2016 Episode 44

Show open from the Pathway Studios

Cold open from the Pathway Studios in Johnston: the hosts banter about beard combs and a flea scare after a two-week break, then welcome listeners back to the show.

Tonight's lineup preview

• What is love - would I recognize it if it came right in front of me?

The hosts preview the episode: author Crystal Joy is in studio to discuss her book Completely Captivated; they tease a new game about recognizing love and a 'pope style' advice segment on identity for college students, plus possibly Secular vs Solomon and Dear LFTP.

Interview: Crystal Joy's background and writing life

Interview with guest Crystal Joy: a former junior-high teacher turned stay-at-home mom of two, she describes writing at a busy Dunn Brothers coffee house in Bettendorf and her call to pursue writing full time.

Completely Captivated: how the book was written

• Have story subjects reacted to details being wrong or surprising in their written love stories?

Crystal Joy explains how Completely Captivated began as real love stories posted on her website, then expanded beyond happily-ever-after when a friend asked about stories that don't end well; she describes collecting vivid, divergent details from couples, including writing from both the woman's and the man's perspective.

Remembering and recording your own love story

• How can ordinary people recognize and remember their own unique love story?
• Am I cheating in my relationship if I write down details?

On remembering and recording love stories: a host asks whether writing down relationship details is 'cheating,' prompting the story - told by the host the others address in the audio as 'Boova' - of getting his girlfriend's number by claiming he could help with frequent-flyer miles for her Madagascar missions trip; the guest dubs him the 'journaling boyfriend.'

Crystal Joy's pending fiction books

Crystal Joy discusses her pending fiction books, including the completed novel 'Shakalar' - about Charlie, a man with a flawed past loved despite his mistakes - and the hosts close the book segment with purchase plugs (crystaljoybooks.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Nook).

Game: Is This Love?

The 'Is This Love?' game, credited in the audio to Mike: a host reads five scenarios - an overdone anniversary dinner, grocery-store food photos, an old man emptying his wife's purse, and a daily LFTP listener - and the panel guesses love or not love before each twist reveal.

Game: Secular vs Solomon

Secular vs Solomon: the panel guesses whether proverbs are world wisdom (naming the country of origin) or from the Bible; Solomon answers land on Proverbs 10 and 11, read in the English Standard Version named on-air, while secular answers are credited to Hungary, Zambia, Morocco, Vietnam, and Germany.

Post-game banter: a meme for the book

Post-game banter: the hosts pitch a meme to sell the guest's book (Batman-slapping-Robin format), riff on blogging versus memes, and confirm she will stay in studio for the rest of the show.

Pope-style advice: identity in Christ

The 'pope-style' advice: after a host is mistaken for the pope, the host the others address in the audio as 'Boova' delivers the promised advice on identity - recounting a 3 a.m. call from a young woman used to being treated poorly, and arguing that knowing who Christ says you are is the only trustworthy source of worth; another host adds a sermon reflection on untrustworthy identity sources.

Listener contact invitation and Dear LFTP intro

Listener contact invitation (email and in-person coffee) and the introduction of the Dear LFTP advice segment.

Dear LFTP: the 57-year-old dater

• How does a person find a happy balance in this dating world?

Dear LFTP: a 57-year-old man back in the dating scene fears honesty causes hurt and asks how to find balance; the hosts advise 'kingdom priorities' with God at the center, the guest urges self-reflection, and the secular answer prescribes communication and mutual chemistry.

Dear LFTP: the retirement-move disagreement

• How should a couple decide when the retired husband wants to move states and the wife doesn't want to start over?

Dear LFTP: a 57-year-old woman married 25 years resists her retired husband's plan to move states; the panel advises praying together and real compromise, jokes about building him a humid 'hot room' instead of moving, and the secular answer suggests renting first as snowbirds.

Outro and sign-off

Outro: thanks to Crystal Joy, final book plugs (crystaljoybooks.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Nook), a note that next week is the final show of the year, and the sign-off: 'be faithful in the means, God will take care of the ends.'