February 27 2012

Cold open: upcoming guests and the Newsboys broadcast

The show opens with a host identifying himself as Ben Foost and running through the next several weeks of studio guests: Chris Day, Jeff Arendale (rescheduled, bringing two musicians), Michelle Hoy, and Adam Cates. He announces a live broadcast from the Newsboys show at a church in Indianola on the 29th, where the hosts will interview the band and opening acts.

Wayne's 'Treasures' and the small things that control us

After a song called 'Treasures,' a host reflects on its lyric about letting go of worldly things, admitting he feels controlled by things he thinks he controls. He confesses his weakness for Casey's breakfast sandwiches, describing driving through Bondurant with a frosted windshield to get one. Other hosts chime in with their own: fountain Mountain Dew worth driving miles for, and Walmart mozzarella sticks bought by the pound, one framing the impulse as 'broad-spectrum' of how small habits quietly own us.

The Clean Water Movement and the $2 Movement

Wayne introduces the Clean Water Movement, started by a friend at Free Church in Ames, which drills lasting wells in rural Bolivia and is praying about Uganda and Kosovo. He describes the $2 Movement: $2 a month for a year ($24) provides clean water for one person for 15 years. The hosts reflect on how meeting real needs abroad opens eyes and creates a bridge for sharing Jesus, and encourage listeners to visit cleanwatermovement.org.

The great pit of Iowa

A comedy bit spins off the well-drilling topic: one host had previously tried to get another to dig 'a pit' as a tourist attraction — charging people to look at it, pushing them in, charging to get them out — which the others contrast with the honesty of the Clean Water Movement's actual well drilling. The running gag lands on the 'great pit of Iowa' and its missed frying-pan business model.

Wayne Stewart performs 'There Is Coming a Day'

The hosts introduce in-studio guest Wayne Stewart, worship leader at First Free Church in Ames. Wayne explains the new song grew out of sitting with people whose suffering left him with two convictions: God has not walked away, and the timeline of Jesus' return gives future hope that moves us forward. He premieres the song live on air, and the hosts react warmly, joking about casting each other in its music video.

Opening for Buzz Gertsen, the gospel yodeler

Reading Wayne's ReverbNation ministry highlights, a host spots 'opening for Buzz Gertsen, gospel yodelist,' which sends Wayne into a story from his old band days: their bass player Chuck booked a mystery gig at an AM radio station in the cornfields of Washington State that turned out to be the Full Gospel Businessman's salmon bake. The band's full rock set got no response — then the crowd went wild for Buzz Gertsen's yodel-break gospel songs. The hosts learn he now bills himself as the Idaho yodeler and suggest prayer for him.

Hard question: is it a sin to hit a man who hit a woman?

• Is it a sin for a man to hit another man if that man hit a woman?

The hosts take up a listener question relayed from a man exploring Christianity: is it a sin for a man to hit another man who hit a woman? Opinions split — one host says do whatever it takes to protect, drawing the line at retaliation after the fact; another argues assault in any form is overdoing it and suggests restraint, calling police, or sitting on the person instead. The debate veers through concealed carry, pliers, nose tweaks, and knife jabs before settling on the difference between stopping violence and seeking revenge.

Justice, force, and a time for war

• What does God consider just, and where is the line for acting on behalf of justice?

Stepping back from the punch debate, the hosts frame the underlying question: what does God consider just, and where does acting on behalf of justice begin? They discuss worldly justice as force, note that peaceful options are often won by force, and cite David slinging a stone at Goliath and Ecclesiastes' 'a time for war and a time for peace.' One host admits he has read Ecclesiastes twice (NIV and ESV) and plans to over-apply it for the next two months; a joke claim that Ecclesiastes is a South African shingles-like disease is corrected on air.

Wayne Stewart performs 'Your Heart in Me'

Returning to music, Wayne introduces 'Your Heart in Me,' written about five years earlier while serving at a church in Chicago. He explains it is about the magnitude of what God invites us into in Jesus — not new ideas or habits, but a complete change of heart from the inside out, the born-again metaphor Jesus chose in John 3. The hosts welcome the performance and thank Wayne for traveling to the studio.

Outro: thank-yous, next week, and a church invitation

As the show wraps, the hosts thank Wayne Stewart and point listeners to his ReverbNation page and his worship-leader role at First E-Free Church in Ames. They preview next week's guest Chris Day, and invite listeners in the Johnston / Des Moines metro area who are looking for a church — or a relationship with Jesus Christ — to reach out to Pathway Church (ThePathOnline.org, meeting Sundays at 9 and 10:30 at the Johnston Middle School). The sign-off promises Buzz Gertsen, the Idaho yodeler, next.