Super Sign of the End Times

Show open, agenda, and guest welcome

The show opens from the Pathway Studios with the usual intro. A host lays out the plan for the episode: one news article, a quiz, and Dear LFTP advice letters. Nathaniel is welcomed as an in-studio guest, with some opening banter about his shirt.

Jeff Kinley's 'super sign' of the end times

• Is Israel's 1948 rebirth God's 'super sign' of the end times?

A host reads a Christian Post article about author Jeff Kinley, who calls Israel's rebirth as a nation God's 'super sign' of the end times. The hosts guess what the sign is — Israel and Russia are floated — and the article reveals it is Israel's 1948 rebirth. Tangents include the feeding of the five thousand and whether the multiplied fish came cooked, plus a running joke about what the end-times trumpet will sound like, name-checking Louis Armstrong and Wynton Marsalis.

What 'the end times' means, and Israel as people vs nation-state

• What does the Bible mean by 'the end times'?

The hosts argue that biblically 'the end times' means everything after Jesus, not a recent development. They push back on treating the 1948 nation-state of Israel as a prophetic super sign: Israel as God's people never ceased to exist, and the modern state is a political entity — compared to naming a child Moses and being impressed by the name. They cite Paul's 'no Jew, no Greek' and the engrafted branch.

Fear-selling, the Revelation 'circus,' and ordinary suffering

The hosts criticize fear-based end-times marketing — 'selling fire insurance' versus inviting people into the kingdom, which they say was Jesus' actual emphasis. They argue global peril is nothing new, listing Rwanda, Darfur, Iraq, and Somalia, and say treating Revelation like a carnival sideshow empowers the speaker while cutting off hope. Guest Nathaniel shares a story about a man from his former church who kept messaging his wife blood-moon articles, and mentions the book 'Leaving the Rapture Behind' and an end-times class taught at the hosts' church.

The rapture as a 'procedural move' and the Pure Flix guide

Reading Kinley's take on the rapture, the hosts conclude it is out of anyone's control — 'a procedural move,' not something to spend time on. They mock the article's plug for a Pure Flix end-times theology guide. Comedy bits include the quality of the end-times trumpet and a 'Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown' singalong joke.

How much damage can misreading Revelation do?

• How much damage can a strong misinterpretation of the book of Revelation do?

A host poses the episode's hard question: how much damage a strong misinterpretation of Revelation can do. Nathaniel recounts watching an old man corner a Harbor Freight employee with Israel end-times 'secret knowledge.' The hosts conclude it is damaging: it devours time, bends good news into scare tactics, and gives people reason to dismiss the church. One host's rule: 'say the words of Jesus with the heart of Jesus.' The conversation turns to hell as God granting what people asked for — illustrated with a birthday-party invitation analogy and a peanut-butter rule.

Two preacher jokes

Before the quiz, a host tells two jokes: a dying man, old Fred, scribbles a last note for his preacher — 'you're standing on my oxygen tube' — and a dying preacher who summons his banker and lawyer because 'Jesus died between two thieves and that's how I wanna go.' Another host notes the first joke was 'cleaned up' from an older version.

Revelation quiz

The hosts take a ten-question online quiz on the book of Revelation: its author, Patmos, the seven stars, the church found faultless, the 24 elders, the four beasts, the seven seals, the Lamb, and the four horses. They score 8 out of 10, missing the faultless church (they guessed Thyatira; the answer is Philadelphia) and who says 'holy, holy, holy' (they guessed the elders; the answer is the beasts). The quiz page notes 73,919 attempts since 2003 with a 79% average.

Israel-and-prophecy quiz

A second ten-question quiz on Israel in prophecy: Ezekiel and Isaiah on agriculture, Isaiah on the forest, Ezekiel on the gathering, which prophet said a nation would be born in a day, the ancient shekel, the direction of attack, Romans 11 on partial blindness and 'all Israel will be saved,' the shut gate, and Joel and Amos on the mountains. They score 5 out of 10, matching the quiz's 50% average. Tangents include Harold Camping — a host fondly recalls listening to him late at night, 'dry as a piece of toast,' thumbing through his Bible on the air — and the show's complaint line number, (515) 517-0085, with a joke about a listener-funded trip to Israel. Reviewing answers, a host reads Isaiah 66:8 in the ASV: 'Shall a nation be born in one day?'

Dear LFTP: the fiancee and the pantsless teenager

• Should a fiancee ask her future stepdaughter to wear pants in the common areas of the house?

A listener writes that her fiance Jay's 14-year-old homeschooled daughter refuses to wear pants around the house, gets upset when asked, and that Jay doesn't see a problem; she wonders if she is crossing a line. The hosts advise that the dad needs to set the common-area rule himself, that a 14-year-old refusing is more about authority and blended-family dynamics than pants, and that the writer should check whether her discomfort is really about the girl's weight, which they call out directly. The Secular answer is read: her opinion should be respected once married, but the father should be the one to talk to his daughter.

Dear LFTP: must I support my brother's campaign?

• Must I publicly support my brother's run for state office when his behavior is immoral?

A listener writes that her oldest brother is running for state office despite a record of animal cruelty, refusing to help their elderly parents, and infidelity; family members insist 'blood is thicker than water' and demand she donate and show up. The hosts' answer is no: don't trash him unprompted, but don't lend support either. The Secular answer agrees: keep the checkbook closed. A tangent follows about church eldership standards, prompted by Nathaniel's story of a landlord who was confronted by his church after killing a tenant's dogs.

Outro and sign-off

The hosts wrap up, plug the complaint line — (515) 517-0085 for call or text — and close with the line 'be faithful in means; God will handle the ends.' The sign-off is bungled into 'Live from the Past,' which becomes a running stumble to end the show.