Empty Smith
In this episode
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Show open and intro debate
The live show opens from the Pathway studios in Johnston with a debate over replacing the old intro, self-deprecating Butterbean-and-Uncle-Fester jokes, and a running gag about who takes care of the mics.
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Docket: guest, Judas question, and Dear LFTP previews
The hosts run through the docket: musician Micah Smith (recording as Empty Smith) is in studio with his new single 'Are You There?'; a question about Judas from John 17 is teased for later; a BeliefNet article on 'five sins that aren't sins' is previewed; and a misread Dear LFTP title sparks a joke about a lady ranking her children above her boyfriend.
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Celebrity look-alike game
The hosts play a round of celebrity look-alikes, trading flattering and unflattering comparisons: Matthew Broderick and Clint Howard for the host, Rambo/Bentley/Shaggy for Dan, Chris Farley/Andy Milonakis/John Candy versus Luke Combs for another host (with the Halloween bar prank), Eddie Redmayne and The Danish Girl for Micah, Tucker Carlson's voice for Dan, and a young Tom Brokaw with Bacardi Breezers for Boova's voice.
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'Are You There?' plays in full
Empty Smith's new single 'Are You There?' plays in full.
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Song debrief: lyrics borrowed from Job 23
Reacting to the song, the hosts note the lyrics are borrowed from Job 23 and praise a line about needing 'words I think but don't know how to say'; Micah explains he wrote it in a season when he was asking God, 'Are you even there?'
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Micah's Job-season testimony
Micah shares his Job-season testimony in the first person: divorce, the loss of his church family, home, job, and profession, and the disbanding of August Guns left him feeling emptied and ghostlike; the word of God stayed living and active for him through it, and the season produced new songs.
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Lament, anger, and honest emotion
The conversation turns to lament and honest emotion: the Psalms (Psalm 22 language about bones and joints) as permission to bring unfiltered feelings to God, a Psalm 137:9 line about dashed infants that one host misattributes to Psalm 139, the Ephesians 4:26 charge not to let the sun go down on anger, and the Matthew 5 pattern of reconciling before offering sacrifice; emotions are framed as signals for repentance, reconciliation, or action rather than sins in themselves.
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The Empty Smith moniker origin
Micah explains the Empty Smith moniker: from his initials M.T. to 'Empty Smith,' a name that captured feeling emptied after his season of loss; he describes the acoustic 'farm emo' direction, SteelDrivers and bluegrass influences, the TikTok audience response, and jokes about his 9,000-year-old Methuselah profile picture. (The transcript twice renders his first name as 'Mike,' apparent ASR for 'Micah.')
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Pseudo-sin one: skipping church
The hosts take up the BeliefNet article's first 'sin that isn't a sin' — skipping church. They read Hebrews 10:25, argue the gathering is about connection rather than a building or programs, launch a running joke substituting 'enclave' for the buzzword 'community,' discuss isolation as the real danger (David and Bathsheba), and compare American church programming with Zimbabwean believers who meet regardless.
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Pseudo-sin two: not participating in Sunday school
The second pseudo-sin — not participating in Sunday school — gets a quick history lesson (Sunday schools as 18th-century literacy ministries), a joke about the unfortunate acronym for adult Sunday school, and a running bit about a man named Chuck being voluntold to run the car wash.
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Pseudo-sin three: thinking a negative thought
On the third pseudo-sin — thinking or speaking a negative thought — the hosts distinguish intrusive thoughts from sin: Proverbs 18:21 on the power of the tongue means thoughts should be tested against truth, not given free voice; they riff on catastrophic thinking, depression ('pull the plug'), a TikTok pastor's 'don't be an idiot' clip, and the article's warning that treating thoughts as having innate power 'is a cornerstone of occult thought,' which lands one host in the joke bucket of 'warlock.'
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Pseudo-sin four: saying no to ministry
The fourth pseudo-sin — 'just saying no' to ministry — becomes a discussion of domineering leaders versus ordinary recruitment: saying no to a committee is not disobedience, but a pattern of refusing to serve (joining a homeless-team rotation, a senior-meal visit) may reveal a comfort-first heart; the verdict is that service is 'between me and God,' decided by Scripture, calling, and accountability rather than guilt.
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Pseudo-sin five: disagreeing with your pastor
The fifth pseudo-sin — disagreeing with your pastor — is answered with the Bereans checking Paul against Scripture: disagreeing is fine, dishonoring is not, and authority must be tempered with humility. The segment closes with the hosts confessing the real guilt their article sparked: breaking daily Bible-reading streaks, plus an anecdote about Nathaniel and a joke about spiritual disciplines as Atari versus Super Nintendo.
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Things we thought were in the Bible
The hosts trade stories of things they were sure were in the Bible but aren't: the host's vivid memory of praying for a battle rock at sixteen that a host admits was wrong; Dan's discovery that the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) were all dysfunctional, killing the idealized nuclear-family model; a host's belief that Ananias and Sapphira were electrocuted (Acts 5) and that the armor of God has a 'sword of truth' instead of a belt of truth (Ephesians 6); and Micah's learned correction that the wise men came to a house, not the manger (Matthew 2), plus children's-Bible sanitizing of Jonah and Noah. The Bob Eisenlauer complaint line gets plugged, and Boova's John 17 Judas question is held for next week.
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Dear LFTP: realtor ambush at the funeral luncheon
Dear LFTP letter one: a woman whose family held their mother's funeral luncheon at home was ambushed by a realtor (brought by two nephews) pitching estate services at the door. The hosts distinguish the insensitive nephews from the possibly helpful realtor, advise grace toward imperfect practical help during grief, and find the 'secular answer' unfairly paints the husband as a deadbeat.
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Dear LFTP: favorite sibling after a sibling's death
Dear LFTP letter two: a woman whose favorite sibling has died keeps hearing from the surviving in-law that she was the parents' favorite, which she doubts. The hosts advise not indulging disparagement of the dead sibling, suggest redirecting the conversation, and riff on Joseph's coat of many colors and his sheaves-bowing dreams; the secular answer's 'take it, enjoy it' gets a mixed review, with one host suggesting the spouse may be processing an unhealthy marriage or grief.
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Dear LFTP: grandchildren who never say thank you
Dear LFTP letter three: grandparents who give generously to six grandchildren have received almost no thanks, so the grandmother plans instructional letter-writing booklets — 'a cold grandma,' the hosts joke. They push back on transactional gift-giving while affirming that thank-you notes can be meaningful, urging the grandmother to teach gratitude as service rather than coercing it, and the segment closes with a shared appreciation for handwritten notes.
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Outro and benediction
The outro thanks Empty Smith, plugs the new single 'Are You There?' on social media, and closes with the standing benediction: be faithful in the means, God will handle the end.