October 27, 2014 Podcast

Show open and hibachi night banter

A produced intro voiceover opens from the Pathway Studios in Johnston Proper, then the live host starts the show apologizing in advance for possible sleepiness after the group's 'big hibachi night.' The host recounts eating baby octopus (crunchy, spicy, a reaction like the two-year-old's) and complains that buffet dessert selections — especially Chinese buffets — never impress him except for cheap chocolate pudding.

Tonight's lineup

The host previews the show: a round of Secular vs Solomon (is a proverb worldly wisdom or biblical wisdom), Dear Life From The Path advice letters, and the next installment of the 'What I gained when I left my religion' series from time.com (recapping last week's #6, 'getting Sunday mornings back').

What I gained when I left my religion, #7: better health

• Is there anything about how the church handles its affairs that would give the impression physical health should not be prioritized?

The hosts discuss item #7 from the time.com series, 'better health' — the writer's claim that leaving religion shifted priorities so physical health mattered more, illustrated with a mud run. The hosts largely find the basis of the claim weak, but grant a kernel of truth: churches can overemphasize the spiritual and intellectual at the expense of the physical, treating prayer and Bible study as sedentary activities while forgetting believers are physical people having a physical experience. One host coins 'keep the lard' as a riff on 'sell the nard, give it to the poor.'

What I gained when I left my religion, #8: better sex

• Does the Christian faith's view of the body keep believers from fully embracing sex in marriage?

Item #8 claims leaving religion brought 'better sex' because religious devotion teaches body shame and keeps people from being 'at home in their own body.' The hosts push back: God invented sex for marriage, designed it pleasurable and bonding, and shame is the enemy of Christianity, not its product. They concede the church has contributed to an unhealthy view of sex by condemning it wholesale (the 'Catholic issue' of finding the line and taking two steps back) instead of teaching its proper context, and by bailing on the conversation around sex and money.

Secular vs Solomon

The game show segment: the host reads proverbs and contestants — addressed on-air as Dan Hudson, Dave Herrick, and John Boova — must call 'Secular' (with a country of origin) or 'Solomon' (with a Proverbs citation). Rounds cover a Korean fish proverb, Proverbs 11:30, Proverbs 13:8, Proverbs 16:19, a Chinese finger-and-moon proverb, a German dog proverb, Proverbs 17:27 (cited muddily on-air as 15 / 17:17), Proverbs 20:20, a Portuguese lie-to-your-friend proverb, and the Romanian 'God gives the milk but not the pail,' which sparks an extended debate about whether the proverb is true — the hosts conclude God provides both the means and the effort, not half a task. The segment closes with a pitch to play past games at lifeinthepath.org.

Dear LFTP: the macabre Halloween yard

• What can we do about a neighbor's vulgar Halloween display that scares the children who walk past?

A letter from 'Spooked in Topeka' asks what to do about a neighbor whose increasingly macabre Halloween display (bodies hanging from trees, RIP gravestones) scares children, and whether to take up a collection to bribe him to stop. The hosts mock the bribe idea as rewarding the behavior, joke about a Frankenstein-mob zombie crawl joining the display, then land on real advice: Ben suggests having a direct conversation with the neighbor — he may not know he's freaking kids out — and another host agrees the writer is probably the one offended, not the kids, so find out what's actually true before escalating. The 'secular answer' advises explaining to children that it's all in fun.

Dear LFTP: the wedding-finger tattoo

• Should I remove the small wedding-finger tattoo of my husband's initials to avoid judgment from patients?

A letter from 'Inked for Love,' a nurse, asks whether to remove the small ring-finger tattoo of her husband's initials she got at 18 now that she feels self-conscious about patients judging her. The hosts advise simply: keep the tattoo if she loves it, remove it if it bothers her, or wear a ring over it — with a running joke about losing a ring in a patient's intestines and 'ringworm.' The 'secular answer' agrees with her husband: she is entitled to express her love as she wishes.

Dear LFTP: two feuding friends at the holidays

• How do I handle Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners when two friends I love are now feuding?

A listener who hosts two childless, mutually hostile friends at Thanksgiving and Christmas asks whether to invite both, neither, or alternate after their summer row. The hosts advise not starting with alternating holidays but first sitting the women down with an honest ultimatum — 'if you can't get along, I can't have you both at the same event' — and letting the resulting pressure be a catalyst toward reconciliation, since the deeper problem is the feuding friendship itself, not the seating chart. The 'secular answer' recommends alternating holidays.

Break promo, comments, and a premarital-sex question

• If I have had sex outside marriage but choose to wait from today onward, can it be as fulfilling as if I were a virgin?

A station break promotes the Monday 10PM show at lifefromthepath.org and Saturdays at 7 on the Truth Network 99.3 FM. Returning, the hosts read YouTube comments (including the 'milk from nipple number three' callback) and answer a listener question: if I have had sex outside marriage but wait from today onward, can it be as fulfilling as if I were a virgin? The hosts say yes — forgiveness and a new life in Christ make it a situational question, not a timing one; the comparison to a virgin couple is apples-to-oranges; obedience within God's design is what makes it fulfilling.

The top-20 most-asked Bible questions

Dave Herrick found gotquestions.org's top-20 most frequently asked Bible questions (women in ministry, homosexuality, tattoos, eternal security, interracial marriage, Cain's wife, suicide, animals in heaven, tithing, tongues, dinosaurs, baptism, alcohol, gambling, the Trinity, sex before marriage, where Jesus was for three days, divorce). The hosts observe the pattern: people approach the Bible looking for moral guideposts for things they want to do, rather than to know Jesus — like asking a wife how far you can go with the cute neighbor instead of pursuing her.

Dear LFTP: Frank the neat freak

• Am I right in seeing more minuses than pluses in a relationship with Frank, the neat freak who has no interest in the arts?

A listener ('Neat Enough in Pennsylvania') weighs a relationship with 'Frank,' a super neat freak with no interest in culture or the arts, asking if she is seeing more minuses than pluses. The hosts conclude she is inventing flaws to avoid admitting she just doesn't want to date him — the '360-degree gaze' is normal room-scanning, Frank has never complained — and advise honesty: figure out the real reason and part company cleanly rather than splitting hairs. Comedy bits include the 'dribble on your chin' test and one host claiming the nickname 'Roomba.' The 'secular answer' says friendship is fine, dating is not.

Dear LFTP: the livestreamed funeral

• Was it inappropriate for a relative's funeral to be livestreamed?

A letter from 'Baffled in Boston' asks whether a relative's livestreamed funeral was inappropriate, arguing streaming can't accomplish goodbye or supporting the family. The hosts disagree: someone who can't attend (surgery, distance, cost) still gets real value — hearing tributes, sharing memories — even if it can't replicate in-person support; there's nothing implicitly wrong, though they joke about the wrong way to do it (pre-roll ads, enable chat, a Toyota Camry sponsorship). The 'secular answer' agrees, noting most streams are access-coded. The episode closes with the show sign-off.