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- [00:00]
Jim Daly
Ken spends a lot of time away from home working on the pipeline in Alaska, and our podcast has become his lifeline.
- [00:08]
Ken (listener/testimonial)
Focus on the Family has helped my marriage by leaps and bounds. You give us so much meat and potatoes to think about. Like, don't focus on yourself. Put yourself in your spouse's shoes. What are they going through down there?
- [00:22]
Jim Daly
Ken finds our content so helpful, he's eager to share it with others.
- [00:27]
Ken (listener/testimonial)
It can hit home. Hey, I'm going through that same thing. That's why I enjoy listening. So I spread that to other co workers who might not know Christ, who might be having a bad day. You get to know them, say, hey, by the way, listen to this Focus on the Family podcast.
- [00:44]
Jim Daly
I'm Jim Daly. Right now we need your help to deliver hope and joy to marriages like Ken's. When you give before December 31st, your gift will be doubled. Donate@focusonthefamily.com family or call 800 AFAMILY.
- [01:02]
Ken Davis
You see, you know one of the reasons you need to believe that you are a worthwhile person. If you don't believe that God created you unique and you don't need to be like somebody else, the first person you're going to be mad at is God.
- [01:13]
John Fuller
Today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, humorist Ken Davis shares encouragement for anyone who has doubts about their worth as as a human being. Well, thanks for joining us today. I'm John Fuller.
- [01:26]
Jim Daly
Ken Davis is one of our all time favorites on this broadcast because he's so transparent about his own flaws and how he has chosen to find joy in life despite those inadequacies. Ken is a sought after speaker, an award winning author of 12 books and the founder of the Score Speaker Academy where people can learn how to become great speakers themselves. And Ken has been on this broadcast dozens of times.
- [01:52]
John Fuller
He has in today's presentation. This presentation is actually one that we've never aired before. It was recorded back in the mid-1980s in front of a group of high schoolers and young adults. By the way, that's the context for my introduction to Ken Davis. I saw him as a high school student in the Twin Cities. We're going to be jumping in now after some opening remarks. And here now is Ken Davis on today's Focus on the Family.
- [02:19]
Ken Davis
We live in a funny, hilarious, wonderful world. It's crazy all around us. I'm walking Larimer Square down here, downtown Denver. I'm walking down the street. I sit on the curb and laugh till I'm sick. People are looking at me. They're going, what's wrong with that boy? You know why I'm laughing? There's a jewelry store down there, real fancy jewelry store, has a sign in the window says, ears pierced. While you wait, Sears ladder. People going, I don't get it. You gotta wait to get your ears pierced. There's no alternatives. What you gonna do? I'll be back. Poke a hole in them for me. Under that. It said on Thursdays we pierce them half off. These people aren't going to touch my ears. I love watching you. You ever look at each other? I love watching you. You guys come in here scoping each other out. I sat right over there and watched a girl go, look at him, look at him. What are you clapping for? Dude, you're the one they were looking at. Can you do the same thing? Only you don't have a vocabulary. Like the girls. The guys see something they like, they just go, That's great. Look at me when I'm talking to you. Okay? That's great. Don't let people put you down. Do you know the Bible says, don't let people make fun of you because you're young? That's beautiful. That's the way God made you to notice each other and everything. That's great. That's wonderful. It's the only reason you're sitting there. You know that? The only reason you're sitting right there is one day your daddy looked at your mom, went, ta da. And there you are. That's beautiful. This guy's going, you ain't seen my mom. You know, sometimes I just want to say thank you, God, that you put us in this kind of a world with the humor around us, the things that are around us. Even in church. We go to church. And I have laughed some of the hardest I've ever laughed. No, not at my minister, you know, no, at me, at our family. You ever noticed Sunday morning is the time that you get the most bent with your family? Oh. As a parent, I find myself with my hands around the throat of a child that I love going, you get ready, and you get ready now because we gotta go to church where we can learn about the love of Jesus. Hurry up. My wife has a rule about church. This is a rule. Once you sit down, you don't move. She's here tonight. If one of you stood up to leave for a moment, she'd turn to the friend sitting next to her and go, look at that. She doesn't like it when you move. So she gathered us all together and she said, new rule. We get to church, you don't move. Anything you have to do, you do before church. Because once you sit, you do not move. We all said, okay, good rule. It is a good rule, but there's got to be exceptions. We stood up to sing a hymn one day. I turned to her and I said, I need to leave. I'll be right back. She turned to me and said, you know the rule. You will not move. I said, but I need to move. I will come right back. She said, if you move, you'll set a bad example. I said, if I stay, I'm going to set a bad example. Against her will, I left. I had to. I went to the bathroom real quick, came back. In fact, I got back before the song was done, slid into the row, sat down and put my arm around her. I could feel hostility just radiating from her body. And I thought, this is ridiculous. Why should she be so angry? So I put my hand on her shoulder and I gently just hugged her beneath the pew where no one could see. She took her elbow and she began to grind her elbow into my ribs. This is the woman I love, grinding her elbow into my ribs. I turned to her to tell her, this is stupid. It wasn't my wife. I'd moved into the wrong row. My wife was sitting right behind me, and the rest of the church is rolling on the floor. Now, do you suppose that God looked down on that scene and went, look, my people are having fun? No, I don't think so. I think God looked down and he went, angels, come here. Look at this idiot. I love this guy. Look at what he's doing. Because one of the reasons for Joy is that if we just open our eyes, he's put us in a wonderful world. But that isn't the only reason. There's another reason, Another reason for Joy that he has put us here is that he has put us here. Unique. You're not like me. I'm not like you. Each of us are different. You can talk. She has to whisper to other people. It's wonderful. You're not like me. I'm not like you. Kids, it is so wonderful. The greatest killer of people your age in this day and age is suicide. I hate that. And most of the time, it's because kids don't like themselves. They want to be like somebody else. I know that feeling. When I graduated from high school, I weighed about 110 pounds. I had curvature of the bone in both my arms. I couldn't straighten either arm any more than about like that. I had no Ability to turn my wrists. See, I can turn my wrist like that. Couldn't do it. Couldn't catch, throw a football. Couldn't do anything like that. My hands, I couldn't even do a simple pull up. I remember a guy throwing a football at me about 12 times trying to get me to catch it. And I couldn't catch it. And the 12th time it bounced off my chest. He said, hit the showers. He said, you'll never amount to anything. And I can remember walking to the showers and feeling those eyes on the back of my head. I got beat up on the average of two, three times a week in school. It was like a school sport in our school. Funny for you. You could let her in it. I can laugh at it now, but it wasn't funny at the time. I've had surgery. Now I can straighten my arm almost all the way. See that? I still can't turn it all the way. I can't hold my palm flat. That's really embarrassing. In restaurants you go up for change. The only way I can keep change in my hand, see? And there's no way I'm gonna go up there like that. Put my nickel there, lots of change. Load me up. I wanted to be an athlete. Oh, I desperately wanted to be an athlete. There's not a big call for 110 pound athletes, you know that. What am I going to be, water boy? There is no way that I'm going to be able to be. I just felt unless I could be an athlete, I wasn't worth anything because all of the rest of the kids in my class were athletes. You know what I've had to come to believe? I'm never going to be an athlete. It's never going to happen. I'm not going to be able to walk on the Broncos camp and make a spot on the team. I'll never make it. You know how I know? Cuz I can't do anything that's athletic. I'm sorry. You're going to have to laugh with the rest or you're going to have to leave. Athlete is a funny word. I. I couldn't do it. I. I was with a friend in, in Minnesota recently. He said, come on, let's play hockey. I said, I don't know how. He said, just skate around and hit this thing. I said, I can't skate. He said, okay, just stand in front of this net. I know why they call that little thing a puck. That's what sound it makes when it hits you. Right here. It hit me right there. My lip swelled up to the size of a watermelon. My friends are going, what happened to your lip puck? I'm in California. Guy comes up to me, he's got muscles in places I haven't even got places. This guy comes up to me, he goes like, let's go surfing. I said, like, I, I don't know how. He said, like, it's easy. Tie this leg board to your foot and then like, paddle out and wait for a big one and then, like, ride it in. I didn't know what the big one.
- [12:11]
Jim Daly
Was.
- [12:14]
Ken Davis
But I had seen the movie Jaws. I figured, if that's a big one, he can ride himself in. I started paddling towards shore. I felt a surge of water. I looked behind me, there was a building of water. The big one. I did not ride the big one. The big one rode me pretty much, you know, I'm 30ft under the water, praying to God for little things like air. Thank you. So I moved to Minnesota. A guy, I was there maybe two or three days. Guy comes up and goes, hey, let's go water skiing. I said, I don't know how. He said, it's easy. Stand here on shore, hold this stick and you'll hit it. Why didn't he tell me about slack? Boat was doing 80 when it hit the end of the rope. I'm still standing on shore watching my arms flop around his stupid lake. Why didn't he tell me when you fall, let go of the stupid stick. He trolled half the lake with me. Even fish are going, whoa, Wally, look at that. And I lost my trunks under there. Now I'm praying for two things, air and clothes. I pop to the surface, there's a boatload of my friends coming to get me. I don't want to be God. I'm naked, okay? Fish are swimming around going, aw, that's gross. How many of you have ever water skied? Let me see your hands. You water skied? Do you remember the first time you got up? I didn't get up. You didn't get up. Somehow I knew that. Who got up? Did you get up? Do you remember? It was scary and you're frightened. Everybody assumes the same position when you get up. First time water skiing and your friends see you, are they sympathetic? No. They look back and go, whip her in a circle. That's what they did with me. They cranked that boat in a circle. I'm on the end of a 75 foot rope doing Mach 9. Even ducks are going, whoa. I sell. Did you know the human body can skip. Not the human swimming trunks, but I had to swim to shore again. And you get to shore, you got big problems. I'm gathering leaves and sticks, sneaking towards shore. Little kids are going, mama, look, it's Adam. It's Adam. So I moved to Colorado. I was here three days. A guy comes up to me and goes, hey, let's go eat. I said. He said, it's easy. I said, eat rocks. Nothing worth having is easy. Having joy isn't easy. Noticing the little things God gives us all around us isn't easy. Liking yourself isn't easy. Accepting yourself for what you are and believing that you are worthwhile just the way you sit is not easy. Skiing is not easy. It isn't. I was up on the hill. I was coming down the hill, heard a guy yell, ski, Ski. Do you know what this means? It means a ski is coming down the hill alone. If it hits you, it will penetrate your body. I didn't know this. In fact, when you hear someone yell ski, you're supposed to turn around and. And look so you can see where it's going to penetrate. I didn't know this. I felt like an idiot. The guy's yelling, ski. And I'm going, I am. Leave me alone. It's my first day. Have you ever been embarrassed like that? I was so embarrassed. I paid those people back. When I found out what it meant, I went to the top of the hill and came down yelling, toboggan, Snow, tractor. People went and hid in the woods, man. Then I went by kidding. It was terrible. I paid $25 for a ski less. And the guy who teaches me treated me like dirt. He was so handsome, had a nice tan. I was totally intimidated. This is what I want, to be handsome with a tan. And he had this accent. And he said to me, Today.
- [18:30]
Jim Daly
I.
- [18:31]
Ken Davis
Jacques Benoit, I am going to teach you how to fall. I was really ticked. I said, hey, I pay you $25, you teach me to stand up.
- [18:50]
John Fuller
Today.
- [18:54]
Ken Davis
I quit the lesson, went and got in line. I fell in the ski line. You familiar with the domino theory? 270 people laying on the ground. These are not happy people. I didn't want them to know I caused it. So I'm laying on the ground going, who fell? Learn to ski or get off the mountain. It was a horrible day. Three chairs hit me in the back of the head. I thought you were supposed to sit on the ground and it would pick you off the ground. Nuh. Right there. I had. Blood's coming out. You know, I'm Going far out. This is a fun sport. I stood up to leave and the chair hit me right here. Within seconds, I'm 280ft in the air. I look over, there's a man sitting next to me. I don't know where he came from. Between us is this steel post. I wrapped my body around that post. I said to the man, God loves you, but this is my post. You touch this post, I'll kick you off to lift. I got off of that chair and when I got off, right in front of me was the steepest hill on the whole mountain. It's not long, is it? It's only five, six feet long, straight down. And I think they ice it. I fell. Did they stop to live? No. Other people get off. I'm laying here, they fell on me. Pretty soon there's a little pile, 80, 90 people. I'm on the bottom going, who fell. That day? I got on a black diamond lift. Oh, it was horrible. I don't know how. I didn't do it on purpose. For those of you who don't know a black diamond, there are three kinds. There is a little round circle. That is a beginner's hill. The only way you can go on that hill is to push. Then there is a square. You don't need to push and you can get hurt. Then there's a black diamond. This means you're going to meet Jesus face to face. Basically, a lot of people run from God all their lives. Get on a black diamond hill and go, I'm yours, Lord. I'm yours. It's a horrible hill. I crawled up and looked over. It went under like that. How am I going to get down this hill? And then I remembered my ski instructor had addressed this. He said to me, if you ever come to a hill which is too difficult for a slime ball like you, then he said, you must. How you say, Travers. Do you know what travers means? No. It doesn't mean walk. It's a French word. It means go across the hill till you come to some trees. Then he said, you go into a snowplatern and traverse the other way. Snowplow. Traverse the other. On this hill. Halfway through my first snowplow turn, I was doing 280 miles an hour. I made a simple decision. No more snowplow. I invented my own turn called Sit down, Turn around. I'll teach you how to do it. Here's how you do it. First, you pick up the downhill ski. You maneuver the downhill ski completely round and put it down. Okay, now you stay like this for a pretty long time. Cause you can pick and move good. Good skiers come up to you while you're like this. What are you doing? Sit down, turn around. 25 bucks, I'll teach you. Maybe. Four hours later, I was only 50ft down that hill. Hey, don't laugh. I wouldn't have made it that far except I was wearing those slippery clothes. I wanted to die. I had sweat coming from every place in my body. I just wanted to die. I wanted to just get off the hill. I heard a noise, looked around. Here comes a little kid about this high, and he is coming down the hill in perfect form, hair streaming behind him, yelling, go for it. Go for it. I stuck him with my pole. Shish kebab.
- [25:08]
John Fuller
That is Ken Davis, and we're going to continue his message next time on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly.
- [25:15]
Jim Daly
Well, I love Ken's point, excuse the pun, that God loves us even when we don't love ourselves. And he made each of us special and unique and has given us a combination of talents that no one else has. And we'd like to encourage you with more clean humor. So we've assembled a free collection of audio downloads. 4 hours of fun from our favorite comedians like Ken Kington, Shonda Pierce, the John Branion, Jeremy Nunes, plus this message from Ken Davis. Look for the Focus on the Family comedy collection at our website. And when you're online with us, please consider donating to our ministry. We are a nonprofit organization. We rely on gifts to help us help others. In this season of giving. We would really like to hear from you every day. We are impacting listeners like Sarah. She said, I am a single young woman and I listen to Focus on the Family using the smartphone app. I love it so much. You're giving me positive, steady doses of truth and scripture every single day. I believe God is going to bless me with a husband someday and is preparing me through your show. I'm very grateful for your work and that's why I donate on a regular basis. Thank you. Focus on the Family.
- [26:32]
John Fuller
Wow. That is really great, Sarah. We're so glad you're listening. And boy, Jim, she's just one of the millions of people we reach all around the world.
- [26:40]
Jim Daly
That's right. And you can be part of that outreach, bringing hope and joy to people who need it like Sarah. Please make a generous gift today.
- [26:48]
John Fuller
Yeah. We invite you to donate online and to access the comedy collection, just follow the link in the show notes or if you'd prefer to call us. We'd be happy to talk to you. Our number is 800, the letter A and the word family. Next time, more fun and insights from Ken Davis.
- [27:08]
Ken Davis
Having some of the things that I've wanted in life has not changed my life. It has not brought me the happiness and joy that I want. His love is what has changed me.
- [27:19]
John Fuller
On behalf of the entire team, thanks for listening to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. Take a moment, please, and give a rating for us in your podcast app and share about this episode with a friend who might need the encouragement. I'm John Fuller inviting you back next time as we once more help you and your family thrive in Christ.
- [27:46]
Jim Daly
God is at work and he's calling his people to rise in truth. Truth Rising is a powerful new documentary from Focus on the Family and the Colson Center. See how ordinary Christians choose courage in a culture that needs truth. Watch Truth Rising today and find out how you can become an agent of restoration and hope. Visit truthrising.com today. That's truthrising.com.