Allie Crummy and Video Game Jesus

Show open

The hosts open the show from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper, joking through a false-start intro that stumbles on the first line.

I Am Jesus Christ video game riff

• Would you play the I Am Jesus Christ video game, and what features must it have?

Ben reads an article about Playway's upcoming "I Am Jesus Christ" New Testament simulator game and the hosts riff on what the gameplay must be like: Sermon on the Mount beatitude quizzes, carpentry tutorial levels until age 30, dodging the disciples to pray alone, and a Revelation unlockable level. They also debate whether playing Jesus crosses a line that movies and costumes do not.

Complaint line and hijacked website

Ben plugs the Bob Eisenlauer complaint line and asks listeners whether they'd play the game, then reveals the show's website had been redirecting visitors to an online pharmacy and that he repaired it.

Ali Crumme performs Out of My Head

In-studio guest Ali Crumme performs "Out of My Head," her song based on Psalm 42, about anxious thoughts and placing hope in God.

Interview: Ali's songwriting journey

Ali describes adapting an old song about toothbrushes and toast into a Psalm 42 piece for a Walnut Creek church Psalms series, piano lessons from age five, a music degree from Drake, teaching herself guitar on her son's toy guitar, and leading worship with her husband. She names the Punch Brothers as an influence, sparking the "high church bluegrass" joke.

Where to find Ali's music

Ali's release plans: the single "I Have Peace" is out now, an EP records in early January with a second EP later in 2020; the hosts send listeners to her Instagram and YouTube and issue three action items.

The pope stole my pizza

Ben tells a story from a Minneapolis hotel: his pizza was given to someone else because "the pope is in the area," and a rumor spreads that Mike is the pope, drawing a crowd to his lawn. The only way to disperse them is pope-style advice from the veranda.

Gratitude: remembering whose kingdom it is

• How do I become grateful when it doesn't come naturally?

Mike delivers his pope-style advice, telling of a 95-year-old family member whose every word in the hospital was grateful, and confessing his own habit of disappointment. The hosts discuss chosen gratefulness over entitlement, an answered prayer memorialized with an Ebenezer rock, and building gratitude into prayer life by rehearsing who God is.

I Have Peace: eclampsia testimony and song

Ali tells the story behind her single "I Have Peace": eclampsia during pregnancy, a two-minute grand mal seizure, emergency delivery of her son Lincoln at 30 weeks in January 2015, days in the NICU, postpartum preeclampsia, and a broken collarbone, and writing the song to preach truth to her own terror. She then performs it.

Spotify streaming economics

The hosts and Ali compare streaming payouts, around eight ten-thousandths of a cent per stream, with 24,000 streams yielding about $61, and urge listeners to actually buy the song.

Dear LFTP: night-shift discrimination

• Is it discrimination when I'm always scheduled for night shifts?

A listener letter asks whether being scheduled for four night shifts a week while younger coworkers get days is age discrimination. The secular answer calls HR departments bloated; the hosts advise talking to the employer first, distinguishing discrimination from a distinction, and formalizing requests.

Dear LFTP: holidays with the in-laws

• How should we handle daughters-in-law who never spend holidays with us?

A listener letter asks for advice about daughters-in-law who spend every holiday with their own parents. The hosts push back on the letter's victim framing and advise graciousness, proposing alternation or off-date gatherings rather than fighting over the day itself; the secular answer suggests making separate plans.

Complaint line callback

Ben riffs on a complaint-line text praising "the cool old guy with the beard" and revives the online-pharmacy joke.

Ali performs Our God Is Compassionate

Ali introduces her closing song, written after seeing her own quick anger with her kids contrasted with a God who is slow to anger, and performs "Our God Is Compassionate" to end the show.