May 7 2012
In this episode
-
Show open and live-show rant
A host welcomes listeners to a live broadcast of Live From The Path from Pathway Studios in Johnston, then rants that the worship-band live recording he attended felt more like an arena show than worship, joking that the opening act was 'somebody's wife' and 'the worst of God's creations, the solo singer-songwriter guy.'
-
Hard question: 'Who are you to say Jesus is the only way?'
A host introduces the episode's hard question — whether Christians can claim Jesus is the only way to God — recalling a past concert guest who told the audience that even Christians can be wrong about Scripture, and joking about the 'Jesus song' worship band from a recent live show.
-
Worship-wars tangent: hymns, the Baptist hymnal, and the tambourine
A long comedy detour on modern worship: 'Jesus Messiah' hymn singing, a story about being scolded in a Baptist hymnal church for saying 'Amen,' a sermon on a tambourine-player 'of the highest quality,' and a rant that a good worship band needs auxiliary percussion — triangle, shaker, and a tambourine you have to audition for.
-
Hard question, part 1: culture, Scripture, and evidence
The hosts tackle the exclusivity question: our culture calls it intolerant; if the Bible is true its claims bind regardless of feelings; logic versus faith and the difference between faith and blind faith; the Spain-exists-without-personal-visit analogy for belief on testimony; historical reliability via Josephus and the four gospels; the resurrection as the hinge; and contrasts with Muhammad (who admitted he performed no miracles) and Joseph Smith (who pointed to his own book).
-
God the king, free will, and why hell exists
A host recounts a conversation where he said 'God acts like a king' and got pushback, then the hosts work through why a loving God allows hell: free will, the drowning-man rescue analogy, the vending-machine marriage analogy, sin must be paid for because God is holy, and John 14:6 — 'I am the way, the truth, and the life' — quoted to show exclusivity that is still available to everyone.
-
The Bible is all-or-nothing: no salad-bar Christianity
The hosts insist on accepting the whole Bible or none of it — if Jesus is not the way, nothing else he said counts either — and reject pick-and-choose religion: an Oprah-style 'salad bar of religion,' a misremembered Tocqueville reference, and the liar-lunatic-Lord trilemma (the hosts call him a liar or a lunatic if he isn't Lord).
-
Cemetery story: who judges and who made it
A host tells of a family cemetery visit where an angry relative complained that a deceased relative 'didn't make it to heaven,' countering with the gun analogy — you don't have to pull the trigger to be guilty — and the verse 'before they hated you, they hated me' on Christians being persecuted.
-
Penn Jillette: 'How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize?'
A host retells atheist magician Penn Jillette's line that a Christian who believes in hell and doesn't try to save people must hate them, illustrated with the campfire-burning-down-interstate analogy: compassion means warning people, not watching them drive into the fire.
-
The church backed away from hell — and the 'What the hell?' sermon series
The hosts argue the church has softened hell because of a false gospel, noting Jesus spoke of hell more than heaven, that Satan is not the king of hell but its biggest inmate, and brainstorm a hell sermon series — jokingly titled 'What the hell?' — after the line 'Christ said it's finished.'
-
Christian controversy culture: Perry Noble and Bonhoeffer
The hosts mock Christian blog 'rags' that stir controversy for traffic, recalling Perry Noble drawing fire from a Christian blogger, and quote Dietrich Bonhoeffer on faith: 'I gave up on modern Christianity to follow Jesus.' They add that people mostly follow people who already agree with them.
-
Upcoming Mother's Day sermon on Ephesians 5
A host previews a Mother's Day sermon idea: preaching 'Husbands, love your wives like Christ loved the church' from Ephesians 5, arguing the marriage command is a gift that builds the whole household when the wife submits and the husband loves like Christ.
-
Show business: live on YouTube, Blip TV, and the 'no-profit'
The hosts plug the show's live web broadcast on YouTube and Blip TV, invite church youth groups to request shout-outs, and joke that they are a 'no-profit' (not a nonprofit) — the show made no money last year.
-
Telling the truth is compassion: fire insurance versus 'follow me'
The hosts reject 'you can't judge me' culture: compassion is telling the truth, not watching someone drive into a fire. A host tells of mediating a friend Ted's marriage, arguing the point of evangelism is discipleship — 'follow me,' not fire insurance; run to Jesus, not just from hell.
-
Cheap grace: Bonhoeffer and 'are we too close to see it?'
After a joke about reading 'Dear Abbey's,' the hosts read a Bonhoeffer quote on cheap grace — grace preached without repentance, Christ without discipleship — and wrestle with whether Christians can be too close to their faith to see it clearly.
-
The UC Berkeley compassion study on religion and giving
A host reads aloud a UC Berkeley study finding that religious people are more likely to show generosity — religious people reported greater compassion, and less religious people gave more only after being induced to feel compassion — prompting debate about hypocrisy, the difference between compassion and love, and whether giving is a Holy Spirit byproduct.
-
Giving as a Holy Spirit byproduct: 'the least of these'
The hosts discuss generosity as an overflow of the Spirit rather than an obligation, referencing 'whoever does it for the least of these, they do for me,' and a host confesses sometimes avoiding a homeless man at a stoplight — joking 'love is a decision, not an emotion' — before urging giving that costs something.
-
'Never give money to a guy on a curb'
The hosts argue handing cash to panhandlers isn't real help — one host says 'never give money to a guy on a curb' — and that Christians should connect with people instead of just throwing money, citing a church plan to rent an apartment in low-income housing as a food pantry.
-
The faceless poor: who are you actually helping?
The hosts challenge generic claims of helping the poor — 'who? name them' — using Sylvia, a woman one host helps pay rent for, and joke about a 'two tunics maximum' rule from the man wearing a bomber jacket over two coats.
-
Comedy bit: two tunics maximum
A comedy run riffing on the two-tunics line: if you have two coats you must give one away, so the hosts count coats and sweaters on each other, mock the 'guy from Mike Tyson's Punch-Out' look, and debate whether a sweater vest counts.
-
South Jersey Catholics study and knowing Jesus like a spouse
The hosts react to a study of South Jersey Catholics — 60% believe Jesus sinned, 40% say premarital sex isn't a sin, most can't explain salvation — and argue faith must be a real relationship: a host's wife Jera knows what he thinks, versus secondhand 'online Jesus dating service' faith where people pick a Jesus they like.
-
The 'life verse' rant
The hosts rage against the concept of a 'life verse' — picking one favorite Bible verse as your identity — after a daughter's room has a framed verse on the wall, arguing the whole Bible is your life verse and singling out verses shows immaturity.
-
The Prayer of Jabez and the prosperity gospel
The hosts tear into the Prayer of Jabez craze — the 'J-Biz' book, bedtime-Jabez for kids, televangelists who market it as a formula — arguing it twists a one-man prayer into a promise: God promises daily needs (the model prayer's 'give me my daily needs'), not a border-expanding real-estate deal. They cite David's sin with Uriah as proof God doesn't bless disobedience, and vote yes on the 'What the hell?' hell series after a chat-room poll.
-
Donut King and the youth-group swearing story
The hosts joke about a 'Donut King' donut shop and its 'lord of all breakfast' sign, then a host tells of church workday when a high-school youth swore at him and he confronted the whole youth group, ending with 'if you don't respect me, your parents will hear about it.'
-
Band updates: Syndrome of Fire, Double J, Adam Cates, festival news
The hosts update listeners on past musical guests: Syndrome of Fire recording in Nashville, Double J playing Hills Alive 2012 (hillsalive.com), singer Adam Cates performing May 19 at Green Grounds Cafe in West Des Moines, Arendelle playing shows, Sanctified recording an EP, plus Hills Alive Rapid City (July 21–22), MercyMe, Big Daddy Weave, and Todd Agnew tour news and the Spirit Midwest music festival.
-
Dear LFTP: the unappreciated bird ornithologist
The first Dear LFTP letter: a local bird expert, snubbed by a summer festival that flies in a national speaker instead, asks how to respond. The hosts read the 'Secular' advice answer ('get over yourself; only in his hometown is a prophet without honor') and agree: get over it, keep working, let the work speak.
-
Dear LFTP: the husband who triangulates his 11-year-old daughter
A letter-writer asks how to handle a husband who tells their 11-year-old daughter his side of marital disagreements. The hosts read the Secular answer (don't badmouth him to her; he's not evil, just wrong), then give their own: present a united front, never undermine each other, and discipline together — illustrated by a red-Kool-Aid-on-white-carpet story from one host's parenting.
-
Dear LFTP: the teetotaling grandma and Chip's family
A teetotaling grandmother asks whether to stay out of her in-laws' business after watching Chip's family drink heavily, her three-year-old grandson offered beer, and a drunk grandmother who 'did a jig on the table.' The Secular answer advises not drinking the Kool-Aid of other people's choices but staying engaged; the hosts add: never let a drunk person drive your grandchild, be the sane voice, and don't lecture while they're drinking.
-
Wrap-up: recap, hand sanitizer, and next week
The hosts close: recap of the hard-question show, a joke about an email accusing hand sanitizer of being a Snopes debunk, thanks to listeners, and a plug for next week's guests including singer Ryan Buck.