Jesus, Technology and Persecution

Show open in Johnston proper

A host opens the show from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper, joking that the program is the highest-rated radio broadcast in Johnston history. He addresses Dan by name to ask who the mayor of Johnston is; Dan answers 'Darren Field,' which sparks a running gag about the name.

Secular vs Solomon setup, points, and Andy Griffith

• How do we know where our wisdom is coming from?

The host announces the night's main event, a return of Secular vs Solomon after weeks away, with the premise that listeners should know where their wisdom comes from, since people quote the Bible and then quote Ben Franklin. Mike is asked to explain the point system and the host explains scoring is fully arbitrary, factoring in attitude, hairstyle, and excessive winking. The hosts detour into avoiding the news after two heavy weeks, a host's Andy Griffith binge, whether resembling Andy Griffith is a compliment, and the Matlock name joke.

The persecuted church and Western comfort

• What does biblical faith (pistis) mean: belief without proof, or belief because you saw?

The hosts work through a 2021 list of the 50 countries where it is most dangerous to follow Jesus, noting that 13 Christians are killed for their faith every day, with North Korea first followed by Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, and others, and Nigeria entering the top 10 on violence. They argue the church grows where it is persecuted, citing Iran as booming, because faith means something tangible there, while Western comfort reduces God to a utility for comfort, security, and advancement. The discussion lands on pistis: biblical faith is not belief without proof but belief because you saw God move, as Abraham and Noah did.

Bible translation in a refugee camp; pastors stuck on social media

• Should pastors who want off social media stay because their people are there?

A host shares that a friend is moving his family to a North African refugee camp with no electricity to do Bible translation, and admits to some jealousy at the idea of letting go of everything. That turns to pastor friends, Dan addressed as possibly having seen the same, who say they would get off Facebook if they could but feel their church work is tied to it, raising whether spiritual leaders must stay on platforms they would rather leave.

The medium is the message

• Is it incumbent upon the church to hitch itself to the fastest media wagon?

Jay joins an extended discussion of Marshall McLuhan's line that the medium is the message: once the church ties itself to a platform like DirecTV or Facebook, it encourages people to use that medium for everything else on it too. The hosts debate whether the church must hitch to the fastest wagon, the reality that on social media you are the product choosing which pharaoh to serve, phone trees as the low-tech alternative, and Rod Dreher's The Benedict Option as a parallel question of how much to ride the surrounding culture's wave. Jay's touchstone is 'by their fruits you shall know them,' applied to computers as well as people, while a host counters that real-life crisis, not the internet, is where people become ready to talk about Jesus.

Secular vs Solomon: ten proverbs

The host runs what he calls America's fastest-growing internet game show, totally unproven by any viable statistics: he reads a proverb and the players, Dan, Jay, and Mike, call it secular with a country of origin or Solomon. Rounds include 'he who is being carried does not realize how far the town is' (secular Nigeria), 'stolen water is sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant' (Solomon, Proverbs 9:17, with the 'way of folly' context read aloud), 'when the mouse laughs at the car, there is a hole nearby' (secular Kenya), 'do not protect yourself by offense, but rather by your friends' (secular Czechoslovakia), 'whoever winks the eye causes trouble, and a babbling fool will come to ruin' (Solomon, Proverbs 10), 'whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel' (Solomon, Proverbs 12:10), 'mules make a great fuss about their ancestors having been horses' (secular Germany, spawning a Hills Brothers and Juan Valdez donkey tangent), 'give instruction to a wise man, and he will still be wiser' (Solomon, Proverbs 9:9), 'the end of haste is repentance' (secular Turkey, with Jay's Treebeard 'don't be hasty' impressions from The Lord of the Rings), and 'whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent' (Solomon, Proverbs 11:12). Final scores are arbitrary: Dan finishes deep negative, Jay lands 30 points, and the host awards himself 457.

Impression redemption and the complaint line

Dan redeems his last-place game finish with a two-note Ronald Reagan impression ('Well... Nancy'), earning 12 points but still losing. The host plugs the Bob Eisenlauer complaint line at (515) 517-0085 for calls or texts and issues a challenge: send your best impression without naming who it is, and the hosts will try to guess.

Dear LFTP: the exercise letter

• My husband blocks my daily exercise and told me to move out. What should I do?

The reader reads a Dear LFTP letter from a wife who began exercising daily during COVID to manage stress and anxiety; her husband Chris calls it 'me time,' blocks every option she tries, including a morning swim, an evening gym trip, and a night run, then calls her selfish and tells her to move out. The hosts land hard on the husband as lazy and possibly threatened by her self-improvement, a crab-in-the-bucket dynamic, while advising compromise such as every-other-day to start, making him the problem-solver, and recognizing a likely deeper problem. The secular answer agrees: her routine was not selfish but right, the 'move out' line was childish, and a shared kid-duty schedule costs less than a divorce.

Dear LFTP: the family-baggage letter

• How do I handle my brother moving back to town with his criminal children and grandchildren?

The reader reads a second letter: the writer's widower brother, described as depressed and a terrible father, plans to move back to their hometown with his children and adult grandchildren, described as felons, ex-cons, drug addicts, alcoholics, and thieves, while the writer and her husband want nothing to do with them and ask how to handle it. The hosts push back on pre-unwelcoming people: set boundaries, good fences make good neighbors and by their fruits you shall know them, without painting whole lives with someone's worst act, allow for redemption as in the Pharisee and the tax collector, and do not let fear run the decision. The secular answer advises asking the brother his actual plans, listening carefully, then kindly but firmly saying they cannot entertain the family in their home given the criminal history.

Outro: humility and the sign-off

The host closes on the week's theme of humility, that God can do anything with humble people and has no patience for arrogance, and the challenge to check whether your involvements own you or you own them. He repeats the Bob Eisenlauer complaint line at (515) 517-0085, gives the show email, info@livefromthepath.org, which he admits he will not read, and signs off with the benediction: be faithful in the means, God will handle the ends.