The Heavy

Show open and studio banter

The show opens with the produced 'live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston' intro. A host teases a post-COVID music festival and a set of clean jokes for Father's Day, then jokes with another host about the podcast not being posted ('your brother hasn't posted the podcast'). One host is addressed as Ben and another as Dan in the radio-show ribbing.

Grading politicians' professions of faith

• If a politician is asked whether they love Jesus, what would an A-plus answer sound like?

The hosts ask what an A-plus answer would be if a politician were asked whether they love Jesus ('a stiff breeze of the Holy Spirit'), then discuss British prime minister Boris Johnson quoting Psalm 14 ('The foolish man has said in his heart, there is no God') to a reporter at the G7, grading him a C-plus with snark. They fumble Johnson's party affiliation, list five UK political parties, and detour into the King James Bible Trust reading project and how the KJV can read like a Shakespeare play.

The Steve Austin story: should a struggling man lead youth?

• Should a man carrying this much — mental-health crisis, medication change, financial strain, a wife unable to work — be pastoring youth?

A host reads the story of Steve Austin, a former youth pastor, suicide survivor, and mental-health advocate whose book 'Hiding in the Pew' addressed mental illness in the church, who came out as queer and was found dead about two weeks later. Walking through his compounding burdens (an SSRI medication switch, financial strain, part-time work, a wife unable to work), the host asks why such a man is pastoring youth and where the church's care was. Another host pushes back on barring people who struggle with same-sex attraction but do not act on it from youth ministry.

When God's design doesn't feel right: trust, identity, and a weeping God

A host reframes the dead man's 'lived a lie' quote, arguing most critiques of the church are really disagreements with Yahweh's design, and that God's restrictions work like a parent's — felt as rules at 15, recognized as love at 25. The hosts work through the church 'billboarding' others' sins while sticky-noting its own (contrasted with how patiently it handles porn), the line where unbelief begins (stop trusting God's goodness), God as the potter who knows how the vase operates, and God weeping over deceived children rather than swinging hammers. They distinguish identity from behavior, discuss Paul's church-discipline prescription as distinct from this case, assert that actions bear out beliefs, and land on prayer as the believer's game — asking God to meet people even in dreams — and on supporting people without affirming actions.

Grace, impossible standards, and love that doesn't affirm behavior

• Do God's standards ever feel impossibly heavy to you?

After a host addressed as Dan is asked if he had wisdom to add, the hosts ask whether God's standards ever feel impossibly heavy, landing on grace as part of the story. A host addressed in the audio as Dan recounts his childhood stealing club and notes he never expected anyone to fly pirate flags for thieves. The hosts argue the break happens when identity becomes self-defined (the baby-calf and bake-the-cake examples), and that loving people means not affirming behavior — 'my wife loves me, but there's a lot of behavior of mine that she does not affirm.' A caller who quit pornography but still hunts movies for accidental nudity illustrates that everyone lives in this tension, and a comedy beat has a host admitting he forgets homosexuals exist until he walks a rainbow path at work.

Complaint line and Father's Day dad jokes

A host gives the complaint line ((515) 517-0085) with an earnest caveat: pray before you call or text about the episode's hard topics. One host, addressed in the audio as Mike, is asked to tell the Rise Fest story later, and the segment closes with a run of clean Father's Day dad jokes — the thunderstorm 'big sissy,' the oxidized apple, the Minnesota Twins/3M/Four Seasons/7-Up quadruplets, and Sammy's swallowed penny.

Rise Fest report: worship, community, and the pledge

• Is it wrong that I stopped putting my hand over my heart for the pledge of allegiance?

A host addressed in the audio as Mike recounts the Rise Fest Christian music festival: We The Kingdom, Big Daddy Weave, and Casting Crowns, whose repeated line 'you're not the point, we point to the point' becomes his takeaway; Zach Williams's 'Chain Breaker'; volunteering on the stage crew (a mic-cable story and pride on the back burner); and a Matthew West soundcheck. He describes 5,000-10,000 people worshiping with artists who shared how they met Jesus, kids seeing they aren't alone, a sponsor video marrying faith and politics that his daughter said 'missed the mark,' his own decision to stop putting his hand over his heart for the pledge of allegiance ('is this wrong?'), and irritation at crowds watching the show on giant screens and phones. No COVID restrictions were in evidence.

Dear LFTP: should I go back to work?

• My father and my husband disagree about whether I should go back to work — how do I handle them both?

A Dear LFTP letter asks for advice: the writer moved in with her grandma, lost her job due to health conditions that make COVID dangerous, and her father and husband disagree about whether she should return to work. The hosts advise sticking with her husband while not freeloading off grandma ('never free to load off a grandma'), making an informed decision based on real risk, and considering remote or contactless work like Uber Eats. The Secular answer (transcript ASR 'Segular') advises a family discussion with a doctor's input. One host is addressed in the audio as Ben during the riffing.

Outro: podcast availability and sign-off

The hosts invite listener dad jokes and debate, with comedy, whether Mike's claim that recent shows weren't posted is 'false propaganda.' They close with the standing benediction: 'be faithful in the means; God will handle the ends.'