April 20, 2015 Podcast

Show open: sponsors, rundown, and Dan's smoothie

The produced intro plays, then Ben opens the show from the Pathway studios in Johnston, ribbing Dan for eating a smoothie. He runs through the rundown: the 'five reasons we can't handle marriage anymore' article, a postponed topic on isolation and Christian cliques (held for Eric), pope-style advice from Dan and Boova, and Dear LFTP letters. Sponsor shout-outs follow for local realtor Bob Eisenlauer and Westfield Veterinary Hospital; Mike monitors 'the clearing' in Waterloo by remote.

Five reasons we can't handle marriage anymore

• Why can't our generation handle marriage anymore?

Ben reads aloud an article by a 'local sex columnist' arguing modern marriages fail for five reasons: sex becomes almost nonexistent, finances cripple couples, technology disconnects people, desire for attention outweighs desire to be loved, and social media invites thousands into bed with you. The hosts push back on parts (the finances premise, the attention thesis) but land on the author's real point: accepted societal norms quietly undermine what marriage is. Mike notes the author is taking backlash for the piece; they conclude the list exposes weaknesses rather than naming root causes.

Pope Style: Dan on looking for a savior in all the wrong places

• How should Christians participate in the political process without treating politicians as saviors?

Dan delivers pope-style advice - 'looking for a savior in all the wrong places' - recounting how Christians since the moral majority era have chased political saviors, including his own rally days, being kicked out of the state capital, and the day he left his political party. The hosts build on it: the church's mission is making disciples, not electing a Christian nation; no election changes the direction of Jesus' kingdom; Jesus didn't fight Roman law but pointed people to a new king; and 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' are not what Jesus promises.

Pope Style: Boova on learning to read your Bible

Boova's pope-style advice is 'learn how to read your Bible': he admits his study habit used to start at Google, and for the past weeks has forced himself to start in the text itself, in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to speak - which bore fruit while he wrote a Bible study on learning in the kingdom of God for a friend. The hosts agree the text should come before commentary, while Google remains useful for finding verse references; they discuss study-Bible cross-references and how to help newcomers who can't connect with any translation.

Hard question: why did God create, knowing the fall?

• If God knew Adam and Eve would fall, why did He create the world at all?

Before a station break, Boova poses a question he got from a nonbeliever: if God is omniscient and knew Adam and Eve would fall - leading to sin, the cross, and ongoing rejection - why set the story in motion at all?

Hosts answer: love requires choice; trust God's character

The hosts answer that the question carries the hidden assumption creation wasn't worth it: without choice there can be no love, and God's redemption of fallen people is itself a demonstration of love. One host offers a parenting analogy - having children despite the risk they choose wrongly - and another compares God's choice to marrying his wife knowing it wouldn't be all roses. They close by saying a finite mind must trust God's character: if God did it, it had to be worth it. The segment ends with the Truth Network 99.3 station break.

Dear LFTP: the husband who curses nonstop

• My husband curses nonstop - how do I get him to tame his tongue?

Mike reads a Dear LFTP letter from a wife whose husband 'curses nonstop' - 'effing this or effing that' from the moment he wakes up - worsening over twenty years of marriage, to the neighbors' dismay. The hosts say short of submitting to a higher authority nothing will change him; they float a shock tactic (she swears at the coffee herself), plus prayer and friends who can reason with him. The Secular answer wonders if the husband is unwell (stress? dementia?) and says only he can change his attitude; the hosts push back on the claim that happy men don't swear.

Dear LFTP: Jonah, the friend with no filter

• Should we keep inviting our friend who mocks my wife's cooking?

Mike reads a Dear LFTP letter about 'Jonah,' a 50-year-old college-educated friend with no filter who mocks the writer's wife's Slavic heritage cooking at every holiday party. The hosts advise: stop inviting him, or tell him to bring his own food or keep his mouth shut; one argues the writers are overinvested in what Jonah thinks of the food. The Secular answer says stop inviting him and stop bringing him food, socializing at restaurants instead.

Dear LFTP: the recycled phone number

• Am I obligated to inform wrong-number callers that they have the wrong number?

Mike reads a Dear LFTP letter from someone whose new cell phone came with the previous owner's number and now fields strangers' calls and texts, resenting the 'expensive minutes' spent turning callers away. The hosts' verdict: either stop being the prior owner's unpaid secretary or stop complaining about the minutes - those are the options.

Dan's 'I'm not James' story and show close

Dan recounts inheriting a phone number that belonged to a James, then getting 2 a.m. calls from a drunk man wanting a ride home - until he saved the caller as 'I'm not James.' The hosts riff on the missed ministry opportunity ('Give that guy a ride, Dan'), then close the show: be faithful in the means, God will handle the ends.