December 29, 2014 Podcast

Show open from the Pathway studios

The hosts open the show live from the Pathway studios in Johnston. The lead host says he is "in charge of this ship," welcomes listeners on 99.3 KTIA, and gives the contact email info@livefromthepath.org for complaints, adulation, and reasons the show should not be on the air. A host addresses "Ben" in the studio.

Tonight's year-end rundown

The hosts preview the year-end show: the "10 men Christian women should never marry" list, with a YouTube video of four daughters' scathing reactions to the list to be posted later; YouVersion's most popular verses of 2014; a Newsweek cover article on how little Christians know the Bible; Dear LFTP advice; and possibly some trivia.

#1 The unbeliever: no missionary dating

• If a Christian woman has already married the wrong man, what should she do?

A host reads the article's first item, quoting 2 Corinthians 6:14 against being bound together with unbelievers and warning that missionary dating is never a wise strategy. The hosts agree it rarely works, though it is a hard truth to speak to new believers. One host testifies he broke up with his girlfriend the day he was baptized because he could not go back to his old life. They add the caveat that God redeems existing marriages when one spouse comes to faith — the advice targets the outset, not a reason to leave.

#2 The liar: trust and truth-telling

Item two says to run from a man who lies about his past, since marriage must be built on trust — and women err by marrying a promise instead of the man in front of them. Dan (speaker-0, called "Dan" by another host at seg-00118) tells of nearly lying to protect a Christmas gift surprise for his wife; another host jokes about convincing his daughter that fairy godmothers appear at age ten; Boova (speaker-2) tells of admitting a 75-in-a-65 speeding ticket instead of lying. The punchline: the truth sets you free, though it can leave you the weird truth-teller alone on an island.

#3 The playboy: fidelity before and after Christ

The article warns against the churchgoing Casanova who serves on the worship team but lives like a player. One host partly pushes back on the claim that a man who slept around before the wedding surely will after, but all agree to avoid the sexually impure. The hosts land on a pre-Christ/post-Christ line: do not condemn a pre-Jesus past, but expect a new creation to show visible fruit and changed behavior — with accountability and the Holy Spirit making fidelity attainable.

#4 The deadbeat: divorced fathers and their children

The article allows that divorced men can remarry happily after restoration, but says a man who will not care for children from a previous marriage has a fatal flaw. A host tells of counseling a divorced dad whose ex-wife moved far away: move next door to your kids — take any menial job, live anywhere, because nothing else ties you to that town more than your children.

#5 The addict: addiction, recovery, and caveats

• Is there a caveat to 'never marry an addict' for a man genuinely in recovery?

The article says never marry a man who refuses help for addiction and warns against codependent "I can fix him" relationships. The hosts add caveats: distinguish befriending and supporting someone from marrying him; a recovering addict a year or two into recovery differs from an active one; everyone has something, and nobody is perfect before marriage. There is no black-and-white line — godly counsel and Holy Spirit discernment apply.

#6 The bum: unwilling to work

The article's example: a man with no steady work playing video games while his professional wife pays the bills, backed by Paul's rule that if anyone is not willing to work, he is not to eat either. The hosts agree this one is not even Christian-specific — no woman wants that guy — and joke about wedding dates checked against a gaming clan schedule. They note love makes people unobjective, excusing laziness, drinking, or infidelity they would otherwise see clearly.

#7 The narcissist: vanity and self-absorption

The article warns against the boyfriend who spends six hours a day at the gym and posts bicep close-ups — a man infatuated with himself cannot love sacrificially. Boova (speaker-2) confesses the item hits home: he is "full of myself," joking that Snapchat's arrival meant "pictures of boov" for everyone via his "boovah distribution center" (13 selfies, tracked for views, resend if unopened). He agrees narcissists put themselves above God, spouse, and friends.

#8 The abuser and #9 The man child

The abuser item gets no elaboration: stay away from the abuser, no details necessary. The man-child item — suspicious of a 35-year-old still living with his parents while his mother cooks, cleans, and irons — draws pushback about overbearing mothers, but the hosts conclude he should have dealt with that by 35: be a man, set boundaries, and stop letting mom run the house.

#10 The control freak: 1 Peter 3:7 and spiritual abuse

The final item warns of men who quote Scripture and sound spiritual while hiding insecurity and pride that morphs into spiritual abuse. The hosts fact-check the article's claim that 1 Peter 3:7 "commands husbands to treat their wives as equals," reading the verse aloud — "showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel" — and argue it places heavy covenant responsibility on the husband: men are like an old truck, and the more weight you put on it, the straighter it drives. A tangent follows on invented "spiritual gifts" (an ironing ministry, a parking-lot striping ministry) used to niche out of broader obedience.

List wrap-up: what was missed and discipling men

• What do you say to a single woman who feels every guy she knows fits the list?

Asked what the list missed, Dan (speaker-0) adds "stay away from musicians." Boova (speaker-2) says the man-child description fits him — a 23-year-old with no real responsibilities, fighting that mentality daily by God's grace — and the hosts turn it into a charge: the church's job is to disciple men into godly husbands, since good men are scarce. Jokes follow about emailing the show a boyfriend's name and social media for a five-year "woodshed" investigation, and a host shows his kids "Uncle Bubba" as an example of who not to marry.

YouVersion's most popular verses of 2014

The hosts review YouVersion's 2014 year-in-review infographic (9.9 billion chapters read, 108M bookmarks, 374M highlights) and note the list skews God-seeking rather than self-seeking, unlike earlier Google-search results. Top verses: Romans 12:2 (#1), Jeremiah 29:11, Philippians 4:8, Philippians 4:6, Matthew 6:33, Philippians 4:7, Proverbs 3:5 — Dave Hare (speaker-3) recites Proverbs 3:5 and the studio attempts it in Arabic, Italian, and loose Spanish ("burrito"). Country leaders: Jeremiah 33:2-3 in South Korea, Isaiah 41:10 in Central/South America, Jeremiah 29:11 in Canada, the UK, and South Africa. Most-shared verses include Colossians 3:23, 2 Chronicles 7:14, and Deuteronomy 6:4-7 (the Shema, with sleep-talking jokes). The hosts compare Bible apps (ESV, the Glow, Logos), joke about "Bible lottery," and riff on skipping Numbers in one-year reading plans and first reading Job's friends Bildad and Eliphaz as the good guys.

Sponsor break and radio sign-off

The hosts sign off the KTIA radio portion and thank sponsors: Bob Eisenlauer and the Eisenlauer team (eisenlauerteam.com) — "a man of all men" seen dressed as a bunny rabbit and giving airport rides — and Westfield Veterinary Hospital in Johnston. They give the contact email, point listeners to livefromthepath.org, and tease twenty extra minutes for podcast listeners.

Intermission: Scott Henderson's "Holding"

For podcast listeners the hosts play "Holding" by Scott Henderson from the Dog Party album, joking that Henderson pays 8 cents per mention and donated his hair to Locks of Love. Studio banter follows — "delicious Johnston" — and a resumed tangent on niche ministries: baking "for the Lord" is fine, but not as an excuse to avoid everything else; Dorcas ("the clothing lady") is held up as the counterexample, since her gift never excluded the rest of obedience.

Newsweek: "The Bible — So Misunderstood It's a Sin"

The hosts discuss Newsweek's cover story arguing Christians cannot trust the Bible's transmission, canon choices, or authorship — a litany of reasons not to trust the Bible, Christians, or God. The lead host recommends reading it to know the arguments, counters with manuscript evidence (about 15,000 manuscripts and copies versus a handful for other ancient documents), notes the article leans on Bart Ehrman, and observes rebuttals are held to a tougher standard than the article itself. Advice: be ready to give a defense to the willing, but don't spend your life arguing with comment-section harassers.

Dear LFTP: the Thanksgiving place-card dispute

• Should I make my family sit in appointed chairs, or let everyone sit where they like?

A listener is in a dispute with his mother-in-law, who insisted on place cards at a small Thanksgiving dinner; he ridiculed the idea and she says her holiday was ruined. The hosts side with the mother-in-law: it was her house and her meal — sit where you're told, be thankful, and apologize; the letter-writer is ungracious. The "secular advice" read agrees: a hostess controls the seating, and he was rude to make a scene.

Dear LFTP: single mom in Yokohama asks about cutting ties

• Should I cut ties with my child's absent father forever, or keep messaging him about milestones?

A single mother in Yokohama, Japan writes that her son's father has refused responsibility since before the birth; he briefly said he'd try, but never calls, and they live miles apart. She asks whether to cut ties forever or keep messaging him milestones. The hosts advise keeping the door open: keep sending updates for the child's sake and treat the man better than he deserves (mercy), while expecting nothing — "cutting ties" is an unhelpful concept when a child permanently links two people. The secular advice agrees: don't expect him to suddenly develop a conscience, but keeping contact info on file for the child's future is laudable.

Honor and shame, hibachi plans, sign-off

The weekly honor-and-shame: shame to Boova as the living embodiment of the man-child description; honor to Dave Hare for knowing Bible verses off the top of his head in multiple languages. The hosts plan a listener hibachi buffet in the first quarter of next year, joke about teaching a four-year-old to pronounce "hibachi," and sign off: "Be faithful... God will take care of the ends."