Is It Enough?

Show open and taxes bit

• Should you do your own taxes or hire a tax professional?

The show opens from the Pathway Studios in Johnston Proper and moves into a long taxes riff: one host asks Ben whether he does his own taxes, another says he gave up TurboTax years ago and is dumping 'Mark the tax man' over poor rental-property results, and the third host (a pastor) describes a low-cost tax man across the state who caught a $15 housing-allowance error. They plug the complaint line, debate giving to causes that provide no receipts ('Caesar's program' — take the deduction but don't let it be the reason you give), and close the bit with a joke about buying bad art and using an appraiser friend to inflate its donated value.

Declining faith and deaths of despair study

• Is declining faith fueling a rise in deaths of despair?

A host reads a Daily Mail article on a Wellesley College study linking rising 'deaths of despair' (suicide, alcohol and opioid abuse) among middle-aged white Americans to declining faith and church attendance. The hosts treat the correlation skeptically — who paid for it, observational data, religion's 1980s politicization, repeal of blue laws, rural church closures driven by population decline — while affirming the underlying thought: religious community offers social support, but only Jesus offers the bold claim of real change and hope that despair cannot outlast. Includes a tangent on 'mental disease' versus 'mental health' versus 'brain health' billboard language and a Mitch Hedberg joke about addiction being the only disease people yell at you for.

Bear Grylls' church critique, prayer, and discipleship

• Is Bear Grylls right that Jesus would struggle with 99% of churches, and would you stay if the production were stripped away?
• How do you practice real one-on-one discipleship instead of relying on church programs?

The hosts discuss Bear Grylls' Christian Post interview: he is unabashedly open about his faith but says Jesus would struggle with 99% of churches today, urging people to stay close to Christ and 'drop the religious' while keeping community, honesty, faith, and love — including his line 'welcome to the hospital, folks.' They weigh how much of the critique is caricature, then one host offers a pinto-beans thought experiment: if the coffee, band, parking, and production were stripped away, would you still come? Dan anchors the response in 1 Timothy 2: corporate worship is petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving, while modern churches have reduced prayer to transitions between songs. The conversation moves through a town-of-50 that shouldn't close a church just because it can't fund a building, being unflappable when circumstances change (Sermon on the Mount, go the extra mile), COVID as a revealing of who was never really in, hospitality that woos guests but neglects regulars, and a shared conviction that discipleship requires one-on-one relationships, not programs — 'donuts are bait,' and an elders-room anecdote where nobody was personally discipling anyone.

Nathaniel's nickname quest and the Soul Fuel devotional

Comedy interlude: a host checks on Nathaniel, then the group learns that Bear Grylls is a nickname for Edward Michael Grylls and debates whether it's his Christian name. Nathaniel considers changing his name to Bear, then settles on 'the Falcon' — 'Falcon Foost' — because of the alliteration, and the outro later addresses him as 'Dear Falcon.' They also learn Grylls published a devotional called Soul Fuel with a seven-day reading plan on the Bible app; one host plans to try it, comparing devotionals to 'pudding pop' dessert after a real meal — the same way he views the Message translation.

Dear LFTP: Ron versus Dan

• Should I leave my emotionally unavailable boyfriend Ron for my affectionate coworker Dan?

A Dear LFTP letter: a woman in a three-year relationship with Ron, who is emotionally unavailable and married to his job (two years to say 'I love you'), has begun an intimate relationship with her coworker Dan, who is openly affectionate. The hosts agree Ron is going nowhere and she should cut him loose, but pivot: if Dan tolerates her cheating on Ron, he isn't the man she wants either — 'I'm either the only dude in your life or I'm not in your life.' They land the broader principle: what you tolerate is what you cultivate; a good man won't tolerate shenanigans, and a good woman won't either. The Secular answer is read, and the hosts' version of it is that she should break up with Ron and then Dan should break up with her.

Marriage: serving before lamenting, and 1 Peter 3:7

• How can I love my wife proactively instead of waiting to be told what to do?

A host confesses lamenting things he wishes his wife would do (like making him breakfast while he works from home) and asks whether he's doing the equivalent for her first — proposing that perspective-taking and action close 90% of the gap of lament. Dan tells the compression-socks story: after his wife's cancer and lymph-node complications, he started rubbing her swollen leg and realized he should be more intentional. Nathaniel describes weekly text check-ins with his wife and a monthly 'laundry list of where I'm sucking.' One host defends dudes' tendency to sit at the edge of the 'rocky quagmire' waiting to be told what to do, then doubles down: men are quick at familiar sacrificial tasks but weak at proactive serving outside their comfort zone, so they should double down instead of bailing. Dan cites 1 Peter 3:7 — dwelling with wives in an understanding way takes investigation.

Dear LFTP: christening versus the ballgame

• How should I respond to my sister skipping the christening to go to a ballgame?

A Dear LFTP letter: a writer's oldest daughter had her first child and sent christening invitations a month early; the youngest daughter (two kids, not named godparent) declined to attend a ballgame with her family. The hosts find missing backstory: the age/life-stage gap between the sisters, the pointed mention that the youngest wasn't named godparent, and that invitations aren't ultimatums. They caution against over-cranking, holding nearby relatives to stricter account than far ones, and letting disappointment taint the day; for some families a christening is a huge event, for others the sister may have walked from the faith — either way both sides need grace. The Secular answer guilt-trips the younger sister, and the hosts push back on its over-cranking.

Outro and benediction

The hosts plug the complaint line (515) 517-0085, joke about Mike flooding it, and sign off with the benediction 'be faithful in the means, God will handle the ends,' addressing 'Dear Falcon.'