December 17 2012

Show open: Christmas extravaganza announced

Ben opens from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper and announces the Live From The Path Christmas extravaganza on Wednesday at 7:30pm at the Crown Point 70 Center. He jokes the event is being run by the same people who make the weekly radio show, so they brought in more talented help: Jeff Arendale assembling the talent. Sponsor shout-outs to Valley Services woven in.

New sponsor Capona's, tongue theme, Dear LFTP tease

The hosts welcome new sponsor Capona's Coffee House in Ames and announce a mug giveaway with Jared Roy of On Purpose Promotions. Ben previews the evening's tongue theme and says they will field some Dear Live From The Path advice questions, though none are actually answered in this episode.

The Pope's Twitter account riff

Comedy riff on the Pope firing up a Twitter account and receiving hateful responses. The hosts imagine the Pope's social-media workflow and whether he types the tweets himself or dictates them. Mike's recurring Pope-style advice bit is introduced.

GodIsImaginary proof 29: communion as cannibalism

• Is communion ritualistic cannibalism?

The hosts walk through proof 29 of the GodIsImaginary.com 50-proofs series, which argues communion (Mark 14, Luke 22, John 6:53) looks like ritualistic cannibalism. They answer that this only proves the author dislikes God, not that God isn't real, and teach 1 Corinthians 11 on taking the Lord's Supper seriously. Next week they will take proof 30, 'Examine God's sexism'.

Jeff Arendale in-studio: house band and Christmas rehearsal

The hosts promote livefromthepath.org (past clips, the Secular vs. Solomon quiz, prior music guests including Bethany Joy Johnson and Double J) and then interview Jeff Arendale in the studio about leading the house band for the Christmas extravaganza. Jeff describes a strong first rehearsal with Sean Covington, Randy Dreesen and his band; the hosts joke about Sean's mandolin and punching Jeff last visit.

Break, sponsor reads, and secular Christmas songs

The hosts ask listeners to pray for the show and read the three sponsors: Valley Services, Capona's Coffee House (Mex Mocha recommendation), and On Purpose Promotions. Banter covers secular 'pagan hit' Christmas songs like Elvis's 'Here Comes Santa Claus' and Gene Autry's 'Rudolph', plus a Luke/Theopolis vaccination joke.

James 3: the tongue is a fire

A host reads James 3 at length ('How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire... the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness... no human being can tame the tongue'), noting it has weighed on him for weeks after tragic news and how people use their words.

Heat-of-the-moment speech with spouses and others

Discussion of how we treat a spouse's heated words as deliberate and character-revealing while excusing our own. The hosts talk about 15-minute apologies, whether our words add to the conversation or just the noise, and speaking to provoke people who already agree with us.

Aslan and Susan: gracious responses to kids

A host tells the Prince Caspian scene where Susan fails to follow Aslan and apologizes; instead of rebuking her, Aslan asks 'do you need a little extra bravery today?' and breathes on her. Applied to parenting: treat a kid's smack as intentional but a spelling mistake as a mistake, and use the tongue as a teaching tool with margin of grace rather than a weapon.

Roundtable: running mouths, gossip, and prayer over white-knuckling

The hosts confess their own tongue failures: an abrupt personality that crosses the line fast, Facebook 'lobbing out bombs', high unspoken expectations that turn into gossip (the Dan/Troy/Ben Green Bay bit), and damage to their kids. The conclusion is giving speech to God rather than trying to work harder.

Mike's Pope-style advice: don't ruin someone else's witness

• How should a Christian act so as not to ruin someone else's witness?

Delivering his recurring Pope-style advice, Mike tells listeners not to ruin someone else's witness: if you claim the name of Christ, claim the actions of Christ too, since others are working to represent Christ to people and your careless behavior undermines them. He admits he has ruined others' witness himself.

Sign-off: see you at the Christmas extravaganza

Closing invite to the Live From The Path Christmas Extravaganza on December 19th, with the Christmas broadcast on 99.3 KTIA on Saturday the 22nd and video on the regular Monday web broadcast at livefromthepath.org.