Is Tuesday Guy Depressed?

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ. Based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the

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Apostle Paul said, but we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

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In short, if you like smooth, watered down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.

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By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her

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King. Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Welcome to No Compromise Radio. How deep can my voice go for Tuesday man,

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Tuesday guy? It must go deeper. Can we get some shirts that say Tuesday guy or something?

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Well, funny that you should ask because I've, I've been in negotiations with a production company and we've got literally thousands of them coming.

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We had to do something to handle all the demand. Like I said, Steve, I'm glad no one calls us and asks us to come speak at a conference because our schedules are booked.

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Totally jammed. Now, Steve and I were just talking about a band and we thought this, we're gonna audition this as the new intro music.

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Instead of the English beat, Mirror in the Bathroom. What would you guys think if we had a new intro and it had this song?

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This is the new No Compromise intro. Welcome to No Compromise Radio. Always biblical, always provocative, always in that order.

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Yes! Don't you think? I like it so far. Yeah, I like it a lot. Anybody like it or dislike it, two thumbs up on Twitter, Tweet, Facebook.

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That's the new intro. I think that's it. Okay. Is that the

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Beach Boys? You know what? That was without that main singer, the Beach Boys, when they kicked him out and stuff, that he was doing crazy things.

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Oh, okay. All right, today, Steve, I went to the doctor to have my physical. Doctor, doctor, give me the news.

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And I saw up on the little wall area there, brochures and pamphlets that you could just pick up.

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Nice. And so I thought, Steve, today on No Compromise Radio, we at least start off with a show. Four Spiritual Laws?

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I couldn't believe they were there. I think it was a Christian doctor's office.

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Assess with the PH. I think these were actually doctor's things. These weren't, this wasn't literature for just the normal Joe.

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When the doctor said, you know what, put that little gown on, I began immediately to flip through all his paperwork.

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Okay, we're about to go into TMI material here. Assess with the

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PH, Q9. What's that, seven of nine? With the

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PH, Q9. Is that some kind of Ferengi thing? I don't know. PHQ9.

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Space Station Nine. Uh -huh, see? Deep Space Q9. Deep Space Nine, yeah. Depression Screening Tool, PHQ9 Depression Screening Tool.

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Now, on No Compromise Radio, we've gotten ourselves in quite a bit of trouble. When we talk about depression and some of these other things,

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ADHD, Steve, we got a really, a barn burner ADHD one. Yes, there was copious amounts of non -love in that.

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It was a very unloving letter. In that, well, yeah, she sent a few, actually. Oh, she sent a few back?

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I think I gave you those to respond to. Yeah. Steve, hey, okay, I have to make this announcement. In case it was just implicit before, to make it explicit,

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Steve gets all the Tuesday emails. So if you have the subject line, Tuesday guy, I'll send them right over to Steve.

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So make sure none of your emails have Tuesday guy in them. Unless you're giving gifts and stuff like that, then make sure you just have it to write.

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Or you wanna buy one of my new $50 T -shirts. Yeah, yeah,

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Steve. So I'm going to, Steve, I'm going to pretend like I'm the doctor and you're the patient.

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And then I'm gonna ask you these questions and you can give me a zero, one, two, or three. Zero, not at all.

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So wait a minute, this means that we have a doctor -patient -clients. Privilege. Yes, that's exactly right.

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Well, then why is it on the radio? Well, it might not be. If it turns out to be a good show, we'll air it.

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Okay, good. So zero is not at all. Okay. One is several days.

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Two, more than half the days. And then three is nearly every day. So three is all the time.

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Zero is you don't have any symptoms at all. Okay. Okay, because I'd like to know, you've been kind of moody lately.

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And so I don't know if I have to prescribe something or if you just need to talk about it a little bit.

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Okay, you ready? Yes, I am. Over the last two weeks, how often have you been bothered by any of the following problems?

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You're supposed to say three. Well, I don't know what the problems are.

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Well, I know. I'm actually listening to you. I know that's a bizarre concept. I know, there's all kinds of stuff on the bottom here.

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I think you're supposed to sign. Waivers and stuff like that, see? I'm not signing nothing, pal.

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Waivers. All right. Over the last two weeks, how often have you been bothered by any of the following problems?

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One, little interest or pleasure in doing things. Zero. Not at all, okay.

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Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless. Zero. Okay.

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So far, I think the joy of the spirit's kicking in. Three, trouble falling or staying asleep.

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Well, now. Or sleeping too much, or everything in between. Notice how broad that is. But seriously, let's get on target here.

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Trouble falling or staying asleep, Mr. Cooley. Well, that's been a lot here in the last five, six days.

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I think I've only slept soundly once. So, nearly every day? Yeah. Okay, you're, oh, you're, this is, the

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E -meter's busting this thing out. This is the Scientology scale. You are so, you got some

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N -grams. N -grams, yeah. Located on you. Oh, man, from the photons, or what are? From the photons, from the photons.

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Feeling tired or having little energy. That never happens to me, in fact, ever.

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Uh -huh, okay. Poor appetite or overeating. See how they get you coming and going.

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Do you eat, he had a little too hot, he had a little too cold, he had just right, any of those three, yeah, I guess.

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Yeah, I think we're fine. Poor appetite or overeating? No, zero. No? How many times a week do you have

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Prilosec? Every single day. That'd be a seven on a reserve tree.

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Well, you know what, I cut mine in half, and then I eat half the little gobulos in the morning and half at dinner.

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This is a 24 -hour thing. Yeah, you're supposed to take it, though, 30 minutes before you eat.

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I eat slowly. I've heard that's better for you. Feeling bad about yourself or that you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down on the scale of zero to three.

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I always feel that way. Really? Yeah. Okay, feeling bad about yourself. Okay, we'll talk about that afterwards.

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Thanks. Okay, does that have to do with your sin or that has to do with your self -esteem? It's my self -esteem. No, it's my sin.

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Okay. Oh, wretched man that I am. Yes, exactly. Okay. I mean, how could anybody just sit there and say they feel good about themselves?

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When I think about my life, I'm just like, dude, you are such a loser. Now, is there something to be said, though, for thinking that God has adopted me?

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Not based on who I am, but God has adopted me and I can have joy knowing that I deserve hell. And that's why,

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I mean, without that sure knowledge, I don't know where I'd be. Because if I just thought, you know,

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I am on my own, I am left to my own devices, I need to cinch my belt up, I'm done, stick a fork in me.

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Number seven, trouble concentrating on things such as reading the newspaper, watching television, or guest hosting the radio show.

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I just blew out there. No, I never have a problem with that, ever. Steve is moving backwards now.

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He shot this thing out of his nose. I want to say it was some kind of flim ball or something.

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He's actually up walking around in the studio with poor self -esteem, head hung low, and he walked out of my office.

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That is a first for no compromise radio. Steve, what are you doing? Where are you? I'm right here, man.

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All right, I'm going to answer for him. Trouble concentrating on things such as reading the newspaper, watching

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TV, three nearly every day for Steve. So he's way up there in the E -meter.

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Number eight, by the way, you okay? Si. Okay. Number eight, moving or speaking so slowly that other people could notice.

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Hey, man. No, but they get you coming and going.

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Or the opposite, being so fidgety and restless that you have been moving around a lot more than usual. That's never happened. Can we go to Vegas?

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Can we go to Vegas? Now, remember, no compromise listeners, there's a point to all this.

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We haven't gotten to the point yet, but it's coming up. I would love to get to the point. Okay. Thoughts that you should, that you would be better off dead or hurting yourself?

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I always think I'd be better off dead. You know what my answer is? People will say, how are you today,

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Pastor? And I'll go, better than I deserve, but not as good as I hoped to be one day. That would, you know what?

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You would so be on whatever they give these days. You would be on. I mean, think about it.

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People say, what do you mean? And I'm going, look, when I die, everything is better.

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Everything is better. I mean, instantly. Shalom. Yeah. All right, so now we have scoring instructions at the bottom, and now interpreting the scores.

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Steve, let me interpret these scores for you since I am the doctor. When I got my doctorate of ministry, my kids thought

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I could give injections and write prescriptions. Did they think that, or did you tell them that?

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No, no, they thought. True confessions. True confessions. They actually thought that. Okay. Okay, so I'm going to interpret these scores for you today,

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Steve. Okay. This is the depression severity levels, according to the PHQ scores.

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By the way, if you do have depression, we're going to talk to you about that in just a moment. But right now, it's about Steve. We see. All these people listening, they're thinking about, it's them, but this is you.

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This is your show. You see, I got trouble. I got trouble all over me. Where's that Johnny Cash thing, there's a bridge over troubled waters.

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Actually, when I was driving in Texas, they had rivers there, but they were sandy. I don't know if you know this, but that song was originally by Simon and Garfunkel.

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I didn't know that. Did you? Yes, but I was trying to be silent about it. The sound of silence.

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Steve, sorry you weren't zero to four regarding no or minimal symptoms. I think

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I was. Sorry you weren't five to nine minor symptoms. I think I was. Sorry you weren't 10 to 14 moderate symptoms.

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I think I was zero to three, actually. But Steve actually scored over 15 with moderate to severe symptoms.

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And that score over 10 is strongly suggestive of major depression.

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Did you know that? I don't know, but I feel the need to take several days off. Without paying.

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So, Steve, would it be fair to say that due to weather, health issues, family circumstances, just the ebb and flow of life, some days do we just feel less happy than others?

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Is that a normal thing? Or just the sunlight in your eyes while you're doing a radio show. Well, that's true. I guess you're getting a little more vitamin

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D. Yeah. But even a lack of vitamin D can make you feel down. It's true, and that's why people get depressed during the winter.

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It is true. Yeah. It has to do with shadow lengths and such. To quote Brian Reagan, and such.

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If you struggle with depression and you're an unbeliever, then we have news for you.

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We have really good news. We have news that is so good that we would want to tell you that you can have all your sins forgiven and God can grant you eternal life based on the work of Christ Jesus, his life, his death confirmed by the resurrection.

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There's a savior for all your sins. I would imagine, Steve, wouldn't you, that some unbelievers are depressed because they've sinned and their conscience is getting at them and they have no relief.

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Oh, I have no doubt. I mean, I think one of the issues, I mean, we certainly want people to understand that they are sinners who stand condemned before a holy

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God. But I think for many people, especially those who have any kind of a religious background, they understand that they violated

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God's law. They understand that they're not right with God, but they suppress all that because they cannot imagine a

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God loving enough to really forgive them. And when we think about what Christ accomplished on the cross, when we understand that he died for our every sin, there's comfort.

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There is great comfort in that. I can remember just a little story. I can just remember being a teenager, sitting on the hood of my bus.

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Is that a depressing story? No, it's not depressing at all. But being a teenager, sitting on the hood of my car with my buddy and just going, because I was still a

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Mormon, just going, I just can't stop sinning. I don't get it. And for me, there was no remedy for sin.

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And I never felt like I was ever gonna be good enough. And the truth is, I never was gonna be good enough.

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And it was only when God opened my eyes and ears to the gospel that I finally understood the remedy to that.

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But I think there are plenty of people who are bothered by sin and don't know what to do. And that can definitely lead to depression.

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Some people, Steve, don't you think, try to fill their schedules? We're speaking of unbelievers now. They fill their schedules so full.

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They try not to think of these eternal verities, these truths about life and death and sin and forgiveness.

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And they just have their life packed so full of hedonistic, fun things, social things, activities, sports with their kids, work all day, weekend getaways.

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They never have an opportunity to even sit around and think about things. And you know what, if you're like, if your work is so, or your life is so filled with work, you know, people work 70, 80 more hours a week.

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When it's like that, what do you do? You work, you eat, you go to sleep, you get up, you work, you sleep, and your life is full and you don't have a moment to think about anything except for, you know, how unreasonable your boss is or how you'd like to get a different secretary or whatever.

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Right, what I'm trying to say is, and then Steve is echoing this, not all unbelievers are depressed.

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I think some unbelievers are depressed because their life isn't going the way the world says it should go.

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You can have it all. But some unbelievers are just busy. Some unbelievers, I think, have a great relationship with their wife or their husband, depending on who you are, what sex you are.

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They have a nice family. And they don't have any need for Christ Jesus because they seem to have a good family life, forgiveness aside.

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Right, and so they've got no real concerns with regard to those areas of life.

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Now, neither of us are medical doctors, at least, I don't know, maybe you've been studying at night or something, Steve.

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Don't tell anybody. Okay. I wouldn't want this to get out. Maybe that's why you know about that Prilosec stuff that I didn't know about.

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So, of course. Yeah, I read the package, actually. That's how I knew that. Of course we're not saying you should take drugs or you should not take drugs and stop taking drugs.

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We're saying that if you're an unbeliever and you're depressed, we know the one who offers joy.

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What did Jesus say in John chapter 11? And he implores the people. Can you imagine these people who are like a sheep without a shepherd and wandering around life not knowing what to do?

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And he says, come. And he says, I'm going to take you weary people and you heavy laden people, and I'm going to give you something that the world could never give.

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And what's he going to give them? Rest. Rest. Wouldn't you like to have rest for your soul today? If you're an unbeliever just listening, tired of sports radio, talk radio, there's rest for your soul found in Christ Jesus.

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And when we understand what the Bible says about God and how much he hates sin,

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I think anyone who hears that would be terrified. You know, the idea that God is just somehow nice that he's going to maybe,

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I remember one man who used to say that God is going to beat us with a few lashes, you know, and then let us into heaven.

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All that kind of stuff is nonsense. When we understand how much God hates sin and how can we envision that?

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If we look at what Christ suffered on the cross on behalf of sinners, then we understand how much

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God hates sin. He hated it so much that he punished his son in really violent, horrible ways so that sinners might be reconciled to him.

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So let's move, Steve, on No Compromise Radio talking about depression generally regarding unbelievers.

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Now let's talk about depression and the Christian. And so there's three ways that depression for the

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Christian can be dealt with. And I'm not saying all three are the right way, but there are three ways. First one, just briefly, is medicine.

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You get medicine and it's a psychotropic drug and it alleviates some of the symptoms, but I don't think it deals with the root issues.

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Well, it can't because you're just saying, you know, just give me something to take away the mental pain.

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Yeah, take the edge off. Yeah. Right. So another option is talk therapy, and that is you go and talk with people like a secular counselor or a

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Christian psychologist. What's wrong with that? Why is that not the best? Well, what's wrong with it, in many cases you wind up paying for something like that.

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But, you know, the other issue is what any kind of Christian psychologist,

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Christian counselor, or whatever, is basically mixing together the truth of God and the wisdom of man, the so -called wisdom of man.

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You've got Freud and Christ speaking to you at the same time, and you're gonna have issues. Which one do I listen to?

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There can't be anything but confusion. It's a violation of Psalm 1. It's a violation of a lot of different things, but you're basically taking, you know,

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Freud's counsel and Christ's counsel together. Reminds me of 2 Corinthians 6. I don't know what those two things have to do together.

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They have nothing in common. One of the reasons I think people are depressed is because they have sown the seeds of actions and attitudes that result in depression.

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So in other words, when you are obedient to God, we're not talking about thyroid issues. You should get all checked up on that kind of stuff and organic issues.

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But once you start doing the wrong thing, we're glad for the conscience, and we don't want you to be drugged up so your conscience is dim.

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Steve, I read this the other day and thought, isn't this just about the best? David, King of David, this part isn't the best.

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King of Israel. King of David, yes. It's a special kind of elixir.

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He is king of himself. Yes, king of himself. Like most people think they are. King David, representing not just himself, but the nation in his actions.

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He sleeps with Bathsheba. He kills the husband. There's all kinds of issues going on.

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And David says in chapter 51 of the Psalms, verse 12, after he's talked about purge me and wash me, let me hear joy and gladness.

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He says, restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.

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I think that Christians, because of the spirit of God, can have joy. You can have a propensity to be down and moody and what the world calls depressed.

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But Steve, I want Christians to have a joy -filled life and to experience the joy of their salvation.

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Well, and here's another aspect of it. I think sometimes people will dredge up the past and they just, how can

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I be happy after all the things that have happened to me? And I think one of the things that gets overlooked is the power of,

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MacArthur wrote this book, The Power of Forgiveness, how liberating it is to forgive people. You can carry on grudges even against dead people and be upset about things that have happened in your life, but what does that benefit you?

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In light of all that God has forgiven you if you're a Christian, how much more should you forgive other people?

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Well, right along those lines, if you're a depressed person, I'd like you to get busy. Maybe some of you already are busy, but I'd like you to become busier in the work of the kingdom, in the work of the local church.

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Why don't you call up your pastor and say, the longer I have time to sit around and kind of stew in my own juices, the worse

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I feel. I need to get kind of up and at them. Piety, according to the Bible, is not lay back and let

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G -A -W -D, God. Piety is remember the cross on your behalf and get a move on.

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I do think, maybe it's not 100 % of the time, but I do believe that laziness contributes to what people call depression.

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When you have nothing to do and therefore no real purpose. I mean, here's one of the fun, it's not really funny, but one of the sad truths.

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The government actually pays people who are depressed and calls them disabled. And so they sit around and what do they do?

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I mean, I've had people call the church and they're just like, you know, I just needed somebody to talk to,

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I'm depressed. Oh, really? Well, why don't you tell me about your life? Well, I'm on disability. Oh, you know, did you lose a limb or something?

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No, I'm depressed. And it's a cycle, it feeds on itself. I mean, if you wanna be depressed, then just focus on your depression.

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That's depressing. Galatians chapter five, the fruit of the spirit.

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This isn't something you can just do yourself. Oh, I'm gonna be more joyful. Although it is commanded in Philippians chapter four,

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I just remembered, rejoice always. Again, I say rejoice. It's a command. Give that to a depressed person and see how fast.

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Did Christ die for our lack of joy? And it says, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self -control.

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Against such things there is no law and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

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If we live by the spirit, let us also walk by the spirit. Well, part of the fruit of the flesh is what?

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It's a focus on ourselves, on our needs, on our emotions and everything else. And I'm not here to blast anyone.

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I just wanna encourage people to think, if you're in a funk, if you're depressed, what is it, the root of it?

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And it can be, I encourage people to navel gaze sometimes, and you'll know what

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I mean when I clarify it a little bit, which is to look at their life and see if there's something that needs adjusting.

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I think that's fine. But when you're so self -focused that you tend to shut out the outside world and you spend hour upon hour upon hour thinking about yourself and your problems and everything else, you are going to get depressed.

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It's inevitable. Well, we need to keep our eyes on Christ Jesus and what he's done. That's another reason why to preach the gospel to yourself every day, to stay full of joy.

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Steve, I've been married to Kim now for almost 23 years, and this is no contest. I'm not trying to make light of it.

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I'm not trying to win a point. But if I would tell the listeners what Kim Abendroth's life was like when she was a child,

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I can't think of anyone who could come up with a worse life than was granted,

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I know, sovereignly decreed by God, yet I haven't met anybody who has more joy than she does.

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So when people say, well, I've had a rough life. You don't understand the way I grew up. No, that's true, I don't understand.

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And I'm not trying to say, I know somebody who's worse off, but I know people who have been affected by other people's sin to such a degree that they just blame everybody, and I know you can have victory in Christ Jesus because I wake up next to the most joyful person every single morning.

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Yeah, I mean, everybody wants to tell me that they come from a dysfunctional family and this, that, and the other thing, and I'm like, look.

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I mean, there are very few people who come from a functional family. That is, when

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I think of functional, it's where the father is godly, teaches his children the scriptures, the wife lovingly submits and really takes care of her children and loves her husband, and they keep their bills in order, they live rightly.

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Those kind of families are pretty rare. Well, today on No Compromise Radio, we want to talk to you about the

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God of your salvation and joy found in Christ Jesus. Open up your Bibles and read the Gospel of Mark and ask

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God to give you joy. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life transforming power of God's word through verse by verse exposition of the sacred text.

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Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at six. We're right on route 110 in West Boylston.

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You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.