2016 Episode 21

Show open and guest introduction

A host opens the show live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper, then introduces returning guest Jeff (a local Christian musician) with a comedy bit about him wandering the studio grounds for three weeks in the rain before being invited inside. The host previews the night: the guest's new EP 'Merciful Ways' and the upcoming Connection Music Festival.

Connection Music Festival preview

The hosts preview the Connection Music Festival on June 18 at Crossroads Church in Norwalk (2601 Border Street), an outdoor event on the church's 20-acre campus. They recall past festivals (the Rhett Walker Band appearance two years prior) and note the guest's recent television debut.

'Merciful Ways' EP interview

The hosts interview the guest about his new EP 'Merciful Ways', which took about two years and four trips to Nashville to record. The guest describes working with Nashville session players, including a drummer from midscale and musicians from the Grand Ole Opry, and says the new sound differs from his previous EP.

Live performance: 'God Your Father'

The guest performs a new song from the EP, introduced as 'God Your Father' (also phrased 'God You Our Father'), written around the Old Testament charge to tell children and those who come after about God and his goodness, and dedicated to his mentor, grandma Odell. The host reacts that the song works both as quiet reflection and as loud praise.

Post-song reaction and EP sales

The hosts praise the performance; the guest quotes Ephesians on God doing 'immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine' and speaks about God's faithfulness and giving him 'the desires of your heart' within God's will. They discuss where to buy the EP (iTunes, the festival, download cards), and riff on how CD lyric sleeves are lost with digital music, mentioning the 'Christmas from the Path' album.

Band lineup and festival partnership history

The guest names his band members (Lizzie Velez on keys, Matt Wetzel on bass, Jason Badger on percussion, Joe Kleinfelter on lead guitar, on a Honduras missions trip) and explains the Connection Music Festival is in its third year at Crossroads Church, partnered with the Life Flight Music Festival of Sioux Falls and Fellowship Community Church. He describes how modern Christian music connected with him after he struggled to relate to hymns alone.

Guest conversion testimony

The guest gives his testimony: raised in church in small-town Missouri mainly by his grandparents, he accepted Christ on Easter Sunday 1971 during a Revelation series when talk of the rapture scared him into not wanting to be left behind. After drifting away when his family moved in 1977, he rededicated his life at a 1995 Promise Keepers gathering in Minneapolis with 55,000 men singing. The hosts riff on his 1970s long hair and one says the style reminds him of a man named Ben Foose.

Festival lineup and family logistics

The guest runs through the festival lineup: headliner Colton Dixon of American Idol fame, Sanctis Rio (heard to have a new lead singer), We Are Leo, his own band, Wyoming singer-songwriter Skyler Kalin, an unremembered local band, and one other. He touts artist accessibility, kids' activities, merchandise supporting the ministries, food, the festival website and Facebook page, and jokes about being six likes short of 300 on his own page.

Coupon and punch-card comedy bit

A comedy bit spun off the guest's grocery and gas discount habits: Palmer's Deli punch cards, a Hy-Vee fuel discount card, and the hosts' riff on buying things they don't need for pennies off and becoming 'gas smugglers' with portable fuel tanks.

Secular or Solomon game

The hosts play 'Secular or Solomon', dubbed 'America's fastest growing internet game show': proverbs are read aloud and players (including the guest and game participant Nick Harris) must say whether each is a secular proverb with a country of origin or a Bible proverb. Rounds include: the spoon/soup wisdom (secular), 'whoever is slothful will not roast his game' (Solomon, Proverbs 12), 'whoever oppresses a poor man insults his maker' (Solomon, Proverbs 14), the Mary Malone curse (secular Ireland), 'a bribe is like a magic stone' (Solomon, Proverbs 17), 'the man with the boots does not mind where he places his foot' (secular), 'one gives freely yet grows all the richer' (Solomon, Proverbs 11), 'who does not beat his own child will later beat his own breast' (secular), and the finale 'you become wise when you begin to run out of money' (secular).

Swedish accent and Bondue Fest banter

Post-game banter: a host is dared to do a Swiss/Swedish accent accusing Dan of being offended, and the crew riffs on a small town's 'Bondue Fest' (called 'summer fest'), parade candy, baseball-team floats, misheard 'bald theme', and a garbled bit about an album Dan sang the title of ('Ricolo').

Live performance: 'You Are My God'

The guest performs 'You Are My God' from his first CD 'Not Here For Me', explaining it was written with David in mind — about trusting God as rock and shelter in trials.

Festival recap and summer tour dates

The hosts recap the festival lineup (Colton Dixon, Sanctis, We Are Leo, the guest's band, Skyler Kalin, an unknown local band), note the guest's 3:30 set and the $10 CD / two-for-$15 festival deal, and the guest lists upcoming dates: a July 4 parade float, Pathway Church on July 24, and the Iowa State Fair on August 18 at 2:30 on the Bud Light Stage, where last year they opened for Head East.

Dear LFTP: girlfriend snooped my phone

• Am I wrong to feel my privacy was invaded when my girlfriend snooped through my phone at 2AM, and should she apologize?

The hosts read a listener letter: the writer texts his ex civilly about their kids; after venting about his girlfriend Lily (three years) in one text, she spent the night and he woke at 2AM to find her reading his phone, then stormed out angry. She has not apologized. The hosts advise both parties failed — he should not have discussed the relationship with his ex, she went about it sneakily without giving him a chance to be honest — and she should apologize; they also question the unmarried arrangement ('legitimize your operation'). The 'Secular' answer blames the shift in blame on Lily.

Dear LFTP: 'Steamed in the South' car letter

• Are we wrong to feel taken advantage of after selling a car cheaply to our son's girlfriend, who then traded it in for the equity?

The hosts read a letter from parents of a 22-year-old son: they sold a car to his girlfriend (of six months) for less than half its trade-in value after her bad financial decisions, and a month later she traded it in for the equity. The hosts say the parents were taken advantage of but had 'eyes wide open' risk — once you give, you can't sack the recipient for how it's used — and note the son treats them poorly too. The 'Secular' answer calls the son and girlfriend 'birds of a feather'.

Closing

The hosts thank guest Jeff, plug his website, the 'Jeff Arendale Music Ministry' Facebook page, the free Connection Music Festival, and his CD 'Merciful Ways' at the festival and wherever digital music is sold, then close with the line 'be faithful in the means, God will handle all the ends.'