May 26, 2014 Podcast

Show open and tonight's lineup

A host opens the show from the Pathway Studios in Johnston and previews the episode: Mike's Pope-style advice, an article on domestic-violence statistics and a social experiment on bystander reactions, Boova's parenting advice, a pastor accused of hate speech over a sign about people going to hell, and guest David Shedlock, author of With Christ in the Voting Booth. The hate-speech pastor topic is teased here but never returns on air.

Interview: David Shedlock on With Christ in the Voting Booth

• How should Christians view government and the political process?
• Is it acceptable for a Christian to abstain from voting or vote only some races?

David Shedlock, introduced as the author of With Christ in the Voting Booth, describes how the book began as a defense of Mike Huckabee's potential 2012 run and became a scriptural look at government, human fallenness, and civic duty. He argues Christians expect too much of government ('government too important'), that voting is acceptable but not always required, that a candidate's positions on abortion and same-sex marriage matter and that he personally cannot vote for a non-Christian, and that a vote is 'between you and God' like the prayer closet. He discloses he did not vote for president in the last election (would not vote for Romney, a Mormon, partly over the spiritual cost of affirming Mormonism) and took heat for it. The hosts press him on whether abstaining hands the election to the other side; he answers that not voting for Obama is also 'a vote for Romney' by the same logic. He notes the American way is not necessarily the biblical way, cites Samuel/Kings/Chronicles and Jehoshaphat as political narratives, and compares Jehoshaphat's era to today's liberals and conservatives. Where to buy the book is covered: Christian Book Distributors online, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle.

Pope-style advice: the crappy Volvo vs. the bus

Introduced in the show open as Mike's Pope-style advice, a host delivers the extended metaphor: people treat their walk with Christ like mass transit versus driving their own crappy Volvo behind the bus. Riders surrender control over route, company, and schedule; Volvo drivers want Jesus to announce the destination so they can follow at a comfortable distance and detour around dodgy parts of town. The real barrier, he concludes, is not fear of people or places but unwillingness to let someone else drive — and he admits he told his wife three days instead of the suggested full week of letting her make his decisions. The punchline: get out of the Volvo, get on the bus; 'the holy spirit bus' beats the 'manageable sin bus.' Dan jokes that hearing 'Jesus Take the Wheel' convinced him to stay in the car.

Chat question: hearing the bus driver you can't see

• How do you ride the bus with a driver you don't clearly see or hear all the time?

A listener's chat question is read on air: how do you ride the bus with a driver you don't clearly see or hear? Dave Herak, called on by name, answers with Gideon throwing out the fleece as a biblical example of devising a system to discern God's will. The hosts add that scripture is God's revelation, that 'seek and ye shall find / knock and the door will be opened' applies, and that God asks faithfulness in means while he orchestrates the ends.

Proactive love over sin management; weakness and God's strength

The hosts extend the bus metaphor: instead of 'target-practice' sin management, follow the proactive commands of scripture — referencing Dan's recent sermon on 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and noting 'there's literally no room for my current personality in that description of love.' They argue the summation of the law and prophets is love God and love people, and that a God-shaped heart makes sin unappealing on its own. The conversation turns to weakness: parts of us must die rather than be excused as personality, God works through weakness rather than strengths, and churches wrongly slot people into ministries by aptitude questionnaires — 'putting God in a box' even under the guise of his service.

Sponsors and announcements

Sponsor reads: Bob Eisenlauer (whose birthday is this week; eisenhowerteam.com/islenauerteam.com) for buying or selling a house, and Westfield Veterinary Hospital in Johnston, with a story about the host's dog having a growth removed. The host also teases 'giant flaming news' coming in three to four weeks and asks listeners to pray for upcoming God decisions for the show.

Domestic violence video: the double-standard debate, part 1

• Is there a double standard in how we react to man-on-woman versus woman-on-man violence, and is it justified?

A host describes a street social experiment in England where bystanders intervene when a man threatens a woman but laugh when a woman attacks a man, plus a graphic claiming 40% of domestic violence is woman-on-man. He admits his 'sexist' first reaction: he doesn't consider a woman shoving a man real domestic violence, and asks whether the double standard is justified. David Shedlock distinguishes the civil government's duty to treat cases alike from interpersonal instinct to protect the weaker. Dan tells an MMA cage-fighter story to show he shares the double standard. Dave Herak asks whether chivalry plays in, prompting the Titanic 'women and children first' analogy. Boova argues there should be no difference at all — hitting is hitting — while the others say their differing reactions track the real difference in likely physical damage. Ends with the KTIA radio break thanking David Shedlock and promoting the book on Amazon.

Domestic violence debate, part 2: reaction vs. consequences

After the break Boova restates his position: stopping the violence should look the same regardless of who hits whom; the video was about intervention, not police. David Shedlock reframes it scripturally: either spouse hitting the other violates the command for husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and for wives to respect their husbands. A host tells a story from his second year of marriage — his wife hit him with a garbage-can lid and he didn't call police — then asks whether he'd be treated the same if he hit her, exposing the consequence-level double standard. The group debates size and strength (could the man stop it himself?), whether that makes it 'not abuse,' and whether a child hitting a parent changes the calculus. They land roughly where they started: all hitting is wrong, but reactions differ because likely damage differs.

Boova's parenting advice: the goddaughter, the beard, and the spit-up

Boova, self-billed as 'John Buva on parenting,' delivers his single-man parenting advice from a day with his five-month-old goddaughter: she yanked his beard with both hands, nearly ripping it out, then spit up down into it after her bottle — the most disgusting thing that's happened to him, handled by smiling, handing her over, and shampooing his face. His advice: don't have a beard with a child. The fathers pile on with their own gross-out stories — a three-year-old putting dice in the dog's rear and sniffing them, and pulling a thumbtack from a toddler's mouth.

Dear LFTP: the husband who rifles through everything

• My new husband goes through all my things and says marriage gives him the right. Please help before I end my new marriage.

A host reads a Dear LFTP letter: the writer's new husband goes through her mail, closet, glove compartment, and car trunk, claiming marriage gives him the right; she feels violated and asks for help before ending her second marriage. The hosts joke about his 'prospector personality' but agree the behavior signals a trust problem, while David Shedlock says he can't relate — in his marriage everything is shared. Then the Secular answer is read: great guys don't rifle through wives' belongings after being asked not to, the divorce's real cause may be unknown, and therapy or accepting the quirk are the options.

Outro: prayer request, book plug, sign-off

The hosts sign off for KTIA and the podcast: ask for prayer over the big decisions coming in the next three to four weeks, thank David Shedlock again and point listeners to With Christ in the Voting Booth on Amazon and his Facebook page, and invite email to info@lifeinthepath.org — including from people who hate the show.