NoCo Mailbag

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

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. 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 King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

A Puritan Writer Worth Reading

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. It has been 86 weeks since I�ve had the recovering. Sick, ill, you�ve fallen, you couldn�t get up, Pastor Steve Cooley.

I did get up, but it was a painful experience.

Steve, do you want to, you know, tell us about your fall there that you had, a lapse, you know? Is this one of those commercials, I�ve fallen and I can�t get up, and you need that little push-button thing to call the ambulance?

No, I don�t want to talk about it.

Just chasing the grandkids around, slipped, hit the counter at about, I don�t know, it felt like a million miles an hour. I think it was probably about 10, but it hurt, and it was a marble counter and took me right in my midsection.

I said to Steve when we were emailing back and forth, when he said he got hurt, I said, I hope it was either chasing Janet or chasing the grandkids, so at least it was one of those two. It�s the first time you�ve heard Pastor Steve snort on NoCo Radio.

Let�s see, I have the Predicta pen in front of me, and so shall I ask any more questions about this to Pastor Steve? Not for a million dollars. That�s exactly right. Thank you. Thank you, Predicta pen.

Yes. Steve, what I�d like to do this morning a little bit, I guess this is afternoon for people who listen to the podcast in the afternoon.

It could be evening for those who listen in the evening. That�s right. What would you say to people who are listening at one in the morning?

That they need to put it to 1 .5 speed. Get it going. I have some emailers to No Compromise Radio. You can always write us at info at nocompromiseradio .com, and we will answer your questions unless there�s a particular guy he writes all the time, we�re false teachers, John MacArthur�s a false teacher, Resolve is false teaching, Paul Johnson�s a false teacher.

Yeah. We don�t answer him. We block him. But if you ask a legit question, we will try to answer it. And I�ve got some of those legit questions right here today, Steve. Ooh. If you didn�t have them, could you shake them like that?

Mm-hmm. I could not. And here�s the good news. Steve hasn�t seen these questions. So this is raw. It's almost blindfolded. This is off the cuff. This is NoCo Radio. And pretty much around here, you get what you pay for.

Woo!

Is that right? Highly valuable material here. Mm-hmm.

All right. This person writes in, and they said, �You mentioned a Puritan writer, said you liked him as he was easy to understand. I know what you mean about that. But you didn�t give his name. The quote you gave was so wonderful, meaningful, and stated in such a beautiful way.

I enjoy reading books like that. I would like to know the name. And do you know who I was talking about, Steve? This is kind of a trick question. A Puritan that�s easy to understand, writes well, kind of the intro to all Puritans.

If you�re going to make the jump into Puritanicalism, I�m sorry, into Puritan writers.

I don�t know. I mean, I just go back to books like, you know, all things for good, and I�m going, you know, chapter after chapter after chapter.

Well, you know what? Steve and I, I think we had the mind meld before the show today as we were discussing things. Because I said to Jan, I said, Jan, via the email, Thomas Watson is the one that you need to read.

And if I, and I gave her the Amazon list of all those different books, you know, Body of Divinity, there�s some other books, Taking Heaven by Storm, A Godly Portrait of a Man, Godly Picture, something like that of Man, The Art of Repentance.

But the one that I said you should start with is All Things for Good. Really? How about that? Dang. So, anything, any problems when you look at Puritans and you say, well, I should watch out for this, that, or the other?

When you suggest, you should start reading some Puritan.

Well, I mean, I don�t know. I�m not a big student of the Puritans, but to me, it seems like they do a lot of application and sometimes they get a little far afield.

All right. I think that�s true. I think that�s true. They give application. What do they call it in the old style of preaching? Use one, use two, use three, or something like that. There�s a variety of ways that they could do that.

But I think you would love reading Thomas Watson, 1600s. You could also read his Farewell Sermon when he was kicked out of his church preaching the gospel.

They can get a wee bit legalistic. I mean, they are the reason that we have, you know, Sunday laws still on the books.

Are there blue laws in Massachusetts? What do we have here for Massachusetts?

Well, I think we still have some weird alcohol laws. I mean, I don�t even understand the alcohol laws here because you come from California to Massachusetts and you�re like, I can only buy my, well, not that I buy it, but you know, you can only buy beer where?

You know, and you can only do this where?

And when? Well, when you go to a regular grocery store here, a supermarket in Massachusetts, and you would say, I�d like to get some non-alcoholic beer, you can�t do it. Non-alcoholic beer.

I know, non-alcoholic. See, now that�s funny. I mean, I just despise the mere flavor of beer, so I wouldn�t even know, but that�s funny.

Music, Christian Freedom, and Legalism

All right, question number two on No Compromise Radio for Pastor Steve, the Tuesday Guy. My question pertains to music and the Christian. I currently attend a church in the UK where some of its members appear to believe that classical music is the only form of music fit for the Christian to be involved in, whether a recreational listener or a musician.

Every other form of music is worldly. Being a Christian musician myself, and after years of research into many genres, genre, and their origins, I�ve come to realize that there is beauty and sinfulness in many styles.

It�s an issue I wrestle with, want to use my gifts, musical gifts I assume, in a way that glorifies God, but at the same time, I don�t want to fall into sin. What do you think? I shouldn�t say it that way at the end, but I�ll say that.

Well, here�s what I would say.

Music to me is a matter of some import. I mean, I view it, music is such an art form, I mean, it can mirror your emotions, it can change your emotions, it can do a lot of things, and that goes for a lot of different genres, as we like to say.

And you know, I think if you were to go to a first century Christian, or, you know, the Apostle Paul, and say, you know, �Is classical music the only acceptable form of music Well, they didn�t have classical music back then.

And when classical music came along, I�m sure there was somebody going, �These young whippersnappers with their crazy classical music, they�re, it�s such, it�s the devil�s work, I�ll tell you that. And so, I mean, I think what you�ll find is every type of music has its critics, you know, et cetera.

And now that we�re hundreds of years past, you know, the invention of classical music, now people are like, �Well, that�s godly music, and this new stuff. Well, it was new once upon a time and despised, so.

What about Wagner? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, is that godly music? I don�t, you know, I don�t know. So, I think people can get carried away, and I mean, they�re just, it really is a preference issue. I mean, there are some bits of music that I know no Christian should like, because they�re just, they�re designed to be ungodly and provocative and, you know, and to turn your mind in a certain direction, but.

Steve, when I go to the gym, they have upper floor and lower floor, and the lower level has all the free weights and the sleds and all these other kind of things, and the top floor is kind of foo-foo stuff, you know, and the cardiovascular things and the group classes and such.

Well, they have two different sound systems, and upstairs is usually just pop music, and then downstairs, sometimes, it is metallic rage, death, goth, freak out on, you know, double dose of methadone or something, and it is awful.

I have to have my headphones only one time in the last year. I forgot my earbuds, and it was awful to be down there. I felt myself, felt on purpose, I�m using that word, getting angry. I thought, I�m calm, I�m fine, everything�s, you know, well with my soul today, and now I�m just, I�ve got angst, the music was affecting me.

Well, and it does, and it�s designed to. If it doesn�t, you know, and let�s just put yourself in the place of a musical artist. If you said, well, you know, the goal of my music is to really not move people, who would say that?

I mean, it�s like, you know, well, when I preach, I really just want people to have not be impacted at all. I mean, nobody would ever say that. There is a drive and a reason that people do what they do, and as an artist, I can only, I mean, not that I�m a musical artist, I guess I�d like to fancy myself a musical artist, but you would.

Weren�t you the original synthesizer player for Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark? Yeah, don�t tell anybody.

OMD. Wouldn�t you, you know, wouldn�t you want people to listen and to just be moved by what you sing and what you play and the way in which you do things, and yeah, I think that�s just obvious.

Steve, we recently replayed the Baker�s Dozen of legalisms here on NOCO Radio on Tuesdays, partly because I was busy, partly because you were sick, but we replayed those. And really, this is driving us to, instead of using our mind as Christians to make good decisions and evaluate and analyze, and will this be honoring to the Lord, will it glorify the Lord?

Isn�t legalism just so much easier? Every kind of music except this is ungodly, therefore stay away, and you don�t have to engage your mind, you just make sure you don�t ride your bike on the Sabbath and you�re fine.

Well, yeah, sure, and I guess if you�re south of the Mason-Dixon line, every kind of music except for country music is ungodly.

When Handel�s Messiah came out, the conservative legalists criticized it because it was new, it was worldly, it was over the top.

And that�s the way it�s always going to be, and you know, there are some classical pieces that are written, I won�t even name the names, but there are some classical pieces written that are considered erotic, and you know, et cetera, et cetera.

So why is that? Because it�s exactly what the writer had in mind when they did it, it�s not a matter of the style of music, it�s a matter of the writer, the composer, you know, whatever, you know, these days a producer or whatever, but it�s their goal when they write it, they know what they�re doing.

So I guess, Steve, we could say to ourselves, some classical music is written by unbelievers, that would be okay, but if we�d like to play an acoustical version of, and as you know I was thinking about this song recently in light of my mother�s death and her love of the song, a Sovereign Grace song, I have my issues with some Sovereign Grace stuff, but they play many good songs, wonderful songs, I Will Glory in My Redeemer, and you play that with some accoutrement, some accompaniment, that�s what I was looking for, then that�s, you can play the unbelieving, you know, classical music, but if you play the Sovereign Grace song then you�re sinning.

It�s ridiculous, it�s stupid. Well it is, and like I said, I think it wouldn�t take very long for people to discover that there are some classical pieces that are not designed to be, you know, to be listened to by the pure in heart.

It reminds me of a time we were babysitting some kid, I know the kid�s name, I�m just trying to protect the innocent and the guilty, my son was probably five, another kid over from the church was five, Kim was babysitting the kids, and Daffy Duck, or one of these cartoons came on, and the classical music was playing, kill the rabbit, kill the rabbit, and the kids all of a sudden were bouncing off the walls, like, you know, it was energizing them in a bad way, hey that�s classical music.

And it was written with a design, with a purpose, and it did what it was, you know, what the author intended.

Let�s ask this question on No Compromise Radio, why don�t we have the music that goes along with any hymn or psalm in the Old and New Testament? So you�ve got all the psalms in the Old Testament, 150 in the Book of Psalms, and then more, and then I think of 1 Timothy chapter 3, we think this was probably a song, and Paul pens it to Timothy when he says in 1 Timothy 3 .16, �Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness.

And you�ll even see then the next few lines in your Bible with some extra indents, with some extra tabs, so you can say, oh, this is a different kind of genre here, he, speaking of Christ, was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

We have this great Christological hymn that just evokes praise, but if we put it to anything besides classical music, if we have a guitar, an acoustical guitar, if we have a French horn playing something that�s not classical, then it�s wrong?

Well, even getting to the classical guitar, if it�s an amplified guitar, but there�s no lead or any, that�s a sin. If somebody�s playing the tom-toms, that�s a sin, and I just think if you look at the Old Testament and what is written in the psalms, I don�t think you�d find that, and you asked why we don�t have the music, well, there are several possible reasons, right?

One is they improvised, they just made up the music as they went along. Another one is that it was so well-known what the music was that they just played the same, you know, that they would just go, okay, song, whatever, and everybody knew it.

Another one is they sang a macapella. So, you know, what is the correct answer?

I think to myself when these things come up, they come up from immature Christians. I�m not saying these people aren�t Christian, but it�s an immature Christianity that says some form or some mode or some, I�m trying to think of another synonym for those words.

This is the only way to do it, and if you don�t do it this way, if you don�t stand for Scripture reading, and if you have a special music on, if you do this, that, or the other, then you�re all wrong or you�re all right.

When did not the Lord know, here�s going to be the transchronological Scriptures given to us, and then the New Testament leaders, i .e., the elders today, they just figure out what�s best. It doesn�t even tell us what to do in many, many cases.

It just says pick the right men as elders, and they�ll make the specific decisions. And so is that the same thing?

Yeah, and I think, you know, what you were driving at earlier, you know, what immature Christians do is they say, basically, to paraphrase John Lennon, �Give me some rules. Just give me some rules. You know, they want rules.

You just tell me, because I don�t know about this whole faith thing. I don�t know about conscience. Just give me some rules. Just tell me what I can and can�t do, and with that, I shall be satisfied.

I love Romans 14 and 15 and 1 Corinthians 8, 9, and 10, and there is a way to think through these neutral areas, gray areas, areas of difference, but the key thought there is you�ve got to think through them.

Why are there five chapters devoted to this versus you just do what I say and don�t eat this food and pork is bad. Make sure you�re not circumcised. I mean, there�s all kinds of lists, and we are not to do that.

You know, the lists are for the immature and not the mature.

I like to tell people, �Look, if you want a religion just filled with rules, I�ve got a few religions for you. You know, I mean, that�s not Christianity. You�re saved by grace, not by law-keeping.

And if you would like to listen to classical music, that�s your preference and your style is. We�re an older church, and we love classical music, and so those newfangled Steve Green.

Songs. Yeah, do Gregorian chants if you want. I don�t really.

You can set your worship service up in whatever way you�d like, but the emailer goes on to say, �What about just listening to other music besides classical music? And while I�m not a big Christian contemporary music person, there are songs that I can listen to and think, you know, I�m not sinning.

I�m just enjoying the music.

Yeah, I mean, it�s hard to be a contemporary Christian music fan because so many of them are just so bad.

I know. All right, Mike and Steve here on No Compromise Radio. Let�s see what else is up here. Steve, here�s one more question. Maybe we have time for two. �Been listening to the podcast on Tulip in the public schools.

Fascinating. I�m wondering about your adoption analogy. That is, that since no one criticizes a human for only choosing to adopt two children from an orphanage. Similar, we should not complain if God only chooses or elects some of us.

I think the reason people struggle with the idea of election is that all of us are in the orphanage in that scenario with absolutely no way to get ourselves adopted. And if God is truly omnipotent, he could adopt all of us and leave no one behind.

Clearly, no one deserves adoption or earns it. However, given an all-powerful God, I think it�s hard to understand the concept of election that God could adopt all but does not. Great question.

Election, Adoption, and Romans 9

Right. And the answer to all great questions is found in Romans 9, right? I mean, let me just turn that. I mean, this is, I used to sit around the dinner table. I mean, my poor kids, you know, just like I go, �Where�s the answer for that

And they almost always look at me and go, �Romans 9

Now we�ve got the whole, you know, kill the rabbit thing again.

Romans 9. And it didn�t even matter what the question was. Romans 9, I go, �Well, no, not tonight, sorry. Here in verse 22, well, I�ll start in 21. �Has the potter no right over the clay to make use out of the same lump, one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use

And the obvious answer is, yes, he has that right. Verse 22, �What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power and I�m just going to stop there for a second because that�s the point.

God desiring to show his wrath, if he adopts everybody, then guess what? We�re not going to see his wrath and need to say, �Well, why would God want to show his wrath I don�t know. He wants to show his wrath.

�What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction So he has some people that he is preparing for destruction.

Why is that? Well, you just go back to verse 20, �But who are you, O man, to answer back to God We want to know why. God doesn�t answer why. He just says, �This is what is, and we just believe.

When I struggle with election, and I think the struggle is actually good because it is a mind-blowing concept, and my pride and my desire for what I think is fairness and justice and rightness, I know those desires to think through those things are good, but I know my desire is tweaked.

I�m fallen, and even as a Christian, I don�t think through these things rightly, so I just have to submit, like you just said, Steve, to Scripture. And so, why does God do what he does? Well, we know to show his glory, but I�m thinking in Ephesians chapter 1, I just have to re-read it and say to myself, �Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him, in love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious grace.

And so, I say to myself, what I don�t understand has to be subordinate to what I do understand. I do understand that God could have passed over us all like he did with the angels, and he still would have been just and merciful and kind, but God, because he loved us, he chose some of us, and this is just the nature of God.

He chooses 12 apostles, not 12 ,000. He chooses Israel and not the Philistines. God chooses, and then he�s to be praised for his loving kindness as he chooses to the praise of his glory of his grace. So, any view of election must center itself in God�s sovereign grace that yields unto praise.

Yeah, and to go back to the orphanage, people that cannot adopt everyone in there, obviously, they don�t have the power to do that, but they still have a, I suppose if it were me, if I could adopt five kids, I would love to do that.

If I could adopt 10, better. But there comes a limit for them. But I think what�s important about that analogy in terms of God is, what does it say? The Old Testament says that he gets no pleasure out of the death of the wicked.

It�s not like he�s delighted in this, but this is his purpose. And were there no... If nobody went to hell, if nobody suffered his wrath, then we would never understand exactly how much he hates sin. We wouldn�t understand his wrath.

We wouldn�t understand his holiness. There would be a number of things that we don�t understand. But yeah, I mean, certainly the amazing part is that he saves anyone. We�re dead in our sins and trespasses, he has to do all the work.

And it�s not like he�s going into the orphanage and picking out the cutest kids. That�s not the situation at all.

Right. He�s not even picking innocent kids. He�s picking depraved sinners. He�s picking those with Adam�s sin imputed to them. He�s picking those with... And you know, some parents actually do this, and I think it reflects the grace of God in their lives.

They go and choose children who have been cocaine babies, or they have a cleft palate, or they have no legs, or they pick ones that really have the need. And I guess my main response to Lisa�s good question is that the analogy eventually breaks down.

And it�s an illustration that talks about God�s wondrous grace that he didn�t have to pick anybody out of the orphanage, but he did pick some. For what reason? I don�t really know.

Well, and there is no analogy that�s going to hold up when we�re talking about the grace of God, right? Because that�s the idea. Amazing grace isn�t just good grace. It�s not just great grace. It�s mind-blowing, mind-boggling, beyond our ability to grasp grace.

And so when we sing �Amazing Grace we should think of it that way. I can�t believe it. I don�t even understand it. It�s beyond my ken. It�s outside of my sphere of experience. I can�t explain it.

The parents say to the children, �We�re going to go adopt a couple of infants out of this orphanage. And then they come home with two instead of three children. And maybe then they just say to their own children by DNA, with their own DNA, �Well, Daddy and Mommy had reasons for what they did.

And then the little kids need to say, �Okay, whatever the reasons are, Mom and Dad knew. We�re just glad to have these couple new kids here. Don�t take my stuff. And don�t take my place. You can write Steve, Tuesdayguy, at NoCompromiseRadio .com.

Do you get many emails, Steve?

Millions. I�m swamped. I don�t have any spare time. No, that�s not true.

Or info at NoCompromiseRadio .com.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. 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.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 10 .15 and in the evening at 6. We�re right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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