Old Church Ideas

Show open and the reading-habits riff

The hosts open the show with an impersonation gag and note it has been a full decade since Buva and Nathaniel were both in the studio at the same time. They riff on reading habits: Nathaniel's half-finished books, the impossibility of finishing self-help books, and a viral 'read a book a day' claim they call a lie. They joke about writing a book of only chapter titles ('just read the chapter titles') and faking Amazon reviews.

Seven old-fashioned church-growth ideas, item by item

• Can old-fashioned church methods still work today?

A host reads a Christian Post article by Chuck Wallace listing seven old-fashioned church methods: friend day, the 24-hour prayer wall, an annual January Bible study, the telephone prayer chain, care-group shepherding, weekly small-group-leader training, and weekly contact groups. The hosts react to each: friend day is reframed as intentional discipleship rather than inviting people to be church attenders; they are warm on the prayer wall but skeptical the annual Bible study's bar is too low; the prayer-chain discussion lands on checking in on missing people with care rather than guilt. Blog comments on the article are read and discussed.

Palm Sunday procession and individual vs. corporate church growth

A second blog comment proposes a Palm Sunday procession and prayer walk with banners through the neighborhood. The hosts laugh at the image ('what in the flying crap is this') but land a serious point: church growth happens when individuals exist in the world telling people about Jesus, while group outings easily read as us-versus-them. Acts stories are almost all one-on-one (Peter and Cornelius, Paul and small groups). They debate whether there is ever a place for public church solidarity and conclude yes when tragedy strikes a community: the church should simply show up and pray, not posture.

Organic vs. led church: house churches, pastors, and the mediocre-pastor defense

Returning to grade the list, a host says he hates almost everything about it but likes that the author is doing something rather than nothing. One host shares starting a house church and argues God does appoint leaders: a non-authoritarian, co-servant leader is biblical and necessary, since not everyone leads themselves. A memorable line defends the 'mediocre pastor': a faithful teacher who makes the Bible accessible beats a whiz-bang storyteller who makes people feel they cannot read it themselves. The complaint line is plugged with the episode's verdict on the list.

Ten years later: the 'can you call God bro' debate revisited

• Is it okay to call God casual names like 'bro' or 'big dog'?

Nathaniel retells the story from a decade earlier: a 19-year-old, fresh off a Walgreens shift and jazzed on Arizona tea, argued at length with Boova about whether it is okay to call God 'bro'. Mike and Ben took the reverent side. The room re-litigates it: 'bro' and 'big dog' are out, 'dad' is fine, 'daddy God' is creepy, and the real question is intimacy-with-reverence (Aslan is both safe and not tame). A cafeteria worker calling a host 'big daddy' sparks a riff on unwanted terms of address. They close the names discussion with Yahweh vs. Jehovah vs. Yeshua/Yehoshua: Yahweh is the revealed personal name, and praying it is an honor, not showing off.

Praying in the bathroom and Deuteronomy 23

The prayer discussion turns crude: a host confesses he stopped praying while peeing, and the room debates whether bodily moments are fit for prayer. They pull up thetorah.com and read Deuteronomy 23 aloud: Israelite soldiers carried a shovel because Yahweh moved about in the camp, so the camp had to stay holy. The rabbis extended it to prayer and Torah study. The verdict: pause the prayer, flush, then resume; and don't call the Lord by colloquial street names. The complaint line is plugged again.

Dear LFTP: the husband whose new job is full of women

• Am I overreacting about how women act toward my husband at his new job?

The reader opens the first Dear LFTP letter: a wife says her husband's new job has him working with a bunch of women, they act flirty toward him, he says he doesn't notice and doesn't want to be rude, and she wants to know if she is overreacting. The hosts debate whether oblivious men really don't notice (one host's lingerie story: an attractive woman invited him over and he only realized years later), land on ground rules the couple can agree on, and say the wife's persistent worry points to trust or communication issues worth addressing. Comedy riffs follow: saying 'I'm married' forty times a week and Boova's musk.

Secular's answer and Dear LFTP: the waiter said 'you guys'

• Is it insulting for a server to address a table of women as 'you guys'?

Secular's answer to the first letter: the couple will be happier if she stops obsessing; if the attention ever makes the husband uncomfortable he can say so or involve his supervisor. The second letter: a woman was lunching with a group of women when the waiter addressed them as 'you guys', and she wants a less insulting form of address. The hosts say nobody's femininity was actually challenged, argue hypersensitivity costs more connection than it gains, and riff on pronouns and door-holding. Secular's answer: 'guys' is decidedly casual; the young server didn't intend insult.

Dear LFTP: the boyfriend who answered his son's job-interview questions

• Is it weird for a parent to accompany their teen into a job interview and answer for them?

The last letter: a woman's boyfriend of eleven years accompanied his 16-year-old son into a job interview and answered the questions for him; she says parents don't do that, he says she's being critical. The hosts agree it's weird and the kid should not get the job, but counsel letting it play out: the easiest way to wreck a relationship is meeting every problem at the gate; sometimes let consequences teach. An HR manager's 'if they don't crap in the corner, we hire them' story and a Walgreens 'hiring anybody who will work' sign close out the labor-market comedy. Outro banter (876 miles, fending off admirers) and the standard sign-off end the show.