July 29, 2013 Podcast

Show open and the 'deuces' theme

Ben opens the show from the Pathway Studios and lays out the episode's 'deuces' theme: two questions about people and the church (why they leave, why they don't come), two 'pope style' advice bits, and two Dear LFTP segments. He reads the sponsors (Westfield Veterinary Hospital and Bob Eisenlauer's team), gives the Monday night / KTIA schedule, and jokes about last week, when he talked alone for two hours and caught his own vocal tics while editing.

The hosts roast each other's vocal tics

Comedy bit where the studio roasts its own radio habits: Ben's embarrassing mouth noises caught on the edit waveforms, Mike repeating 'you know what I'm saying,' Boova gearing up six times before a point, and Dan firing off a thought, pausing, then admitting he had nothing to say. Ben's line about Dan 'shooting blanks' gets the tag and they warn listeners what to watch for.

Why are people leaving the church?

• Why are people leaving the church?

Ben frames the first of his two church questions, asking for examples from real daily interaction rather than hypothesizing. Answers: people bail because the church never built a genuine relationship with Christ in them; consumer reasons (worship style, which preacher or worship pastor they prefer after a church split); and conflict/politics/clickiness. Mike argues you can't worship God and then say the music is a dealbreaker, and that the American church has made consumers instead of disciples; Dan agrees the gospel work has become entertainment.

Why don't people come to the church?

• Why don't people come to the church, and is the claim that they aren't even true?

The second church question: is it even true that people aren't coming? Discussion moves to consumerism, church-hopping between the 'cool church' and others, entitlement culture, and people who claim to want a Lord until they hear what a Lord actually requires. The hosts reject survey stats (85% Christian nation vs. 30% exits) and argue the 'intolerance of God' objection, rightly read, is actually a legitimate reason to leave: at least the person understood the message and disagreed.

True community: rebuke, discipline, and the Jesus meter

• What is the church trying to do that is failing with people?
• How do you fix the consumer 'donut shop' church?

A long closing round on community: Mike asks whether anyone could take a rebuke from 90% of their church, confesses fear of man about asking a fellow believer 'when do you Sabbath,' and says grace has curdled into apathy; the hosts lament the church's cowardice on church discipline. Boova introduces the 'Jesus meter' — the bar where going to church once a week licenses everything else — and the 'donut shop' church as a Sunday pit stop instead of the bride of Christ; the fix offered is pursuing Christ personally and modeling it, not soft-selling Jesus like an advertisement. The segment closes with Ben's conviction that the gospel is compelling on its own and needs no cultural paint job.

Station break, KTIA sign-off, and the pope tease

Ben signs off the KTIA 99.3 radio audience, points listeners to livefromthepath.org for the podcast, archives, and artists, and Mike demands the promised 'two popes' advice be delivered next.

Boova's pope-style advice: stop backseat driving God

• Why do we backseat God on big decisions instead of praying about them?

Boova's 'pope style advice': he's moving into his own place for the first time and has been stressing over every decision, backseating God on all of them, without praying once. The counsel: you are not as smart, powerful, or just as God; stop holding the wheel. He gets roasted with an 'I like to move it' song bit while he talks.

Dorcas, Peter, and praying about decisions

Nathaniel ties Boova's advice to the raising of Dorcas: before Peter told her to rise, he knelt down and prayed — while Nathaniel admits he rarely prays about his own big life decisions. The hosts name the pattern: if the idea is mine it can't be God's will, and if it's God's it must be the hardest option — a textbook pride issue that makes discerning God's voice feel impossible.

Resurrection prayers and what happens when nothing happens

• What happens when you pray for a dead person to be raised and nothing happens?
• Do miracles happen so the gospel can be presented, or to glorify the person praying?

The Dorcas discussion extends into awkward territory: what if Peter prays and Dorcas doesn't rise — how awkward is that prayer in front of the family? A host recalls a sermon speaker who admitted he prayed for dead people to rise and it 'hasn't really worked out.' Conclusion: miracles always came with a gospel purpose, not to randomly resurrect people, and God isn't in the business of glorifying the person who prays — if Mike raised someone, the questions would come to Mike and he'd become 'Team Tebow.'

The second Jesus from Brazil

A comedy bit launched from Mike's story of a man in Brazil claiming to be the second coming of Jesus, arriving in an Escalade wearing bugle boy pants. The hosts riff: this is what a low bar looks like; then Mike and Ben take turns playing 'second Jesus' meeting the hosts, asking for donuts and cable airtime.

The movie church and the misused Holy Spirit

Mike describes a movie scene of a charismatic church where a preacher sprints across the front of the stage and collapses winded, and Nathaniel tells of an interpretive dance during a sermon. From there the hosts argue the Holy Spirit is the most misinterpreted part of the New Testament: spectacle done 'in the Lord's house' that nobody would do in a living room looks disingenuous, and claiming a line on the Spirit — especially to excuse weird behavior — shows you underestimate Him.

The Spirit glorifies God, not you — outro

Closing: the hosts agree the Holy Spirit comes to glorify God, not people — nobody in the New Testament bragged about Philip flying; the glory went to the Spirit and the work. Ben runs out of time for the second pope advice, promotes the weekly prayer list (info@livefromthepath.org), and closes the show.