Mississippi Don’t Push

Show open and the Mississippi Don't Push origin

The hosts open from the Pathway Studios with a riff on podcast advice they'd read (never open with shop talk — which they promptly do), then retell the origin of the show's mic-check catchphrase: a young rapper's dad at a Spirit Midwest music festival years back kept saying 'check, check, Mississippi don't push' into the mic. A quick Google search of the phrase yields unrelated results.

Mississippi River pipeline armchair engineering

A long comedy riff on a reader's question about why the US doesn't pipe Mississippi River water to drought-stricken California like Roman aqueducts. The hosts dismantle the idea with lift stations, head pressure through the Rockies, and the observation that California borders an ocean — then pivot to tugging icebergs and piping rainwater down from Oregon.

Top-ten podcast tips, judged against the show

The hosts work through a top-ten podcasting-tips list against their own show: decent equipment (a new mic being tested), the Jesus theme with the unchanged working-man opening song (and the royalties joke), quality, not pandering, SEO (the show name is un-Googleable — 'search result 2,046'), great guests (a sobering admission that many early musical guests fell away from the faith, including one who asked to be taken down), and consistency. Tangents include renaming the show 'Mississippi Don't Push' or 'Maybe Judas Didn't Do It' for searchability, the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill release cadence, and a coworker's 'unknown news' podcast bit.

Ex-satanist Brian Cole's testimony

A host reads a Christian Post piece about Brian Cole, who spent 33 years in satanism and the occult after childhood abuse and church hurt, and found faith in 2009 when Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ appeared on his jail-cell floor. The hosts discuss how people walk away from the faith because of church people (the Metallica-shirt kid turned away at the door), why cartoonish depictions of Satan underestimate real evil, Bart Ehrman's concession that Jesus' historicity isn't disputed by serious historians, and a recurring practice of imagining people they dislike meeting a smiling Jesus.

Prophecy article: should pastors teach the end times?

• Should pastors teach Bible prophecy and the end times?
• What are the top three reasons Jesus rebuked his disciples?

The hosts read a Christian Post article on evangelical leaders urging pastors not to forsake teaching Bible prophecy (Jack Hibbs: 20–40% of the Bible; Revelation 19's 'Jesus is the spirit of prophecy'). They question the article's claim that Jesus rebuked the disciples for not believing in prophecy, debate the top reasons Jesus rebuked the disciples, and detour into a long riff on not understanding the word 'woke.' A host who went to seminary explains the forth-telling vs. foretelling divide in biblical-studies departments.

Daniel 11's real point: walk faithfully now

A host teaching through Daniel 11 argues its point is not date-setting but 'you don't control any of this — walk faithfully and know God is with you.' The discussion covers why Revelation feels unnecessary for evangelism in America but vital where faith costs something (same story as Daniel 11), the church-mistress analogy for supplementing weak preaching with podcasts, and a distinction between predictive prophecy and the bulk of the prophetic word (laments, accusations, forth-telling).

Don't be deceived: antichrist fears and God's view of time

The hosts push back on antichrist fixation: people are impressed by prediction because they'd use it nefariously themselves, but God sees time whole — it's not a crystal ball. Daniel's exiles got confidence that God is with them as kingdoms rise and fall (Daniel 2, 9, 12). A host preaching through Revelation says the travesty is that antichrist-watching distracts from present deception and drifting from Jesus. The landing: 'Don't be deceived. Cling to Scripture. Cling to the Lord Jesus — today anyway.'

Are there prophets today?

• Are there prophets today?

Responding to a panelist who avoids preachers denying prophecy, the hosts distinguish modern-day 'blood moon' prophets from a biblical prophetic role: not someone adding a chapter to Revelation, but people who hear from God clearly and affirm what a community is already hearing in prayer. The offices Paul describes don't obviously have to disappear; the expectation is granular affirmation, not cosmic prediction.

The church mistress and supplementing weak teaching

The hosts react to advice that believers stuck in prophecy-avoiding churches should 'supplement' online: one calls it 'a church mistress.' They note the advice cuts both ways (worship-music lover enduring a bad pastor), joke that churches still outnumber Casey's stores in small towns, and call the 'no good church within 20 miles' framing a straw man — while agreeing every pastor should study hard parts of Scripture rather than skip them.

End-times panel predictions and dollar-collapse mockery

The hosts read the prophecy panel's closing predictions — the antichrist coming, the US dollar collapsing — and mock the economics: ruin tends to drive people to God, and 'the poor people love Jesus.' They push back on demanding eager anticipation of Jesus' return as a litmus test for scriptural understanding (one host dubs him 'Rev,' the Revelation man), and one host declares he's done listening to the article.

Dear LFTP: the affair, the revenge, and the younger man

• How do I purge my thoughts of my wife with another man after our mutual infidelity?

A letter writer confesses he cheated on his wife of 21 years, separated for a month 'evaluating his options,' reconciled — then his wife revealed a revenge affair with a much younger man, and now he can't purge the mental image or the fear he can't compete. The hosts are blunt: forgiveness doesn't purge consequences; sexual sin sticks in the soul (Paul's warning); stop competing, throw pride out the window, rebuild one nail at a time, get therapy with someone who loves Jesus, and use the humiliation as humility — 'you're replaceable, friend.' The Secular answer turns the question back on him: his wife surely pictures his affair too.

Dear LFTP: the aging parent nobody wants to house

• What should I do about aging and housing when my family does not want me to live with them?

A healthy writer in their mid-sixties with grandchildren asks what to do when family members eye-roll at the idea of housing them someday. The hosts push back on the 'self-involved' framing — you bathed in Western individualism all your life; don't reverse track now — and float alternatives: a hobbit home on a kid's property, a nearby cottage you pay for, or banding together with friends. One host shares his own story of inviting his sick mom to live with them and the spousal dynamics involved. The Secular answer suggests seniors band together and buy property — 'some kind of old people frat.'

Outro: the Bob Eisenlauer complaint line

Standard outro: the Life From The Path Bob Eisenlauer complaint line at (515) 517-0085 for love or hate mail, a note that they may crack 30 shows this year after two down years, and the benediction 'be faithful in the means; God will handle the ends.'