January 2 2011

Cold open: mic hair and show intro

The broadcast opens with a running gag: for two weeks straight the show has been stopped mid-broadcast while hair is picked off the front of a microphone. The host then introduces the show, rates the night highly on a one-to-five cougar-to-billy-goat scale, and previews the evening.

Lineup preview and guest introduction

• Who's God? What does God want from me for this year?

The host previews the night: Name That Tune, Heaven Edition in the first hour, and a New Year discussion about what God wants from each person this year. Jessa and Jordan Anderson are introduced as singer-songwriter guests in the studio, with a plug for jessaanderson.com and her Facebook page.

Facebook friending, blocking, and four-dimensional social awkwardness

A long banter segment on Facebook etiquette: a pending friend request from a woman the host's father used to date, whether to accept strangers, blocking 175 of a couple hundred friends, 'National Unfriend Day,' and being socially awkward online. The hosts also tease a comedy animal video to bridge the hours and riff on a 'farting preacher' YouTube clip.

Interview: how Jessa and Jordan met, and the Nashville proposal

Jessa Anderson tells how she met Jordan: touring with Cedarville University music teams, an overnight stop at the Anderson household in Altoona, and marriage 13 months later. Jordan's proposal involved her favorite song, 'I'll Be' by Edwin McCain arranged by a Belmont professor, with a string trio and background singers on a Nashville hilltop at sunset, after a first (bad) sushi dinner.

Setting up 'Everybody Has Those Days'

The hosts set up the Andersons' first performance, joking about crashing her website with traffic, and introduce the song 'Everybody Has Those Days.'

Performance: 'Everybody Has Those Days'

Jessa Anderson performs 'Everybody Has Those Days' live in the studio, a song about clumsy, messy days built on the line 'the beauty is often uncovered by facing the pain.'

Song backstory and clumsy-days stories

Jessa explains the song's origin: literally having 'one of those days,' including whacking her head on a wall during a card game. The hosts trade clumsiness stories: a New Year's midnight text sent to the wrong number ('Happy New Year's, boy'), a mic stand crashing into a cymbal during a sermon prayer, and texting slang like 'cuz with a Z.'

Black lights, bowling stains, and roller skates

The Andersons describe spending New Year's Eve performing for teenagers under black lights. Banter follows about black-light bowling revealing a giant mustard stain on washed pants, and childhood roller-skating nights: rented skates versus owning your own pair.

Interview: the songwriting process

Asked whether it is hard to find inspiration, the Andersons say they make a conscious effort not to just write a tune and 'slap God in there.' Jessa describes the post-recording creative block ('I've exhausted all my creative energy') and how living with the new songs until they become old songs restarts the writing. They travel in a Honda CRV made tight by a new baby and a keyboard they call their 'arch nemesis.'

Going full-time in music: calling, commitment, and dad advice

• How should an aspiring musician handle a calling that won't pay yet?

The Andersons describe deciding to pursue music full-time: 'now is the time... what do we believe in more than this?' Their philosophy: if a gig doesn't lose money, do it; play to one or two people in a coffee shop like it's 40,000. They counsel the host on his college-senior daughter's music-versus-career dilemma: be fully committed, don't wait to be discovered, put the work in yourself.

Introducing 'Not Myself Anymore'

The Andersons introduce their breakup ballad 'Not Myself Anymore': if you were just broken up with it's commiseration; if you did the breaking up, 'you're going to feel real bad about yourself.' A host jokes about weeping into the camera during the song.

Performance: 'Not Myself Anymore'

Jessa Anderson performs the breakup ballad 'Not Myself Anymore' live in the studio.

BEC label deal and signed-CD banter

The Andersons share that BEC, a label out of Seattle, is re-releasing their CD with no re-recording needed. The hosts beg for signed copies, joke about a breakup-song single aimed at the show, and plug the Andersons' upcoming Sunday appearance at Grace Church.

Plugs and Name That Tune, Heaven Edition setup

The host plugs Pathway Church in Johnston (meeting at Wallace Elementary) and livefromthepath.org, then introduces the Name That Tune, Heaven Edition game: 12 secular song snippets containing the word 'heaven'; players name title and artist. Includes banter about repeatedly calling Jordan 'Jared' Anderson.

Name That Tune, Heaven Edition: all 12 rounds

The full game: 12 secular 'heaven' song snippets are played and scored, one point each for title and artist with double points on the last round. Answers revealed on air include 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door' (Guns N' Roses), 'How Far Is Heaven' (Los Lonely Boys), 'Pennies from Heaven' (Louis Prima), 'Stairway to Heaven' (Led Zeppelin), 'Tears in Heaven' (Eric Clapton), 'Heaven Is a Place on Earth' (Belinda Carlisle), 'Imagine' (John Lennon), 'Never Been to Spain' (Elvis Presley), 'Lady Madonna' (The Beatles), and 'Grandma's Hands' (Bill Withers). A contestant scores 3 of 26 possible points.

Performance: 'Not What I Thought'

The Andersons' final song. Jessa explains it is about the things in life that hold us back from experiencing who God is: 'when you open your eyes to what God's doing, He just blows away every notion that you have of Him.' She then performs it live.

Second-hour comedy video: the 'Alan! Alan!' sketch

Bridging the 10-to-11 o'clock hours, the hosts play a British absurdist comedy sketch video: a giraffe in a bar, a dentist bit, a man who can't urinate with an audience, and a running 'Alan! Alan!' chant. The studio debates whether it is actually funny.

Video reactions, Anderson farewell, and score math

The hosts react to the comedy video ('better the second time'), praise the Andersons' talent against their own 'three amateur doofuses' platform, and do comedy math on the game score: 3 of 26 points, debated as 8.6-repeating versus 11.5 percent.

New Year, part 1: take up your cross, the chessboard, Stephen

• Is there a God's plan? Is it specific or principles?

The New Year discussion begins: what does God want from each person this year? The hosts argue for active participation in following Christ ('take up your cross and follow me') instead of waiting passively for an Isaiah-style throne-room moment. One host offers the 'spiritual chessboard' analogy, God moving people where He wants them, and the example of Stephen in Acts, whose one-step move cost his life but helped launch the church. Includes the 'be excited to be a pawn for Jesus' riff and a two-job-offers prayer example.

New Year, part 2: grounding, sign-seeking, and healers

• Where do you draw the line on what to pray about?
• Can you wrongfully attribute things to God?

The discussion continues: pastors who church-hop at the first friction, being grounded in biblical truth so chaos can't shake you, and the danger of sign-seeking, the spin-the-globe method, 'Isaiahing' in the prayer room, and poking a finger at a random Bible verse (landing on Numbers 23:1-2, then a scripture randomizer's Daniel 12:1 and 1 Chronicles 25:1). The hosts debate a radio testimony about a healing so a girl could play soccer, Benny Hinn's profit motive versus a poor healer like John of God, and whether believers can wrongfully attribute things to God.

Wrap-up: James series, toilet repair, and coming attractions

Closing housekeeping: thanks to the Andersons (jessaanderson.com, performance clips coming to YouTube), an upcoming sermon series on the book of James, a host's story about sticking his head in a leaking toilet tank to find the leak, and previews: John Acuff later in January, musician Zach Zabota on the 17th, Matt Cassidy next week, and the every-other-week 'non-biblical signs of the apocalypse' segment with listener submissions.

Study: even atheists report anger at God

The hosts discuss a Belief Blog article on a Journal of Personality and Social Psychology study: atheists and agnostics report more lifetime anger at God than believers do, especially the young. They read the dictionary definition of 'agnostic' aloud and debate whether being angry at a God you claim doesn't exist makes sense, then sign off for the week.