September 21, 2015 Podcast

Show opening

A host opens the show live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper and runs through the night's lineup: a guest visit from King MC and Michelle, a new-believer dating question, reflections on a new baby, and Dear LFTP. The opener sets the show's tone and the 'you're listening to Live From The Path' framing.

The peanut butter croissant cult comedy bit

The hosts riff on a joke premise that King MC and Michelle have 'started a cult,' spinning it into a running bit about a cult of fellows who love peanut butter and croissants, complete with a militant splinter faction. The bit leans on the observation that 'cult' is essentially a small religion that has not grown yet, and ends by noting that Jesus's 'narrow road' framing would qualify him by the Wikipedia definition read on air.

New baby reflections and the condominium story

A host who had a new child born the day of last week's show shares the thoughts rolling around in his mind with new life in the house, then tells a childhood story about repeatedly saying 'condom' instead of 'condominium' to his grandma at age 10. He frames it as the kind of thing you think about when new life has come, and the room riffs on the word mix-up.

Guest interview: King MC and Michelle on the road

Eric (King MC) and Michelle, explicitly introduced as in-studio guests, recount their week touring: a Wednesday show in Anaconda, Montana with no money for gas, donations arriving at their host home, a Subway gift card covering food, an online donation in Rapid City, South Dakota that got them to Pipestone, Minnesota — where the event drew essentially nobody. In the last half hour two neighborhood kids stayed, and Eric talked with an 8-year-old girl about being bullied, telling her she was beautifully made in God's image. He frames the trip as God leaving the 99 for the one.

Discussion: God's provision and the king's business

The hosts and guests reflect on the Montana-to-Minnesota story as a picture of God paving an unfinished sidewalk: Christians tend to grab God's responsibilities and grow frustrated, when the job is to handle what was given and let God handle the rest. One host frames it as being errand-runners for an 'eccentric billionaire,' noting God rarely gives a lavish expense account but provides exactly what is needed, exactly when it is needed.

Plug: teamkingmc.com and the Des Moines show

The hosts point listeners to teamkingmc.com for videos and tour dates, highlighting an upcoming Wednesday show at Cross Community Church in Des Moines, and thank Eric and Michelle for being part of the studio conversation.

The dating question: a Christian on a secular dating app

• How can a Christian use non-Christian dating sites in a way that honors Christ?

The 'new believer' question is put plainly: how can a Christian use dating sites that aren't Christian dating sites? The host asking (addressed as Bubba/Boova in the audio) walks through his profile — the app auto-filled a tagline 'You'd be surprised...', his 45-second dilemma over whether stating 'God is my number one' in the about-me section would alienate everyone, and how his use of the app flipped from dating to messaging profiles advertising hookups to tell them they are worth more than they allow themselves to be worth.

Host answers: honesty, Eric's dating history, meeting Michelle

A host reframes 'alienating' as 'appropriately filtering' and argues any honest medium works if the person is honest from the start. Eric shares his pre-marriage history with eHarmony and Match.com — paying sites, being unequally yoked, and still paying off the subscription after marrying Michelle, whom he actually met at church after they both locked their keys in their cars on the same Sunday. Another host notes that most of the couples he has married in recent years met online.

Skepticism about online honesty and the curvy-cowgirl message

The discussion turns skeptical: it's easier to curate a favorable self-image in two dimensions than in person, and everyone assumes online profiles are lies anyway. The question-asker recounts a message reading 'here I am. What are your other two wishes?' from a profile, and the aftermath of a sarcastic Hy-Vee grocery-cart joke getting him deleted. A host asks what brought him to the site — a friend found a girlfriend there within two weeks — and he admits he's not sure he's the guy the format works for, since his standards are faith-based rather than looks-or-status based.

Verdict: two more weeks, and Dan's dating advice bit

The question-asker gives the experiment two more weeks before deleting the profile, jokes about running fake profiles as 'Moova,' 'Troy,' and a Spaniard named Philippe, and the room teases the paid-upgrade yellow dot as either cheap or desperate. The bit escalates into mock 'Ways to succeed in online dating' advice: wear a suit of armor, use a barbarian avatar, make Jesus the profile picture, and look people in the eye and actually call instead of texting.

Radio break: Truth Network sign-off and sponsor read

The hosts sign off the Truth Network 99.3 FM portion of the show with thanks, then read a sponsor spot for Bob Eisenhower of the Eisenhower Team for home buying and selling, with the eisenhowerteam.com call to action.

Post-break dating follow-up: meeting people in real life

Back for the podcast audience, the question-asker explains he has plenty of real-world interactions — coffee shops, waitresses, striking up conversations with strangers — and shares a story of walking up to Miss Iowa with a flower at the Urbandale Parade at age 14 ('I'll be 18 in four years'), plus an archived photo of it. Another host's wife-dating history (one girlfriend, married her) comes up, and the room notes a generational shift: younger people are fluent on social media but afraid to speak face to face.

Eric's takeaways from paid dating sites

Eric reflects that he wishes he had skipped the paid sites: every connection made him hand over a piece of his heart and get crushed when it failed, he was still getting messages after his honeymoon, and he learned that even weeks of good online rapport reset to zero in person — 'you now have to meet all over again... you're like a creeper... you know things about you, but we've never actually come into contact.' The bit closes with the proposed tagline 'Slightly less sexually intimidating peeping Tom... peeping Boova,' and the show's 'honest faith, fierce grace, and donkeys' tag.

The tankless water heater and water-birth story

After the dating discussion, a host (addressed as Mike in the audio) is asked for Dear LFTP and instead tells a two-minute story: all his kids were born in water, the second daughter's home water birth nearly derailed when the city shut off the water over an unpaid bill, and he installed a tankless water heater for the newest baby — which worked, though his shower time has ballooned from fifteen to forty minutes of pondering like 'Rodin' under the hot water.

Dear LFTP: the naked revenge challenge Christmas question

• My brother told a story about a naked revenge challenge and mortified me — do I invite him over for Christmas?

The Dear LFTP segment opens with a game round called 'Count the Moles' and a listener letter: the writer's brother told a story about a 'naked revenge challenge,' the writer was mortified, and asks, 'Do I invite him over for Christmas?' No substantive answer is given on air.

Dear LFTP: the operations manager and the copier email

• I found a printed email from my manager about a personnel change regarding the operations manager (my job) on the office copier — should I confront my manager or start looking for a new job?

A listener who is the operations manager of a small nonprofit found a printed email from their manager on the office copier about a personnel change regarding the operations manager, and asks whether to confront the manager or start job hunting. Advice given: do both, but resume first — the manager's carelessness is embarrassing, and it may be a passive-aggressive tell, but staying could mean fighting in a bad environment. A host tells a supporting story about quitting a job after a highlighted 'termination' note, walking over to Ben who worked there, and Mike calling three hours later from his new manager job at the Valvoline oil-change shop.

Dear LFTP: the 16-year-old and the mom's friend

• A friend of my mom's singles me out at church with extended hugs and questions about dating, and it makes me uncomfortable — any suggestions?

A 16-year-old football player writes that a friend of his mom's singles him out at church every Sunday with extended hugs and questions about dating, making him uncomfortable and embarrassed; his mom dismisses it as affection. The hosts debate whether he is oversexualizing a nice old lady's hugs or genuinely sensing something creepy, land on advising him to be honest ('this makes me uncomfortable') or have his mom handle it, and riff on porcupine suits, sharp objects, and air horns. The 'Secular' answer is read: listen to his gut, tell his mom, avoid the hugs, change the subject — which the hosts call the worst advice, since it ignores the problem instead of telling the truth.

Dear LFTP: the boyfriend who won't lock the door

• My boyfriend never locks our doors even though I've told him I don't feel safe — am I overreacting, and how do I talk to him about it without sounding like a nag?

A listener living with her boyfriend for several years writes that he never locks the front or balcony doors, she repeatedly says she doesn't feel safe, and his answer is 'I'm here. Nothing is gonna happen' — she asks if she is overreacting and how to raise it without sounding like a nag. The room agrees she is not overreacting: a man's job in the relationship is to make her feel safe, and locking the door costs two seconds. The 'Secular' answer read: she is not overreacting, the boyfriend thinks he is a superhero, and she should lock the doors herself — which one host endorses with a keypad-lock-and-withhold-the-code joke.

Outro: thanks, show plug, sponsor read

The hosts thank Eric and Michelle, remind listeners of the Wednesday show at Cross Community Church in Des Moines via teamkingmc.com, thank sponsor Bob Eisenhower of the Eisenhower Team, and close with 'Please be faithful in the means. God will handle the ends.'