God Likes to Have Fun

Piano duets that they played, and that sounded so beautifully. Way to go! Beautiful. Thank you. Thank you for the special music. Thank you for honoring me with the privilege of coming up here to this wonderful weekend. It's always an honor to be able to come with families who are present. I have a master's degree in marriage and family therapy. I am a licensed marriage and family therapist. So families are very much at the heart of my life, and we certainly do appreciate the opportunity to come here. Thank you to all those who had a part in inviting me, and it's a privilege and an honor. We had a wonderful Bible study last night. I talked a little bit about some of the reminiscences that I had, and I'll share some of those with you today. I'm on the floor so that all of you can see. This is the most important part up here that you see, not me. I'm kind of like a minor prophet, or I might be a minor preacher today. The minor prophets, their message was important. They weren't, and that's the way it is here today. Thank you very much for hosting us, having us here.

I want to share with you a little bit about the band, or the orchestra that accompanies it. Very nice, very beautiful. I know the Midwest area, especially Wisconsin Dells, has always been a highlight at the feast to have so much wonderful music. My wife, her former name was Barbara Oakes, and her dad was one who really started that ball rolling in Wisconsin Dells.

As we drove past Milwaukee on our way up, she had a tear in her eye because she said, all my family, her mom and her aunt, the last two times we were there, we were there for funerals. It doesn't carry the same tender moments for us anymore because her family's not there, and both my mom and dad died too in the last four years. So we've undergone some changes there. I want to bring you greetings from the home office in Cincinnati, Ohio. I know a number of them would send their greetings. Mr. Kubik said his greetings up to you. He's the central regional pastor, and he sends his greetings up to you along with Mr. Luker and a number of others. Just said, Connie Sipes said, please be sure to say hello to all of you as well. So it's really nice that they send their regards to you, and it's great to be here with you. I want to also mention about ABC. By the way, any of these young people, you have a lot of them. I also want to make a comment about the young people. I look around when I'm singing, and I see a lot of the young people singing. Some young people at church, they'll just kind of mouth their words a little bit, but I was really impressed. At least the ones in my section over there that I could see close up, they were really singing the hymns in honor and praise of God. So I just wanted to comment on how pleased I was to see that, and keep it up, young people. Keep it up, because God is your God just as much as he is the God of us old folks.

Okay, he's your God too, and he loves you just like he loves us. Maybe a little bit more, because he has a lot longer to love on you now. He's loved us for a long time, but he has a lot longer to love on you as the years go by. So I want to also mention about ABC, that we're looking forward to another wonderful year. We have a good year this year, small class. It's not the smallest, but it's a smaller class, 22, 21 there. We had about 24, but a couple of them did not continue during the break. One person cannot continue, because she was from Canada, and she came down to the States, and then tried to go back to wanted to get something for their immigration paper, or her passport fixed, so she could eventually come to the States, because she's getting married to an American. And when she went across, Canadians were real nice to her. When she came to the border, they wouldn't let her back in. So she was stuck in Canada at the border. And the other part was, she was driving an American car, and so they wouldn't let the car go either. So the car was impounded, and so the fella who from ABC, who gave her his car to use, he had to have his mom go over and pick it up and bring it across, and she was stuck up there at the border for a long time.

And they wouldn't just wouldn't let her in. And because they thought she was, said she was just coming down to study as a falsifying thing, they wouldn't check with anybody whether she was legit.

And because they thought she was falsifying, they won't let her come in for two years.

She might be able to come in for about a week at a time, and now she's got this this wedding that she was planning in the States. Her honeymoon was planned from the States, and so we don't know what's going to happen there. So she's still trying to work that out. She's not at the border anymore. She's back in Toronto, but with her family. But it was really, really sad. And we have a Norwegian there this year, whose dad was American. And he's studying there, and we have a young lady there from Australia. So we do have a pretty good group of internationals who are there at Ambassador Bible Center. If you're ever interested in coming, please send your application in. We've had a few from the Midwest come, and we've had glad to have them there as well. So if you're interested, and right now you get breakfast and lunch every day. Don't have to worry about packing your lunch. Don't have to worry about fighting for the microwave. Don't have to worry about food spoiling or looking in the refrigerator. You get your breakfast and lunch served to you every day. So it's really a nice opportunity to come and be able to really drink in of God's Word, and hear the truth spoken. And it is a nice opportunity to get to know others. And you've never had an experience until you come to Ambassador.

And what do I mean by that? Every institution you've ever been in, unless it's a home school, you have not had the institution for you. And now at ABC, you have an institution that's for you, so that all of our activities you can take part in. You don't have to worry about being excused, or can I get this off on this, or I can't take a test this day, or whatever. You have the everything is made for you. And we stress leadership opportunities, and we have some pretty exciting speakers who've joined our ranks as instructors, including Mr. Frank McCready, who's teaching Gospels now. We have Mr. Steve Myers, who's teaching Epistles of Paul. He's a little bit exciting, not too exciting. He's doing a great job. And then Randy Steiver, who loves young people, has done things for young adults for years. Now he gets a chance to teach at ABC. And Mr. Tony Wasilkopf comes down from Canada and does the law. So we have a number of really good, and then Aaron Dean is joined also by doing Personal Family Finance, which is one of the most popular classes at Ambassador College. So we've got a number of individuals who've joined the ranks, and based on what I've seen the students, because some of them said, well, I don't know, we're not going to have as quality of instruction with these other men who've left. And I talked to them after about a month or two. They were over our house for dinner, about six of them students. And afterwards, and some of the ones who were the chief ones worrying about quality, I said, oh, by the way, I just want to ask you if you could please tell me how you think instruction is. And they said, wonderful. They said, wonderful. They have no worries, no worries.

And so I've been really happy, and plus I see a lot of the students counseling with them for baptism, which means they have trust in them, which means they have confidence in them, and going to them for counseling for various issues. So I'm very pleased that the year has gone so well. We hope it'll be even as good or better next year. So if you're interested in ABC, please send us your application. And the two girls who played the piano, I'll give them an immediate scholarship. They can come right away, even though they're young, we'll just have them come as young. We'll give them an immediate one. But that was beautiful. Anyway, thank you so much.

All right, let's take a look at this subject. What does God think of fun? What does God think of fun?

Does the Almighty have fun? Hmm. You read about a harsh God, a tough God, and one who's too busy.

Does he ever have any fun? Surely God can't be thought of as one who has fun.

Does he want us to have fun? Sometimes my daughters would ask me to do something, or I'd say, Oh, I don't know if I could do it. They'd say, You're no fun. You're no fun.

And sometimes people say, if they're having fun, this is so good it must be sin. Some people, if you have a fun time, it must be a sinful time. So again, does he want us to have fun?

Is he serious all the time? After all, he's busy looking after millions of angels, millions of angels, and watching the affairs of the world and the universe, keeping all the laws working. Now, I'm sure they're on automatic, but making sure they all are sustained, looking after all of his creatures and noticing every bird that falls from the sky and keeping track of how many hairs fell off of your head this morning.

Maybe he's too busy to have any fun. He's serious.

What does God think of fun? Let's take a look and see.

Let's answer this question because, after all, you're here to have fun tonight.

And you know, proms are wonderful. I'll share with you my first prom, and I remember it 53 years ago.

My first prom. I'll share that little bit with you. Let's talk about God's creation. Romans 1 and verse 20.

Romans chapter 1 and verse 20, we see this beautiful scripture that says, if you want to know about God, you should take a look at what he's made.

Romans 1 and verse 27.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. The invisible things of him. What's one invisible thing of him? Does he have fun? Do you know that? Does he have fun? Let's look and see what he created. Maybe we can get a glimpse from what he created as to whether or not God is for fun. Genesis 1.31. We read this scripture in the beginning when he created the heavens and the earth, and he reformed them and reshaped them to make it palatable and adjustable for humankind.

Because you know, that's what six days were six days of recreation, not six days of creation.

Recreation, making the earth, not starting everything anew.

Verse 31, and God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good in the evening and the morning were the first days. So as God looked out over his vast creation, he said, it's very good. Do you think he said that with a frown or very good? I don't know if you say things are very good with a frown. I'm sure he enjoyed looking out. Job 38 in verse 7 tells us how the angels responded. Job 38 in verse 7, we read about the angels and what their response was at seeing what God had created. Job 38, 7, when the morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy. The angels are called the sons of God because they were created sons of God.

They shouted for joy. Was it a joyful time? Yes, it was. God must have smiled at some of the animals and creatures that he made. You have to wonder sometime at the creation of God at some of the things that he made. Let's take a look. Then, you know, he could have made bears all one color. Instead, he made polar bears to fit in the extreme north in the ice and the sea. The extreme north in the icy snowy areas. There you see a polar bear and its little cub on its back.

Look at these beautiful little fawn. Beautiful. When God made those, do you think he was frowning?

Do you think he was looking at them in a mean, serious way?

And there are a couple of cute chicks. Now, don't call any of the girls that tonight.

There are a couple of cute chicks.

And what about the raccoon that has a perpetual mask on? Why did he do that?

He could have made a raccoon without a mask, couldn't he? He still would have been a raccoon, but he made it with a mask. And look at the little baby donkey.

When God made these animals, do you think he was frowning? I think not.

Look at this one. This is a little seal pup. And the only way, a white seal pup.

The only way really, you could tell it different from the from the snows because his little eyes are popping out and its nose. Little black eyes, little black nose.

A seal pup that God made. And when we were in New Zealand several years ago, we went to the gannet colony. These gannets, G-A-N-N-E-T-S, are birds that come and flock in that area. Thousands of them! And you go to the ocean side and you watch. And all of a sudden, for some reason, they all go out and they all fly away and then they all come back and they land. They all know their own little spot. Thousands of them in New Zealand.

You think when God made those, He was not excited and happy?

What about the beautiful, intelligent dolphins?

Aquatic creatures as they swim through the waters and man has used them and man has learned how to communicate somewhat to them. And then this one I want to share with you. Do you know what this is?

What you're looking at is Kikamalu, a 19-year-old walfen.

The larger one is not a dolphin. It's a walfen. It is a combination of whale and dolphin.

Because a wounded female whale was brought in to nurse it back to health.

And they said, well, let's just put it in the tank with the dolphins because that's a whale and they're dolphins and nothing will happen. Well, I guess one male dolphin was attracted to that particular female whale and conceived and they had Kikamalu.

And that's the one you see on the right. She was a female walfen.

And what you're seeing here, she's swimming with her new calf at Sea Life Park in Honolulu.

She's a hybrid of a false killer whale and a bottlenose dolphin. Her female calf is a mix of her mother and a bottlenose whale, a bottlenose male. So another dolphin. So now the little dolphin is like only one quarter whale. But the other one is half whale, half dolphin.

You'll see a picture of her closer up because I have a picture of it kissing. This is Kikamalu several years ago kissing my granddaughter. We went to swim with the dolphins they went to.

And instead of swimming with the dolphins, they got to swim with the walfens.

And this acts like a dolphin except it's much bigger, darker gray and not as pronounced a nose or bottlenose. So it looked really interesting, this bottlenose creature, not modified. And it's bigger and heavier, but it still thinks it's a dolphin. It goes through the water like a dolphin. So it was really amazing to see them training. It was still in training at that time. Again, what God has made, he must smile at and laugh at.

Look at these little tiger kittens, little tiny kittens. Wouldn't you like to have them? But look at the paws on them. They tell you how big they're going to get, how big the paws are on them. And they're just by their mom's tail. So look how tiny those little kittens are. And then this is this is a little dog. This is Roxy, our grand dog. She was about six months old or eight months old. They just got her and my daughter took a picture of her. She's a full-bred Shih Tzu. And she's our grand dog. She loves coming over to our house. We bring her over for sleepovers. We get our get our dog satisfaction. And then we send her back home. But she comes over for a sleepover every so often. She knows right where to go. And she knows exactly how to play us. And she gets me on the floor every time. Because when she was a little pup, I would sit on the floor and play with her. So now she'll come and sit up right in front of me without me ever asking her. Just sit up and beg me to come sit on the floor with her. She'll just sit in front of me and sit on the floor, waiting for me to come down. As soon as I say, do you want me to? And she starts barking. And I come. As soon as I say the word play, she's jumping all over the place. So now she has granddads heart. And of course, look at the beautiful duck in the water and the duckling. And then you have a mouse. Probably the most famous is Mickey. But nonetheless, there's a little mouse. So God created all these animals. But look at this one. He must have really had fun when he created the duck-billed platypus of Australia. Listen to this. It lays eggs like a bird or a reptile. The males have poison like a snake on the spurs behind on the spurs on their hind legs. Poison can kill a dog or cause extreme pain in people. They have a bill like a duck.

They have a tail like a beaver. And they have webbed feet like a duck. The mother's belt comes out through glands on her skin and babies just lick it off of her fur. The platypus is only found in Australia in its island state of Tasmania. Now, did God have fun creating something like this, which really is a patchwork of different animals? Do you think when he looked at something like this, he could have made... Do you think he didn't know what he was doing? Oh, I ran out of design. I guess I better take all these other ones off. No, God knew what he was doing. And I'm sure God laughs. And there's the honey bee. Do you know that the honey bee, when it's hovering there, it's beating... its little wings are beating 200 times a second.

200 times a second while it's hovering there. Then, of course, probably the most perfect helicopter in the world is the hummingbird. You know, the hummingbird doesn't walk. It can perch, but it doesn't walk. And it flies forwards and backwards and up and down, but it doesn't walk.

And this little hummingbird can move its wings at 12 to 90 times per second.

Except when it's diving, when it's excited about its female, it will then move its wings 200 times a second when it gets excited. But normally, between 12 and 90 times per second, it can hover while it's trying to drink in some of the juice from the nectar from the various flowers and plants. Perfect helicopter. Now, this one's really interesting. This little archer fish... read you a comment about it. Archer fishes are famed for their ability to shoot down insects and small creatures resting on foliage or on mangrove roots. In fact, toxotus means bowman or archer. Their flattened body presents a narrow profile from above, so they can sneak up on their prey. The bold black and white markings camouflage them in the sun-dappled water under mangrove vegetation. How do they shoot? Archer fishes are like submarine water pistols and can spit out a strong and accurate jet of water. With their tongue against the roof of their mouth, they form a tube and force the water powerfully out by snapping shut their gills. To get a good jet of water, the snout sticks out of the water and the rest of the fish remains underwater. They direct a jet of water with the tip of their tongue. For accurate aim, they have large eyes located very near their mouth, so the eyes are down closer to the mouth, so they have a good sight in, and they have large eyes very near, which give them good binocular vision.

A fish can squirt up to seven times in quick succession, and the jet can reach two to three meters, but they are accurate only to about three feet. So about from three feet, they can shoot down anything, but their jets can reach only 10 to 20 centimeters. About a fish as long as 2.3 centimeters long can already spit. When they're just little, they can still spit. So do you think when God... Now, God didn't have to do this for them. They could get food and vegetation and various things from the sea without having to do this. Couldn't they? Couldn't they just do it like other fish? Why did God do this? Because God likes to have fun. God has delight and laughs.

Your God and my God is a fun God. He loves having fun. You don't say about Him, oh, you're no fun. God's fun. Proverbs 15 and verse 8, I know we read a lot of the scriptures where God's going to pour out the seven last plagues, and God's going to plague people, and God's wiped out this nation, and God caused this problem upon these people as part of retribution. But Proverbs 15 verse 8, notice, the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. But the prayer of the upright is His delight. As you prayed this morning, God smiled. You gave God delight. The prayer of the upright is His delight. Psalms 37 and verse 23. Psalms 37 and verse 23. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in His way. Just like parents love it when their children do good.

Just like parents love it when they see their children thriving and growing and accomplishing and becoming young men and young ladies who are a credit to society, to a credit to their family, who are a credit to themselves, and most of all, credit to God. God says He delights in that.

Job 41 and verse 29. Job 41, back one book, and verse 29. We read this, Darts are counted as stubble. He laughs at the shaking of a spear. What? You think a spear's going to bother me? He laughs at it. He scoffs at it. He laughs. God laughs. God delights. God has fun. Micah 7 and verse 18. One of my favorite scriptures in the minor prophets and in the Bible. Micah 7, 18. Who is a God like you that pardons iniquity, passes by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retains not His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. Does God begrudgingly forgive us? Does God begrudgingly relieve us of our sins? Forgive us of our sins? No. God delights in giving mercy. He's happy to give us mercy.

Does He grudgingly do it? Absolutely not. Is He serious? No, He's not. He's happy. He's happy. He delights. Look at this example. God made a donkey speak. Do you remember the situation? Yeah, it's found in Numbers 22. And it's about a prophet who was trying to curse Israel, trying to bring about curses upon them, and God was blunting him at every step of the way. But in chapter 22, verses 21 to 34, chapter 22, verse 21, And Balaam rose up in the morning, saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. And God's anger was kindled because he went. And the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him.

And now he was riding upon his ass with his two servants with him. And his ass saw the angel of the Lord. It didn't want to run into this man. The big sword drawn. Saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn. And the ass turned aside out of the way, went into the field, and Balaam smote the ass to turn her into the way. What are you doing here? You're taking me for a ride. I'm taking you for a ride. But the angel of the Lord stood in the path of the vineyards. A wall being on this side, and a wall being on that side. He probably had grape vines or vines growing here, vines growing there. And the angel of the Lord stood there again. And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself against the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall, and he smote her again. And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place, where there's no way to turn, either to the right hand or to the left. And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam. And Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with his staff. And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass. Opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam, What have I done to you, that you've smitten me these three times? Haven't I been a good donkey to you? Haven't I been a good donkey? Why did you smite me three times? And then, yeah, there's a really sad part of it is Balaam talks back. And Balaam said to the ass, Because you mocked me. I would there wear a sword in my hand, I would have killed you. And the ass said to Balaam, Am I not your ass, upon which you have ridden ever since? Since I was yours to this day? Haven't I taken you places you wanted to go? Haven't I been a good form of transportation, and you did this to me? Was I ever want to do this? Did I ever do this before? And he said, No, he's still talking to the donkey. Do you think God was sitting up in heaven not laughing at this? For one thing, for a donkey to talk, that's one thing. But to talk back to it, he's talking back to it. And the angel of the Lord said to him, verse 31, The Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand, and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. So you might say, after he saw this, he fell flat on his face. But there he is talking to the donkey. Do you think God has fun? God could have done this. He could have taught lessons to him any number of ways. But he chose to do it a fun way.

Jesus Christ, does he have any fun? We read about Jesus Christ as a man of sorrows. You hear that emphasized a lot. Jesus Christ was a man of sorrows. Jesus Christ was a man of sorrows. Hebrews 1 and verse 9. Hebrews 1 and verse 9. Was Jesus Christ only a man of sorrows? Interesting this prophecy. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore, God, even your God, has anointed you, that's the Son of God, with the oil of gladness above your fellows. You have more joy in your life than all the others, angels or whoever else.

Jesus Christ had the oil of gladness above all of his fellows. Hebrews 12 and verse 2 tells you that Jesus Christ had joy. You think Jesus Christ did not have joy with all the miracles he performed? Do you think Jesus Christ did not have joy with all the people he healed to heal someone's only begotten, only Son, to raise Him from the dead, to heal Him of sickness and disease? Do you think Jesus Christ did not have joy at doing that? Do you think he frowned when he healed? When he gave people relief? Absolutely not. He did have joy. Hebrews 12 and verse 2, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy... Why did Jesus Christ go through all He went through? I'm reading a book called The Last Hours of Jesus that goes through the whole book that talks about all that He went through back in those days, the last hours of His life. What kept Him going? The joy that He had in knowing how many people today would be able to come to God through Him. The joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. The Bible says the angels and God rejoice over one sinner that repents. The angels are joyful in God. Do you think God's not joyful over one person that comes to Him at baptism? That's why baptism is such an awesome event. It's a very serious event, but it's such a joyful event because a person has turned to God. Christ had gladness. Christ's miracles. Matthew 14 verses 22 to 31.

Do you think allowing somebody to walk on water was not something pretty fun for Jesus Christ? Now let's explain something. Could Christ have come to them in this boat? They were out in the boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. Could Christ have come to them in another boat? Maybe He could have hired somebody. Hey, do you have a boat here? Could you row me out to those guys? Do you have a motor boat? They probably didn't have motor boats back then. Do you have fast oarsmen that can take me out there? Matthew 14 verse 22. In straight way, Jesus constrained His disciples to get into the ship and go before Him to the other side while He sent the multitudes away. I'll say goodbye to all these brethren. You get in the ship and you go. So they did. Verse 23, and when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up to the mountain, the park to pray. And when the evening was come, He was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with the waves, for the wind was contrary. It's getting a little windy there. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them, Why take a boat? Why swim? Why not just walk on water? So He comes walking on water. Pretty spectacular. Have you seen the movie ever after? You see Michelangelo trying to make this little contraption that he could walk on water. They look like two little arcs on his feet. And he's trying to walk through the water on those. Jesus didn't have that. He just walked. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It's a spirit! And they cried out for fear. Oh no, there's a spirit out here. And verse 27, And straightway Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer, it's I. Don't be afraid. They recognized His voice. Don't be afraid, it's me. Now, He could have come out any number of ways. Why did He walk on water? Because He wanted to have fun. And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it be You, bid Me to come to You on the water. Did He have a little fun? He had a little fun with Peter.

I cover the face because I don't want you to get a wrong picture of what people put out, but this is an illustration. And so Peter said, Let Me come. And he said, Come. And when Peter was jumped on out of the ship, what would it be like to jump out of a boat, jump out of the boat and land on solid water? It's not ice. Solid water. Whoa, this is pretty good. And you start going toward Jesus. And of course, He came down, walked on the water to go to Jesus. When He saw the wind, the wind starts blowing. His waves are coming up. He's probably walking a little like walking up a hill or walking over over little moguls if you're walking on a ski slope that has no snow. And you're walking over these moguls and all of a sudden, what am I doing here? What am I doing here? As soon as He started to doubt, when He saw the wind, He was afraid. And beginning to sink, He cried saying, Lord, save me. Now, could Jesus have kept Him up at all times? Could He have made up for His unbelief? Yeah, but He let Him sink just to teach Him a lesson, get Him wet a little bit, throw Him into the drink, let Him get wet, and teach Him some lessons. But do you think Jesus didn't have fun at this time? Why would He walk on the water? Why not take a boat? Why not take off His robe and swim? But He walked on water. God is for fun. And He reached out His hand, verse 31, He caught Him and He said, Oh, you a little faith, why did you doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. And of course, His disciples were amazed that even the wind obeys Jesus Christ.

Matthew 14, verse 15. Matthew 14, verse 15. This is just before that other event. And when it was evening, His disciples came to Him saying, This is a desert place. The time has not passed. We're getting tired. We've been with these people all this time. And send them all the twos away. They may go to their villages and buy themselves something to eat. And Jesus said to them, They don't need to go. You give them something to eat. Come on. I would only have 12 of us. And there are 5,000 here. There are only 12! He said, Well, why don't you feed them? And they said to Him, Wait, we only have here but five loaves and two fish. Now, five loaves, let's say 10 slices per loaf. Of course, if it's round Syrian bread, probably only about four. By the time you tear it apart, probably about four pieces. So, four times, what, 520? And two fish, how many meals can you get out of a fish, depending on a big, maybe three or four, depending on how big it was. So, how many people could He possibly feed? Maybe 15? 12 to 15? I mean, 32? 20 to 32? Somewhere in there? How many? And so, He said, Bring them here. Bring them to Me. And you'll see in this picture, I'm standing there with the bread, and He keeps tearing off the bread, tearing off the bread, passing it out, tearing off the bread, tearing off the bread, and it keeps multiplying. Why did He have to do this? Why didn't He just send them away to the villages? He wanted to have some fun, and He wanted to teach the disciples some pretty good lessons that I can do anything. Remember the Scripture? Is anything too hard for the Eternal? Remember the Scripture? There's nothing impossible to God. Nothing impossible to God. He said, Bring them here. He commanded the multitude to sit on on the grass, and He took the five loaves and the two fish, looking up to heaven. He blessed, He broke, and He gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

And they did all eat and were filled. They didn't just have a little... okay, give me a little tiny piece. They ate to the full. They ate and were filled. And He said, after He gave it to them, and they took fragments that remained, twelve baskets full. Do you think He didn't smile when the disciples were going around, gathering up all the remnant?

Jesus Christ did miracles. Miracles that He didn't have to do that showed the fun side of Him. How about the fish with a coin in its mouth? Remember they wanted to need to pay taxes? Let's look at Matthew 17, verse 24, sticking with this Gospel, Matthew 17, verse 24. And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter and said, does not your Master pay tribute? He said, yes. And when He was come to the house, Jesus prevented Him saying, what do you think, Simon, of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute of their own children or of strangers?

Peter said, well, strangers. Jesus said, then, are the children free? Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go to the sea, cast in your hook, and take up a fish. The first it comes up, the first one you catch, just open its mouth, and you shall find a piece of money, and you shall give it for them, for me, and for you. Now, do you think Jesus could not have just told Judas, Judas, dip into our treasury? Because remember, Judas kept the the purse, the money. Judas, go ahead and pay this. No, he decided to have some fun. You imagine what it would be like to go fishing and pull out this fish.

The first one, open its mouth, there's the exact money you need to pay your taxes. We probably need a lot of it now with the way things are going in our world, so I don't know. That would be so easy. Christ's miracles. What about the barbecue? I thought this is pretty interesting. They had plenty of fish and a barbecue coming up. John chapter 21. John 21, the disciples were out fishing after Jesus' resurrection.

They figured we might as well go fishing. It's all over. Let's go relax. The Lord's not here anymore. John 21 and verse 4. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus. He was standing there on the shore. They just could see this figure from afar. They just saw a figure out there on the shore. Verse 5. And then Jesus said to them, children, have you had any success?

Have you caught any fish yet? And they answered Him, no! What's wrong, guys? Don't you know where to look? Have you not been able to catch any fish even yet? And they were surprised. They were very surprised. He could have easily given them fish. What about the other side? He said. So notice in verse 6. Cast your net on the right side of the ship, and you will find.

They cast therefore to the other side of the ship, and now they were not able to draw in all the fish. Look at the boat being pulled down, as this characterization indicates. Therefore, that disciple, verse 7, whom Jesus loved, probably John the Apostle, says to Peter, it is the Lord. There's only one that knows how to find this many fish out here. It's the Lord! And when He now, Simon Peter, heard that it was the Lord, He took his fisher's coat onto Him, for He was naked. He was out there maybe top naked. I don't know if he's totally buck naked. But anyway, He put it on and He cast Himself into the sea.

He jumped into the water, and the other disciples came in their little ship, for they were not far from land, but as it were, 200 cubits, about 100 yards, dragging the net with fish, full of fish! And as soon as they were come to the land, they saw a fire of coals, and fish laid on there and bred.

You know, Jesus beat them to it, and He was having a barbecue. I don't know if you, but I've been to a lot of barbecues. Do you go to the barbecue and are unhappy? Maybe if you don't get the food you want, you would be. Maybe if they were barbecuing pork or something, you wouldn't be too happy. But most barbecues, isn't it a happy time you go out and you walk around, oh boy, there's going to be hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, or whatever they're doing, chicken, or on the grill, or lamb, kebabs, or whatever you're doing.

Oh, it's happy. It's happy time to have a barbecue. Jesus Christ has the coals ready for the fish.

In fact, He has some fish. In verse 10, Jesus said to them, Bring of the fish which you have now caught. And Simon Peter went up and drew the net full of fish, 153. And for all there were so many, yet there was not the net broken. So He did this miracle, all this fish, and yet the net wasn't even broken. So Christ had fun, He had a barbecue. So we see that God the Father, Jesus Christ, have a fun side to them, as seen by the illustrations and by the scriptures that I've given.

God is for us having fun and dancing. You know, there are some religions that believe dancing is hugging set to music. And it can be if people do it the wrong way. But dancing and having fun and kicking up your heels is something tremendous. In fact, last Saturday night the students had a dance, ABC dance, a formal dance at the home office. And they transformed the lecture hall into a beautiful dance hall. And they were all out there dancing and having a wonderful time. My wife and I were chaperoning, and we were sitting there looking and watching. And of course, teens dance these days different than I do. And it's more, I call, jump, jump, jump. But it's fun. And I said, I have no problem with that. They're having fun. Just like I had fun when I danced. But they're having fun dancing. And they even got me to go out and do the little wiggles or whatever you do out there on the floor. And I was out there doing in the midst, and they all gathered around and watched me do a little bit of that. I don't do it very well. But I did do it. And then I go out and dance as soon as they get me a slow dance. My wife and I are out on the floor, quick, because we like to dance more than the foxtrot and the waltz and so on. But is dancing wrong? Dancing is fine. In fact, look at Ecclesiastes 8 and verse 15. Ecclesiastes chapter 8 and verse 15.

We read this. Is God for you having fun? Then I commanded Mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat, drink, and be happy. I want people to be happy, God says, for that shall abide with him of his labor the days of his life which God gives to him under the sun. Chapter 9 verses 7 to 9. Go your way, eat your bread with joy, drink your wine of age, drink your wine with a merry heart, for God now accepts your works. Let your garments be always white, but always do it clean, and let your heart, head, lack no ointment.

Live joyfully with the wife whom you love, all the days of the life of your vanity. You know, this life is just vanity. Why? Because it's here now and gone tomorrow, which he has given you under the sun, all the days of your vanity. This life is temporary, for that is your portion in this life, and is your labor, which you take under the sun.

Look at Ecclesiastes 3. Ecclesiastes 3 verse 4. There's a time to weep and a time to laugh. There's a time to mourn, and there is a time to dance. There is a time to dance.

And verse 12 says, I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice and to do good in his life. God is all for us having fun and dancing. Now, is life only about fun? No. There are serious times to life. We have to consider a lot of things in life.

It troubles me that wars are going on. It troubles me that there are men out there and only ought to do harm. Here you had somebody in Florida burn a Koran, and people in Afghanistan are trashing somebody's store. Excuse me? How does that hurt somebody in Florida? It doesn't hurt them at all. It's stupid. But it's done as an expression of agitation. Terrorists have no good in mind.

All they want to do is cause trouble. All they want to do is spark fear and get people to fear. What kind of a life is it to destroy? I know when you're a little kid, you see somebody who spent lots of time building this tinker toy or whatever, and to get in there and rip it apart seems like it's fun. When you're a little kid, you know somebody builds a little card, stacks them up carefully, and to walk by and knock them over, you kind of laugh.

Our build-up blocks, these little building blocks, and we watch little kids come by and they like to destroy it. But you know what? We're not kids anymore. You really shouldn't like destruction. Terrorists like destruction. God says we should be construction. We should be for fun, for good things, for wonderful things. God wants you to have fun in the midst of a world that isn't having too much fun. David danced before God with all of his might. Remember, the Ark came back and David was dancing.

He was dancing so much that his little linen ephod was flopping up and down. They were seeing his little linen underpants or whatever he was wearing. Hopefully he was wearing underpants. Killed sometimes. They don't wear them, as you know. But anyway, he was jumping up and down and dancing, and his wife's looking out the window and seeing him.

He was so happy to have the Ark come back to Israel that he was dancing with all of his might. A man after God's own heart danced. Is it okay for you to dance? Yeah, it's okay. There you see a depiction of the Ark being brought. And now you see David up there cutting a rug. And I guess it is okay to solo dance. Because in this what it looks like, David is solo dancing.

And the maidens around him, they're pounding their little tambourines, and he's dancing up a storm. He's so happy. And of course, his jealous wife was sitting at home looking out the window. And when he came in, sure, how was it today for the king to jump up and down with all those maidens?

Show his little linen underpants. David said, I was dancing before the Lord. I was dancing as I was excited. You know what God said to her? You know what, Michael? You need to learn to have a little fun. And because you haven't learned that, you're not going to have any children. She was barren for the rest of her life. There will be dancing in the millennium, Jeremiah 31, 13. Jeremiah 31, 13 says, there will be dancing. You're here to dance. You're here at this prom. And a prom is a wonderful time. It's a great time. I'll share some thoughts with you in a moment as I conclude. Jeremiah 31, 13.

Then shall the virgins rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together, for I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them and make them rejoice from their sorrow. The young men, the older men, they're going to look like line dancing or folk dancing. They're all out there dancing together. There will be dancing in the millennium. There you see folk, whole group dancing, getting ready, doing some type of a of a group dance. And there you see them dancing together. And there you see them dancing together. I've seen a few of those lines going around.

There you see them posing for pictures. I'll share with you what my first prom was like.

I was 17 years old. I had never gone to a prom before. I'd only learned to dance about three years before that in high school, in junior high school. Actually offered dance lessons for us in my seventh and eighth grade. So I took advantage of it. I went down there and scared. I finally found this one girl who's one year older than I was. I wouldn't dance with anybody my age because at that time you don't want to like girls. So she was kind of like a girl, more like my mom. She was one year older than I was. So I felt like I could dance with her and there was no threat. So she had every lunchtime we would get we've come over there and they taught us how to do the waltz, how to do the foxtrot, I think a little bit of the cha-cha, but I don't know I learned too much about that at that time. Foxtrot and waltz. Well, after I learned how to dance, then I would go to some of the dances and I'd get ready to go ask your girl to dance.

I think I'll go ask her for dance. Ah, she probably wouldn't want to dance with me. Eh, I'd wait for a while. Well, the song's halfway over. No use asking her now. I'd sit down and I dodged the bullet that time. Fine, and girls realize a guy comes to ask you for a dance. It's your choice to say yes or no. You don't have to automatically dance with him, but realize how crushed he feels if he works up the courage to ask you to dance. Now, I know in many of the teen dances you kind of hang out in the middle and you all just kind of do your thing and somebody comes and joins and he moves from here to there, but on some of the dances you do partner up on the slow dances. When they ask you to dance, if you do turn them down, turn them down nicely. Okay? It does hurt their egos tremendously. Well, now my junior year I go to go to this new school that I went to. I only had my first date that summer. I was a junior in high school. I had my first date and then this girl two houses down from me that I liked a lot. She was very pretty. She was of my nationality and I thought, boy, this is going to probably be the one for me. So, anyway, I worked up the courage after several times of trying to call her and ask her if she'd go with me. I finally asked her and she agreed. So, I was a junior. She was a freshman. So, my parents came over and took pictures and, of course, I wanted to get a new suit for this event. What color suit did I get? Black? No. Tux? No. I'm going to get one that serves all purposes. It had so many colors in it you could match any tie.

And so, I felt really decked out in this new suit. Now, I look at it. Whoa! I wish I still had it to show you. Anyway, it had so many different colors. But, look, face it. It was gray, black, red, blue, green, yellow. You could match any tie with that suit and it would be perfect. Anyway, I went over and she had her formal gown on. And my dad and mom, they were so excited to see their son dating somebody that they came and took pictures of their Polaroid cameras. And we went to the dance. I still remember. I still remember the dance. I remember some of the songs we even danced to. 57 years ago, it was well chaperoned. It was well supervised. And I had a great time. So, I hope you'll have a wonderful time. It is a time that you'll create memories that you'll remember. If I remember 57 years ago that much, you can remember. What did I say? 57 or 53? 53 years ago. 57. It'll put me at 13. 53 years ago. I am 70. 7-0. Just hit it this year. 53 years ago, I went to my first prom. And it was fun. It was exciting. It was enjoyable to see so many young ladies and young men decked out in a very special way. I certainly hope and wish you well. Please remember, you will remember. And if you do good, you will remember good. If you do evil, you will remember evil. And you certainly want to be left with good. So, please have fun tonight with God's blessings. And remember Ecclesiastes 11 and verse 9, as I bring this to a conclusion. Ecclesiastes 11 and verse 9. I'm a little bit over time. I'm sorry. Ecclesiastes 11 and verse 9. But as I recall, we started five minutes late.

Ecclesiastes 11 and verse 9. We read this. Rejoice, so young man, in your youth. Let your heart cheer you all the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes. Have a great time in joy! But he says at the end, but know that for all these things, God will bring you into judgment. God is watching you. God wants to have fun with you. God doesn't want to have to bring you into judgment. And Proverbs 20 and verse 11. Proverbs 20 and verse 11. Well, I'm not converted yet. God doesn't care what I do. Oh, yes, he does. Well, I'm just a young boy. I'm just a young lady. God doesn't care. Proverbs 20 and verse 11. It reminds me of my brother, Dave, said to me when he was getting interested in going to Ambassador College, of course, he was almost four years older than I was. And I was only like ninth grade. He was a senior in college already. He said, you never pray. He said, oh, yes, I do. You've never had any answers to prayer. Oh, yes, I have. What? He said, remember when we saw these kids afflicted with polio, and they had to walk with these metal things around their legs? And so touched me that I prayed at night, God, please find a solution to polio. And Jonas Salk does the Salk vaccine. I said, in the Korean War, 1953, I would have been 11 years old, 12 years old. I prayed for God to stop this war. I begged him to stop this war. They had an armistice or a truce. My brother couldn't say anything. He couldn't say. A cure for polio, and he stopped the war. Trump that one, my brother. And I was just a little kid. I didn't know how to pray, and I didn't know much to pray. But remember, God cares about you, and he thinks about you. Proverbs 20 verse 11, Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure and whether it be right. May you have a wonderful time tonight. Really rejoice, kick up your heels, and dance, and may God bless the dinner, dance, seminars, all the activities associated with this special Families of God Weekend here in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Have a great time.