October 18 2010

Show open and tonight's rundown

The show opens with the Des Moines Amplified stinger. Ben introduces himself by name and lays out the night's topics: Christian singer Matthew West's story-based album, the Koran-burning pastor who got a free car, Mike's encounters with people witnessing to him, and visitors seeking blind and deaf people. Light opening banter sets up the segments to come.

The Blind and Deaf Foundation visitors

• Do ghosts exist, or are reported hauntings really demonic?
• Is it dangerous for Christians to buy a building reported to be haunted?

Mike recounts strangers in a sedan pulling into his driveway asking if he knows any blind or deaf people, claiming to be volunteers from a 'Blind and Deaf Foundation'. The hosts debate whether the visitors were criminals casing the house or well-meaning but clueless, joking that four 'pineapple ladies' can't look legit. A ghost story about a haunted Bondurant school they nearly bought leads into a discussion of whether ghosts exist or are demons masquerading as them.

Chilean miners, the Jesus Film, and the mistress story

The hosts discuss the Jesus Film Project (a Campus Crusade for Christ International ministry) sending t-shirts to the trapped Chilean miners, one of whose shirts was worn as the miners emerged. They also retell the story of the miner who invited both his wife and his mistress to his rescue, and the wife discovering the mistress at the vigil.

Jared's sermon, C.S. Lewis, and the communion box

The hosts note the Jesus Film Project's scale, praise Jared's Sunday sermon at Pathway Church in Johnston (and his show name-drop), and enjoy a C.S. Lewis quote. A communion-box joke turns into a bit about tithing, and the chat debates whether one of the hosts has been wearing the same shirt since Sunday.

Recap and the Dave Bush bit

A quick recap of the miners, the t-shirts, and Mike's visitors precedes a bit about Dave Bush, who was supposed to be a guest a couple weeks ago and never showed. One host does an impression of Dave Bush as a voice from the empty fourth chair, ending with a mock sign-off line.

Terry Jones and the free Hyundai

• Was Terry Jones's Koran-burning threat a legitimate Christian witness or just a publicity stunt?

The hosts discuss Florida pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center, whose threatened Koran burning drew a free 2011 Hyundai Accent offer from Brad Benson Hyundai in New Brunswick if he backed down. After withdrawing, Jones had his church call to collect the car, promising to donate it to a Muslim charity. The hosts debate his consistency, free speech, whether the stunt revealed Islam's heart or just its extremists, and share stories of God reaching Muslim people in the Middle East.

Caller David Booker: judges, marriage law, and pulpit politics

• Can pastors preach political agendas from the pulpit without losing tax-exempt status, and how should Christians respond to courts striking down marriage laws?

A caller who introduces himself as David Booker joins the show and the conversation turns to a Sioux City pastor and Iowa's judges striking down the man-woman marriage statute. The hosts debate whether pastors can preach political agendas from the pulpit without losing tax-exempt status, what benefit society gets from same-sex marriage law, and fears that Canada's hate-speech enforcement shows where such laws lead for the church.

Religious freedom and the 'banner sin'

The hosts keep working the marriage-law debate: one argues the freedom to follow Christ is diminished if the state can limit others' freedom, that there is no constitutional right to marry, and that the state should get out of the marriage business entirely. They agree same-sex marriage is the church's 'banner sin' while tolerating worse sins in its own ranks. The segment closes with a joke that it took nine months to spend more than 20 seconds on a hot social topic.

Mike's house-painting witness encounter

Mike tells an extended story of painting a man's house and being witnessed to all day by the homeowner, who treated him as an unsaved stranger despite Mike mentioning his Christian radio show. The man's three 'universal truths' were: we're all born of women, we all die, and you need Jesus. The hosts read John Acuff's July 8 blog post on five ways to respond when a Christian tries to convert another Christian, including front-hugging the person.

The three universal truths and being teachable

The hosts reflect on Mike's story: the awkwardness of having nothing to say when witnessed to about things you already know, the man's two-ears-one-mouth compliment, buying Mike lunch at the Pizza Ranch, and offering his $40,000 truck for a paint run. One host admits a pride issue, noting the experience got him praying more and wondering whether God had sent the man.

Matthew West: The Story of Your Life

The show covers Matthew West's album The Story of Your Life, built from over 10,000 fan-submitted stories from every state and 20 countries, read over two months in a Tennessee cabin. The host reads West's account of writing 'My Own Little World' about his sheltered Christian life, then plays a live recording from Air One radio in California. Price banter follows: the album is $16, songs $1 each for 12 months.

The foster-care story, Joshua 1:9, and marriage

• What does Joshua 1:9 say?

The lead track's backstory is read aloud: a 17-year-old foster kid aging out of care with no family writes of redemption and healing, naming Joshua 1:9 as her anchor verse. The hosts quote the verse from the English Standard Version and reflect on God being with you everywhere. Conversation turns to marriage: one host imagines arguing with his wife while God watches, and another cites 1 Peter 3 on prayers being hindered when the husband-wife relationship is off.

Dan's Hawaii anniversary trip

Dan recounts his anniversary trip to Oahu with his wife: snorkeling near a protected sea turtle, the glitzy Waikiki facade versus the rough parts seen from the airport bus, the beauty of mountains on one side and ocean on the other, and the tongue-in-cheek idea that Hawaii's homeless are just people who stayed. The hosts riff on Dan becoming 'Dan Hudson, brah'.

Christ Covenant Church's 'What a bunch of jerks' billboard

The hosts read aloud the full text behind a Christ Covenant Church billboard in Beaumont, Texas that says 'What a bunch of jerks!': an admission that the church has failed to be the hands and feet of Jesus, quoting Gandhi's line 'I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians'. They praise the church's self-critique and effectiveness.

The church as institution vs. relationship with Christ

Reacting to the billboard, the hosts discuss when the church started publicly calling out its own failures: Ananias and Sapphira as proof the church was always full of jerks, the 20th-century institutional church as a comfort center versus a relationship with Christ, and distrust of polished celebrity pastors like Joel Osteen. The church, they argue, must be a distribution channel for truth, not merely a social program.

Dan's books and the hypothetical LFTP book

• What should a Live from the Path book be about?

Dan, who writes in the audio under his own name, is teased about his three books: Hope from the Heartland, Light for the Journey, and God's Top Ten, the last assembled from a sermon series. They look up his Amazon best-sellers rank (7,278,928) and a four-star review from Debbie Chopka of Canton, Ohio. A chat-driven brainstorm on what a Live from the Path book would be about yields titles like 'How to sell hot dogs via the mail' and 'Jesus and donkeys'.

Donkeys, horseback riding, and Altoona trash day

The host tells of petting a half jack donkey at a pumpkin patch and horseback riding with his wife and oldest daughter, including a horse in love with a donkey. Then Altoona's trash day: Ben's 1968 ladies' hair-drying chair (a Luxor Deluxe, found on Craigslist) and two curbside dishwashers.

The worshiper of the week and the paint-by-number business

The hair-drying chair prompts Dan's story of getting a perm in the 80s and a proposed 'worshiper of the week' church bit: an audience member drawn by ticket stub gets the recliner and is rickshawed to the car. Hawaii tourist-photo economics lead to a paint-by-number photo business idea using colorwheelcompany.com software. One host keeps calling someone 'broccoli'.

Next-week preview and sign-off

• Is it biblical to follow Christ outside the church?

The show closes with next week's topic teased: following Christ while trying to do it outside the church, and whether that is biblically consistent. Two weeks out: a 'where to start' episode for seekers. The hosts plug livefromthepath.org archives, the YouTube channel clips, and performances by bands like Jeff Arendale, Syndrome of Fire, Saved on Sunday, and On This Rock.