2016 Episode 36

Show open and tonight's rundown

A host opens the live broadcast from the Pathway studios in Johnston and runs through the lineup: a teased New York Times article on evangelicals and Donald Trump (never revisited this episode), a stack of Dear LFTP advice letters, and guest worship leader Aaron DeWitt performing live. A McDonald's breakfast anecdote — an order for a cheese-less sausage McMuffin gone wrong and discontinued steak-and-bagel sandwiches — sets a running 'know what's on the menu' joke.

Guest intro: Aaron DeWitt, worship leader at Simple Church

A host introduces Aaron DeWitt, worship leader at Simple Church, who shares his background: raised in a Christian household but took it for granted, pursued a secular music career in Los Angeles for seven years, and found his songs pulling him back to God. He studied keyboard performance at MI in Hollywood, met his wife Amanda there, and they now have two kids.

LA stories and celebrity encounters

• What do you say to a famous person if you meet one?

Aaron tells of serving famous diners as a Brazilian-steakhouse server in Los Angeles, including Leonardo DiCaprio at an all-you-can-eat churrascaria. The hosts riff on what to say to a famous person — acting out a gaucho serving John Travolta — then spin into a host's story about accidentally chatting up his company's owner at a food truck, buying a food truck at auction, and an internet video of a man playing an electrified shovel.

"I Surrender" performance and worship-song talk

Aaron introduces 'I Surrender,' describing a night on his knees in his Los Angeles apartment when the song took hold of him, then performs it live. Afterwards the hosts discuss how worship songs stick in your head — one woke up singing praise — and land a joking bit: after a host is caught humming 'Jump Around,' another teases that Deuteronomy forbids jumping, complete with a lords-are-leaping Christmas joke.

"Going deeper": Aaron's testimony and the October 23 worship night

Aaron explains that the worship night's theme — 'going deeper' — mirrors his own Los Angeles experience: he left to compose secular music and instead fell in love with worship. He still composes (a recent Service Legends commercial in Des Moines). Ticket details: $5 at the door covers dinner (5:00–6:15) and worship (6:15–7:15); tickets by messaging Simple Church on Facebook; the church's site is simple.church.

Don't talk yourself out of praying — abiding, Jonah, and the McDonald's menu

A host urges listeners not to talk themselves out of kneeling to pray when God tugs: 'that's where it's at' — prayer isn't about faithful routines but direct contact. Another host connects it to Jesus' teaching to 'abide in me' (John 15): prayers get answered when you're abiding and asking his will. The McDonald's running joke returns ('the grouchy woman knows more about Jesus'), then a host reflects on rereading Jonah: the pagan sailors show a healthier fear of God than the disobedient prophet, and God sometimes uses outsiders better than insiders. A 'Raca' joke about the worship-night package deal closes the stretch.

Real Men podcast plug and .church domain riffing

The hosts promote the new Real Men podcast — Wednesday 10 a.m. live at youtube.com/realmeniowa, tied to Real Men Ministries' annual conference — then riff on .church domain names (pathway.church, realmen.church) and joke that the worship-night menu is probably salmon.

Renaming your significant other: He Bo, She Bo

A Twitter follow-up to last week's bit about what to call a boyfriend or girlfriend in your 40s or 50s: a viewer vetoes 'Bo' as male-specific, the hosts counter with gender-ambiguous 'He Bo' and 'She Bo,' and weigh the viewer-suggested 'love interest' (rejected as sounding 'very sultry').

Dear LFTP: the 911 dispatcher letter

• What should callers do when calling 911?

A 911 dispatcher writes in with tips: know your location and mile marker (cell phones can't be traced like landlines), don't let kids play with deactivated phones, and tell the dispatcher if you dialed by accident. Discussion wanders into a cow standoff on a Missouri road (a host inching his truck bumper-to-cow for an hour), a host misreporting a cow's road in Atlantic, Iowa, and the 'abide in me so you know where the cheese is' McDonald's callback.

Dear LFTP: the genetics letter — "was my dad really my dad?"

• My traits don't match my parents — was my dad really my dad, and should I ask?

A biology student writes that his recessive traits don't match his parents and fears an affair he doesn't know about. The hosts say ask — awkward, but the mother likely knows and genetic medical history matters — then role-play the conversation ('Ma, I have blue eyes. Y'all don't have blue eyes'). They land on: your identity is unchanged by what you learn ('it was already true'), God may be setting you up for forgiveness, and you could be 'the Joseph in Egypt' bringing a new family out of famine. Secular's advice: talk to your parents to get the full family trait history from other generations.

Dear LFTP: the widowed-and-dating letter

• Should a widowed woman ask her old friend for coffee or a beer, and what signals a date?

A woman whose husband died two and a half years ago wants to ask an old high-school friend out — 'should I ask him for coffee, or for a beer so he knows I want a date?' The hosts say she's overthinking it and suggest offering both, then a host riffs on remarriage: 'where's the rice? nobody else would put up with me,' the Tide-vs-homemade-detergent problem — concluding honestly that he knows he couldn't do it, which is itself wisdom. Secular's advice: message that you'll be in town to 'catch up'; don't mention the documents.

Dear LFTP: the ice-cream-bars letter and the Walgreens soda story

• Is it wrong to eat store food in the aisle if you pay at checkout?

A listener asks whether her friend was wrong to eat an ice cream bar in the aisle and pay at checkout. Verdict: fine if you pay — theft only happens when you leave without paying; opening a by-the-box item isn't like sampling by-weight grapes. Detour: a host tells of being confronted at Walgreens for drinking a soda he brought in (warm in the car), plus a government-auction exact-change saga.

Dear LFTP: the cruise formal-night letter

• Can the wife go to the cruise formal night without her husband, and what should he wear?

A wife wants the cruise's formal night; her husband — a tux T-shirt and Disney top-hat owner — refuses to dress up. Advice: the guy should just do it ('she will appreciate the gesture, even if you hate it — that reinforces the gesture'), and yes, she may go without him if he refuses. Secular's advice: you're not joined at the hip; pick a less formal ship next time.

"No Longer Slaves" performance

Aaron introduces 'No Longer Slaves' as the song that taught him freedom from fear — 'I'm no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God' — connecting it to the evening's advice letters (fear runs through the questions; the answer is trust in the Lord). He performs it live; the lyrics invoke the Exodus sea crossing ('You split the sea so I can walk right through it').

Wrap-up: worship-night recap and next week's packed house

The hosts thank Aaron and recap the October 23 worship night ($5, food and worship, message Simple Church on Facebook). Next week: Jeff Arendelle and the band, plus Bob Eisenlauer. A shout-out to the Light 45 music video shoot for 'The Maze' closes the show.