Funny Name, Funny Guy, Deep Message???

Funny guy with a Deep message?? Is that even possible?  Can anybody really be funny and at the same time really have something valuable to say??  Apparently a lot of people don’t think so.  I’ve heard a ton of Youth Ministers say that they’re not big fans of “funny speakers” because most funny speakers are just that, funny and not much more.  Funny speakers seem to have a bad rep for not having much of any significance to say.  They blow in, blow up the room with crazy stories & laughter, say a few fluffy bits of truth, and jump right back to more joking around. Honestly, I have to admit I agree.

So why on earth would I choose market myself as a funny guy??  Because that’s simply who I am and for some crazy reason who God wanted me to be.  For some reason God has shaped me through the experiences of my life, some of them painful and some of them simply the result of me being an AD/HD spastic idiot, to be a fun, funny guy.  He has also shaped me through the experiences of my life and the things He has taught me about life and Himself to hopefully have something of value to say.

For me comedy is just a tool that God has blessed me with to illustrate deep biblical truths to teenagers. I try as hard as I can to strike a balance between being really funny and offering deep biblical truths that students can grab a hold of and apply to their lives.  I may not be the funniest guy around but I work hard to be as funny as I can possibly be.  And in the same vein, I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but I work hard to engage my mind in my faith by digging into the Word of God and seeking to be as knowledgeable about the Truth as I can possibly be so I can communicate that Truth to hurting teens.  I never want to be funny just to be funny.  I want to be funny with a purpose.  I never want to go on stage just to entertain. I go on stage to enlighten and encourage people with the reality of who Jesus is, how much He loves them, and the difference He can make in their lives.  So, as crazy as it may sound, when I speak to students I simply try to be who I am and who God made me to be – a funny guy with a deep message.

Here is a video I had made to hopefully illustrate who I am, what I’m about, and how I communicate truth. (see more videos here)

God Bless ya – Runks

Journal Entry – March 8, 2001

It has been way too long since my last entry. Things have been going well. God continues to bless, as always, in incredible ways! Once again, I am in the middle of writing new messages. Which is always a struggle for a mentally challenged nut like me. I am really excited about where God is leading me. Last year was all about having a reason to believe what you believe and this year God is leading to me to go deeper with what we as Christians really believe. I am working on a series on Grace, identity in Christ, or freedom in Christ. I really don’t know at this point where it will wind up but I am pumped about where God will take me. Keep checking for more info!!

God bless ya, 
Runks

Journal Entry – May 4, 2000

Well, I have finally finished writing my sermons on knowing why you believe what you believe. It has taken me almost 4 months to get it done and believe me, I am extremely pumped to be finished. Now I will be able to get back to being my usual loser self. I haven’t seen a movie or played dream cast in forever! And starting tomorrow I am going to the Superbowl on NFL 2K!!!!! The sermon that I talked about in my last journal entry has turned into 2 seperate sermons. I am really pumped about preaching them this summer. The first one challenges Christians to have a reason for believing what they believe. The second is an apologetic based message that defends the Truth of Christianity using non-biblical evidences to prove that Christianity is the one and only universal, absolute truth that rules all of existence. 
My faith has been stretched to incredible lengths during my study of these amazing truths. As I was doing my research, I found myself buying, whole heartedly into the truths that support the fact that Christianity is the Truth. So I tried, as best as I could to look at these evidences without allowing my bias as a Christian to allow me to be easily swayed into believing them just because I am already a Christian. It was difficult to do but as I worked my way through this stuff, I found over and over that Christianity is not only a credible belief system but I found that it is a provable truth. I know alot of people say that you can’t prove that Christianity is the Truth but I am convinced that that is not true. Because if you really seek out the Truth you will find that the overwhelming testimony of history proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Christianity is the Truth. It is absolutely amazing how much historical evidence there is that supports the fact that Jesus was and is the one and only Son of God and that He really did resurrect from the dead! The hardest thing about writing the non-biblical evidences based sermon was deciding what to leave out because there is so much evidence supporting the Truth of Christianity.

Check out this list of books that I used in my research: Reccomended Reading list The book “The Case For Christ” by Lee Strobel, is the best one on the list as far as detailed information that is easy to read. If you are a Christian, these books will enhance your faith in Jesus beyond what you could ever imagine. So engage your mind in your faith and start reading so you can be an intelligent Christian rather an ignorant Christian. And if you are not a Christian, I dare you to read these books. They will challenge everything you have ever believed about Christianity.

God bless ya, 
Runks

Journal Entry – April 3, 2000

It has been a long time since my last entry. A lot has happened since then. I have finally finished the first sermon of a series on knowing what you believe and why. It is titled, “Don’t be an Ignorant Christian” It is based out of Hebrews 5:11-6:1 and it deals with going deeper in your knowledge of the deeper truths of Christianity. It basically deals with knowing what you believe and moving beyond a faith based in emotion and moving on to a faith based in knowledge. Right now I am working on a follow up sermon that will deal with knowing why you believe what you believe. It has been awesome studying this stuff. It is stuff that I have known about but I have never really studied it as deeply as I have been lately. I have been reading a ton books on “apologetics” – books about defending our faith to an unbelieving world using non-biblical sources. It is pretty amazing stuff. In this next sermon, I am hoping to present reasons to believe that Christianity is the truth by looking at the historical and philosophical arguments we can use to prove that the Bible is accurate, Jesus was who He said He was, and how we can know that He really did raise from the dead. I have finished most of my research and now, I am trying to figure out how to communicate these truths in a way that Christians as well as non-Christians can understand them. I hope to finish writing it this week. I am so ready to preach this sermon. I am so ready to not only challenge Christians to know why they believe what they believe, but to also challenge non-Christians to look at the evidence that supports the fact that Jesus is the only way to heaven and the only way to true hope in this life. I will let you know how things are going!.

God bless ya, 
Runks

Journal Entry – March 28, 1999

Let’s see. It has been way too long since my last entry. Tons of things have happened in the last two months. We are remodeling our house and Joanna and I are doing most of the work!! I’m not doing this again until I can afford to pay someone else to do it for me!! 

In the midst of all of this I have been attempting to write some new sermons in preparation for the upcoming summer. The last one I wrote was basically a testimony of what God has taught me throughout my Father’s cancer and death. It was very difficult to write but I deeply wanted to share what I have learned about the goodness of God in the midst of our hard times (see past entries). I have been able to share this message at several of my recent events and it has been awesome to see God take what I have been through and use it to minister to others who are going through difficult times. I have never experienced God so intimately as I have during the last few months. He continues to remind that no matter what we are facing down here, He is still in control and cares deeply about what we are going through.

God Bless Ya!!
Runks