June 16, 2014 Podcast

Show open

Produced intro music and voiceover: 'Live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper. You are live from the path.'

Welcome, website chat, and the repentance debate

• Is repentance a process or a decision point?

A host welcomes listeners and points them to the chat on the show website, then the hosts spar over whether repentance is a process or a decision point — 'repenting again' versus never having really repented the first time.

Framing the episode: what shakes our sense of loving God

• What makes a believer start doubting whether they really love God?
• What does it mean to 'hear from God,' and what is normative for believers?

A host frames the night's question, picking up last week's thread about his seven-year-old daughter wondering whether she really loves God: what contributes to the thought process where a believer feels inadequate — especially when comparing their experience of 'hearing from God' to other people's?

Boova's childhood sense of a call to pastor

Boova (addressed on-air as 'Buva') recounts feeling called to be a pastor at age 10 or 11 while walking alone in a soccer park — telling his father and his pastor, being presented to the congregation, then letting the memory fade — and now questioning whether it was God or childhood excitement as his personality and faith have grown.

Harriet's fleece tests and the camp call to ministry

Harriet (addressed as Dave Herrick/David) describes early 'fleece'-style tests modeled on Gideon for decisions like which college to attend, and being woken at a youth camp when he prayed 'God, if you want this, wake me up' during a call to full-time Christian service; he and his wife error-check answers against each other.

The dream that taught grace: 'Do I know you?'

Harriet tells the dream that reframed his faith: dead and outside heaven's gates, an angel can't find his name in the book of life, and Jesus — after a warm smile — asks 'Do I know you?' He woke realizing his good-Christian resume 'don't account for squat' unless Christ knows him, and says God then invited him to try fundraising for an overseas project by faith instead of 'the book method.'

Beyond a gut feeling; Pathway backs the mission

A host and Dan probe what Harriet's 'hearing from God' actually felt like — no audible voice, but a confidence 'beyond a gut feeling.' Dan adds that when Harriet's family came to Pathway, he sensed God saying to support them though he couldn't explain why — and the church did, for a long time.

The host's position and Dan's fourth-grade call

A host places himself in Boova's boat — no such experiences — and asks what the right reaction is for someone in that corner. Dan recounts feeling a clear call to ministry in fourth grade after his family received poor biblical counsel, later trying to walk away from it in Bible college over a girlfriend, and finding God 'wouldn't let me fight it.'

Harriet: ask God, and chase what grows your faith

Asked for his reaction to the base question, Harriet advises simply asking God, examining how you spend your time, and deliberately putting yourself where faith grows; nothing God says to you will trump what's already in the Bible.

You can be faithful without a special experience

• Can a believer faithfully follow Christ and never have a special experience of God?

The hosts agree: a believer can faithfully follow Christ and never have the kind of experience Harriet describes. All share the generic assignment — 'go out and make disciples' — while God occasionally 'moves his chessboard.' A host adds that Western Christians rarely put themselves in environments where they must rely on God, citing Matthew on provision of food and clothes.

Boova reevaluates; a host says God is not unclear

Boova starts reexamining past situations for God's voice. A host cautions that this can be 'a completely unnecessary place to live' — where God speaks, 'you'll know it'; God is not unclear.

Harriet: $20,000 appears, and the obedience lesson

Harriet continues: the promised money — $20,000 from sources six degrees removed — arrived exactly when needed for the first Middle East trip. The second trip taught obedience instead: a school project died, the team was turned around at the Iowa airport ('you've done what I asked — now go home'), and later God answered a plea for clarity with 'Why? You heard me the first time.'

A host on expecting God to resolve things our way

A host reflects that much of the tension comes from expecting God to resolve things the way the world would — indulging our 'did you do that?' — and finds comfort in putting God back in his proper place, which stops the negotiation.

Boova: a placed-here calling, peace, and his father's leaving

Boova shifts from a missional 'go forth' model to a 'you've been placed here for this reason' sense of calling — sharing the gospel where he is, and recognizing God's peace arriving in perfectly timed moments. He says he can now look back on his father leaving as the best thing that ever happened to him.

How do you vet feelings — God or bad bread?

• How do you tell whether a feeling is God working or just emotion?

A host presses the discernment question: if you feel unease, is God working on you or did you eat bad bread? The Holy Spirit promises peace, so peace can indicate his work — but feelings can't be fully trusted either.

Dan: adrenaline versus the Holy Spirit; the 40-day fast

Dan, speaking as a preacher, describes the difficulty of discerning whether a mid-sermon impulse is adrenaline, crowd energy, or the Holy Spirit — his counsel: prepare diligently and trust your notes. He tells of a megachurch pastor friend who did a 40-day juice-and-water fast desperate to hear from God, heard nothing, and had to learn 'that's okay.'

Rounding out: God's Word is sufficient

The hosts land the conversation: God's Word is sufficient — he may do things beyond it but never against it. Dan cites Jesus to Thomas: blessed are those who believe without seeing. Others' experiences don't make Scripture less sufficient or you less faithful; the feeling of inadequacy comes from Christian subculture, not God.

Mid-show break: radio sign-off and sponsors

A host signs off the KTA radio audience, reads sponsor spots for Westfield Veterinary Clinic in Johnston and Bob Eisenlauer (ASR 'Bob Eisenhower') of the Eisenhower team, gives the show email, and jokes 'read your Bible... only if you really want to.'

Fleeces, Gideon, Samuel, and casting lots

• Is it appropriate to 'fleece' God for guidance on big life decisions?
• When did casting lots fall out of favor, and is it still reliable?

Back from break, a host asks whether it's appropriate to 'fleece' a decision like having another child. Harriet retells Gideon's fleece in detail, plus Samuel mistaking God's voice for Eli's, and the Old Testament practice of casting lots; a host asks when casting lots fell out of favor.

Boova: is checking it faithlessness or wisdom?

Boova wrestles aloud: if he thinks God called him to something (even a good biblical thing like housing the homeless), is testing it a lack of faith — or is refusing to check just fabricating a Zimbabwe-giraffe mission from a dream? He fears repeated fleecing could become disobedience.

Dan's move to Johnston: three fleeces

Dan describes the year-and-a-half of prayer before moving from Atlantic: three fleece criteria — the church leadership's full backing, his wife Cheryl's full backing, and a $20,000 financial figure — each met 'on the nose,' ending the temptation to keep testing.

Boova on not asking and not listening

• What does it mean to honestly listen for God's voice?

Boova concludes he needs to put more 'fleeces' out because he makes decisions without asking God at all; his attempts at silent listening collapse fast — a six-hour prayer-room plan lasted four minutes. The hosts turn it into the night's question: what does it mean to honestly listen for God's voice?

Can you turn God into a vending machine?

• Can you wrongly try to turn God into a vending machine even for the right reasons?

A host asks whether you can wrongly try to turn God into a vending machine even for the right reasons. The answer: God won't become one; the 'I posture, he reacts' threshold idea is backwards. Moses, Isaiah, and Mary weren't waiting to hear from God — they were living faithfully when called. The hosts warn against a Christian subculture that burdens believers with a norm God never promised; 'if you love me, obey my commandments' is the baseline.

Harriet: giving it all away — twice

Harriet closes his testimony: twice, five years apart, he and his wife felt told to give away all their money — first $1,500 with no job, later $15,000 to fund a project for the poor — and both times God provided; they've never worried about money since. The foundation of faith, he says, is the Bible and the person of Jesus, not mysticism.

Dear LFTP: should we have a baby?

• Should we have a baby given our fighting relationship?

The Dear LFTP letter: a listener's live-in boyfriend Ethan fights constantly, sleeps on the couch, won't work while she pays all the bills for her two daughters and his one — and wants a baby with her. 'Do you think it's a good idea for us to have a baby?'

The advice: terrible idea; get a Bible

The verdict is unanimous and swift: terrible idea — 'put your house in order' first. Dan advises getting a Bible as the roadmap for family dynamics and decisions, becoming a follower of Christ, and getting right with Jesus before anything else.

The Secular answer

A host reads the 'Secular' answer — the world-wisdom persona: not only a bad idea but a terrible one, because babies are expensive and she's already carrying a heavy load — drawing pushback that babies are human beings, not a financial liability like a Camry.

July 15 concert announcement and outro

A host announces a July 15 concert at Zeke's sponsored by the show with three bands — As We Are, Echo, and As Clouds Break — then fumbles the outro music and signs off.