June 24, 2013 Podcast

Show open and agenda

A host opens the live show from the Pathway Studios in Johnston with a self-deprecating microphone-sniff bit, welcomes the chat and radio listeners, and previews the night: in-studio musical guest Chandra Knutson (seg-00015), a round of Secular vs. Solomon, bonus proof #52 of the '50 proofs God is imaginary' walkthrough, and Dear LFTP advice letters.

Tightrope walk and 22 minutes of prayer

A host recounts watching the Grand Canyon tightrope walk on the Discovery Channel: the walker crossed untethered while praying aloud for about 22 minutes, and the hosts marvel that millions watched straight prayer on TV. Commercials for the nude-survival show Naked and Afraid airing during the broadcast provide comic contrast.

Meet Chandra Knutson, part 1

The hosts interview guest Chandra Knutson: originally from Harlan, Iowa, singing since age five, songwriting since 15, writing Christian music from 17 in the traveling youth ministry band Face Down, and now a barista at Java Joe's. Coffee preferences and a running joke about the fedora her job requires round out the segment.

Chandra Knutson performs 'Listening'

Chandra introduces 'Listening,' a song she wrote as a high school senior for Face Down, writing a new song each week to match that Sunday's sermon, then performs it live in the studio. The hosts react with delight, praising the honesty and dynamics of the performance.

EP 'Rotten', gigs, and worship-leading

The hosts plug Chandra's EP 'Rotten' (on iTunes and CD Baby), her Facebook and YouTube pages, and her upcoming gigs: July 13 at Collide, the Christian music rock fest at Point of Grace Church in Waukee, and August 13 on the Bill Riley Stage at the Iowa State Fair. She shares that she was just hired part-time as Point of Grace's worship leader.

50 proofs bonus #52: watch your minister, pastor, or priest

• Does the 'watch your minister, pastor, or priest' proof show that God is imaginary?

Continuing the godisimaginary.com '50 proofs' series, the reader (addressed as Ben in the audio) reads bonus proof #52, which claims ministers ignore four biblical prescriptions: private prayer (Matthew 6:5-8), a quiet life (1 Thessalonians 4:11), no wealth (Matthew 6:19; 19:21), and miraculous signs (Mark 16). The hosts rebut each point as out of context, note the proof wrongly elevates clergy above other believers, and judge it the weakest of the proofs — 'God is probably not imaginary.'

Chandra Knutson performs 'God Is There'

Chandra introduces 'God Is There,' a song aimed at youth facing peer pressure and confusion about right and wrong, about God being present in trouble and prayer, then performs it live. The hosts praise the dynamic changes, and the discussion turns to her EP availability at Collide and the state fair.

Collide, backup dancers, and game rules

Banther about Collide, backup dancers, and the invented 'sniffy' dance move leads into the rules for America's fastest-growing internet game show, Secular vs. Solomon: the host gives a proverb and players must say whether it is biblical wisdom (Solomon) or secular wisdom, naming the country of origin for secular entries.

Secular vs. Solomon: ten proverbs

The hosts, the guest, and the players addressed by name in the audio (Mike, Dan Hudson, 'John Boova the third', and Chandra Knutson) play ten rounds: 'A light is still a light' (secular, Austria); 'God grant me a good sword and no use for it' (secular, Poland); 'Let a man meet a she bear robbed of her cubs' (Solomon, Proverbs 17:12); the honey proverb (Solomon, Proverbs 25:16); 'May you get to heaven a half hour before the devil knows you're dead' (secular, Ireland); 'The wise will inherit honor' (Solomon, Proverbs 3:35); 'The lazy man raises poor cabbage' (secular, Sweden); 'A decision made at night may be changed in the morning' (secular, Samoa, via a fictional Burma-Samoan secession gag); 'The blessing of the Lord makes rich' (Solomon, Proverbs 10:22); and the gazelle proverb (Solomon, Proverbs 6).

Dear LFTP: the unreciprocated dinner invitations (letter read)

• Why are we never invited to dinner when we invite our friends over?

A Dear LFTP letter is read on-air: a couple who often host friends for dinner notice they are never invited to their friends' homes, despite always bringing food and clearing dishes. The hosts tell radio listeners the answer comes at the end of the podcast, then sign off the KTAA broadcast.

Dear LFTP: why no dinner invitation? (podcast-only answer)

In the podcast-only portion, the hosts speculate why the couple isn't invited back — maybe they cook too well to compete with, maybe they're smelly, maybe they brag about their own parties — then read the secular answer: the friends may be embarrassed they can't entertain as lavishly, or were never taught hospitality is reciprocal; the honest fix is to ask the friends directly.

Dear LFTP: 'book burner' and children's Bibles

• Is there a good children's Bible for a toddler that doesn't omit sin, repentance, and judgment?

A letter signed 'book burner' asks for a children's Bible for his 1.5-year-old son Judah: the two garage-sale picture Bibles omit sin, repentance, and judgment — one says only that God decided to flood the earth and told Noah to save the animals — and present Jesus merely as a best friend rather than Lord. The hosts recommend the Jesus Storybook Bible (Zondervan) as the best start for a toddler, then Erggemeyer's Bible Storybook and a kids' NIV as the child grows, stressing that fathers should personally supply the missing doctrine rather than just reading books at their kids.

Dear LFTP: the 19-year-old who wants to move out

• Can a 19-year-old move out without submitting to his father's apartment inspections?

A 19-year-old high school graduate working full time as a general manager for a furniture corporation wants to move out, but his father demands to approve the apartment and do random checkups. The hosts advise that if the father isn't paying, there are no inspections — though welcoming help with safety and repairs is different from inspections — while the secular answer counsels a non-confrontational approach: ask the father to help find a safe place, and settle the surprise-visit question once settled in.

Show close and 'Set Me On Fire'

The hosts wrap the show — past episodes on the site, the musical interludes coming to the YouTube channel within a day or two, the podcast subscription — and remind listeners of Chandra's EP 'Rotten,' her Java Joe's shift, Collide, and the state fair. Chandra introduces her newest song 'Set Me On Fire,' written about drifting into a lukewarm Christian life of working and forgetting God, and performs it as the show closes.