November 30, 2015 Podcast

Show open: old footage, new website, Facebook popup

The hosts open the show and riff on archive footage found during a website rebuild, joking about how young Boova and Mike look and how much Hudson has aged. They plug the redesigned livefromthepath.org and complain about an auto-popup that begs mobile visitors to like them on Facebook, then joke about domain purchases.

Agenda: hearing-from-God follow-up and Boova's One Direction rant

The hosts lay out the show: a short continuation of last week's conversation about hearing from God outside the Bible, sparked by Twitter questions from a listener, plus Boova's anger over a new One Direction song.

Boova rants about One Direction's 'Perfect'

Boova, identified on-air as the one riled up about the song, reads the lyrics of One Direction's 'Perfect' and reacts with anger and sadness: the song pitches commitment-free hookups to a largely teenage audience. The hosts agree the song grooms girls into lowered expectations, argue women don't know their God-given worth, and one host recounts banning Bruno Mars from his house for six months over a similar song.

Questionable Christmas songs

The hosts critique the lyrics of classic and modern Christmas tunes: 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' reads as coercive, the 'yoo-hoo' in 'Sleigh Ride' sounds terrifying out of context, 'Where Are You Christmas?' is too depressing for rotation, and a Dan Fogelberg song about meeting an old lover at the grocery store is called sketchy. They land on wanting joy-only Christmas music.

Hearing from God: Pete's questions and the cessationist article

• If people can hear from God outside the Bible, why isn't that included in the canon of scripture?
• Is it dangerous to believe God speaks outside of scripture, and if He does, what do we need scripture for?

The hosts continue last week's conversation on whether God speaks outside the Bible, framed by a listener's Twitter questions: if people hear from God, why isn't it in the canon, and is it dangerous to believe He does? One host reads aloud from an article, 'Spirit Guide: The Lord's Leading in the Cessationist's Life' by Clint Archer, which defines cessationism and argues the Holy Spirit's leading is non-authoritative and non-revelatory.

Reacting to the cessationist article

The hosts push back on the article: they call its reasoning theological gymnastics that keeps the Holy Spirit involved but mute, unable to actually speak. They argue that if God can't communicate with the world at all, the position collapses into deism, and warn that treating scripture as a replacement for a relationship with God is idolatry.

The $50-a-month prophecy pitch

As the concrete risk behind cessationist caution, a host reads a post by Neil Vermillion offering 'personal prophetic words now available': for $50 a month (capped at 60 clients), he will send two to three pages of prophetic word per person. The hosts call it phony and sensationalist, argue gifts from God aren't services to be sold, and note real prophets pointed people back to God rather than selling life advice.

Trusting the Holy Spirit, from Acts to the mission field

The hosts conclude the hearing-from-God conversation: they reject discarding the first-century pattern of the Spirit speaking because of abuse risk, note first-century Jews reacted the same way to Jesus' extra-biblical revelation, and share stories of Muslims having visions of Jesus, a resurrection reported at an India missions conference, and a Dominican Republic revival where the gospel spreads like the New Testament describes.

Should the show swear? Radio transition

In a brief transition the hosts muse about whether they should swear more on the show, decide their language has always been honest and unrestrained, and mention their former KTIA program before pivoting to a Bible quiz.

Parody commercial: LFTP Christmas album

A produced fake infomercial sells two nonexistent holiday albums: 'Ben, Mike, and Dan sing over perfectly good Christmas songs' and 'It's a Wonderful Life From The Path,' for the excessive price of $58. The disclaimer admits no albums were produced, tells listeners to keep their money and give to someone in need, and credits 'Big Donkey Incorporated.' The hosts then plug the video version on YouTube.

Christmas quiz: the story of Jesus' birth

The hosts take a ten-question online quiz on the birth of Jesus (Joseph's father, the angel at the annunciation, Simeon, Herod, Bethlehem, the shepherds, the magi's star, the flight to Egypt, Nazareth). They score 100%, beating the quiz's 94,000-taker average of 77%, and joke that nobody reads Luke.

Proverbs quiz: what scripture says about alcohol

The hosts take an eight-question KJV-worded quiz on what Proverbs says about alcohol, debating answers like 'biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder' versus 'leaveth bitterness in the mouth.' They score 4 out of 8, worse than the 14,000-taker average of 53%, and declare their quiz result 'Gauss Sibleton.'

Dear LFTP: married to 'Quotations Tom'

• My husband gives away my belongings and won't let me keep anything of mine in our house; should I move out?

A listener writes that after nine years of marriage, her husband Tom won't let her keep anything of hers in the house, gives her belongings away while claiming he's joking, and she feels homeless. The hosts react with disbelief that it's the only problem in the marriage, and the Secular answer advises couples counseling or, failing that, leaving. The hosts push back on Secular's individualism, arguing for mutual servanthood in marriage.

Dear LFTP: the neighbors stealing power

• My elderly neighbors take vegetables and electricity from absent neighbors; should I tell them or mind my own business?

A listener reports that the elderly Smiths take vegetables from the absent Joneses' garden and run an extension cord from the Joneses' house to their own in winter, and asks whether to tell the Joneses or mind his own business. The hosts joke about a hydroponic grow house, agree it's worth casually mentioning to the Joneses, and the Secular answer suggests hinting they check their electric bill, which one host calls cowardly.

Close-out: holiday season and KTIA

The hosts wrap the show heading into the holiday season, plug the website and the other programming on 99.3 KTIA, and close by urging listeners to let God interact with them.