The Fish Factory

Show open and episode agenda

A host opens the show from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper and lays out the night's agenda: in-studio guests Jeff and Nancy Hanna discussing their ministry the Fish Factory, a return of the 'nonbiblical signs of the apocalypse' game after a four-to-five-year hiatus, a 'Buva be talking' segment in which Boova discusses food, faith, and the Whole30, and Dear LFTP advice. The hosts joke about Facebook 'voyeurizing' the Fish Factory's page.

Interview: Jeff and Nancy Hanna and the Fish Factory

Guests Jeff and Nancy Hanna describe the Fish Factory, a Des Moines ministry combining an arts and crafts consignment store, a used bookstore, and a coffee shop into a 'safe space' for relationship-building. Jeff recounts receiving the vision while mowing his lawn in Akron, Ohio in 2010, trying to start it in Akron and Columbus before opening in October 2015 in the Northside/Highland Park neighborhood. Nancy details regular events — Wacky Waffles, a monthly community dinner, open mic night, and a casual worship gathering — and their 'missional incarnational' philosophy of showing people Jesus before telling them about Him, including how the ministry adapted to welcome neighbors dealing with mental health issues.

Announcement: Fish Factory ladies-night testimony event

Nancy announces an upcoming Fish Factory ladies-night event: a young widow from Ohio, whose husband died in a car accident within a month of their wedding, will share her story 'tragically transformed' on Tuesday the 28th, doors at 6:30 PM. Jeff jokes he will serve as the event's security. The hosts confirm the event is open to all ladies.

Fish Factory details, cribbage, and Boova's sunrise song

The hosts plug the Fish Factory on Facebook and cover practical details: hours (Tuesday-Friday 8:30-1, Saturday 9-3), free first drinks, plain black coffee sourced from Freedom for Youth, and the ever-open cribbage and checker boards. Boova is teased into singing the two-line seventh-grade mnemonic song he wrote to remember that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, which earned him an A on the test.

Nonbiblical signs, story 1: facial-recognition toilet paper

• Is facial-recognition toilet paper in China a nonbiblical sign of the apocalypse?

After a brief bit about an old Dan promo, the hosts open the 'nonbiblical signs of the apocalypse' game with story one: Beijing's Temple of Heaven Park is using facial-recognition machines to dispense two feet of toilet paper at a time, with a nine-minute wait for more, after an investigation found 30 rolls stolen daily. The panel riffs on the economics, the nine-minute wait, government surveillance fears, and ways to game the machines with disguises. Jeff votes apocalypse, Nancy votes normal times, Boova says only if it goes worldwide, and Dan calls it a sign of overpopulation and sinful nature — end times only if Christians get cut off.

Nonbiblical signs, story 2: should a chimp be a legal person?

• Should chimpanzees be treated as legal persons with habeas corpus rights?

Story two: a New York appeals court is being asked whether chimps Tommy and Kiko are legal persons with habeas corpus rights, argued by attorney Steven Wise of the Nonhuman Rights Project after an Argentinian judge ruled chimps have such rights. Discussion spirals into a tangent about renting a monkey for a party for $48, monkey-vs-ape distinctions, and buying monkeyparty.com. The panel's verdict is 'more time' — not an apocalypse sign yet, unless personhood goes worldwide.

Nonbiblical signs, story 3: celebrity flat-earthism

• Is celebrity flat-earthism a nonbiblical sign of the apocalypse?

Story three: Shaquille O'Neal says the world is flat and satellite imagery could be faked, joining Kyrie Irving and rapper B.o.B in celebrity flat-earthism. The conversation detours through seventh-grade geography, mall-based directions in Des Moines, and societal regression toward the Tower of Babel. The game closes with the show's answer to end-times anxiety — 'Repent and believe in the gospel' (Mark 1) — with callbacks to the toilet-paper robots and monkey facial recognition.

Transition: past musical guests and Buva be talking intro

Coming back from the game, a host points listeners to past show clips and in-studio musical performances — Michael Everton from the prior week, Driven Eleven the week before, and Egypt Ali — on lifefromthepath.org, then introduces the 'Buva be talking' segment and hands off to Boova.

Boova's testimony: food as idol, running to the Father

Boova shares an extended testimony about food as an idol and emotional addiction: peaking over 640 pounds at 19-20, losing his parents, binge eating in secret, and his father's fatal heart attack at 44. After his girlfriend's family introduced him to a Whole30-style 30-day reset about 45 days earlier, he began running to God in prayer, worship, and Scripture whenever cravings hit — losing nearly 40 pounds and, more importantly, experiencing a dependence on God he had never known. He names his motivation — wanting to marry his girlfriend, who is running part of an orphanage in Madagascar — and invites listeners to contact him via his Troy Engledinger Twitter handle or info@livefromthepath.org.

Celebrate Recovery endorsement

A host echoes Boova's testimony with an endorsement of Celebrate Recovery, a church-adjacent recovery program he has been sitting in on: it takes any issue, not just classic addictions, because every problem refines down to a heart that needs Jesus. He argues pornography, heroin, food, and other addictions mold into the same core struggle over time, and urges anyone whose hang-up keeps them from Jesus to find a group within 30 miles.

Dear LFTP: is asking guests to remove shoes tacky?

• Is it tacky or rude to ask visitors to remove their shoes in a new house with young children?

Dear LFTP letter one: a listener building a new house with young children asks whether it is tacky or rude to ask visitors to remove their shoes to protect new flooring. The panel says no — check for shoes piled at the door, warn guests in advance, keep spare slippers or disposable booties, and don't spend money on floors you will stress over. The letter cites the Japanese custom of removing shoes, and the discussion devolves into 'house shoes' versus slippers and Jeff's $85 house shoes.

Dear LFTP: widow with alopecia asks when to disclose her wig

• When should a widowed woman with alopecia tell a man she is dating about her wig?

Dear LFTP letter two: a 57-year-old widow of 23 years with alopecia, now wanting to date, asks when to tell a man that her wig and makeup are not what they seem. The hosts advise being honest when she feels comfortable — not on date one, but not waiting until the wedding — arguing any 60-year-old man should understand presented appearances. The letter's 'secular advice' (tell him when he is about to run his hands through your hair) is roundly mocked as creepy, and a host closes with a story of his grandmother cycling through Golden Girls wig styles after cancer treatment.

Dear LFTP: elderly father eating dumpster food

• What should be done about an elderly father who eats grocery-dumpster food and plans to serve it at a family gathering?

Dear LFTP letter three: a listener's father in his early 80s has taken to eating produce he finds in grocery-store dumpsters and now plans to cook dumpster food for a family gathering. The panel's advice: see a neurologist, since this may be early dementia rather than stubbornness, and insist he disclose the food's origin. A PS about 'freegans' (free + vegan) rescuing food behind markets — with a Paris restaurant serving it — is itself nominated as a nonbiblical sign of the apocalypse; the secular advice is to alert relatives if the father will not disclose.

Show close: Fish Factory plug and sign-off

Show close: thanks to Jeff and Nancy Hanna and the Fish Factory, a final plug for the Fish Factory DSM Facebook page and the upcoming Tuesday-the-28th ladies-night event. A host urges listeners to 'employ the principle' — commit long term to relationships and meet people where they are — and signs off with the show's catchphrase: 'be faithful in the means; God will handle the ends.'