2016 Episode 40

Solo show open

The host opens the show alone, explaining the rest of the crew is absent because of work schedules, classes, and other circumstances. He previews the evening: reflections on musician Derek Webb's public confession of infidelity and divorce, and what it reveals about how close anyone is to destroying good things.

Who Derek Webb is

The host gives background on singer-songwriter Derek Webb and his former wife Sandra McCracken — a once-prominent Christian-music couple married thirteen years — and recounts helping load in the band at a recent All Sons and Daughters concert where McCracken performed, shortly after her album God's Highway released.

Reading Webb's confession post

The host reads aloud, nearly in full, Derek Webb's January 2016 blog post 'On failure, liturgy, and New Year's': his admission that he cheated, the secrecy and lies, the plea for a small group of safe people who will sit with you in your worst moments rather than offer moral platitudes, and his closing image of his songs as a personal liturgy he recites in hopes of believing.

'Rich Young Ruler' and the Mockingbird albums

The host plays Webb's song 'Rich Young Ruler' (audio occupies roughly 10:51-14:29 with no transcript) and discusses why its theology of surrender grabbed him, plus Webb's Mockingbird album and a hard-to-find all-acoustic re-recording of it that the host considers his favorite.

How quickly destructive things become reasonable

• Am I really as susceptible to believing lies and falling into destructive sin as anyone else?

Reflecting on Webb's line that temptation becomes 'rational and reasonable' with insane speed, the host argues everyone — himself included — is susceptible to believing lies; such falls come from willingly believing a series of known lies, not from accidents; and no amount of privilege, money, or good circumstances provides immunity.

Safe people and community as protection

The host expands on Webb's plea for safe community: honest friends who will confront you keep you from hiding, and pulling away from community is itself a sign someone is plotting to get away with something. Such accountability is framed as a support system deliberately put in place, not a shackle.

Radical honesty versus hiding

The host argues that any impulse to hide something — even white lies or the 'joke' lies he tells his children — marks a dangerous trajectory, and that freedom lives in saying true things out loud to a spouse and community before acting, rather than engineering circumstances where no one will notice.

Scripture reorients; truth is not traded for sympathy

The host describes how returning to Scripture reorients him whenever he feels distant from God, then critiques believers who discard biblical truth claims out of sympathy for mistreated groups — arguing that loving people means telling them true, gracious things, not withholding them to atone for the church's past harshness.

Nick Harris arrives

About 37 minutes in, Nick Harris joins the host on-air. The host recaps the Webb discussion for him and restates the core point: everyone is susceptible to believing lies and hiding, so vigilance, constant communication with God, and community are essential.

Prayer without ceasing, thoughts, and conscience

Nick and the host discuss constant communication with God, guarding the thought life (Philippians 4 — 'whatever is honorable, whatever is just... think on these things'), the conscience as God's witness to everything done and thought, and the value of trusted believers who will confront you when something looks off.

Shame, mercy, and Webb's liturgy

The two discuss the shame Webb expressed — struggling to believe God could make, let alone love, a man who did such things — and argue that shame is the right understanding of sin but must not block belief in mercy: Christ suffered and died for exactly such people, and forgiveness is justice because of what Christ has done.

Nick's story of asked-for signs

Nick tells a story from the previous day: anxious about the future, he asked God for small signs — a dead headphone that suddenly worked, being guided to an answer to his question, then a Scripture app reading 'Today's trouble is enough for today' (Matthew 6:34) that matched his mother's counsel. He argues God answers through such signs and they should not be dismissed as coincidence.

Does God care about the small stuff?

• Does God care about the small details of daily life, or is that just coincidence?

The host voices the common theological hesitation — that Scripture should be sufficient to guide life, and he is not sure God is invested in minutiae — while Nick insists that God, as creator of all things, can and does work through any device or detail. The host lands in the 'I don't know' column rather than dismissing it outright.

Dear LFTP: the birds-and-bees talk at seven

• Is our seven-year-old too young for the birds-and-bees talk?
• How should parents explain difficult biblical content (adultery, circumcision) to young children?

A listener asks whether her seven-year-old is too young for the birds-and-bees talk, given what he already knows from media, while her psych-major husband insists he is ready. The host and Nick both advise having the talk now in age-appropriate terms: be the first messenger, define adultery for kids as treating someone like a spouse who isn't your spouse, and keep answering truthfully as questions come. The 'Secular' answer agrees the talk should be an ongoing dialogue, not one speech.

Dear LFTP: stuck on a first love

• How do I get over my first love two years after the breakup?

A listener, nearly 18, writes that two years after her boyfriend dumped her for refusing sex — and then cheated on her with her best friend — she still cannot get over him. Nick and the host tell her she dodged a bullet: the 'first love forever' story was never true, and she should deal in true things rather than mourn a false one. The 'Secular' answer concurs.

Next week's guests and sign-off

The host previews next week's guest — a man who runs an organization serving Haiti and just opened a thrift store in Grimes — and the following week's visit from musician Chris Akers about his new album. He asks listeners for feedback on the solo format, then closes with the sign-off: 'be faithful in the means; God will handle the ends.'