September 17 2012

Show open and GodIsImaginary proof 18 announced

• Is heaven imaginary?

A host opens the show from the Pathway Studios in Johnston, Iowa, noting that guest Rick Gray is in the room. He introduces the week's continuing series: proof number 18 from the GodIsImaginary.com '50 proofs' site, which begins 'imagine heaven.' He predicts the author's angle is that heaven is foolish.

Double J in the studio: gigs and upcoming shows

Musical guest Double J joins the hosts in the studio. He runs through a busy week of shows: the House of Bricks in Des Moines the next night, Sheffield and Osceola the prior two days, and a return to the Unleash youth group in New Sharon where he grew up and mentored. The hosts praise his work at the Pathway Church fall kickoff.

Double J's move to Minnesota for the music scene

• How does a new artist break into the Minneapolis Christian music scene?

Double J tells the story of moving from Des Moines to Minneapolis: God overturned his plans, opened doors on housing and work, and resolved a threatening verbal-agreement apartment dispute. He chose Minneapolis over Nashville or Atlanta for its independent Christian music scene and plans to enter the Club Three Degrees band tournament, whose final round is judged by the head of Tooth & Nail Records. The hosts note many Spirit Midwest Festival artists come out of Minneapolis.

The Tank's nickname bit

The hosts banter over the nickname of an in-room regular called the Tank, formerly known as the Cheese Man and Statch. The discussion turns to his habit of wearing a tank top at shows before the show moves into the proof segment.

Proof 18 read aloud: the Chris-and-Norm dialogue on heaven

• Is heaven imaginary?

The hosts read aloud the GodIsImaginary.com proof 18 argument, a hypothetical dialogue between 'Chris' (the Christian) and 'Norm' (the skeptic) satirizing the rapture as described in the Left Behind books: bodies dematerialized to heaven, naked except for clothes, jewelry, hearing aids, and artificial joints left behind. The author's commentary concludes heaven is imaginary because every person's description of it differs.

Hosts rebut proof 18: Left Behind is not the Bible

The hosts argue the proof is specious: it attacks a fictional book rather than Scripture, since the word 'rapture' does not even appear in the Bible, and mixes Muslim and Mormon views of heaven with Christian ones. They note Revelation describes heaven with imagery precisely because it is beyond human comprehension, and that the glory of heaven is being with God, not meeting Benjamin Franklin. One host jokes about expecting Red Bull drinking fountains in heaven, and they close by saying a creator who made the heavens could manage the logistics of moving people there.

Proof 19 preview and podcast plug

• Do you ignore Jesus?

The hosts preview next week's proof 19, 'Notice that you ignore Jesus,' joking they might actually agree with it. They discuss the site's likely audience (people who already agree) and plug the YouTube channels and audio podcast, with a running gag about how the hour of audio will clog a listener's music shuffle and how one host once downloaded a hundred sermons on the book of Luke.

Double J performs 'City Lights'

After a brief intro where Double J explains that 'City Lights' is his first song speaking to what he sees in society and is a conscious, in-your-face new direction, he performs the song live in the studio.

Waking up Christians: the message behind City Lights and the Limitless EP

Discussing the song, Double J explains his new focus is 'waking people up,' especially Christians living in what he calls Christian atheism: believing in God but living as though He does not exist. He says he has been working on his singing voice since harsh critique at a Life Flight Missouri tournament and that the upcoming Limitless EP, hoped for January release, is about letting go of the past and limits to chase what one is capable of.

'Sinners saved by grace' is only half the story

A host shares an article about a man told by his father-in-law never to call himself 'just a sinner saved by grace' again, since that ignores that he was created to live through the fruits of the Spirit. The hosts agree that camping on unworthiness shackles believers to an existence they have escaped from, rather than living the Spirit-empowered life God intends.

Chat handles and the Pathway fall kickoff

The hosts riff on chat handles, proposing 'Hubba Bubba Double J' for the guest, then praise Double J's performance at the Pathway Church fall kickoff picnic, where kids and parents were distracted by inflatables. They agree that as a performer he plays for an audience of one, giving God his all regardless of crowd size, and that listeners still hear even when they are not watching the stage.

Fly-swatting banter

A host proudly reports killing fifteen flies that day with a swatter, sparking a comic debate about how long flies live. Later in the show a host corrects himself: according to Google and Wikipedia, a fly lives about a month, not three days.

Dear LFTP: the boyfriend who lives in the bathroom

• Am I overreacting about my boyfriend spending hours in the bathroom?
• Is he purposely trying to put space between us?

The Dear LFTP letter comes from a woman dating six years and living together a year whose boyfriend spends 45 minutes to two and a half hours a day in the bathroom with his computer, sometimes falling asleep there. The hosts advise that he is either sick or avoiding her, suggest honest conversation (and jokingly taking the bathroom door off), and urge her to get right with God and recognize the relationship is not in a holy position. The 'Secular' persona answers that he may be using the bathroom as a refuge from more togetherness than he can handle, and that she is not overreacting.

Fly correction and show sign-off setup

The hosts correct the earlier fly-lifespan claim, agree they have had more sympathy for flies than necessary, then set up Double J's closing song 'Limitless,' which he dedicates to anyone held back by the chains of what the world says they cannot do.

Double J performs 'Limitless' and show close

Double J performs 'Limitless,' the title song of his upcoming EP, about breaking the chains of worldly limits and becoming what God intends. The hosts close the show and sign off.