121 conversations
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Holy Spirit experience: healing, cessationism, and testing the spirits
- Is there a normative experience of the Holy Spirit in the world today?
The central hard question: is there a normative experience of the Holy Spirit in the world today, and what does it mean for a follower of Jesus?
From No. 593 · Do You Hear What I Hear
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Dear LFTP 3: Mom's false teeth
- What should the family do with their late mother's false teeth?
Mike reads the letter: the family found their late mother's false teeth — creepy to keep, wrong to discard?
From No. 590 · Theodore Franco
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Dear LFTP: should I attend my murdered niece's funeral?
- Should I attend my murdered niece's funeral after thirty years of family estrangement?
Mike reads a letter from a woman estranged from her brother's family for thirty years whose niece was murdered by her husband in a murder-suicide.
From No. 587 · Coffee After Sunday
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Dear LFTP: AA member who witnessed a life-support withdrawal
- How do I come to terms with accidentally witnessing a fellow AA member's life-support withdrawal?
An AA member writes that while visiting a hospitalized fellow member with cookies, he arrived at the exact moment doctors withdrew life support and witnessed the family's raw grief; he now fears he intruded and caused harm.
From No. 568 · Like Jesus
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Dear LFTP: decades-old infidelity discovered after his death
- How do I deal with my late husband's infidelity discovered decades later?
The heaviest letter of the night: a widow married 38 years learned in late-life counseling that her late husband slept with her sister early in the marriage and with his uncle's wife; now she can't face her sister in the hospital room and avoids family gatherings.
From No. 561 · The Answer is Liverpool
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Dear LFTP: the cousin who announced mom's death on Facebook
- How can I get past the betrayal I feel toward my cousin who announced my mom's death on Facebook?
A listener writes that six years ago, after letting a cousin visit their dying mother in the hospital, the cousin posted 'RIP, aunt Sally' on Facebook before the writer had processed the death — and the betrayal still stings.
From No. 525 · Asking AI Lamech
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Dear LFTP: the husband who gave away the Army uniform
- What do I do about my husband giving my late father's US Army uniform to my brother, and my sister-in-law wearing it as a fashion statement?
Boova reads a letter from a woman whose husband gave her late father's US Army uniform, complete with honor patches, to her brother without consulting her; her sister-in-law now wears it as a fashion statement, calling herself 'a Sullivan.'
From No. 521 · He Gets Us…Again
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What will our bodies be like in the new creation?
- What will our bodies be like in the new creation?
Boova asks whether he will still be 'a big fella' in the new creation if his weight is manifested sin, joking he might become 'a perfectly fit Troy.'
From No. 516 · Pastor Rico Suave
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Dear LFTP: the husband and the open Facebook page
- Am I wrong for feeling threatened by my husband keeping his late wife's Facebook page open?
A Dear LFTP letter: a woman's husband Randall, a widower, keeps his late wife Sylvia's Facebook page open for the grandchildren, and the writer feels threatened.
From No. 504 · Saul, Naturally
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Dear LFTP: dependent relative, and sign-off
- How do I set boundaries with a relative who is increasingly dependent on me for companionship?
A listener asks how to set boundaries with a relative who lost many friends and now depends on her for companionship, fearing offense if she says no.
From No. 500 · Cut and Colby-Jacked
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Dear LFTP: the heirloom fight, duck paintings, and sentimental things
- Am I wrong to still be upset that my sister gave away our mother's antiques?
Mike reads the final letter: after their mother died, the writer's sister Nadine gave away two antique heirlooms to her future daughter-in-law without asking, and their father only agreed she should have asked.
From No. 495 · $20 and a Dilly Bar
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Dear LFTP: announcing a pregnancy after a family loss
- Is it insensitive to announce my pregnancy on social media when my husband's cousin just lost her baby?
A pregnant listener whose husband's cousin lost a baby girl to an unrepairable heart defect four days after birth asks whether announcing her own pregnancy on social media would be insensitive.
From No. 459 · Things We Don’t Want to Talk About
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Dear LFTP: proper etiquette after the passing of a loved one
- What is proper etiquette after the passing of a loved one when news spreads on social media?
A listener asks about etiquette after a family death: within an hour of the passing, the news was all over social media and relatives learned about it from non-family posts.
From No. 445 · Being a Tool for Halloween
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"What Jesus Wept Means for Manhood": may men cry?
- Is the "men don't cry" rule still pervasive in Christian circles?
A host reads from a Christianity Today article titled "What Jesus Wept Means for Manhood," whose author was told at his grandfather's coffin that men do not cry, and asks whether that rule is still pervasive in church circles.
From No. 441 · Right Thing, Wrong Way
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Dear LFTP: Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart in the funeral book
- Should I confront the pallbearer who wrote joke celebrity names in my husband's funeral memorial book?
A widow writing thank-you notes discovered a pallbearer — her brother-in-law — wrote 'Mick Jagger' and 'Rod Stewart' in the memorial book; her teenage daughters found it disrespectful.
From No. 424 · When Culture Lacks Objective Reality
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Dear LFTP: the dying friend who cut us off
- Should we attend the funeral of the friend who cut us off after a terminal cancer diagnosis?
A listener writes that a dear friend diagnosed with untreatable cancer cut them off completely after they had shared years of friendship, firewood, and travel.
From No. 423 · The GameStop Squeeze
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Dear LFTP: dating a grieving widower
- How can she help her grieving partner feel better about himself without replacing his late girlfriend?
A woman dating a man in his late fifties, still grieving his late girlfriend Vera after a tragic accident less than a year ago, asks how she can help him feel better about himself without replacing Vera.
From No. 423 · The GameStop Squeeze
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Dear LFTP: the grandson who took everything
- What should I do about my entitled grandson?
A host reads a Dear LFTP letter: after the writer's father died, her adult son — the only grandchild — loaded his car with household goods without asking and now wants all the furniture, feeling entitled.
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Dear LFTP: the kitten, the grief, and the manipulation
- My 34-year-old daughter brought home a kitten without asking during her grief — how should I handle this?
A mother writes that her 34-year-old daughter, living at home to get ahead on student loans, brought home a kitten from her late cousin's pets after the cousin's suicide — without asking — and now claims the mother doesn't care about her grief.
From No. 419 · Election Stuff, Reluctantly
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Dear LFTP: Charlie's late wife's letters
- Am I unreasonable to want my husband to get rid of his late wife's love letters?
Mike reads the first Dear LFTP letter: a woman in her mid-sixties, seven years into a second marriage, is bothered that her husband Charlie keeps the love letters from his late wife - his high-school sweetheart - and will not even display her photo.
From No. 399 · COVID Continues and Easter at Home
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Dear LFTP: the roadside memorial
- How should I handle the growing roadside memorial in my front yard that the grieving widow keeps expanding?
Mike (speaker-1) reads a letter from 'Grieving in the Midwest': a fatal crash in front of her house killed a husband and father, and the widow's roadside memorial keeps growing —…
From No. 395 · How the Church is Solving Every Modern Problem Incorrectly
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Dear LFTP: boyfriend won't talk about his late father
- How can I get my boyfriend to open up about his late father?
Dear LFTP: a woman who moved in with her boyfriend of two years wants to know more about his late father but gets only terse 'dude answers.'
From No. 392 · More Generous Than Las Vegas
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Dear LFTP: the widower and the late boyfriend
- My new girlfriend keeps talking about her deceased former boyfriend -- what should I do?
A widower writes that he's happily dating a widow, but she constantly mentions a deceased man she dated between her husband's death and meeting him -- a dozen times last month.
From No. 390 · Pastor Prints Face on Panties: A Rebuke in Three Parts
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Dear LFTP: the divorced man and his ex-wife
- Should I ask my ex-wife to dinner to give her someone to talk to, or just let things be?
Dear LFTP: a man divorced 26 years, never remarried, still loves his ex-wife who now regards him as the enemy; he asks whether to invite her to dinner or let things be.