December 3 2012

Studio lights and opening banter

The hosts open from the Pathway Studios with listener banter about the audience smelling like Doritos, and a host shows off the studio decorated with Christmas lights and red-duct-taped rope light that he bets $20 will fall down mid-show.

What is Yule?

• What is Yule?

After caroling Sunday at a hospice and ChildServe, the hosts' daughters ask what Yule is and a host realizes he doesn't know either; production assistant Jacob pulls up Wikipedia: Yule is a religious festival observed by the historical Germanic peoples.

Sponsors and the great mug hunt

Ad reads for Valley Services (residential/commercial cleaning; call Charlotte at 515-277-5611) and On Purpose Promotions (cups, mugs, hats at OnPurposePromos.com), with a riff about a host drowning in 120 pages of mugs and giving up after three.

Tonight's lineup and respecting honest doubt

• Can spiritual authority be doubted respectfully -- i.e., can you have a real conversation with someone who argues God is imaginary?
• As Gentiles under grace, which rules, if any, are we subject to? Why did the Old Testament law go away?

The hosts preview the show: godisimaginary.com proof 27, Rachel Held Evans' book, and Dear Abbies. They reflect on respectful conversations with people who doubt God or were hurt by the church, citing Job, who never cursed God, and God's answer out of the whirlwind: 'stand as a man and I will ask you and you will answer.'

Proof 27: 'Think about life after death' read-through

• Is the soul real, or are humans just chemical reactions with no afterlife?

A host reads godisimaginary.com proof 27 in full: bacteria, mosquitoes, mice, chimps, dogs, and humans are all just chemical reactions, so nothing has a soul; the soul is as imaginary as Santa Claus, and Allah and the Quran get the same verdict.

Rebutting proof 27: the soul isn't chemistry

• Will animals be in heaven?

The hosts answer the proof: Christians don't dispute that bodies are chemical reactions; the proof's leap is a false dichotomy, since the soul was never claimed to be a chemical form. They note Genesis says man alone received God's breath, that 'soul' literally translates to breath, and that the proof offers zero disproof. A side debate: whether all creation, animals included, will be in heaven.

The goldfish wants into heaven

Comedy bit: a host voices a faux goldfish (identified in-audio as Ben's bit) begging Mike to take him to heaven because his fins can't bow; riffing on 'every knee shall bow, every tongue confess' becomes 'every fin will flop.'

Proof 27 verdict and the Buddhism rabbit hole

• Is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy?

Verdict: proof 27 proves nothing and its animal argument is irrelevant. Teasing proof 28 ('notice how many gods you reject') with its list of religions by followers leads to a long Buddhism digression: Siddhartha Gautama, religion vs philosophy, and a Wikipedia joke that the current Buddha is Paula Abdul. The hosts bail, pleading 90% ignorance.

Station break: KTIA, lottery, and sponsors again

Station IDs for the Monday internet stream and the Saturday 99.3 KTIA broadcast; the hosts blame their streaming troubles on the free YouTube setup, riff on why none of them should win the lottery (absolute power; Boova would buy a Chewbacca suit), and re-read the Valley Services and On Purpose Promotions ads for the radio audience.

'A Year of Biblical Womanhood' and what binds us

• As Gentiles under grace, which rules, if any, are we subject to? Why did the Old Testament law go away?
• What does God truly expect of women -- is there a prescription for biblical womanhood?

A CNN Belief blog post leads a host to Rachel Held Evans' book; he reads the synopsis aloud (a virtue a month; growing hair, making clothes, head coverings, camping in the front yard during her period). The hosts react: much of it is Old Testament law, Gentiles weren't under the law, and Christ fulfilled it -- so which rules, if any, carry over?

Why did the law go away?

Extended debate: one host asks where scripture says behavioral laws pass away; another answers fulfillment in Christ (Romans 6-7) -- the law prepared a holy, set-apart nation for the Savior. The slippery-slope worry: the same 'cultural change' argument is used on homosexuality; the counter: scripture itself (Jesus, Paul) marks what is maintained versus what is fulfilled.

How to read scripture without twisting it

Hermeneutics discussion: 1 Peter's jewelry passage warned against looking like a prostitute in that culture; reading it 'strictly' isn't automatically the conservative or correct reading. The hosts warn against twisting scripture to permit a lifestyle and against scholars who pervert the word, one confessing how hard it is to vet teachers. His landing point: major on loving God and loving people; if you must string five verses from three authors to make a point, you're probably off.

Live from the Path Christmas Extravaganza

Announcement of the Live from the Path Christmas Extravaganza, recording December 19 at Crown Point Community Center in Johnston (doors 7:30pm) with a live studio audience; Jeff Arundel leads the house band alongside local artists Daniel Brown of State on Sunday, Chris Roloff, Kevin Lindgren, and Sean Covington. It airs Saturday 10pm on KTIA and on Christmas Eve at the normal time.

Dear Live from the Path: the rude neighbor's guest list

• How do we tell our rude neighbor Jim it's not his party, and what do we do about the people he invited?

A Dear LFTP letter: a couple hosts a 10-year holiday party for neighbors; neighbor Jim keeps inviting uninvited guests, demanded the date by email, then emailed dozens of people himself. The hosts' comedic advice: tell Jim bluntly it's not his party, make him disinvite them (he won't), open the house anyway, and don't show up at the host's house uninvited.