Affirming the Nasty Part

Show open and docket preview

The show opens live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper with the running "Elijah's beard" gag. A host lays out the evening's docket: two ask-the-pastor questions (is there value in reading the Apocrypha, and the Micaiah prophecy at the end of 1 Kings), two news items (a church staff scandal in Texas and the inauguration prayer-breakfast sermon), and Dear LFTP advice letters. Mike is addressed on-air as having previewed the letters.

Is there value in reading the Apocrypha?

• Is there any value in reading the Apocrypha?

A host proposes the first ask-the-pastor question: is there any value in reading the Apocrypha (ASR renders "Apolographa") given that it is not accepted as canon and is textually contested? The other host agrees there is value in recognizing its truths while also taking in culturally what those words meant and mean.

The lying spirit and Micaiah's prophecy at the end of 1 Kings

• How do we make sense of the Lord sending a lying spirit to Ahab's prophets, and of Micaiah lying after vowing to speak only what the Lord says?

The second ask-the-pastor question digs into the end of 1 Kings: the deceitful spirit sent from the Lord's war council to speak a lying tongue to Ahab's prophets, and Micaiah's response — first vowing he will only speak what the Lord says, then sarcastically telling Ahab to go up and win, then delivering the true prophecy of defeat and death. A host finds the lying spirit "weird" and "funky" and struggles with Micaiah's initial lie.

News: registered sex offender on church staff in Texas

• Should a convicted sex offender hold a titled, paid ministry position on a church staff?

The hosts take up a news story: Chuck Adair, a lifetime registered sex offender once listed on America's Most Wanted for running off with an underage parishioner, is now a ministry leader at Grace Place Church of Christ in Duncanville, Texas, and a part-time staffer with Watermark Community Church in Dallas. A host reads the article's background — Adair's 1990s offenses against teenage girls, his conviction and prison time, and the churches' statements that he works only in prison and adult-recovery ministry with no minor contact — and asks whether the details matter for whether he may hold a leadership or influential position.

Should he carry the pastor title? The Paul analogy

The hosts debate whether Adair should hold a pastor title or a paid position: one host finds prison and adult-recovery ministry a great fit for him but balks at the title "pastor" and its built-in authority, access, and trust; another argues none of the worldly honor is necessary for the redemptive work and that accepting the title creates a stumbling block. They reach for the apostle Paul as the counter-example — a murderer redeemed and given authority — and wrestle with why Paul's insistence on his apostleship differs from this case. The resolution: drop the pastor title, stop paying him, let him serve within restrictions that keep him away from vulnerable people.

Reading the inauguration prayer-breakfast sermon

• Did the inauguration preacher overstep, and is her use of Matthew 7 sound exegesis?

A host reads aloud the full text of the sermon given by a female pastor at the inauguration prayer breakfast, pausing with the others to raise a hand where they disagree. The sermon prays for national unity and quotes Matthew 7:24-29 at length before recasting Jesus' rock as unity and naming dignity, honesty, and humility as the three foundations of unity, citing Alexander Solzhenitsyn on the line between good and evil running through every human heart. One host objects that it is "a twisting of scripture" to say Jesus' rock is unity, while another allows that most of the words are agreeable at face value.

The mercy plea and the immigration debate

The sermon reading continues into its hinge point: a final plea for mercy on LGBTQ children who fear for their lives and on immigrants who pick crops and work night shifts. The hosts agree mercy and dignity apply but argue the plea misrepresents the situation — illegal entry is by definition a crime, and compassion does not erase a government's responsibility for order. Through the dinner-party analogy (20 people showing up when dinner was cooked for six) and the census-representation point, they argue there are many ways to help and that framing it as "only one way or you're heartless" is manipulation, while still calling Christians to love people and double down on truth-telling. The segment closes with the complaint line, (515) 517-0085.

Dear LFTP: the messy shared vacation home

• How do we confront the family sharing our vacation home about their mess without causing tension?

A Dear LFTP letter: the writer and their spouse share a vacation home with another family that leaves dirty dishes for days and dirty diapers on the living room floor; the writers clean up after them but it has gotten out of hand. The hosts advise a bold, direct conversation while showing grace for the different stages of life — a host notes kids under five are "feral" and parents have a sliding scale of priorities. The Secular answer is blunt: dirty diapers are a health hazard, you will not change these slobs — sell your half if you own it, or pick a different getaway if you rent.

Dear LFTP: the GoFundMe for a friend with cancer

• How do I balance my friendship with my moral compass regarding the GoFundMe I set up?

A Dear LFTP letter: the writer set up a GoFundMe for a close friend diagnosed with breast cancer who has always been impulsive with money (gambling, cruises, fancy restaurants) and continues expensive habits during treatment; the writer feels conflicted and wants to distance themselves from the fundraiser. The hosts advise backing away from the admin role without necessarily shutting the fundraiser down — "grabbing one towel in the middle of a monsoon" — while noting giving generously means not being attached to how every dollar is spent. The Secular answer: separate yourself from the project but keep supporting her emotionally; misusing donated funds could be considered fraud.

Outro and sign-off

The hosts wrap the show in 2025, invite feedback on the complaint line at (515) 517-0085, and close with the sign-off: be faithful in the means; God will handle the ends.