September 29, 2014 Podcast

Show open and pocket-watch banter

A host opens the show from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper. Banter follows about a pocket watch a host used to own: his wife bought it, he carried it in his pocket, then on his backpack, then lost it. He expected the story to end with ninjas or his Dungeons and Dragons game starting on time.

Tonight's lineup preview

A host previews the show: Mike's pope-style advice on what a Jesus-follower looks like, continuing the walkthrough of the TIME author's 'what I gained when I lost my religion' list, a Dear LFTP letter, an update on the homeless ministry with the Thankful Leper, and three musical guests in the studio.

Introducing the three musical guests

The guests introduce themselves. Mending Hope is a hip-hop artist from Newark, Ohio, doing ministry about six years. KingMC is from Phoenix, Arizona, doing music since 2002 (MC = mic controller/master of ceremonies; kingmcmusic.com; also on Facebook and ReverbNation), who used to write clean versions of secular rap instrumentals. River City Boy is a 17-year-old high school student from Lawrence, Kansas, sixth-generation Lawrence ('River City' for the Kansas River running through downtown).

Point 3 of the leaver's list: accepting people he formerly judged

A host recaps the TIME author's story (a former Christian who felt his faith was restricting him and walked away for freedom) and reads point 3 of 'what I gained when I lost my religion': the ability to accept people he formally judged, specifically the LGBT community. The author argues religion taught him something was wrong with gay people while also telling him to love them; leaving freed him to accept them and widen his circle of friends.

Identity, judgment, and how Jesus treated sinners

• Am I what I do - does my behavior define my core identity?

The hosts work through the leaver's point 3. A host argues identity is bigger than behavior (a murderer analogy: condemning harm is naming truth), and asks when 'the real you' shows up. They agree the church does extremes poorly: it regurgitates 'love the sinner, hate the sin' without living either, while Jesus never equivocated on sin yet sinners loved being around him. They argue religion has hijacked Christ's work: instead of introducing people to Jesus, the church assaults identity with a moral list, and pulls Christ's words out of the context of Christ. A host closes by charging listeners to be Bereans and verify everything against scripture.

Mending Hope's testimony

Mending Hope tells his story: born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, not raised in a Christian home, rough childhood, moved through Michigan and Washington to Ohio. After getting out of jail the Lord led him to open Genesis and then Exodus, and he started writing his feelings as rhymes. The name Mending Hope began as a joke with a friend. Shows came by word of mouth; his style mixes hip hop, dubstep, rock, pop, and worship. The coolest night: 27 kids gave their lives to the Lord at once in a jail (kids 14-17 awaiting prison for serious crimes). He does homeless ministry, got a midnight call from a former secular DJ needing a man of God, and wanted a metal ministry but says God assigned him hip hop.

Mending Hope performs 'Never Going Back'

A host asks for a taste of his rhymes; Mending Hope spits an older verse of 'Never Going Back,' about leaving a life of crime for Christ. He explains the Passion of the Christ movie changed his life: he sobbed through it despite arriving with drugs in his car, having brought tissues at his mother's suggestion. A host plugs Grace Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Lawrence, Kansas, where all three artists perform the next day, and notes Mending Hope's music is available at shows or via Facebook, email, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

KingMC's testimony and 'On the Rise'

• How did you get into music given such a rocky road, including homelessness?

KingMC tells his story: he grew up attending a church that rarely talked about Jesus (a sermon series on finding morality in Harry Potter); after high school his girlfriend broke up with him and he sank into a year-long depression, plotted his suicide, and on that day cried out to God: 'If you are real, I need you right now' - and 'He came.' He knew of Jesus but didn't know Jesus; he has been homeless twice. He always loved music (first album Michael Jackson, then R&B into hip hop; inspired by Third Base, Young Black Teenagers, and Vanilla Ice) and dedicated his rap to Jesus after a Rebecca St. James concert. A host reflects on whether he truly lives like God will show up. KingMC performs his verse from 'On the Rise,' a feature on his friend Marcus J's upcoming album. A host urges listeners to support such artists by attending shows and sharing their music, noting the Thankful Leper's similar access to people the hosts can't reach.

River City Boy's story and 'Unsure'

River City Boy shares his story: youngest of five (seven in the family) in a Christian, musical home - his parents met in a band called Desperado, named for the Eagles song. A percussionist who started writing music around age seven, he picked up guitar when his older siblings moved out; music and basketball got him through middle school. His sister Hannah, four years older, sings with him on tour. After a comedy detour about dogs vs cats in the Bible, he performs 'Unsure,' a Jack Johnson-style song about hard times and trusting God to guide you through them.

Radio sign-off and how the show funds itself

The hosts let the 99.9 KTA radio audience go and pitch the audio podcast at livefromthepath.org (with upcoming Dear LFTP and pope-style advice for podcast listeners). A host explains the show refuses Christian-radio-style pledge drives ('Thousand dollars makes you an apostle'), choosing to subsist on the Lord's providence and faithful advertisers who cover the radio time - which occasionally means computer crashes on air. 'That's what happens when you're Life From The Path.'

Deodorant-stone comedy bit

Extended comedy banter: a host's wife traded their regular deodorant for a wet stone. He reviews the earlier homemade baking-soda deodorant (scooped from a Tupperware, feeling 'like a mouse had vomited in your armpit') and demands 'the guy that sells commercial bad for you deodorant.' The hosts then bicker over whether Chernobyl was the facility and Pripyat the town. They agree any wet stone works as a pit detractor.

Pope-style advice: sell the whole kingdom, not your slice

Mike delivers the pope-style advice (a host asks, 'Is that your Pope style?'). He recounts talking to his brother Ben about homeless-ministry work in front of coworkers, who assumed he was talking to a 'Jesus man' and were thrown that he was loud: their image of a Christian is a stoic piece of paper that doesn't do anything. His advice: when inviting people to Christ, sell the truth of the whole kingdom - its joy and its sadness - not a phony slice of it; don't envy someone else's testimony. The hosts riff on envying dramatic stories (a host admits sometimes wishing he had a drug-and-prison past) and on being blown away instead by the person faithful since age five.

Dear LFTP: widow discovers her late husband's hidden prior marriage

• Should I ask my late husband's family about the previous marriage he kept secret, or let it go and be grateful for our 27 years together?

A host reads a Dear LFTP letter: the writer's husband recently died and among his papers she found evidence of an earlier marriage he never mentioned; they were married 27 years; both were widowed when they met. The hosts debate whether she should ask his family - noting the whole family seemingly kept it secret too, and that his being a widower rules out divorce/annulment theories. Mike's advice: it depends entirely on her heart and what she would regret not knowing ('if I don't find out, I won't regret it, then skip it'). The secular answer is read (the first marriage may have been divorced/annulled; she is entitled to know); the hosts dismiss it as legalistic and wrong on the facts.

Close and thanks

A host thanks Mending Hope, KingMC, and River City Boy for stopping by, plugs their Lawrence, Kansas show the next day and their online music, and signs off: 'Follow Jesus and have a good life.'