The 26th annual Show Me Clowns for Jesus National Conference runs this weekend in Springfield, Missouri. It’s not just clown training for those who want to buy themselves some and dazzle the kiddies with their balloon twisting prowess, it’s clown training for those who want to scare people straight encourage people to accept Christ in their hearts.
Interested participants will actually learn some clown tools of the trade in the process – face painting, painting balloons, balloon animals, safety instructions, that sort of thing. But the main aim of this event is to build people into tools of another kind.
Workshop sessions begin Friday and feature six to seven classes on varied topics, including “God’s Sense of Humor” and “How to Be a Balloon Entertainer,” taught by professionals from Missouri and across the country. There are five workshop sessions Sunday morning followed by contemporary praise worship, “clown worship” and a commissioning of the new clowns. The conference ends at noon Sunday.
On Saturday they’ll take their show on the road and display their new skills at senior centers, hospitals, a mission and a local Baptist church. The city, if you can believe it, has even declared the day a holiday — “Show Me a Smile Day” — for the second year running.
Their website provides a video of last year’s event under the “Highlights” button. Last year’s theme was hilariously kinky: “Let God Pump You Up!” I don’t know if I recommend watching this video. If the clowns don’t scare you into repenting for everything, the music might.
I will confess I only managed 1:47 of it before I had to shut it down. I was having some flashbacks…
One Minion's Opinion 
As I considered your post I was reminded of a scene in Brave Heart. He was on the table and was about to be disembowled. I remembered the two men who played with a rope as though it were his intestines. In their day, they were the clowns.
This reminds me that the work of the Lord of Life; that of saving souls from the second death. This is a deadly serious work He is doing. What is at stake are three things:
The Glory of the Father through Jesus.
The Screams of the condemned at the prospect of eternity without Him.
And the Holiness of His people as we labor with intensity in this Place of Testing.
May God grant sight to His servants.
By His Grace.
It’s been a long time since I watched Braveheart. I don’t remember that part at all.
But it makes me wonder if playing with intestines is what got the whole balloon animal thing started.. “Make me a poodle!”
*shudder*
The blind men touched the Elephant in their respective positions. And each one described what they perceived. How beautiful is the God of all creation that each one of us can touch Him and relate a differing yet similar description of His Glory.
By His Grace.
I’m an atheist, realize.
I came across this recently and slapped myself in the head for not thinking of it before:
The trouble with the blind men story is that none of them thought to feel what the other was feeling. “This is like a tree” “No, it’s like a snake” — each one sits with their own idea but doesn’t make a move to “see” another perspective and get a better idea of what the elephant might really look like. Had all five of them compared notes instead of looking at each piece separately, they wouldn’t have been stuck arguing over who was right.
I bring you a gift. What you believe or don’t is not all that important right now. But I would dance on the grass of heaven with you for ten years, full of great joy and peace, if you would consider. The God I know is not religion. I testify that He is not only alive and real, but that the work He does in the heart of those who believe is astounding.
Come. Let’s reason together under His Glorious hand. He is not only able to open a man’s heart to what is right. But He is the One who opens the very eyes of “The Faith”.
Today I met you. Mark it on the calendar. Come, let’s dance. Consider.
By His Grace.
I’ll pass.