November 21 2011

Show open and welcome

The produced intro voiceover plays while the hosts riff on a lingering Bob Ross image fading from the video feed. Ben introduces himself on air and welcomes listeners to the week's show.

Sick-week absence and the Penn State funk

Ben explains he was out sick the previous Monday, the first sickness absence and only the second missed broadcast (the other followed the Spirit Midwest Festival, when the setup could not be arranged in time). He says he spent the week in a funk after the Penn State news broke and that the John Waller concert night with fellow believers lifted it. Dan is teased for skipping the sweet shack's sweets.

John Waller concert recap and interview

The hosts recap the John Waller concert, from which they broadcast live and posted an interview to the show's YouTube channel. They praise Waller as a humble, articulate Christian artist who showed up with a two-week-old child at home because he felt it was 'a God thing.' One host contrasts him with the bell curve of Christian artists, noting not all are good examples.

Fire in the bones: the compulsion to preach

Discussing Waller's sense of calling, a host cites Paul's writings about being unable to keep from preaching the gospel, though he cannot place the verse. Another host brings up Jeremiah, hated for his message, who said God's word was like a fire in his bones he could not hold in. A host notes he posted that Jeremiah verse on a discouraged man's Facebook page that day.

Waller's album plug and the Andy & Kelly clip

The hosts plug John Waller's new album 'As For Me and My House' and his website johnwallermusic.com, noting Waller appears on the Courageous movie soundtrack. They joke about how few words Ben spoke in the interview video and about a Tetris shirt. They plug a YouTube clip of Andy and Kelly, the concert's opening act, a worship couple with five kids each.

Local church plugs and the telephone rant

The hosts recommend Andy and Kelly's worship services at a church off Highway 5 near the bypass on the south side of Des Moines. Ben admits the couple is reachable only by telephone and rants about hating phone calls, preferring email, text, or Facebook because written messages are permanent and documented. The others tease him for being lazy and just moving with the times.

December bookings and concert shout-outs

Ben announces December studio bookings: Kevin Lindgren is returning to town (now living in Lamoni) and Double J is coming back with J4J t-shirts. The hosts regret missing Echo's downtown warehouse music-video shoot. They thank the Spirit Midwest folks (Julie and Al Barnes), Travis from Overflow Music, and the Faith Works churches for hosting the John Waller broadcast, and plug the Newsboys concert coming to Indianola in March.

Need to Breathe and the John Mark McMillan campaign

A host is working to book Need to Breathe, playing Ames in March, noting the hosts have worked the band's merch table and run errands for them. The hosts say Mike is campaigning on Twitter to get John Mark McMillan into the studio while one of them tweets McMillan every 15 minutes, joking about his full beard, tweed jackets, and John-the-Baptist look. They note McMillan wrote 'How He Loves,' popularized by David Crowder.

Children's Bible critique and the Pharisees

A host complains his Egermeier Children's Bible embellishes the story, with Jesus playing with wood shavings in Joseph's workshop, and depicts John the Baptist too clean-cut. He argues children's materials sanitize the Bible's heroes, leaving kids feeling cheated when they read the real stories as adults, citing Samson and David. He recounts explaining the Pharisees to his daughter via Nicodemus: faithful to Scripture yet adding their own rules and lording it over people, a trap Christians can fall into.

More local music news

Ben runs through more local music news: the Saved on Sunday guys are finishing a double acoustic album, Piercing the Darkness (from the Spirit Midwest broadcast) finished a CD, and Adam Cates, a narcotics officer and songwriter from the Oskaloosa area, is near done with his album.

No-shave November and facial-hair plans

Asked what's new, Pants admits he is simply too lazy to shave, and the hosts riff on Dan wearing a different facial-hair style each December week and making a montage collage. One host jokes Pants would look like a creepy opossum if he shaved everything: 'the devil is in the eyes of an opossum.' Dan is addressed by name throughout the banter.

Dear LFTP: the holiday dishwashing husband

• How can a wife get her husband's holiday kitchen help to actually help instead of creating more work?

Ben reads a Dear Abby-style letter from a wife whose husband 'helps' with holiday dishes but does them so poorly she must rewash everything, then throws a fit if asked to redo them. The hosts' quick advice: give him a different job instead of the dishes. They diagnose poor communication and oversensitivity, and one host admits he does not always meet his own wife Cheryl's cleaning standards either.

From dishes to 'Jesus is the answer'

• Do women feel obligated to agree when other women complain about their husbands?
• When is it right to speak up with advice versus staying quiet to protect a relationship?

The discussion widens into when Christians should speak up with advice versus staying quiet to keep the peace, prompted by a question to the ladies in the chat about pressure to agree when others complain about husbands. The hosts argue the real answer underneath the tips-and-tricks is Jesus as moral compass and accountability, illustrated by the house built on rock versus sand. They read Abby's actual advice (soak the pots, boil the utensils) and dismiss it for dodging the conflict, then detour into a joke that the church organ began as a secular rock instrument, closing with a running gag about a mobile-home Jesus.

Dear LFTP: 'Cheated' and the boyfriend who won't commit

• What should a 31-year-old woman do when her boyfriend of 11 years keeps refusing to have a baby?

A host reads a heavy letter from a 31-year-old woman whose boyfriend Chad, 35, has strung her along for 11 years, had her get two abortions five years in, and now refuses to have a baby. The hosts are blunt: Chad never wanted a child with her, she should leave, and she needs Jesus rather than trying to redeem him. The conversation becomes a broader lament about a culture that removed Jesus from family life, closing with the woman-at-the-well model of truth plus 'go and sin no more.'

Praying for evangelism opportunities

A host shares that after praying specifically for gospel opportunities, three came in three days, arguing against manufacturing awkward openings and for bold, specific prayers like the Crazy Love series suggested. Another cites Paul being told it was 'not time' for Asia as a model of trusting God's yes-or-no answers. They trade stories of worship-team mishaps and the freedom of depending fully on God when the sound system fails.

The McDonald's drive-thru rant

A host rants about McDonald's automated drive-thru greetings, staying silent until a human responds because he cannot tell if anyone hears him. The bit escalates into church applications: hologram greeters asking 'would you like to pay your tithe today?' and a donut-table altar call. Pants is repeatedly prodded to contribute and mostly stays quiet.

Secular advice to Chad

Pants is asked what the Secular persona would say to Chad from the previous letter. A host reads the secular advice: 'Dear Cheated... you will never have what you want if you stay with Chad, so pack your bags and get on with your life. And find Jesus.' The hosts echo 'find Jesus' approvingly.

Talking about Jesus without being judged

• How do you talk openly about Jesus without being judged?

A chat question asks how to talk openly about Jesus without being judged, illustrated by a host's wife wading into a Facebook argument about the Salvation Army. A host recalls a Pathway speaker named Chad who spoke on homosexuality from personal temptation without crossing the line, framing the tension: accept people where they are because God does, yet be honest that 'you will not inherit the kingdom.' The hosts agree the risk of being judged is worth it because the alternative is silence.

The cost of telling the truth in love

The hosts press further: sharing Christ may cost the friendship itself, and the risk is all on the speaker, asking 'do you love them enough to tell you the truth?' One host pictures friends on judgment day asking why he never told them. They agree methods must fit personality: one finds it easier with strangers at a bar, another hands out Pathway Church cards. They cite Mike's chat catchphrase about keeping everything 'on the table' for God and Sean Engeldinger as a model of boldness.

Dear LFTP: the wife's first boyfriend

• How should a husband respond when his wife says she will always have a place in her heart for her first boyfriend?

Ben reads a letter from a man disturbed that his wife of 15 years says she will always have a place in her heart for her first boyfriend. The hosts tell him to grow up: a fond first-love memory differs from marriage love, and he married a twice-divorced woman knowing the baggage. Dan tells a personal story: a stocky Wisconsin rival drove to Des Moines to woo Sharon away before they married, and he chose secure, mature trust over forbidding the meeting. The secular advice, 'get over it' and redirect past-talk to the present, gets a joke about styling hair like John Belushi or Will Ferrell.

Dear LFTP: Uncle Ray hogs the kids

• How can parents give other relatives bonding time with the kids when the fun uncle hogs all their attention?

Ben reads a letter from a Northern California mother whose brother Ray, the fun gift-giving uncle, consumes all the kids' attention at family gatherings, leaving grandparents and siblings sidelined. Pants advises talking to the kids and the brother; the hosts push back that kids naturally go where relationships are invested and you cannot force it: 'life's not fair.' They read Abby's advice (enlist Ray, plan Ray-free activities) and reject forcing it, concluding parents should create opportunities but let relationships breathe.

Sign-off

The hosts sign off at ten to midnight, thanking listeners and promising to return next week. They close with Need to Breathe's 'Baby the Rondous' from the band's most recent CD.