This is Hans Schile from the Finishing Well Podcast.
On Finishing Well, we help you make godly choices about Medicare, long-term care, and your money. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and choosing the Truth Podcast Network. From an entrenched barricade deep in the heart of central North Carolina, Masculine Journey After Hours, a time to go deeper and be more transparent on the topic covered on this week's broadcast. So sit back and join us on this adventure. The Masculine Journey After Hours starts here, now.
We are on a quest for laughter today with What Makes You Laugh. It was a topic brought up by our good friend, Kenny, and so we're now going to go after hours on you and go deeper, deeper into laughter. Mmm.
Mmm. Only the shadow knows. How deep can you go into laughter? From the diaphragm. From the diaphragm, okay. A while ago, somebody was slapping Alice in the bad hat or something. They were pretty deep down the rabbit hole. Yeah. But anyway, it was your topic. What was going on with that, Kenny?
Well, like I said, I've been out for a while and coming back. It was refreshing to be around brothers in Christ laughing with each other, picking on each other, yes, but laughing at each other. The world, a lot of times, they're laughing at, they're coming from the wrong angles, tearing people down and laughing at it. It's almost a mockery of it or getting into things they shouldn't be laughing about.
But that's what I love about this group. It's refreshing laughter. You know, one thing I was talking about, I ain't gonna take the punch line, but I like that clip that's coming up, maybe cause, do we look for that punch line? You know, I got to thinking about that when we was talking about during the break. Do we look for what's putting a smile or a laugh in God's, I know a lot of say shenanigans, we all do.
He's got to say, check him out. The angels got to have such humor, too, because they ministered to us. You got the cloud again today, you know, the semitic as they start, it got going and all. But, you know, and hopefully the ministering spirits enjoy our presence, you know, as much as we need theirs. You know, cause that's one thing that a lot of people miss was how the angels ministered to Christ during different things and challenges in his life. You know, but they had to be watching some of the shenanigans going on with him and the apostles, you know, he's talking about Peter, you know, doing the sunbathing and all and putting his cloak on to drop in the water.
They got to say, what's this guy doing? Yeah, that's pretty funny stuff. So speaking of water, we, you know, we've got a clip here by me, you know, anybody that knows me, you know, the question before us was what makes you laugh? And so what I thought personally was always made me laugh, apparently made my grandfather laugh before me and my father laugh before me because I knew them both, you know, to use puns constantly. And they would go on these pun fests where, you know, you'd see how many puns you could make on any given word and they would, you know, if you just brought up the word corn, I mean, it was on.
You better have ears to hear and, you know, not have a husky voice and all sorts of things that was coming at you, right? And so we used to go to Disney World often and I love, love, love the Jungle Cruise. And if you're ever on the Jungle Cruise, you know, one of the very unique things about it is that they tell these amazing puns throughout the cruise that made me laugh the entire time. And of course the crescendo, the big moment of the whole Jungle Cruise for those of you who have been on it is when they take you through the waterfall into the dark cave and then they turn you around and they go the backside of water. Which for me is just always, you know, the whole absurdity, I guess, whatever you want to say it. It's just absolutely hilarious. If you think about that idea of the backside of water, which we are going to get to clip in a second, is that water equals Jesus.
I mean, and so the whole idea of a pun is a double entendre, right? That one thing means a lot of things. Well, the word Jesus itself is equal to the word of God. It is equal to water. It is equal to the bread of life. It is equal to the truth. It is equal to the life. In other words, almost anything of any value, because apart from me you can do what? Nothing.
What? So it's like a double, triple, quadruple. It's the backside of water.
And so, you know, the whole idea of this is more than hilarious, as is this particular clip in my opinion. If you look to the left of the boat you'll see some very playful toucans. They're playing their favorite game of beak wrestling. The only drawback is only two can play. There's two birds and those are toucans, and I'm saying that only two can play.
Not one, but two can play. The rocks you see here in the river are sandstone, but some people just take them for granted. It's one of my boulder attractions. You know, before this I used to work in an orange juice factory, but I got canned. Couldn't concentrate.
Yeah, they put the squeeze on me too. That's a good one. I should have opened with that one. You know, they say the boa constrictor right there is capable of eating up to 500 pounds per sitting. Personally, I find that very hard to swallow. Mommy, can you please make him stop?
No one can. And don't interrupt me like that again. I will feed you to the boa. She is a small child.
You love small children. Close your mouth. Hey McGregor, I had a girlfriend once, she was cross-eyed. Didn't work out. We could never see eye to eye. Is that your idea of a joke? That is not funny.
I'm also quite sure she was seeing somebody on the side. I hope you know what you're getting yourself into here, Frank. A car? Oh, your jokes. They will be the death of me.
They are absolutely exhausting. Wow, Lily. Did you like it? It was good.
You proud? The backside of water. And if you could have been with me, you know, my whole family, of course, took me to go see the jungle cruise. You know, my granddaughter, everybody knows my affinity for the backside of water has been for years. And so when that scene happens, which is really, you know, spoiler alert, you need to go watch this movie, okay? But when, you know, the big, big moments happen and they're going to find the fountain of youth and all this stuff, they go through this waterfall.
And when they get on the other side of it, this German guy is trying to kill him with all this stuff and he goes, the backside of water. Absolutely, absolutely spectacular. You know, when you think about it. And so I do love to laugh.
People know me well. And it's interesting to me, I was thinking about it, that interestingly, God will give you something at a particular moment where people are freaking out and you can cause them to laugh. So this story starts out kind of difficult, but it gets funny, that when I got crushed by the Jeep, so I'm standing back there, this poor guy left his car out of gear and it runs down the hill and crushes me. And then it was almost taken off my left leg actually. And so... Darrell Bock I believe you were the poor guy, not him. Darrell Bock Well, he felt horrible. Darrell Bock Yeah, I'm sure. Darrell Bock I had Jesus. Darrell Bock No legs, but Jesus. Darrell Bock And painkillers a little bit later. Darrell Bock He was the painkiller, I'm telling you.
He was, man. Because I remember crying out, that literally, this true story, that when they brought the morphine finally, it took about an hour to get the ambulance in there, I didn't feel anything different than I was already feeling. I was like, I really was not in pain. I don't understand it, but I don't have to. But nonetheless, so I'm, everybody's freaking out that I'm going to go into shock because I'm hurt really, really bad and they can't get the ambulance up there or they can't fly in anything because of the weather.
It's way up in the mountains. And the guy is standing over me that hit me, and this is why I say the poor guy, because he is literally losing it. He's like, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I mean, he's in my face.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. And I don't know, God had to give me this line because it was a punch line, which we'll talk about here in a minute. He had to give it to me because I just looked up and I said, dude, man, how's your insurance? And immediately, it just lightened up the whole deal. It's like God just used that punch line, as it were, to just, the backside of water. It took the whole thing. And of course, it's always been a punch line for me, the whole issue, is I just remember that here I was at this moment, and God gives you a joke to share.
And Danny, you can appreciate that, right? At the right moment, to have the right line is just a wonderful feeling. I wasn't crushed by a cheek, but I got hit by a microwave working one time, and it literally run across my chest. Now, is this the wave, or is it actually the machine that makes microwaves?
The machine that makes microwaves. So you weren't hit by thunder. I was hit by stored up electricity. And when the secretary, she heard me holler when it hit, and so she comes back.
And I am on my knees in the Florida shop. And she goes, are you okay? And the only thing that could come to mind was, don't bother me, my life is flashing for my eyes, and I like this part. Darrell Bock Well, what's that part? Danny It was shocking, I can tell you that.
This is after hours, so the warps people will think it's funny, but I'm glad you got hit by a literal microwave machine, because the first two guys that got hit by a microwave were fried. So not funny, but. Danny Siegel Sigmund fried. Darrell Bock He's a fraud, mispronounced it.
All right, so moving along. So that must be the, the, the, the, that's all folks. Danny Siegel Kind of.
No, we're actually, we're transitioning from the funny part of the show. Darrell Bock Put your serious animal. Danny Siegel No, actually, this part of it is really one of my favorite parts of this whole topic is really to see this whole thing in the light that you're going to share it. And I love the way you did it, Rodney. I really do. Danny Siegel Okay.
He's trying to bust it up. No, he'd prefer a laugh track. Darrell Bock No, I would not. I want Rodney. I know who, I know. And this is what I want.
We want Rodney. Danny Siegel And this is another standup comedian that I happen to find. And I was like, okay, what am I going to do for this topic? And I was just kind of pondering in my head, which was mostly about, well, how does God use humor? And he loves to, through the humor, tell a story. He makes his point by doing something. When you look at it, you're like, either usually you see the humor or you see the point, but you sometimes don't always get both until you reread it or somebody explains something that you didn't see. That's part of the beauty of scripture, right?
There's always more depth to it, but that's where I was. And then I just started looking for stuff, and I came across this clip where it's Michael Jr. The clip is called More Than Funny. It's actually a TED Talk. So he's there to – Darrell Bock So, again, I know everybody seems to know what a TED Talk is, but I'm not familiar.
What does that mean, TED Talk? Danny Siegel They're usually just short educational talks. Darrell Bock Who's – Darrell Bock Who's – Darrell Bock A variety of subjects.
Danny Siegel Yeah, any subject. Darrell Bock Who's Ted? Danny Siegel Nobody's met him. Darrell Bock I don't think it's named after – Danny Siegel He's a guy who talks.
I don't know if Ted means something in acronym. Darrell Bock It may be tech or something. Danny Siegel I don't know if it's an acronym or what. Darrell Bock Let me look it up. Danny Siegel Dandy's our tech guru, so he's supposed to know us. Darrell Bock Well, he's given us an understanding with TED Talk, because I just didn't – you had said that earlier, and I meant to go TED Talk, okay? Danny Siegel Yeah, I know. I don't listen to many at all, but – Darrell Bock I've never listened to one.
This is my first. And, again, God and then Michael Jr., as a comedian, loves to use humor and irony as a message, and that's where I found that clip, and I was like, he actually explains a little bit of that through here, and that's what I wanted to get captured and put into the clip was not just the humor – are you waving at somebody, or are you – Danny Siegel I have the answer, so TED Talk is technology, entertainment and design. That's what it stands for, so it's just a conference that they have that people speak about those topics. Darrell Bock Oh, it's a conference, okay. Danny Siegel Yeah, so Michael Jr. here in this TED Talk, what Andy just said, uses his comedy here really just to set up and deliver a punchline that's something more than what's on the surface, and he uses the whole like 20 minutes or whatever it is to actually set it up, which is a little better than the two minutes we can use here, but basically he compares life to comedy and how a comedian will look at humor and delivering it through life.
Michael Jr. I'd like to explain to you how life works, at least from a comedian's perspective. First there's a setup, and then there's a punchline. Your setup is your talents, your resources and your opportunities, and most of the time we use our setup to ensure that the people around us are moving in a direction that serves us, which means the punchline occurs when you change that direction in a way they're not expecting. You actually use your setup for other people. The results are the same, yet multiply, revelation, fulfillment and joy, but it's not just for the one receiving your punchline, it is absolutely for you as you deliver the punchline. In fact, if I ask the question to everyone here, everyone watching, if I ask you this question, how many people here know what your setup is?
Every one of you would be able to tell me, because your setup is the fact that you have a house, a car, you've been married, you went to school. Your setup is about what you've received, but what if I ask the question, what is your punchline? Because your punchline is about what you're called to deliver, and if you only know your setup and not your punchline, you'll make the mistake of trying to add more setup. If I could just get another degree, if I could just get married, if I could just lose weight, but what you really need is to know your punchline. Again, because to know your setup and not your punchline is an uncomfortable place to live.
What about your story? You've been living it your entire life, and if all you know is the setup and not the punchline, you are living in an uncomfortable place. And please be clear, just like when I had a hard time reading as a child, your setbacks are part of your setup, so you can deliver the punchline you're called to deliver. Much like a slingshot, the further you've been set back, the further you're going to reach. But what are you going to aim for? Everyone has a setup, and everyone has a punchline. You need to find your punchline and deliver it. I'm Michael Jr., I love you.
So instead of being selfish, you're trying to be selfless. Think of others, put others first, the one in others, and things of that nature, which I thought was a very good message from him. I don't listen to him a lot, but I've heard a few things, and you know, he's pretty darn funny. Danny, you said you saw him in Nashville? Oh yeah, he's funny. Yeah.
You know, everything I've seen, I really like him a lot. And again here, what I see is God, think of each one of our lives. There's the setup, you thought you were going in one direction, right? And then there's that punchline, and he's like, no, you're not the world's, you're mine. And at the moment it's happening, and usually there's a lot of different emotions, but after you look back on it, have you not just laughed and thought about your conversion moments or your period of time when that was happening, and just kind of laughed and was like, oh my gosh, what an idiot I was, what was going on in my life, and then wham, how fast it turns and goes in another direction?
I mean, that's a setup and a punchline that is wonderful to see. And the story that I really wanted to talk about from the scripture was 1 Samuel 4 and 5 kind of goes into the story where the Philistines defeat Israel because Israel is turning from God. And then you've got the Ark of the Covenant coming into the picture after they got defeated because they're like, oh, we're going to bring our good luck charm, because that's how they treated God and the Ark. That's our charm, we're going to beat the Philistines now, and there's a big uproar in the camp of the Israelites, and they're like so happy, and the Philistines hear all this and they feel it and they're like, they're scared, and they're like, oh my gosh, God has come into their camp, you know, what's going to happen? Then somebody steps up and says, no, we've got to be brave and go after this. Well, the Philistines still beat Israel.
And what do they take? They take the Ark. It's like, oh, look at that, this is like, oh my gosh, Israel is just defeated, inflated, you know, they're just like, oh, this is horrible. We lost the Ark.
God is not with us anymore. And you've got the Philistines thinking, oh, this is the greatest thing, we're going to put the Ark in there with our God, and that God's name was what? Dagon.
I always get that confused, but they're going to put him with Dagon. And then Israel's being told about this big incident, and one of the things I thought was pretty interesting here is you've got Eli being told that, hey, the Ark, there was this big fight, you know, the battle, and he's asking how the battle will go, and it's like, oh, you, we lost the battle, and your sons, Hophni and Phineas, are both dead, and Eli's like, okay, yeah, he's listening, and then he goes, oh, and the Ark was taken. That's what gets him. He knew his sons were up to a bunch of shenanigans. They were really bad people, and he falls off the back of a chair and he dies. I mean, that right there, death isn't really funny, but you think about all the shenanigans going on, and that's the way he goes down, finding out that, wow, all of this that's been going on in the land of Israel, that's what's going to kill him. Well, the next morning when the Philistines wake up, they go in to check on old Dagon, see how he's doing. He's bowed down prostrate to the Ark.
Oh, I'll be dead gone. And I think this is hilarious when it's like, well, what did the Philistines have to do? They had to go pick up their god and set him back up on the mantle or wherever he was at, and it's like, okay, we got our god back in where he's supposed to be.
Well, they go out the next morning. Well, Dagon's back on the ground again, but this time he's without his head and without his hands. I just find that hilarious that here we are bowing down to this god who can't even stay on the mantle. He just keeps falling down and bowing down to the Ark.
Protect himself. Exactly. I mean, it's hilarious, but we do that all the time with our own gods. And then to further go on, it's like God's telling everybody through the message, I'm in control. The Philistines are like, well, if we do this and this and this, if it goes one way, there are gods in it.
Israel's a god. If it goes another way, that's just by chance. So they're playing this whole game. So they hook up these milch cows, and these milch cows are never been yoked. If they're going to, first time they're getting yoked and getting all hooked up, they're going to buck, they're going to fight it, but they don't. And they're just let go. And where do they go? They do not turn to the right. They do not turn to the left. They go directly to the city of Israel to take the Ark back. They go exactly where God's directing them. And everybody gets the lesson of, yeah, it's pretty funny how Dagon bows down, but the seriousness of it is God's in charge.
God's in control, and he's got everything under his power. And then I had to think about my own story. What was my own setup? And I was like, well, I would have said, I'm a husband, I'm a father, I've got these things, I do those things, and that would have been my story, my setup. But God's punchline is, nope, you're not married anymore, your kids, they've moved on from you and they're living their own lives, and they're not in your house anymore.
Yes, I'm still a father. But a lot of what I had said was my life. What I would have put all my hope and trust in, not God, has completely changed now. It's like, okay, Lord, I got to trust in you.
And he and I are the ones that commune and talk and relate to each other every single day and helps me to move through my life. So my identity is completely different. That punchline of, nope, your identity is you're a child and you're my child, and I just love it. Darrell Bock That's cool. I love the punchline, and I do. It's okay, Robby, you don't have to say anymore.
It's okay. I can't appreciate the fact that, you know, that it's really thought-provoking, the whole idea, because when you think of anybody's life – Robby Barbaro Well, you love punchlines. Darrell Bock I do. And I loved what he said, where he said, you get the joy out of delivering the punchline. Robby Barbaro It starts to be broader.
Yeah. Darrell Bock Right, because your punchline makes you laugh more than anybody else. Ask me, anybody knows that. Robby Barbaro You usually laugh before you deliver it. Darrell Bock That's how you know it's coming.
Robby Barbaro I know. Okay, here it comes. Here it comes.
As soon as he stops laughing, he's going to deliver it. Darrell Bock All right. When I heard your discussion of that and that clip, it brought a memory back to me real quick, and it was – and anybody that's listened two or three times to the show knows my wife and I love to cruise. I was on a cruise. I had on my God shirt.
I don't remember which one, but I usually am wearing those. And I said hi to a guy, and he looked at my shirt, and he says, I'm Jewish, like conversation ended. And God gave me the punchline on that one, said that – I responded as, oh, it's great to meet one of God's chosen people. Now this is a Jewish New York City lawyer, and he was speechless for a good 30, 40 seconds. And he says, you know, I don't think I've ever heard that before.
So he had the best punchline. Darrell Bock Well, we've got to move on. We've got to get Andy's clip in here.
I hate we don't have the time completely that you ought to have. Gary Barnes Yeah, don't worry. So this is from Bruce Almighty, and Morgan Freeman is playing the God character, and Jim Carrey is playing Bruce. And they're meeting, or they met, and Bruce has got a kind of a control freak. He's not getting the promotions and stuff he wants, and they meet. And when he comes into this building, he meets God as a boss. He's wearing different clothes and stuff, like a boss, electrician, and a janitor. And then God takes off. He had been kind of masquerading in that. Then he kind of shows him, hey, this is what I've got.
And this is an exchange between them, and then I'll talk about it. Darrell Bock You must be Bruce. I've been expecting you.
Gary Barnes This is hilarious. So you're the boss, and the electrician, and the janitor. Must be a killer Christmas party. Don't get drunk, though.
One of you might need a ride home. Darrell Bock You always were funny, Bruce. Just like your father. He didn't mind rolling up his sleeves either, son. People underestimate the benefit of good old manual labor. It's freedom in it.
Some of the happiest people in the world go home smelling to high heavens at the end of the day. Gary Barnes So you just hear there, one thing I like is that I noticed whenever I was doing the clip today is that, you know, Bruce, I mean, God says, you know, I like that your sense of humor. Just like your father, and, you know, the father that doesn't mind rolling up his sleeves. Well, he was really talking about himself, and we are, we're created in the image of God. I was thinking about that. We are really created in the image of God, and if we like to laugh, he likes to laugh, and he likes to laugh with us. So it's been a great show. Darrell Bock And he even calls him son. So go to Madisonandjourneyradio.org This is the Truth Network
