The other day while I was sitting at my office at the church I got on the internet to check my email and a fellow Pastor sent me a funny story that he read and he thought I would enjoy it. After I read the email I nearly fell out of my chair laughing because it was so funny so I wanted to share it with our community in my column today:

John Smith was the only Protestant to move into a large Catholic neighborhood.

On the first Friday of Lent, John was outside grilling a big juicy steak on his grill. Meanwhile, all of his neighbors were eating cold tuna fish for supper. This went on each Friday of Lent.

On the last Friday of Lent, the neighborhood men got together and decided that something had to be done about John, he was tempting them to eat meat each Friday of Lent, and they couldn’t take it anymore. They decided to try and convert John to be a Catholic.

They went over

and talked to him and were so happy that John decided to join all of his neighbors and become a Catholic.

They took him to church, and the Priest sprinkled some water over him and said, “You were born a Baptist, you were raised a Baptist, and now you are a Catholic.” The men were so relieved, now their biggest Lenten temptation was resolved.

The next year’s Lenten season rolled around.

The first Friday of Lent came, and just at supper time, when the neighborhood was sitting down to their tuna fish dinner, came the wafting smell of steak cooking on a grill. The neighborhood men could not believe their noses!

WHAT WAS

GOING ON? They called each other up and decided to meet over in John’s yard to see if he had forgotten it was the first Friday of Lent?

The group arrived just in time to see John standing over his grill with a small pitcher of water.

He was sprinkling some water over his steak on the grill, saying, “You were born a cow, you were raised a cow, and now you are a fish.”

One of the true joys I have as a Pastor in Demopolis is being apart of the Demopolis Ministerial Association. The Pastor’s who are active in that group with me are some of the funniest guys I have ever met in my life. I thank God for the times of fellowship I have with them and the times where we sit around and tell stories like the one I mentioned in this article.

Next time you see Dr. Art Luckie from the First United Methodist Church, Father Aaron Raulerson from Trinity Episcopal Church, Father Micheal from St. Leo’s Catholic Church, Dr. Rex Kent from First Baptist Church, The Honorable Mickey Green from Church Aflame, thank them for their dedication to the Lord, thier service to our community most of all for promoting laughter as one of God’s richest blessings that we have on earth.

God Bless and GOOOOOOO DAWGS,

Rev. Marshall Murphy

Rev. Murphy is the Pastor at the First Christian Church of Demopolis. Rev. Murphy can be reached at the church office at 289-3615 or by email at marshall@georgiadogs.com