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Faith Works Live show open and sponsor read

A produced announcer opens the Faith Works Live radio broadcast, naming Baldwin Heating and Plumbing as sponsor with phone number 515-371-4036 and introducing host Michael Damascus. A read advertisement for Baldwin Heating and Plumbing follows, praising its customer service and repeating the phone number. No Live From The Path content occurs in this opening.

Guest hosts take over Faith Works Live

Dan Hudson explains that the regular host is away, that he has slid into the host chair, and that he has brought in the Live From The Path crew, who are nearing ten years on the air. A host introduces himself and the crew as the listeners' friends and frames the broadcast around helping with New Year's resolutions. The crew jokes that fitness goals are off the table and pivots to the resolution of growing closer to God.

Getting closer to God: spend time, not programs

• What is the number-one thing you have to do to become closer to God?
• Do you need isolation and quiet to spend time with God?

The hosts argue the core of closeness with God is spending time with him, the way you would with a friend or spouse. They warn against two ditches: burying prayer under Bible study, or insisting on perfect isolation and quiet that real life cannot sustain. A host describes the yearly 5:00 a.m. resolution collapsing by day three and concludes the time with God must integrate with actual life rather than a rigid schedule. The punchline: God is awake at 11 p.m. too -- 'you put the crown on the 5:30; God didn't.'

Waking up at night: prayer or toast

• If you wake up in the middle of the night for no reason, is God trying to get your attention?

A host asks whether waking at 4 a.m. for no reason means God wants prayer, admitting his own attempts last about thirty seconds before he wants toast. Another host describes waking sick at 1, 3, and 5 a.m., throwing out a few names in prayer 'in case this is it,' then going back to eat. A host recounts waking with a strong urge to post on social media telling someone not to take their life, and learning later it reached three or four people. The conclusion: God can wake you, you will probably know it, and there is no guilt in going back to sleep.

What each host reaches for: worship, serving, fasting

One host says worship music is his reflex -- singing along until a lyric becomes a prayer or a spontaneous prayer interrupts the song. Another adds that closeness with God also means being where God is at work, serving alongside other believers rather than staying isolated in studious quiet. A third host names fasting as his go-to, describing a rotating schedule of giving things up so each craving becomes a prayer prompt. The segment closes with a bumper teasing upcoming games.

Station break: sponsor reads

A bumper teases games and stories after the break on 98.3 KTIA. The produced Faith Works Live intro and Baldwin Heating and Plumbing sponsorship repeat. A read advertisement for the Agape Pregnancy Center follows, listing free services and phone number 515-255-0243.

Back from break: the Facebook likes campaign

Dan Hudson reintroduces the Live From The Path crew and their Monday-night show at livefromthepath.org. A host jokes the show's Facebook page has sat at 495 likes for two years and asks listeners for a 'shallow win' to reach 500. The crew riffs that hitting 500 likes will free Michael Damascus from the elevator they locked him in -- then worries listeners may withhold likes to keep him there.

News of the day: the man who quit over 666

A host reads a Christian Post story about Walter Slonopas of Tennessee, who quit his job in 2013 when the number 666 was assigned to his W-2 by Contact Casting LLC, and later received a higher-paying job while his former employer closed. The hosts joke about the mark of the beast, goat farmers, and Yahtzee, then turn serious: they admire his conviction though they would not take the same stand. Their takeaway is that God was glorified even if the man was mistaken, and that the company's closure should not be read as divine punishment.

Ads: beef and Iowans for Life

The produced Faith Works Live intro repeats, followed by a read advertisement for Onimus beef with contact David Autumnus and phone 515-238-7505, plus banter about freezers full of beef. A host then reads a lengthy announcement for Iowans for Life, the state's long-standing nonprofit pro-life organization, directing listeners to iowansforlife.org and its social accounts.

Secular vs. Solomon: rules and round one

A host explains the game: he reads a proverb, the others guess whether it is secular wisdom or biblical (Solomon), and for secular answers they must name a country of origin. Round one -- 'If you don't understand it with a wink, you certainly will with a blow' -- is ruled secular, with guesses ranging from Afghanistan to Morocco, which the host declares correct. A live-feed commenter agrees with one host's Democratic Republic of Congo guess.

Secular vs. Solomon: rounds two through five

'Every sin brings its punishment with it' fools one host into guessing Solomon with chapter and verse, but is ruled secular from Romania. 'The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels' is correctly identified as Solomon, Proverbs 26. 'God does not pay weekly, but he pays at the end' is ruled secular from the Netherlands. The final round -- 'Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice rising early in the morning will be counted as cursing' -- is correctly called Solomon, Proverbs 27.

Station break: InterVision Healthcare ad

A bumper closes the game segment and promotes the Facebook page. The produced Faith Works Live intro repeats. A read advertisement for InterVision's Healthcare Clinic follows, listing two Des Moines locations, free pregnancy and STD services, and phone 515-440-2273.

Dear LFTP: the lecturing fiance

• What should I do when my fiance lectures me, apologizes without changing, and says it is my fault?
• Is the 'secular answer' right that this relationship is a red flag for verbal abuse?

A host reads a listener letter: her fiance of four years lectures her, apologizes within the hour, keeps repeating the pattern, and makes it her fault. The hosts suspect the letter is one-sided and note she never says what the lectures are about; one advises she try apologizing first. The 'secular answer' calls it a red flag for verbal abuse and urges rethinking the engagement, which the hosts call dramatic and unsupported -- while conceding the described pattern would be classic abuse if true. A host confesses using loaded words on his own wife days earlier, and a running joke about the word 'sculching' detours into The Lion King.

Book plug and sign-off

A host announces the children's book he wrote with his thirteen-year-old daughter, who illustrated it, available at littlemanthetroll.com and on Amazon as 'Little Man the Troll.' The crew thanks Michael Damascus for the airtime and Dan for bringing them in, and closes with plugs for livefromthepath.org and the Facebook page.