2016 Episode 6

Show open: Naked Man Securities bit and tonight's rundown

The produced intro plays ('Live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston Proper'), then a host welcomes listeners and riffs on needing 'comfortable britches'. A comedy bit invents 'Naked Man Securities' (also 'NM securities'): home defense by going 'buff wild' at an intruder, mooning first ('caboose'), with a stray gag about the Pope dropping his robes becoming the 'patron saint of caboose'. The host then previews the night: Boova's Pope Style advice on tithing, and casting news for Tyler Perry's live TV Passion.

The Passion live casting and the Risen movie

The hosts discuss entertainment news: Fox's upcoming live musical 'The Passion' (Palm Sunday), with Chris Daughtry cast as Judas, Trisha Yearwood as Mary, Tyler Perry narrating/hosting in New Orleans, music by Glee/Rock of Ages producer Adam Anders and a High School Musical writer. They debate whether TV producers' worldview and ratings motives taint the story, then pivot to the film 'Risen' (Joseph Fiennes as the Roman tribune Clavius investigating after the crucifixion), joke about 'Mary, Did You Know' sung by Mary in first person, praise a scene of the empty tomb in 'The Bible' miniseries, and close with a story about an actor who died days after a botched stage hanging in a Phantom of the Opera production.

Pope Style: Boova on honoring God with money

Boova delivers the episode's Pope Style segment (he is named in-audio as Boova/Booba/Troy). He explains the Pope Style premise: locals at brew houses call him the Pope, so he gives pope-style advice to get people off his lawn. His topic is tithing: after his conversion it took a long time to trust God with money, and recently he wavered on a tithe because of a Pennsylvania trip. He tithed anyway; then his $250 rental car fell through (under-25 debit-card rule) and a church family lent him a van for free. He calls this pattern 'Jesus math' and cites the idea that money is the one thing God says to test him on, plus that you can't serve God and money.

Hosts riff on tithing: Jesus math and 'is it a God 20?'

The hosts respond to Boova's testimony with their own stories: one host's friends were short $600 and a refund check for exactly $600 arrived from a doctor's office for an overpayment two years earlier. They expand on 'Jesus math' — one host argues God is 'king of numbers' and 'king of algebra', stretching the five loaves that fed 5,000; another coins the question 'is it a God 20?' for someone down to their last $20, defining 'rich' as wasteful (having far above need) and 'enough' as God's measure.

Boova on learning how God speaks to him

Boova (speaker-2) offers a secondary, off-topic Pope Style: his struggle to identify God's voice. He envies people who hear God through license plates or directly, but says God showed him they 'don't have that conversation' — he keeps trying to fit God into someone else's 'God box' instead of his own. He jokes about Moses and the burning bush ('I don't speak to you directly, Troy'), mentions contemplating a Gideon-style fleece test, and a co-host admits feeling convicted after staying up late watching 24 reruns and finding his cat had torn pages out of his Bible.

Dear LFTP follow-up: the barbershop report

Boova (speaker-2) reports back on a prior Dear LFTP letter about how to break up with a hairdresser: he polled a group of barbers, who unanimously said customers should just go to a different barber — 'we're not dating'. The hosts riff on barber culture: one host tells of a six-week Philippines trip ending in an hour-twenty haircut, a straight-razor neck shave, and a sold-on-me hair tonic; the crew debates 45-minute 'gentlemen's cuts' versus 15-minute chop-shop cuts, a wife-bought 'lady sweater', and the freedom of men who stop trying to impress anyone.

The Passion casting tangent: Seal as Judas

A quick tangent returns to The Passion casting: the hosts are unsure whether the singer Seal is playing Judas or Pontius Pilate, confirm it's 'Kiss from a Rose' Seal, and joke about him taking Heidi Klum's last name and a hypothetical 'Boova Paltrow'.

Dear LFTP: enabling a financially dependent 26-year-old stepson

• Am I unrealistic to expect an adult (my 26-year-old stepson Eli) to support himself?
• How should a couple handle disagreement over continuing to financially support an adult child?

The reader (speaker-0) reads a Dear LFTP letter: the writer married nine years ago; her husband fully funds his 26-year-old son Eli (car insurance, phone, utilities, monthly deposits), and Eli has never earned more than $12,000 a year and shows no desire to work. She asks if she is unrealistic to expect an adult to support himself. The hosts agree a 26-year-old should work, but flag the bigger issue as the husband refusing financial conversations ('you don't know my finances') and parents needing to let children fail; one host stresses knowing the kind of adult you want to produce. The Secular answer is read: she is being rational, the husband and his ex are fostering financial dependence, and marriage counseling is suggested.

Dear LFTP: what to do with two unused graduation gowns

• What should I do with two unused black graduation gowns and caps instead of throwing them away?

The reader (speaker-0) reads a Dear LFTP letter from someone downsizing who owns two black graduation gowns and caps in excellent condition and wants ideas beyond the landfill or Halloween costumes. The hosts roast the writer for not spending ten seconds Googling, mock the 'sentimental' objections, and advise giving them to a school counselor's office, Goodwill, a neighbor, or Craigslist. The Secular answer is read: contact the administration of local schools or community groups that could use them.

Outro and sign-off

The hosts close: plugs for livefromthepath.org and the podcast, a callback selling 'Naked Man Securities' stickers ('we'll be your buffer from trouble'), and the closing benediction: 'Be faithful to me. God will take care of the ends.'