Interview with Blake Stanley with BLDR Apparel

Show open and social media banter

The show opens from the Pathway Studios in Johnston. A host jokes about social media presence, counts 506 Facebook likes, and riffs on the Proverbs image of the contentious wife as a dripping faucet before addressing another host by name.

Coronaed out of travel, cheap gas

The hosts note they are on the air two weeks running, then discuss travel plans cancelled by the coronavirus, the stock market, and Saudi oil price cuts that pushed gas under two dollars a gallon.

Guest intro and cheesy Christian shirt stories

The guest, Blake Stanley, is introduced as founder of the BLDR clothing line. Before the interview starts, the hosts trade stories of cheesy Christian T-shirts: a grandma-bought Christ shirt, a ripped Jesus doing a push-up captioned 'bench press this,' and a 'gee whiz' thumbprint shirt.

The oil-producing Bible ministry fraud

• How can you tell whether a claimed miracle is real or a fraud?

A host reads a Chattanooga Times Free Press investigation of the 'His Name Is Flowing Oil' ministry in Dalton, Georgia, whose Bible allegedly produced oil that lab analysis matched to Tractor Supply mineral oil after leader Jerry Pierce admitted buying gallons of it. The hosts debate discernment: how to stay open to the Holy Spirit without being duped, why centering a ministry on a miracle inverts Jesus's own pattern, and why 350,000 vials should never have left town.

Why Blake started BLDR

• Can a T-shirt start a real gospel conversation?

Asked what moment led him to start the line, the guest explains his designer's frustration: cheesy in-your-face shirts turn people away, many Christian brands are made for profit by non-believers, and he wanted his gifts to serve the gospel. His earlier brand Tetelestai became BLDR, short for birth, life, death, resurrection, designed so the acronym itself starts a conversation.

Proclaim, don't campaign

A host roleplays spotting the BLDR shirt on the street while the guest delivers his fifteen-second gospel walkthrough. The hosts land on the line's philosophy: proclaim the name of Jesus, don't campaign it, since the cross has been flattened into a brand instead of a story people can walk into.

Spring line, pop-up camper, and bldr.faith

The guest describes the ninth collection, including a spring line with an ancient-Jerusalem topography shirt called 'where Jesus walked' and a pierced-wrist hand-sign shirt quoting John 15:13. He talks about printing shirts at home, running pop-up events from a converted vintage camper, and loving face-to-face conversations over online orders. The segment includes studio chaos, a 'Boulder Faith' pun on bldr.faith, and the Instagram handle.

Stewarding the business and wrapping the interview

Asked about scaling, the guest says he never dreamed it would get this far, defines success as stewarding what the Lord gave him even if it ends in two years, and dreams of a coffee-shop storefront. The hosts wrap the interview, plug the Bob Eisenlauer complaint line at (515) 517-0085, and follow up on last week's advice segment.

Dear LFTP follow-up and the daddy-daughter dance

A host checks the complaint line and follows up on last week's advice about a stranger's child coming into a listener's home, confirming with his wife that calling the police was the right call. He then muses about the daddy-daughter dance, the impossibility of recruiting volunteer 'rented dads' in the current culture, and the sadness of that.

Dear LFTP: the estranged brother and the dog

• Should I tell my parents that I found my estranged brother?
• Does an estranged brother owe his parents reconciliation now that he is doing well?

A listener writes that five years ago her brother, recovering at their parents' house, watched their alcoholic father feed his dog Pepper chocolate until the dog died, blew up at their father, and cut off the family. She has now found her brother married abroad and asks whether she must tell her parents. The hosts advise she is not obligated to report back but cannot lie if asked, then argue from Luke 6 that the brother must forgive actionably, doing good and praying for his father, even while keeping healthy boundaries.

Dear LFTP: is it a good baby?

• How do I reply to my husband's grandmama's 'good baby' email without starting a fight?

A new mother writes that her husband's grandmama emailed asking whether the baby is a 'good baby,' a phrase that is a pet peeve since the grandmother is strict and quarrelsome. The hosts advise against picking a fight over it: just reply that the baby is great and move on. The Secular answer is to dodge the premise entirely with a brief pleasant reply.

Outro and sign-off

The hosts close with the complaint line number, thank the guest, point listeners to bldr.faith and the Boulder Faith Instagram, and sign off with the line about being faithful in the means while God handles the ends.