June 11 2012

Show open: Saved On Sunday in studio

A host opens the show naming Saved On Sundays as the in-studio guests, teases tonight's lineup (advice question, godisimaginary.com proof #5, a study on Christians and Christian TV), and the crew trades opening banter about makeup artists and Rollie Fingers mustaches.

Rundown and banter: Crystal Cathedral, Jimmy Swaggart, Jeff Arendelle

The hosts preview tonight's segments, then riff on news bits: the Crystal Cathedral being sold to the Roman Catholic church for $18.5 million, a rerun of Jimmy Swaggart weeping on TBN, and recap the previous Saturday's Jeff Arendelle CD release show where a low-quality broadcast forced them to repost a better recording.

The Power Outage album: a nightmare, cut songs, $75 short

Daniel Brown explains the acoustic album's troubled path: recorded the previous July, planned as a double album, cut down to a 19-song single disc, and still about $75 short of ordering 1,000 copies. The hosts joke about a dial-a-thon and ask whether the cut songs were the band's own, admiring the willingness to let songs go.

Live performance: Through the Fray

The band performs the song 'Through the Fray' live in studio. Daniel Brown says he wrote it while driving to the East Coast for a friend's wedding, feeling distant from God, as a call out to the Lord. Afterward the hosts praise its epic, lighter-raising feel and joke about adding a choir, French horn, and Hammond organ.

Band lineup, the Toshiba computer bass, and summer tour dates

The band walks through its current three-piece setup: Daniel on keys/guitar, Clint on guitar, Nathaniel ('Cheese Man') on drums, with bass tracks played from a laptop they call Toshiba. They recap Bash on the Farm in Forest City and list upcoming dates: Mississippi River Fest in Burlington, Promise Land Fest, revivals in Missouri, a college in North Dakota, churches in South Dakota, and Spirit Midwest in August.

Coyote hunt story, donkey rodeo, and a planned blues jam

A host recounts a Missouri contact's coyote hunt on 2,000 acres and the donkey rodeo farm where security rides donkeys, then promotes the band's website and Facebook. They plan to jam during the break on an original blues song the host wrote called 'Life From The Path' with the band backing him on bass and keys.

Dear LFTP advice: a kosher home and welcoming neighbors

• How do we politely decline homemade welcome food from neighbors when our home must stay strictly kosher?

A listener writes that her husband works as an education director for a synagogue, so their new home keeps strict kosher rules; she asks how to politely decline homemade welcome food from neighbors who don't keep kosher kitchens. The hosts advise straightforward, gracious honesty about the religious observance, debate the Christian parallel of declining movies that don't meet house standards, and read the 'Secular' answer: thank the neighbor, explain the kosher home, and decline politely.

The postman's bag of groceries

A band member tells the story of his first time living in Des Moines: on a 'help feed the poor families' day he mistook the donation bag of groceries left on his deck for a delivery, ate the cereal, then bailed out the back when the mistake became clear. The hosts riff on what you're supposed to do when food appears on your doorstep.

Live performance: He Is Worthy

The band performs 'He Is Worthy' live in studio. Afterward the hosts promote the Power Outage release plans, including an acoustic release party, and plug the band's website and newsletter.

The Live From The Path blues jam

Returning from break, the hosts and the band perform the original 'Life From The Path' blues number the host wrote for the show, with the host on bass and keys, plus a 'lady echo' vocal bit. The chat enjoys it, debates whether Dan played a hidden tambourine, and they agree to close the show with it again.

Proof #5 read aloud: have you actually read the Bible?

• If you actually read the Bible, doesn't it show God is a monster and therefore imaginary?

A host reads proof number five from the godisimaginary.com 50-proofs series in full: a dialogue arguing that a book by the smartest being in the universe should inspire awe, but instead the Bible advocates murder, slavery, and sexism, so it must be the work of primitive men and God is imaginary. The cited passages cover Leviticus 20, Exodus 21, 1 Timothy 2, and Genesis 1:1.

Rebutting proof #5: context, slavery, and pride

The hosts push back on the proof: the passages are quoted out of context; Old Testament slavery was largely debt servitude with a built-in release, not chattel slavery; Ezekiel's wheeled creatures actually inspire awe; and the core error is pride — the author sets his own culture and moral instincts as the standard and judges everything before him as primitive. They add that God's justice and love are both huge, Jesus fulfilled rather than eliminated the law, and disliking what God says is a proof of disagreement, not of his nonexistence.

American individualism, shallow youth ministry, and proof #6 preview

Wrapping proof #5, the hosts argue the proof reflects an Americanized 'I am god' culture that refuses to submit to anything, contrasting it with cultures that retain mutual submission. One host summarizes an article arguing seeker-sensitive youth ministry produced entry-level Christians and fewer mature believers. They close by previewing proof #6 for next week, 'Ponder God's Plan,' which mentions Hitler and Rick Warren.

Live performance: Let It Shine, video plans, support Christian music

The band performs 'Let It Shine' from their second album Revolution. Afterward the hosts brainstorm a slow-motion music video of a window shattering to let light in, the band describes plans for a nonstop live show with a trash-can drum routine and instrument swaps, and the hosts urge listeners to actually attend local Christian shows, noting how hard it is to draw crowds in Iowa.

Christians hate Christian TV: the doerstv poll

• Why do Christians hate Christian TV, and what would a better Christian network look like?

The hosts discuss a poll by Pastor David Wright of doerstv.com of 100,000+ Facebook fans, where roughly 90% of feedback said Christians hate and don't watch Christian TV. The four big turnoffs: constant money begging and fundraising telethons, false prosperity teachers manipulating for offerings, boring low-quality programming, and lack of integrity among televised leaders. They debate whether TV is a workable ministry venue, name-check Creflo Dollar's assault allegation, Jesse Duplantis, Robert Tilton, Mike Murdock, Robert Schuler, and Joel Osteen, and brainstorm what a compelling Christian network could look like.

Remedy Drive vote, upcoming guests, and the blues close

The band plugs voting for them on the Incredible Pizza website to open for Remedy Drive, notes Remedy Drive is voting for them in return, and teases next weeks' guests Sanctified and Sean Covington. The hosts close the show with a reprise of the 'Life From The Path' blues jam.