be7ad2?from=yiiadmin&amp;download=1&amp;version=1\" data-name=\"pb-iframe-player\"><\/iframe><\/p><p dir=\"auto\"><strong><em>\u201cI nearly died laughing!\u201d <\/em><u>We use expressions like that, but are they really true? No matter how hard I laughed, I\u2019d didn\u2019t come close to dying<\/u>.<br \/><\/strong><br \/><em><strong>\u201cThis book saved my life!\u201d<\/strong> <\/em><u>We use an expression like that, but is it really true<\/u>? <u>Can a book as a book, really save your life<\/u>? <em>These are <strong><u>hyperbolic expressions<\/u><\/strong> of speech.<br \/><\/em><\/p><p>This is what Jesus starts off using in today\u2019s Gospel (Luke 14:25-33) a <u><em>hyperbolic expression<\/em><\/u>. <em>\u201cIf anyone comes to me without hating his mother and his father, his wife and his children, his brothers an<\/em>d his sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.\u201d<\/p><p><strong>Jesus does not want us to hate all those family members.<\/strong> Jesus is using a hyperbolic expression to make a point and to reveal an underlying truth. <em>He is telling us that it is not the blood relationship of family members that binds us to Jesus. <u>It is our own obedient response to the Word he gives us in the Gospel message that binds us to him and makes us his disciples<\/u>.<\/em><\/p><p>Jesus is telling us that we have to pay the price, the full price, to be a Christian and to be a follower and a disciple of Jesus. <em><u>A God Notice<br \/><\/u><\/em><br \/><strong>The Love that <u>Counts<\/u> is the Love that <u>Costs<\/u>.<br \/>And the Love that <u>Costs<\/u> is the Love that <u>Counts<\/u>.<br \/><\/strong><\/p><p><em>Let\u2019s stop to think of the times in our lives that we listened to these words of Jesus and followed them. <strong>It wound up costing us, really costing us<\/strong> \u2013 money, our reputation, a promotion, a friendship, or peace at home. <\/em>How many examples can we think of?<\/p><p><strong>Several months ago I got a call from a friend of mine named Tom.<\/strong> He owns a TV production company that does infomercials. Someone wanted him to do an infomercial on in vitro fertilization. I checked with a couple of Catholic moralists and I wound up telling Tom that in vitro fertilization was against Catholic teaching. He did not do the infomercial. It cost Tom a lot of money.<\/p><p><strong>I know people who have been out of work for several years.<\/strong> <em>Why? They refused to look the other way when unethical things were going on at work. So they got fired. <\/em><\/p><p><strong>When was the last time you or I told someone,<\/strong><em> \u201cYou know you\u2019ve got a lot of prejudice and hate against people of color, gays and certain politicians?\u201d <\/em><u>When I told my Dad this when he put down people of color<\/u>, he said, <strong><em>\u201cDon\u2019t preach to me, save it for Sunday!\u201d<br \/><\/em><\/strong><br \/><strong>The Love that <u>Counts<\/u> is the Love that <u>Costs<\/u>.<br \/>The Love that <u>Costs<\/u> is the Love that <u>Counts<\/u>.<br \/><\/strong><\/p><p><strong>Then Jesus brings up what our nation and you and I are struggling with today.<\/strong> <em>\u201cSuppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won\u2019t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? If you lay the foundation and can\u2019t finish it, people will ridicule you and say, \u2018This one began to build and wasn\u2019t able to finish.<br \/><\/em><\/p><p><em>\u201cOr a king is about to go to war against another king. Won\u2019t he first sit down and see if he has enough resources to fight the forces coming against him?\u201d \u201cIn the same way,\u201d <\/em>Jesus says,<em> \u201cIf you do not give up everything you have, you cannot be my disciple.\u201d <\/em><\/p><p>What Jesus to saying to you and to me \u2013 <strong>You\u2019ve got to have a <u>PLAN<\/u>. People who fail to plan, <u>PLAN TO FAIL<\/u>.<\/strong> <u><em>A God Alert<\/em><br \/><\/u><\/p><p><em>How much time do you spend planning your life? <u>Many people spend more time planning for their vacation than they do planning for their life<\/u>. We\u2019re so busy. We don\u2019t think about the things that really matter. <\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p><p><em><strong>Question: What will be your legacy when you are gone? Just the family and the friends you leave behind you? How will people remember you?<br \/><\/strong><\/em><br \/><em>Wow!! Did she have a temper!<br \/><\/em><br \/><em>All he ever did was work, work, work!<\/em><\/p><p><em>He always had his eyes glued to the TV screen watching the Cubs and the Bears and cable News!<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p><p><em>She always had a chip on her shoulder. You could never please h<\/em><\/p><p><em>He always went out of his way to help you. You never even had to ask him!<\/em><\/p><p><em>She never thought about herself. Whatever you needed\u2026.She was right there for you!<br \/><\/em><\/p><p><em>He went through a lot of heartache and pain in his life, but he never complained!<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p><p><em>She had the patience of a saint!<\/em><\/p><p><strong>The Love that <u>Counts<\/u> is the Love that <u>Costs<\/u>.<br \/>The Love that <u>Costs<\/u> is the Love that <u>Counts<\/u><\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI nearly died laughing!\u201d We use expressions like that, but are they really true? No matter how hard I laughed, I\u2019d didn\u2019t come close to dying. \u201cThis book saved my life!\u201d We use an expression like that, but is it really true? Can a book as a book, really save your life? These are hyperbolic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"qubely_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured.png",150,150,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured.png",150,150,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured.png",150,150,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured.png",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured.png",150,150,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured.png",150,150,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured.png",150,150,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured.png",150,150,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured.png",150,150,false],"ocean-thumb-m":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured.png",150,150,false],"ocean-thumb-ml":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured.png",150,150,false],"ocean-thumb-l":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured.png",150,150,false],"qubely_landscape":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured.png",150,150,false],"qubely_portrait":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured.png",150,150,false],"qubely_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured.png",100,100,false],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1567801487_featured-45x45.png",45,45,true]},"qubely_author":{"display_name":"Medard Laz","author_link":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/author\/medlaz\/"},"qubely_comment":0,"qubely_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/category\/weekly-messages\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Weekly Messages<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"\u201cI nearly died laughing!\u201d We use expressions like that, but are they really true? No matter how hard I laughed, I\u2019d didn\u2019t come close to dying. \u201cThis book saved my life!\u201d We use an expression like that, but is it really true? Can a book as a book, really save your life? These are hyperbolic&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3575"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}