July 7 2015 Podcast

Live open from the Pathway Studios

A host opens the live show from the Pathway Studios in Johnston, bantering with the crew about the studio lighting making him look ghost-white on camera and apologizing to the live audience before previewing the night's lineup: Bible quizzes, Dear LFTP advice, and the Secular vs Solomon game.

Silversyde studio visit and homeless benefit concert announced

The hosts announce the band Silversyde will be in studio next Monday the 13th for the live show (10 PM at livefromthepath.org) and will stay to play a benefit concert Tuesday July 14 at 7:00 PM at Pathway Church, 6523 Merle Hay Road in Johnston. The free acoustic concert raises money and supplies for Des Moines homeless after recent flooding: tents, socks, bug spray, brown and green tarps, water bottles, and $5 donations routed through Joppa Outreach (ASR: 'Japa Outreach').

Secular vs Solomon game

The hosts play the recurring game Secular vs Solomon: a proverb is read and each host guesses whether it is secular world wisdom (naming a country of origin) or from Solomon/Scripture (naming the chapter). Rounds include 'Evil enters like a needle and spreads like an oak tree' (secular), 'Where there is no guidance, a people falls' (Proverbs 11:14), 'He who serves two masters has to lie to one' (secular), 'He who gathers in summer is a prudent son' (Proverbs 10:5), 'Better to give a penny than lend 20' (secular), 'Death and life are in the power of the tongue' (Proverbs 18:21), 'Whoever winks his eye plans dishonest things' (Proverbs 16:30), 'Better is a dinner of herbs where love is' (Proverbs 15:17), and 'There are only two types of Chinese: those who give bribes and those who take them' (secular). The segment closes with a plug for past Secular vs Solomon episodes at livefromthepath.org, name-checking past voice contestant Tanner Knutson.

Dear LFTP: loving the family after a son's affair

• How should I handle the relationship I have been forced into with my son's affair partner and their child?

Dear LFTP advice for a grandmother whose son's long affair produced a child (a very sick child) with a woman who got pregnant hoping he would leave his family. The hosts' advice: the son caused the mess, so throw etiquette out the window and love the woman and the baby like family; the past doesn't dictate the next step. They then read the 'secular advice' on the same letter and criticize it for blaming the woman and letting the man escape responsibility.

Dear LFTP: the rich friend who always pays the tab

• My wealthy friend insists on paying the tab every time we go out. Am I overthinking this, and should I just accept her generosity?

Dear LFTP advice for a listener whose friend of 35 years married a millionaire and now insists on picking up every check; he worries she will think he is taking advantage. The hosts say yes, accept her generosity, make one token protest, and don't order the expensive place ('Shay Fancy') knowing she will pay. The 'secular answer' agrees: accept the generosity, share feelings, consider an occasional thoughtful gift — which the hosts mock as only working on kids (paper-mache pterodactyl riff).

Bible quiz: Paul

The hosts take an online Paul quiz (from quiz.christiansunite.com, ASR 'quiz.christianjuneight.com'), answering 9 of 11 correctly (82%, beating the 66% average): Saul present at Stephen's stoning, the Damascus road, the Philippian prison (they missed: the answer was casting out an evil spirit, not preaching against the Jews), Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration, the Areopagus in Athens, Eutychus, and Paul's shipwreck — they answered Cyprus, correct answer Malta.

Bible quiz: diseases

The hosts take a biblical diseases quiz (taken 18,000 times, 67% average) and review the answers: Jesus healed the man with the withered hand; the ten lepers; healing on the Sabbath (dropsy); the plague of boils when Moses scattered ashes; the four leprous men at Samaria's gate; King Asa's diseased feet (2 Chronicles 16:12, quoted: 'diseased in the feet'); Naaman's leprosy healed by Elisha; King Jehoram's bowels falling out after two years (2 Chronicles 21, quoted); and the angel stirring the water at Bethesda. The hosts joke that 'no one knows disease like Life From The Path.'

Dear LFTP: a zinger for church-clothes snobs

• What is a good comeback for snarky comments from other believers who think I dress too nicely for church?

Dear LFTP advice for a listener who dresses up for church and gets snarky comments from other believers, fishing for a zinger comeback. The hosts push back: it is a chip on his shoulder, not persecution; friends teasing is normal, and if people genuinely give him a hard time for a suit he may be in the wrong church. Suggested zingers: 'I wore the suit because I was created in his image and likeness — take that' and 'I was created in the nude, and that's not allowed here.' The secular answer advises against a spitting contest with a viper lest it mess up the suit.

Bible quiz: dying words

The hosts take a 'dying words' Bible quiz: Jesus' last words on the cross ('It is finished' vs 'Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit'); Stephen ('Lord, lay not this sin to their charge'); Samson ('let me die with the Philistines'); King Saul before suicide; Amnon, the son of David murdered at a party (they guessed Adonijah — wrong); Joab to Amasa ('art thou in health, my brother?'); Ehud to Eglon ('I have a message from God unto thee'); Jael's words to Sisera (they debated Deborah vs Jael, settled on Jael — correct); Abimelech ('draw thy sword and slay me, that men say not of me, a woman slew him' — they guessed Abdon, wrong); and Peter to Sapphira ('the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door'). Mike gets the Amnon question right and 'brings home the prize.'

Close: benefit reminder and Bob Eisenlauer sponsor plug

The hosts close by repeating the July 14, 7:00 PM benefit details (Pathway Church, 6523 Merle Hay Road) and read a sponsor plug for Bob Eisenlauer (ASR 'Bob Eisenhower'), the show's sponsor, 'the man for the job for all your home buying,' then sign off: 'In the meantime, be faithful in the means. God will handle the ends.'