2016 Episode 33

Show open and welcome

The produced show open plays, then the hosts file into the Pathway Studios in Johnston. They joke about Ben's show-start patter, and Ben says he has a few new stories plus a small personal check-in he calls a "blow harden."

ESV declared "permanent" after 52-word revision

The hosts discuss Crossway's announcement that the English Standard Version text is now fixed for the life of the copyright after 52 words across 29 verses were changed. They read example changes (1 Kings 8:48, Ephesians 1:5, James 2:10), and debate whether a translation should ever be frozen instead of kept open as new manuscripts and scholarship emerge.

Pastor arrested buying crack cocaine says "the devil is a liar"

• Could God have arranged the pastor's arrest to put him in prison to preach to inmates?

Ben reads a Christian Post story about Connecticut pastor Kenneth DuBose, arrested in a Bridgeport police sting buying 27 grams of crack cocaine, whose public response was "the devil is a liar" and "faith up." The hosts mock his evasion (never actually denying it, claiming he was counseling the dealer), contrast running from accusation with the biblical pattern of God's people going to prison and preaching there (Philippians/Acts, Paul before Caesar), and land the takeaway: don't blame the devil, just own it — "the devil is a liar AND be honest."

Pete Wilson resigns from Cross Point with integrity

Counterpoint to the arrest story: Cross Point pastor Pete Wilson stepped down saying he is simply tired, with his elders confirming it was 100% his decision and they tried to talk him out of it. The hosts praise a megachurch pastor handing off a 7,000-person, multi-campus church rather than running himself into the ground or falling under sin, noting most biblical disciples had short ministries.

A host's two-day spiritual funk and the false state

• How do you recognize spiritual drift and protect against it?

In the recurring "harden with Ben" check-in, Ben (addressed by name on-air) says the last couple of days felt off: he let his guard down, dropped good habits, and spent two days in a "false state" where truths he knows about Jesus felt less real. He reflects that nothing about God changed — only his perception did — and wonders how to better recognize and guard against that drift.

Getting out of a funk: say the true thing out loud

Mike tells a hibachi-buffet story: annoyed at the crowd, a voice in his head said "you love all these people," and after repeating it in simple childlike terms his whole mood flipped — confirmed by a kid with a soup bowl joining him in the ice cream line. Boova adds his practice of recentering on identity ("I'm a son of God"). Together they argue the guilt signal is a run-to-God issue not a run-from-God issue, critique apathetic men who know the fixes (Bible, prayer, community) but do none of them, and land on: first reaction, talk to God; second, lean on your community.

Dear LFTP: wife, dress-up dates, and "sexy fun time"

• Is the husband being selfish for asking his wife to dress up for a date night and intimacy?

Mike reads a listener letter from "Hoping in Minnesota": his wife of 15 years has poor self-image and laughs off his request for a dressed-up date night plus "late night fun." The hosts conclude the husband is likely going about it wrong — plan the evening, get a babysitter, lay out a dress, lead — and that her resistance may signal something else (self-consciousness, relationship issues). The "Secular" advice (that it's fine to ask and wrong of her to belittle him) gets pushback for missing the point.

Dear LFTP: mother funding her fugitive son

• What is fair when a mother funds her fugitive son and expects the other child to take over after her death?

Mike reads a letter from a sibling whose mother gives an allowance to an older brother who is a fugitive from the law living in another country, expecting the writer to support him after she dies. The hosts' verdict: stop enabling — like the prodigal son, he needs to face consequences ("he can go homeless or he can live in prison") — while joking through the logistics of fleeing across borders ("the Canadian El Chapo," mooning a Mountie). They pan the "Secular" advice to set up a trust for the fugitive.

Dear LFTP: workplace greeting etiquette

• Who should greet whom first when a coworker arrives at the workplace?

The hosts take a listener question on who should greet whom first when a coworker arrives at work. They debate "the interrupter acknowledges" theory vs. simply being normal and saying hello, spin a soccer-practice story about a kid holding a thumbs-up at his distracted mom, and close with the "Secular" answer: the more outgoing coworker says hello first; if you're standing on ceremony, speak up or you'll seem unfriendly.

"Who did it?" Bible trivia quiz — 10 for 10

Ben runs a ten-question "Who did it?" Bible quiz (Abraham's half-sister, Joseph's dream, circumcision covenant, leading into Canaan, Abimelech, Esau's birthright, Laban, Rachel's stolen idols, Shechem, Amnon). The hosts go 10 for 10 — a perfect score against a 71% site average — with running riffs along the way.

Outro and sign-off

The hosts sign off: "Be faithful in the means. God will handle the end." They invite advice questions at info@liveforthepath.org and close the show.