Like Jesus

Show open: Charlie Kirk assassination and the docket

• How should Christians respond to the assassination of Charlie Kirk?
• Why is Ezekiel eating a scroll in Ezekiel 3?

Ben opens the show with the docket: the assassination of Charlie Kirk five days earlier is the big cultural event the hosts want to discuss, framed as 'how do we react to it' rather than a news diagnostic. Two Ask the Pastor questions are queued from the complaint line: Cody's question about why Ezekiel eats scrolls, and Boova's Daniel 12 question about named angels and the prince Michael.

Angel comedy and the 'Jesus runs' bit

• Where does the 'spiritual walk' phrase come from in Scripture?

The hosts riff on Boova's question about Michael's office and dispatch boys, with jokes about a god-phone and Yahweh speaking in many waters. A tangent on the phrase 'spiritual walk' (Romans 8 vs walking by the Spirit) turns into a comedy bit about Enoch walking with the Lord and 'what if Jesus runs,' landing on a fake blog post titled 'Jesus runs.'

Mourning Charlie Kirk: grief, deceit, and grace

• Can you divorce the words of Jesus from the love of Jesus?

Ben argues there is no reason to react to the assassination as if the murdered man were not a human being worth mourning, and shares his caution about having grace for how deceived people came to believe what they believe. The hosts discuss pernicious ideas vs. deceived people underneath them, with the Saddam Hussein comparison and the danger of viewing political opponents as willingly evil.

Information prudence: social media, algorithms, and critical thinking

The hosts argue for divorcing prudence from politics: quotes about Charlie Kirk were taken wildly out of context, social media algorithms are built for engagement not truth, and in-person conversations beat online pile-ons. Kirk is presented as winsome precisely because he showed up in person and looked people in the eyes. The segment closes on fragility of held beliefs, Paul's stonings, and the Areopagus as a model of showing up and keeping the marketplace of ideas open.

Closing cautions: King Jesus over politics

Ben cautions that just because someone agrees with you politically does not mean they agree with you in the kingdom, noting not all ideas furthered under Jesus' name are actually of Jesus. His exhortation: fight like Jesus fought, serve like Jesus served, amplify what Jesus said rather than a political agenda. Mike closes with a MercyMe lyric — 'you ain't my king, though' — as a proportionality rule for politics and everything else in life.

Ask the Pastor: why Ezekiel eats the scroll

Cody McCormick's complaint-line question: why does Ezekiel snack on scrolls in Ezekiel 3? Ben reads Ezekiel 2–3 at length. The hosts agree the eating is a vision symbol — ingesting Yahweh's words so they become part of the prophet, not just heard — then widen to physical sign-acts: Ezekiel breaching the city wall (the Kool Aid man bit), cooking over dung, Revelation's eaten scroll, Paul and Silas singing hymns in prison, and Gregory the Illuminator's 13 years in the pit leading Armenia to Christianity. The thread lands on the 'audacity of hope' — trusting the work is effective even in chains.

Ask the Pastor: Michael the prince in Daniel 12

Boova asks his Daniel 12 question: how should he take in the named angel Michael, 'the great prince who has charge of your people,' without cartoonish Hollywood angelology? The hosts discuss the Hebrew sar as a commander word, Daniel 10's delayed messenger, Jude's affirmation of the Michael/Moses body tussle, and Dan's answer that it confirms we live in a spiritual world on a need-to-know basis. Ben's verdict: the prince language is likely a real spiritual reality, but speculation past what Scripture gives is dangerous; the boundary is 'here's what we know — after that, we have no idea.'

Dear LFTP: ending a friendship or ghosting the young couple

• Should I ghost an unwanted friendship or tell them honestly I want to end it?

A listener wants to end a relationship with a younger couple who guilt-tripped them into visits, now with toddlers she dislikes; her husband disagrees and wants to keep up the charade. Boova jokes the nicest thing she can do is ghost them immediately; Ben argues honesty is the best service so the couple can find real friends. Secular's answer — lie gently about the trip being onerous — is panned as bad advice, and the hosts land on telling the truth kindly.

Dear LFTP: AA member who witnessed a life-support withdrawal

• How do I come to terms with accidentally witnessing a fellow AA member's life-support withdrawal?

An AA member writes that while visiting a hospitalized fellow member with cookies, he arrived at the exact moment doctors withdrew life support and witnessed the family's raw grief; he now fears he intruded and caused harm. Dan's verdict: 'Dude, stop making it about you' — nobody was thinking about him. The hosts agree to chalk it up as a nonevent unless the girlfriend raises it, and advise not to manufacture an apology that would burden her. Secular's advice to apologize preemptively is rejected as awkward and self-serving.

Outro: Michael's god-phone and the sign-off

The hosts close with a reprise of the Michael-the-archangel office bit — god-phone, earpiece, the voice of many waters — then give the complaint line and the standard sign-off: be faithful in the means, God will handle the ends.