April 4 2011

Opening and one-year anniversary kickoff

The one-year anniversary show opens with banter about no-bid cookies and the anniversary spread of pizza, soda, and popcorn. Ben introduces himself and the in-studio crew: Dan Hudson, Mike Foost, and Troy Spanglinger. He previews the night: year-one highlights and lowlights, a prayer-room discussion, and clips of past musical performances.

Year-one highlights: the Dave Funk interview

• Are any of the politicians at the state house smelly?

Answering Mike's question about year-one highlights, a host names politician Dave Funk's appearance - specifically asking Funk whether any statehouse politicians are smelly, a question Funk refused to answer. The hosts recall a co-host wearing a suit and tie to angle for a job with Funk. They joke about what Funk's appearance says about a politician's desperation, and about a show that failed to record.

The year's musical guests

The hosts marvel at the caliber of musical guests over the year - record-label artists, up-and-coming Christian acts, and Spirit Midwest Music Festival headliners. One host admits he thought Christian music was dead before the show proved him wrong. Ben from Certainty reportedly said the band's reaction was 'that was cool... wonder if they will ask us back.'

Leftover bits: phone-test roaming and the creepy window guy

The hosts recall testing the phone system by roaming the halls of the building, and the creepy man pacing outside the studio window downtown. Brief nostalgic bits between larger topics.

The Decorah Eagle viewer envy

The hosts joke about the Decorah eagle-nest livestream on Ustream drawing up to 200,000 viewers while their show draws a couple dozen. They admit to watching the eagle themselves and set a goal of shutting down Ustream.

Funk follow-up and the butter-mint banquet story

The hosts revisit the Dave Funk interview - over an hour of political blathering they could not steer, and their failed attempt to get him to name a smelly senator off-air. A host tells the story of a preacher banquet attended with Newt Gingrich and Michelle Bachman, where he watched Ben pick up a decorative butter flower and eat it, mistaking it for a dinner mint.

Anniversary party versus the national championship

The hosts note the poor scheduling of their anniversary party on the night of the college basketball national championship, joking that Jesus is watching their show instead. They discuss Pants ordering a four-by-five-foot Fathead donkey decal for the studio. Ben thanks listeners for a year across three studios and different time slots.

The one-year highlight montage

A rapid-fire highlight montage of the year's on-air moments plays - one-liners, bits, and catchphrases from past episodes, introduced as one year of Live from the Path. The hosts react, noting they missed 'all the Jesus parts,' and Ben thanks long-time listeners.

Recording Tales from the Path and Cinema Fire fondness

The hosts recall the hours-long struggle to record a 'Tales from the Path' Jack and the Beanstalk radio play, undone by Mike's head noise. They praise Cinema Fire as favorite repeat musical guests who feel like part of the show family.

Band rundown, Tim Cooper's hippos, Skype stunts

The hosts run down the year's bands: Cinema Fire, On This Rock, Saved on Sunday, The Salt at Central College, Jess and Jordan Anderson (Jess newly signed to BEC Records), Certainty, Tim Cooper and Friends, and Eyes Wide Open. They recall Dan asking Tim Cooper whether his mother was fat during a bit about the hippos Cooper draws on his mail, and their failed Skype experiment calling strangers named Jesus Christ in foreign countries.

Dropped ideas, Jared Roy, and the coming music season

The hosts list show ideas that never happened: a prank script with replacement co-hosts, an inflatable deer-versus-bull lobby fight. They remember convincing worship pastor Jared Roy to be their first musical guest under scary homemade lights, and credit the Spirit Midwest connection for the flood of bands. They look ahead to music season and mention David Crotter trying to get on the show.

Jessa Anderson - Not What I Thought

The hosts play Jessa Anderson's 'Not What I Thought,' noting its nearly 12,000 YouTube views from their earlier broadcast. A host admits listening to it repeatedly and recording his own rendition he decided not to post.

Matt Cassidy's fill-in and the mooning debate

• Is it wrong to moon somebody?

The hosts recall Matt Cassidy filling in while Dan was out - getting fired up about Dairy Queen and throwing a pin, nearly getting kicked out. This leads to a debate: is it wrong to moon somebody? A chat participant says it caused him to stumble; the hosts riff on geometry ('two half circles'), the Golden Rule ('moon unto others'), and a restaurant story about a kid mooning junior-high girls.

Pants' Holiday Inn rolls lie

The hosts recall Pants faking a phone call to the Holiday Inn to score fresh rolls, calling it 'the biggest pack of lies.' They joke about ordering the rolls for the anniversary show and plan a Tampa trip. One host declines a campus-pastor invitation, citing his enjoyment of mooning.

The Ireland mooning regret story

Ben tells his Ireland mooning story: on a 40-minute trip to Ireland with his wife, he mooned the countryside on a whim and took a photo. The photo was shared with a friend whose camera broke; she set the folder as her screensaver, broadcasting Ben's backside in her home. He calls it a regret and sings 'Forgive me, Father, for I've mooned.'

Deuteronomy or Dan - the game

• Why is plowing with an ox and a donkey yoked together prohibited?

The hosts debut a new game, 'Deuteronomy or Dan': Dan reads a law and everyone guesses whether it is from Deuteronomy or invented by Dan. Rounds include not eating animals found dead (Deuteronomy 14:21), not riding a donkey sidesaddle (Dan), defect-free sacrifices (Deuteronomy 17:1), not touching entrails (Dan), the ox-and-donkey yoke (Deuteronomy 22:10), wool-and-linen clothing (Deuteronomy 22:11), not waking a neighbor before sunrise (Dan), no interest on loans (Deuteronomy), sun-baked honey and damp raisins (Dan), and eating grapes in a neighbor's vineyard but not basketing them (Deuteronomy 23:24).

Post-game: Praise 940 and the vineyard law

After the game, the hosts discuss the Praise 940 radio rebroadcast of their show and whether the AM audience will send letters. They dig into the vineyard law's context - vineyards as all-you-can-eat buffets, watchtowers, and the Israelites still wandering the desert. Pants keeps eating pizza in the viewing room while watching the eagle.

Vance Lambert - Just Vance

The hosts play Vance Lambert's YouTube parody 'Just Vance,' his take on Lady Gaga's 'Just Dance,' following his Skype-in performance test. The lyrics are fragmentary in the transcript. A host praises his voice and claims he could beat him at arm wrestling.

Arm wrestling and the church dodgeball tournament

A host arm-wrestles Mike live in the studio and wins, to Mike's embarrassment. A host recounts the church dodgeball tournament: the Pathway team lost every match, including to teams named Halfway and Little Red Riding Hood, with worship pastor Jared Roy limping. They plan their own broadcast dodgeball tournament and reminisce about youth-group dodgeball in racquetball courts at Crown Point.

The 24-7 prayer room: plans and broadcast

The hosts preview the church's 24-7 prayer room starting Sunday - two straight weeks of round-the-clock prayer in hour slots. They will broadcast live from the prayer room for the next two weeks, with bands rotating between the prayer room and the studio. They discuss logistics: whether the show's noise undercuts the bands' prayer time, and an IHOP Kansas City-style worship set idea. A host shows off the studio's 'Jesus table,' whose wood grain resembles Jesus' face.

Prayer-room memories and silent listening prayer

• Has anyone ever disliked the prayer room?

The hosts share prayer-room memories: one host's first solo 3 a.m. shift with his brother Trey - sitting holding hands at the table, drawing with crayons, unsure what to do, then breakfast at Burger King. Another host prayed through all 350 names in his phone across two hours. They discuss the silent listening room, needing multiple visits before it 'sinks in,' detractors who tried it once, and never having had a dramatic weeping experience. One host describes walking out at sunrise feeling refreshed.

Jeff Arendale - Race

After a podcast and newsletter plug, the hosts play Jeff Arendale's 'Race,' a song based on Paul's writing about running the race to win and finishing for Christ. Arendale is heading to Nashville to record. The hosts note you can tell the singers genuinely believe what they are singing.

Prayer as asking the Father

A host reflects on his three-year-old daughter Grace, who stopped asking properly and just says 'chocolate milk' - and how teaching her to ask like 'a kind girl asks' reframed prayer for him. Prayer, he says, is the Father wanting to help if you simply ask honestly, the way he wants his daughter to ask him. He contrasts this with his own hissy-fit prayers and bedtime-checklist prayers.

Checklist prayer, God's boundaries, the Bible not outdated

The hosts expand on prayer as relationship versus transaction: treating prayer like God's answering machine, doing the checklist (forgiveness, try harder, goodnight). One host argues God's boundaries - in Deuteronomy, in marriage, in parenting - exist for a reason, pushing back on 'the Bible is outdated' by pointing to the 50% divorce rate. Another host notes how often gratitude is just a perfunctory list before the wish list.

Gratitude and seeing as God sees

A host describes how his 14-year-old daughter Shanna's simple thank-you for her bass clarinet lessons reframed the cost as a joy - and how God must respond the same way to genuine thanks. The hosts discuss praying to see situations as God sees them rather than through pride or selfishness, and getting their house in order so prayers are not hindered. They close excited for the prayer-room season.

Wrap-up, video chat idea, chat shout-outs

The hosts wrap the anniversary show: an exciting year ahead, a plan to broadcast from the prayer room, and a 10-way video-chat idea to connect with other prayer rooms worldwide. A chat regular's name sparks confusion (Kunger vs. Conger, jokingly the daughter's secret roommate). They shout out Joel Kahn, Bean, Conger, and Stacy for keeping the chat rolling.

Closing comedy video: Peter, Jesus, and the Pharisees

• Will my donkey get into heaven?

The show closes with a comedy video: a sketch where Peter bothers Jesus (who claims he only pretended to play hide-and-seek to get rid of him), a 'first Christian church meeting' with rules about t-shirts and beards, Jesus reading each disciple's minor sins back to them ('You're all evil. There is no hope'), a Pharisee boasting about his following, and a heaven-admission shakedown ending with 'you had your chance and you blew it.'