Put Your Name On It

Show open and the night's docket

The produced intro plays, then a host opens from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper with beard-of-secrets banter. Another host has brought two reading items: an article on seven reflections on the state of the evangelical church and a list of ten things never to say to a pastor, plus a conference quote about how hard it gets to disciple kids once they pass 11.

Ten things never to say to your pastor, part 1

• Is disliking the worship style or teaching a good reason to leave a church?

The hosts work through the first eight items on the listicle: 'the pastor is not meeting my needs' (he is there to make you holy, not happy; Elevation Worship anecdote about worship preference); skipping item two; 'I have a right' (rights-posturing vs. the direction of the body); 'I'm not one to gossip, but' (prayer-request gossip, anonymous near-miss reporting at a work safety meeting); 'some people are unhappy' (name your group or stop); 'I gave the money for that' (designated gifts, IRS rules, relinquishing control); 'I don't have a gift for that' (sweeping floors is a duty, not a gift; the free-form tambourine throne problem); and 'why don't they do something' (consumers, customers, shareholders; burnout vs. Holy-Spirit-checked volunteering).

Ten things never to say to your pastor, part 2

The final two items: 'the pastor as dictator' (disagreement over decisions gets personalized; the healthy version is a direct adult conversation) and 'I don't know what the Bible says, but I know what I believe' (beliefs formed by feeling and post-hoc justification, Facebook theology groups, the James 1 pattern of trust producing steadfastness). The segment closes with hosts confessing their own mid-sermon moments of thinking 'this is lame' while preaching.

The quote: discipling kids after 11

• Is it getting harder to disciple children toward countercultural faith after age 11?

A host reads aloud the conference quote he brought: once a child is over 11 and has been in the public school system, it gets harder and harder to disciple that child toward the countercultural teachings of Jesus. He cautions it was one preacher's observation, not a study or survey.

Codified beliefs, world-building, and deconstruction

The hosts test the quote: kids are pressed to pick a worldview younger, and pulling it back is hard once beliefs codify. One host wishes the quote hadn't singled out public school — it's the whole culture's God-excluding worldview, the same thing the apostles faced in Acts. Reaching kids who never met the gospel means rebuilding the world, not just arguing a point: dads who are terrible, fathers who yell or walk out, all of it has to be rebuilt so kids can believe a good Father exists. That is where deconstruction is useful — tearing down the worldview that missed Jesus so it can be rebuilt with him in it.

Culture is the mission field; own your worldview

A host's daughter is studying with a friend who has zero Christian background — he never imagined America would feel like the mission field. A story about a 1930s New York Times Moscow correspondent who controlled America's narrative about Stalin-era Russia (millions of Ukrainians died; his Pulitzer-winning reporting said otherwise) becomes the frame: a voice or two can shape what people believe with no competing narrative, and most people believe what they heard last. Christians confirm the bad narrative with angry social media posts. The fix is owned belief: don't borrow faith from people around you like a handout; wrestle with God until it becomes yours. A tangent on the rapture — fought tooth and nail though scripture doesn't mention it — proves the point.

Complaint line plug and the pivot to advice

Mid-show plug: listeners can call or text the complaint line with feedback, reviews, or corrections. The hosts joke about podcast stats being unbelievable, then pivot to Dear LFTP letters, promising to return to the evangelical-church trends topic next week.

Dear LFTP: the honeymoon stepson

• Should a soon-to-be stepson be included on the honeymoon family vacation?

A letter from a woman marrying for the second time: she wants to bring her fiance Rowan's young son Sean on their honeymoon for a proper first family vacation, the custody agreement requires no unmarried cohabitation, and Rowan is enthusiastic — but her friends call her selfish for 'playing mom.' The hosts call it an open-and-shut case: Rowan is the only person whose opinion matters here, she chose selflessness over a kid-free trip, and the friends are giving bad counsel. The Secular answer agrees: listen to your hearts, not unsolicited advice.

Dear LFTP: the step-grandma title

• How should a step-grandparent handle being denied the 'grandma' title?

A letter from a woman whose husband's daughter decreed, eight years after the wedding, that her children may not call their step-grandmother 'grandma.' The hosts diagnose a deeper relationship problem — nobody fights this hard over a title when things are fine — and land on the principle that parenting and grandparenting are not quid pro quo: act like a grandma without demanding the title, and the kids will figure it out when they're old enough. The Secular answer agrees there is nothing positive to be gained by shunning the children. The segment closes with the broader counsel that restricted relationships are about waiting it out and staying faithful in the role anyway.

Dear LFTP: the $80,000 cat renovation, plus outro

• What should a man do about his girlfriend's incontinent cat after spending $80,000 to move in?

A letter from a man who renovated and moved into his girlfriend's house for $80,000 after twelve years together: her old cat is urinating all over the house and she won't act. The hosts say he did no due diligence, the cat lived there first, and the real problem is an unreasonable partner — try a compromise (a dedicated cat room, a vet visit, litter boxes everywhere), don't kill the cat in secret, and consider couples therapy or cutting losses if nothing resolves. The 'bedroom, gun, or shovel' joke and the 'you bought the Pontiac' line land here. The Secular answer suggests a vet visit. The outro credits the joke, plugs the complaint line, and closes with the standard benediction.