Our latest contest cartoon has inspired us to double the dollars for the first prize! Submit as often as you feel inspired. Contest ends June 13. See below cartoon for prize details and how to enter.

First Prize: $50 gift credit to our e-Store!

Second Prize: $25 gift credit to our e-Store!

Third Prize: your choice of an Inherit the Mirth t-shirt!

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Genius at Work

People often approach me and ask how I come up with ideas for Inherit the Mirth cartoons. I’ve been known to respond with questions of my own: “You need to ask me this at three in the morning? Who are you? How did you get into my house? And who said you could just pull up a chair next to my bed?”

That only happened once and it was recent. I answered the intruder’s queries about the creative process and then he left. I forget his name but he worked for the BP oil company and, in order to generate solutions for the disastrous gusher in the Gulf, was desperately seeking tips anywhere he could on effective brainstorming techniques. At one point he buried his face in his hands and mumbled, “Our best idea involves plugging the hole with screenwriters of Jennifer Aniston movies”, which I actually thought had merit. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, we’d love to get your feedback on our new line of Inherit the Mirth e-Cards!

Let us know what you think of:

• the quality
• the selection so far
• favorite e-card/least favorite e-card– and why
• the registration process or any of the other technical steps
• what categories you’d like to see (graduation, baptism, Easter, etc)
• what cartoons you’d like to see turned into e-cards
• or anything else you want to comment on!

It’s easy! Click on “Register” under “Meta” in the right-hand column. Create a username (it can be the same as or different than the one you use for the Online Store) and type your email address. A password will be sent to you, which you can change to something more memorable if you like (again, it can be the same as or different than the one you use for the Online Store).  Once logged in, you will be taken to a Profile page, which you can update as much or as little as you choose. Then you can click on the “Visit Site” button at the top of the Profile page. This will bring you back to the Blog Home Page and then under any posted Category you can click on “Comments” to get in on the conversation. All comments will first be viewed by us for approval (no bad language please!) and then posted. Hope to hear from you!

“A merry heart is a good medicine” says Proverbs 17:22. Thousands of years ago the Bible made the positive connection between health and a sense of humor. Modern medical practice is finally catching up (see our Humor Me: Feb 09 Newsletter). Laughter, it seems, can play an important role in recovery and prevention.

So what do you think? Have you experienced the healing power of laughter? Do you think doctors and hospitals do enough to tap into this resource? Should they? If so, how?

Sometimes God gives us the grace to laugh when we feel like crying. These days, the economy is getting a lot of people down in the dumps. Or maybe there’s something else that’s got us blue– an illness, a break-up, a job rejection– whatever the case may be, God often helps us to “trace the rainbow through the rain”. How about you? Any stories or anecdotes of a time God helped make you laugh in a tough situation?

Any of you who are youth ministers out there, as I once was, know that it’s just not possible to do youth ministry without a sense of humor. Humor can open the way to the truth of the Gospel. Whether you work for a church or not, how has God used humor to help you minister to others? Any funny stories?

People with a sense of humor give other people nicknames. Jesus called Peter ‘the Rock” and called the boisterous brothers James and John the “Sons of Thunder”. And speaking of boisterous, Jesus enjoyed the company of kids (”Let the little children come unto me”– Matt. 19:14). How can you enjoy hanging out with ankle-biters and not have a sense of humor?

So what do you think, folks? Does God have a sense of humor? Do you see other (Biblical or otherwise) evidence of it for the Father and the Son? I can think of plenty, but want to hear from you!

The story of the misguided prophet Balaam and his stubborn donkey (Number 22:1-35) is full of comic moments (PETA might disagree). What are some of your favorite funny moments, scenes, stories or characters from the Bible?