Are We Ready?

Show open and docket

• Are we doing ourselves a disservice by thinking of discipleship and influence as anything but local?

Ben opens with the live show start from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper after the produced intro voiceover, and sets the docket: the big political-spiritual question, Boova's Witch of Endor question, the heartbreak of leading people to Jesus (and Boova's new house church), hoped-for insight from Dan, Dear LFTP advice letters, a homeschool-basketball mascot riff on Roman centurions and 'the holy blue demons,' and a $1,500 one-day spiritual training that raises the question of whether discipleship and influence are anything but local.

Local fine dining is fake: the garbanzo-bean Chex Mix

Boova tells the story behind his claim that local fine dining is fake: a complimentary bowl of artisanal Chex Mix at a local fine-dining joint contained a cold, mushy garbanzo bean, leaving him unsure whether he was too dumb to understand it or smart enough to know it was stupid; the restaurant admitted the Chex Mix is plated right next to where they do the salads.

The big question: spiritual readiness if the political wins happen

• If the political changes conservatives hope for all happened at once, are Christians ready for the spiritual implications the next day?

Ben frames the episode's big question: if everything conservatives hope for from the newly elected Trump administration happened today — cuts to waste, fraud, and abuse, a smaller government — are Christians ready for the spiritual implications tomorrow? Even welcome political change creates work for the church, and agreeing with the outcome risks a complacent 'we won' when spiritually no one won.

The church isn't ready: Dan's Reagan-era memory and fog machines

Dan recalls having the same 'cut the government, it's the church's job' conversation in churches during the Reagan administration and asks whether anyone is ready to start feeding and clothing all those people tomorrow. He points to the book of Acts' widows-and-food reboot, the early church selling property and laying it at the apostles' feet, and today's 'lazy fat cats' churches choosing fog machines over feeding the poor — noting his own church already gets three to five rent-help calls a week from strangers it cannot help.

Prepare your heart for prosperity that goes to others

Ben pushes the preparation inward: if you personally benefit from tax cuts and a smaller government, be ready to receive none of it. The New Testament principle 'you don't work, you don't eat' assumed a culture without freeloading; today's entitlement means the church must face real human need anyway — invoking plague-era Christians who sacrificed themselves for the sick, the Francis of Assisi 'spread the gospel, if necessary use words' line, and Jesus letting his rain fall on our injustice.

Don't celebrate the political win and miss the spiritual opportunity

Ben extends the caution to culture-war wins: as gender-related protections and the Department of Education face rollback, people who felt marginally protected will feel more marginalized; abortion restrictions don't eliminate women in difficult situations. These are opportunities for the church to double down on relationships and trustworthy interactions — not a declaration of holistic spiritual victory.

Cartoonish people: go serve at the food bank

Dan observes that both sides form cartoonish pictures of each other from spokespeople and bullet points, and the church has lost face-to-face human contact. Ben adds he has heard an equally cartoonish version of Christians, critiques the 'just another beggar hoping for bread' line as diminishing, and urges listeners to shake hands, look people in the eye, and go serve at a food bank — even the most liberal church's — while holding gospel truth.

The Witch of Endor: Boova's question and 1 Samuel 28

• What do we do with the Witch of Endor story — was it really Samuel, and should Christians worry about mediums today?

Boova brings his Witch of Endor question: reading through 1 Samuel 28, he walks through Saul's night visit to the medium — the Lord not answering by dreams, Urim, or prophets; 'bring up Samuel for me'; the woman seeing 'a god coming up out of the earth' — and asks whether this really happened, whether mediums operate today, and what it implies about the afterlife.

Dan's answer: familiar spirits, not the dead returning

Dan answers that Christians should be aware of a real, active spiritual world without being worried: what passes for mediumship today is more demonic in nature — familiar spirits that know the details and can even mimic a voice — and there is no concern about the dead coming back to haunt the living for those in God's kingdom.

Boova's follow-up: one story, 'just a Tuesday,' and the afterlife

Boova follows up: he is wary of building doctrine on an isolated story, notes Saul had banned mediums and necromancers so this practitioner was routine rather than a novice ('just a Tuesday for this gal'), and wonders what the episode implies about heaven, hell, and whether a spirit can really be summoned — while affirming God's ultimate control.

Ben's narrative reading: the king they asked for

Ben offers his narrative reading: the medium's usual trade is bogus, but God met Saul there with a true word — the final nail, since Saul and his sons die within three chapters. The story's purpose is to show the king Israel asked for (1 Samuel 8's 'give us a king like the other nations,' a 'reverse American revolution') against David, the king after God's own heart; Saul's very name means, in effect, 'you chose.'

Reading scripture in narrative, not in a vacuum

Boova confesses he has been reading the Bible in a vacuum, chapter to chapter, and resolves to read in narrative — illustrated by Genesis 1-11 covering creation to Abraham in barely anything. Ben argues the Bible's writers are narrative storytellers, not newspapermen: the gospel writers move things around, and trusting inspiration means trusting the narrative arc, including the group that compiled the story from Deuteronomy through Kings.

Quirky stories as memory hooks; deferrals to next week

Ben closes the loop: don't skip the quirky stories — they're memory hooks that pull the rest of the narrative with them (Goliath works the same way), and the compilers knew it. With the show running long, the 'lament of the spiritual leader' and the 'is all spirituality local' question get deferred to next week.

Dear LFTP: the wedding no-shows and the holiday cards

• Should I skip sending holiday cards to relatives who skipped my daughter's wedding?

Boova reads a Dear LFTP letter from a woman whose husband's family skipped her daughter's wedding, then — while she was traveling — bought and sent holiday cards over her objection. Ben calls her stated motive a lie covering petty revenge, urges her to let it go and have an honest conversation with her husband about what happened, and the room jokes about sending thank-you cards to the no-shows. The Secular answer: 'A wedding invitation is not a command performance. Now let it go.'

Dear LFTP: the gift-card etiquette question

• Is it proper etiquette to use a gift card from my brother when dining out with him, and should the excess go toward his bill?

Boova reads a second Dear LFTP letter on gift-card etiquette: a couple wondering whether to use a restaurant gift card from the brother and sister-in-law when dining with them, and whether to apply any excess to the brother's bill. The hosts say to just use it like a normal debit card — the givers gave it so it would be used, not sit in a billfold for six years. The Secular answer on splitting bills closes the segment.

Outro: Marshall, the dumpster-fire episode, and the signoff

Ben gives the outro: the complaint line (515) 517-0085, named for Bob Eisenlauer; a shout-out to listener Marshall, who dug through the archives and hit the 'dumpster fire episode' — a marijuana-investing discussion where Dan said 'Dan type of things,' prompting the 'do not elect Dan Hudson' joke; a note that five years of back-catalog shows still need posting; and the signoff, 'be faithful to the means. God will handle the ends.'