August 13 2012

Show open, tonight's lineup, and the ABS light update

• Has America built something into its system that Jesus specifically said not to do?

The show starts live from the Pathway Studios with a note that last week was off. The hosts lay out the night: a Spirit Midwest Music Festival recap, GodIsImaginary proof #13 on slavery, listener advice, chat, and Mike's Matthew reading. Mike, addressed by name, teases that he found something America has built into its system that Jesus directly said not to do, and a host reports his ABS light has not come back on since the prayer story told a month earlier.

The mystery 'Moon Man' commentator is introduced

The hosts greet chatter Nathaniel and introduce a mystery voice in the studio who will provide commentary but not be seen; they dub him the 'Moon Man' (possibly a 'Moon Woman'). The bit plays on the unseen voice painting a picture in the listener's mind, with a John Madden joke thrown in.

Spirit Midwest Music Festival 2012 recap: the technical disaster

The hosts digest their Spirit Midwest Music Festival experience after the move from West Des Moines to St. Charles: they liked the woods and hard rock stages but the main stage placement wrecked their interviews with Willett and Todd Agnew (cheap mics, cutting audio, squirreling video). They renamed the trip 'the technical disaster of 2012' for the broadcast, then tell how the broadcast computer died, they packed up and left feeling God wanted them out, and the computer booted fine three days later with no event-log errors. One host pushes back on the idea that God operates on technicalities ('that is not the God I know, Daniel').

Festival leftovers: main-stage size debate and Covington banter

Wrapping the festival talk, the hosts riff on whether the main stage shrank or they grew, then read chat from Covington fishing for compliments ('how about some love?'). The hosts tease him for wanting 'a verbal back rub from five dudes on a Jesus radio program' before handing the floor to Mike.

Matthew 5:33-37: must Christians refuse all oaths?

• Are you really violating anything by taking an oath, or just upholding cultural norms?

Mike, addressed by name, reads Matthew 5:33-37 aloud ('do not take an oath at all... let what you say be simply yes or no') and argues America's courtroom oath ritual (hand on the Bible) is exactly what Jesus forbade. The hosts debate applications: a juror may assume refusal means guilt, a kid's father barred Boy Scouts over the oath, marriage vows and loan contracts, and whether Jesus meant all oaths or just integrity of speech. One host warns they cede too much ground to culture; another counters the broader point is being careful and trustworthy with words. They close by quoting the IVP Bible Background Commentary on rabbinic oath tiers (swearing by the temple vs. the gold on the temple) and land on: your word should need no outside backing.

GodIsImaginary proof #13: 'take a look at slavery'

• Do the Bible's slavery passages prove God is imaginary?

The hosts take on week 13 of the GodIsImaginary.com '50 proofs': the claim that Bible passages (Leviticus 25, Luke 7:2, Colossians 3, Titus 2) show God endorsing slavery, therefore God is imaginary. The site's argument is read nearly in full. The hosts rebut: God always moved the moral goalpost forward in each era (a progression from the norm toward dignity), sudden abolition would have collapsed the ancient economy, biblical 'slavery' was largely debt/indentured-service arrangements unlike American chattel slavery, and modern debt (car loans, mortgages) is its own kind of bondage. They close with the borrower-is-slave-to-the-lender principle and God's incremental baby-steps approach.

Debt, borrowing, Jubilee, and providing for grandkids

The debt discussion spins out of the slavery segment: the year of Jubilee (slaves freed, land returned every 49 years) as God's built-in debt ceiling, Dave Ramsey's baby steps joke, and whether a family could rent and save to buy the next generation's house outright. The hosts admit the modern lending society makes debt-free living brutally hard, note 'sometimes obedience costs' (even tithing), and suggest baby steps the culture can actually follow -- mirroring what they said God did with slavery.

Save-money riff and the streets-are-tougher-than-a-gator bit

A short comedy bridge: mock pep talk about saving money ('go to work, get a third job'), a mangled double metaphor about the streets of America eating a gator alive, and a callback to the kitchen table. No new substance; it resets the room before Dear LFTP.

Dear LFTP: food stuck in someone's teeth -- say it or gum it?

• What is proper when you notice someone has food stuck in their teeth, especially a near-stranger in a group?

A listener asks what is proper when you notice someone has food stuck in their teeth, especially a near-stranger in a group. One host says say nothing and just hand them a stick of gum ('you're passive aggressive, Nancy'), while the others favor telling them directly and kindly. They roleplay the gum gambit live, including a turn where they tell 'Ben' he has something on his middle tooth.

Signoff: barefoot golf, Moon Man, and where to watch

The show closes with a riff on whether the barefoot Moon Man golfs at night, then the standard signoff: weekly at lifefromthepath.org 10-11pm Central, clips at youtube.com/lifefromthepath, full shows at youtube.com/thepathonline.