March 12 2012

Cold open: Bob Ross and the twelve disciples

The show opens with the hosts discovering a Bob Ross image on screen. One host explains Bob Ross was used when they were casting the twelve disciples, joking he was his Peter, and the hosts riff on the phrasing before the show introduction lands.

Guest introduction: Jeff Arendale and company

The hosts welcome Jeff Arendale and his band (Matt, Matt, and Steven) to the studio. Jeff is noted as the show's most frequent and most requested guest, here for his third appearance, with an album in the works.

Show rundown: Secular vs. Solomon and Iron Sharpens Iron

The hosts preview the episode: Secular vs. Solomon is explained as America's fastest growing internet game show where guests guess whether a proverb is secular or from King Solomon, naming the origin if secular. They also introduce Iron Sharpens Iron, a new advice segment replacing Dear Life from the Path, which answered Dear Abby letters from a Jesus worldview.

Album talk: final mastering and the vision for the songs

Jeff discusses his upcoming album, currently in final mastering after a delay. He describes the songs as a gift and his prayer that God would use them so people can worship, not just him playing them to himself.

'Let Us Sing' in-studio performance

Jeff Arendale and the band perform 'Let Us Sing,' a song written out of a psalm about coming to worship the Lord who made everything. The performance itself falls in the untranscribed gap; the segment covers the intro and the immediate reaction.

'Let Us Sing' debrief, Psalm 95, and the release-date pool

• Is it wrong to take bets on when a Christian album comes out?

After the song, the hosts quote Psalm 95 ('In his hand are the depths of the earth, the mountain peaks belong to him, the sea is his, for he made it') and riff on God's 'because I made it' claim with a sandwich analogy. They joke about taking bets on the album's release date and plug Jeff's Saturday gig at the Green Grounds coffee house in Valley Junction.

The burn-pile fire: a host nearly burns down his own yard

A host tells how he set a burn pile on fire with diesel fuel on his eight acres, lost control, burned about an acre, and ended up calling the fire department. While it burned he prayed ridiculous prayers asking God for rain in that one area, then surrendered with 'Lord, your will be done.'

Meeting the fire department and mom-on-the-stairs stories

• Have you ever had to call the fire department?

The storyteller describes the small-town fire crew who arrived happy to play with the fire, then admits the embarrassment of the whole thing. A host then recounts calling 911 when his mother fell down basement stairs and broke her leg, and another host remembers a similar fall at Dan's, with police asking suspicious leading questions.

'Most High' in-studio performance

Jeff introduces 'Most High,' a song honoring Christ co-written with Adam Jones of his church (Jones supplied the opening riff). The hosts note Jeff never lets anyone sing along on air, and the band performs the song in the untranscribed gap.

'Most High' debrief and the CD release party comedy skit

The hosts praise 'Most High' as a singalong chorus tune. Talk of a CD release party leads to a mock skit where a host plays a church representative who tells Jeff his request to use the building is denied and to leave a tithe at the door.

Inside the album: Nashville musicians and the cover art

Jeff describes recording with five Nashville musicians, including a drummer for Vince Gill, plus backing vocals from Lee Gibson, a budding Nashville singer. He reveals the album title 'Not Here For Me,' bets on a summer 2012 release, and shows the cover art: a fall tree with light shining down from heaven.

Prayer tension: afraid to ask God vs. 'you have not because you ask not'

• Is it okay to ask God for things, or is that bossing God around?

A host reflects on reluctance to ask God for things, feeling like it bosses God around, contrasted with Jesus' saying 'you have not because you ask not' (actually James 4:2). The conversation turns to a corrective view of God's character: a joyful God, since the fruit of the Spirit includes joy, peace, and patience.

Listener fire stories: Pants, Mike's barn, and the chat weighs in

The hosts trade fire stories after the earlier burn-pile tale: the Runnels tornado-cellar garbage fire with Pants soaking it up like a natural habitat, and Mike's hundred-year-old Amish-built barn that had to be burned per the loan terms (plus a failed endangered-owl scheme to save it). Chat listeners report setting a Taco Bell bathroom and their parents' bed on fire.

'Be Alert' in-studio performance

Jeff introduces 'Be Alert' as drawn from Ephesians and a Psalm, about Satan being out to devour and the need to guard one's heart, fear God, and obey. The band performs the harder-rocking song in the untranscribed gap.

'Be Alert' debrief, fire-story details, and Words with Friends

• What does the word HAPS mean?

The hosts contrast 'Be Alert' as the rocking one versus the earlier rolling tunes, then read the chat's full fire-story details (parents' bedroom matches, the Taco Bell toilet-paper roll, Tina's cat on fire). They pivot to Words with Friends: a host is called out for playing HAPS against Dan Hudson without knowing its meaning, and they read the dictionary.com definition (hap: one's luck or lot; Middle English 1150-1200) and commiserate about vocabulary scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

Laos mission trip, 'Strange Place,' and sign-off

Jeff recounts last time's blunder where the hosts said 'Laos' on air after being asked not to name the country, then describes the two-week mission trip: no running water, performing in villages, octopus eye in a hamburger, and why reaching an unreached people group takes years. 'Strange Place' was born of that experience. He closes the first hour, signs off from the Remax Studios in downtown Des Moines.