Dear LFTP: the mandatory community-service day
- What should I do to make sure my boss's intentions are understood while not being off-putting or appearing holier than thou?
A Dear LFTP letter: a listener's boss wants staff to do a day of community service with coworkers on their own time, some coworkers oppose it, and the listener asks how to make the boss's intentions understood without seeming holier-than-thou. The hosts advise not to be the boss's advocate: if the company will not pay for the time or do it during the workday, it does not own the time. They add that giving or serving elsewhere already fulfills the impulse, and suggest companies that care put skin in the game by sponsoring community-group dues. The Secular answer agrees: making intentions clear is the boss's responsibility, not the listener's.
More on Stewardship
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Dear LFTP: the inheritance and the controlling husband
- Should a mother leave an inheritance to a daughter whose controlling husband will control it?
The second letter comes from a mother whose daughter married a controlling, rude husband; she wonders whether to leave a sizable inheritance knowing he will control it.
From No. 584 · When Vanek Was Here | Cambodia Testimony, Church Mission, Josiah Queen
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Twelve stumbling blocks, part one: money
- Do the twelve stumbling blocks line up with what we are seeing in the church?
A host introduces an op-ed listing twelve stumbling blocks to the gospel for millennials (born 1981–1996 — 'that's Mike and I') and the hosts begin working through them.
From No. 444 · Fake Persecution and Tripping Millennials
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Survey top ten: success, sex, sin, and wealth
- How should success be defined?
The hosts run through the survey's top ten spiritually inclusive beliefs. They debate how to define success (happy? comfortable? good? fulfilled potential?) and why comfort-driven measures cannot motivate communal or sacrificial action.
From No. 442 · Christians Don’t Understand Christianity
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Dear LFTP: first communion on a tight budget
- Dear LFTP: With no budget for a first-communion party, how do I tell extended family they are welcome at the church but there will be no party?
A mother writes that her son's first communion is coming, the family cannot afford even an inexpensive party, and she wants to limit the celebration to parents and grandparents — but feels guilty about the godparents and extended family.
From No. 339 · Kenny Got A Plane