Homespun Gospels and Sentimentality

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.

False Teachers and the Danger of Selling Their Books

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and I get a variety of things sent to me in the mail. Most of them don�t have any anthrax on them or anything like that. Anthraxus.

That�s a hot burning coal in Greek. Did you know that? You can find that word in the New Testament, I believe, two times. But that�s not what I�m going to talk about today. I have something in front of me called �Predict a pen.

Choking hazard. You want to make sure people under three years old don�t get close to this. You ask the pen a question. It�s almost like a magic eight ball. Dare you live by the pen? Confier son avier ou a solo?

Whatever the query, Predict a Pen is here to advise. Just click the Predict a Pen, always at hand, to give an unbiased and emotionally detached second opinion. Okay? So, I�m going to just ask, will Fred Butler ever be a guest on No Compromise Radio again?

It�s unclear. Ask again. Will Fred Butler ever be a guest on No Compromise Radio again? Without a doubt. That�s exactly what it said. You can�t make radio up like this. You can�t make it up. You can�t make radio like this up.

I have in front of me two CBD catalogs. I think it�s hard for me to imagine that CBD stays in business. I�ve been to their warehouse. It�s massive. I�ve got quite a few good books from CBD, but they give you bargains for Christmas 2015 and then their normal flyer, November, December 2015.

So, here�s my question before we even start. This is all unrehearsed, of course. This is live. This is raw. This is raw radio. That�s a good name for a show. Somebody should do a show, Raw Radio, right?

Raw Radio. Now, I�ve talked about this before, and since I�m in kind of a grumpy mood, can you be in an owl-y mood? What�s an owl-y? Something was once said of owls, if they�re so smart, why don�t they ever say �home

Second Peter chapter 2, �But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

Here, these false teachers are among the Christians, Peter�s writing to talk about that, to warn about them, and they secretly bring in destructive heresies, and they deny the Master who bought them.

I think that means here, it has nothing to do with the Atonement, of course, but it�s bantered back and forth regarding the Atonement. You have, I think the Greek word �bought� might be anagorid, so something close to that.

And you have Jews that were bought out of Egypt, to use the literal language. You have Jews, remember they were bought out of Egypt, and then here�s what they do now. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed, and in their greed they will exploit you with false words.

Their condemnation long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep, 2 Peter chapter 2, 1 -3. So here�s my question to those who run CBD. Why would you facilitate verses 1 -3, why? Why would you sell things from false teachers, from teachers that maybe they�re not technically a false teacher, but they�re selling things that are bad for you?

They�re writing things that are bad, now these people sell it. They have the rationale, they have their reasons, but they�re bad reasons. I guess if you�re a business, you just call yourself CBD, and take the Christian out of the CBD, and maybe you just call it book discounters, I don�t know what you say.

But I look at what they sell, Max Lucado Glory Days, Beth Moore Audacious, what else is on the cover? Jesus Calling large print deluxe edition, now an easy to read 13 point type, quiet time with God like a monologue of prayer request, Sarah�s used to be, until she sat waiting on God to receive and record his messages.

Written from Jesus�s point of view and featuring scripture excerpts, her best selling devotional will help you hear the Spirit�s voice, 400 pages. Now they have the ESV Study Bible there, they have the Zondervan Study Bible, they have the NIV Live, they have the Jesus Storybook Bible, and now Jesus Calling, I open it up and what do I see?

What do I see? Second page, Blackabee, Max Lucado, Tim Keller, Gary Chapman, Adore CD, NIV Supergiant Print Bible, that�s page 2. Page 3, Crazy Love, Francis Chan, Crazy Love Workbook, 7 week workbook, Struggles, Hashtag Struggles, Greg Groeschel, Parables, John MacArthur, I Will, 9 Traits of the Outwardly Focused Christian, Tom Rayner, Where I Am, Billy Graham, Circle Maker, Mark Batterson, If, same author, End of Me, Kyle Eidelman, Not a Fan, Happiness, Randy Alcorn, Agents of Babylon, David Jeremiah.

Well, obviously, they�re not all heretics, but CBD does sell heretical stuff. You know, when you go inside, as I�ve mentioned many times on this show before, you�ve got the New Covenant Prayer Shawl, communion, juice cups, communion bread, chauffeur, and oil of joy set, prayer shawls in Hebrew, did you know they have the Maxwell Leadership Bible, John C. Maxwell Leadership Bible, Jonathan Kahn, The Harbinger, John Hagee, Counterculture David Platt, I�m just calling him Jesus Platt, Hagee, Hagee, Ben Carson, what else?

This show�s bombing. We�re going to have to just stop there. We�re just going to close in prayer, teen life application study Bible. Fire Bible, International Fire Bible, Ignite a Passion for the Presence, Power, and Work of God in the Hearts of a New Generation with the Student Bible.

Come on, I�ve got your fire Bible. So in the bargain discount bin over here, what do we got? What do we have? We have devotional Bibles, Jesus Calling. We have devotions for every year, every day of the year, Jesus Calling.

We have Jesus Calling morning and evening devotional. All this from a spirit guide, all this from a spirit guide. We have Punchinello, The Most Marvelous Gift, that�s just a Max Lucado thing. The Journey, it�s as bad as the band.

Laughing on Purpose, Right Believing, Joseph Prince. You know, if I don�t ever spend another dollar at CBD, I think that�d be fine. Speaking of books, since again this show is bombing, I have an excellent book in front of me.

Todd Brenneman's Critique of Sentimental Evangelicalism

So see, we go from the negative to the positive. That�s what we do on No Compromise Radio. You can write us at info at nocompromiseradio .com. I get good emails from people. I don�t respond to the bad ones.

We just silence the trolls. It�s the sound of silence for the trolls. No, just kidding. You can really write us. That�d be great. The book I have in front of me, I think it was recommended by MacArthur.

He said he was reading some book at a chapel and I thought, �Oh, not yourself. You better get that. It is Oxford Press, Todd Brenneman, B-R-E-N-N-E-M-A-N, Homespun Gospel. I want to say it�s a brand spanking new book.

Let�s find out. 2014. It�s pretty new. Here�s the subtitle of the book. The Triumph of Sentimentality in Contemporary American Evangelicalism, Homespun Gospel. Todd Brenneman is Assistant Professor of Christian History at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama.

Here�s what the inside sheet says. In popular evangelical literature, God is loving and friendly, described in a heartfelt, often saccharine language that evokes nostalgia, comfortable domesticity, and familial love.

This emotional style has widely adopted by the writers most popular among evangelicals, including such celebrity pastors as, so they have three, Brenneman has three main celebrity pastors that he talks about, most specifically, their writings, but sometimes their messages.

Saccharine sweet sentimentality and emotionalism. Max Lucado, Rick Warren, and Joel Osteen. Todd Brenneman provides groundbreaking insight into the phenomenon of evangelical sentimentality and emotional appeal to readers� feelings about familiar relationships, which can in turn be used as the basis for a relationship with God.

Brenneman shows how evangelicals use �tropes� of God as father, human beings as children, and the nostalgia for an imagined, idyllic home life to provide alternate sources of social authority intended to help evangelicals survive a culture that is philosophically at odds with conservative Christianity.

Brenneman also demonstrates that the sentimental focus on individual emotion and experience can undermine the evangelical agenda. Sentimentality is an effective means of achieving individual �conversions�, but it also promotes a narcissism that blinds evangelicals to larger social forces and impedes their ability to bring about the changes they seek.

A compelling perspective on an unexplored but vital aspect of American evangelicalism. The New NoCo Book should be out soon. I have written down in the margin of page 2 of my book the absolute worst. I�m not talking liverwurst.

We grew up on liverwurst. Rockwurst now isn�t bad, but liverwurst you could tell we were the poor Omahunians. Max Ciccato ends The Grip of Grace. See, I started off with a CBD catalog. That�s usually good for a show, but I don�t have my friend Steve to banter back and forth with.

So forthwith. Forthrightly. Back and forth with him. We banter back and forth together. We need a wonder word here. Where�s Joe Osteen when I need him with his famous Best Life Now game? I have the wonder words right here.

That�s cards. Those are cards. I�m going to shuffle the deck. I�m going to pull a wonder word out. This is a wonder word for the show. Ready? Brilliant. It�s true. Brilliant. Grip of Grace, Max Ciccato.

God is for you. Turn to the sidelines. That�s God cheering your run. Look past the finish line. That�s God applauding your steps. Listen for him in the bleachers shouting your name. Too tired to continue?

He�ll carry you. Too discouraged to fight? He�s picking you up. God is for you. God is for you. We know he has a tattoo and we know what it says. I have written your name on my hand, he declares Isaiah 49.

Now how do you make that up? That�s awful. Something wicked this way comes. Could there be anything worse? Maybe Joe Osteen�s your Best Life Now. You can hold your head up high and walk with confidence knowing that God loves you unconditionally.

His love for you is based on what you are, not on what you do. He created you as a unique individual. There has never been nor will there ever be another person exactly like you, even if you�re a twin.

And he sees you as his special masterpiece. He sees you as a champion. You may not see yourself that way, but that doesn�t change God�s image of you one bit. God still sees you exactly as his word describes you.

You may feel unqualified, insecure, or overwhelmed by life. You may feel weak, fearful, or insignificant, but God sees you as a victor. I hearken back to 2 Peter 2. If God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness, to be kept until the judgment�If he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly, if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly, and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked, for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

False prophets and false teachers, we ought to pray that they repent, because it�s going to be bad for them. In this homespun gospel, Brenneman is showing how narcissistic evangelicalism is and how emotionally driven it is and how it�s all about us, me, myself, and I.

He calls a god who�s infatuated with human beings. He�s got a tattoo with my name on it. I can�t even think of a good tattoo to get. I have to admit, I have no tattoo. I have to admit that over the years, I�ve thought to myself, �Do you know, maybe I get a tattoo or something, my wife�s name, my mom�s name.

I could never think of anything that would kind of not go out of style, bell-bottoms. Maybe some Hebrew writing. Maybe predict a pen, not for a million dollars. I�m not going to get a tattoo. He chronicles, Brenneman does, Lucado, Osteen, and now here�s the third one, Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Life excerpt.

God smiles when we love him supremely. God made you to love, God made you to love you, God made you to love you, and he longs for you to love him back. He says, �I don�t want your sacrifices. I want your love.

I don�t want your offerings. I want you to know me. Can you sense God�s passion for you in this verse? God deeply loves you, probably from the message, and desires your love in return. He longs for you to know him and spend time with him.

This is why learning to love God and be loved by him should be the greatest objective of your life. Nothing else comes close in importance. The words used by Brenneman to describe these images, Mawkish, M-A-W-K-I-S-H.

Who uses that word? I want to start using that word. That�s Mawkish. Maudlin and syrupy. Mawkish. Mawkish. We never said that in Nebraska. We never said it anywhere. Saccharine prose of contemporary evangelicalism.

Don�t you think he�s right? I think he�s exactly right. Now, what I don�t like is, you know, I don�t think that�s evangelicalism. That�s sub-evangelicalism. But a lot of evangelicals read those three.

A lot. Listen to what he says on page 20. �Evangelicals have left Edward�s angry God for a domestic one who is busy cataloging mementos of his children. Like knitting. Scrapping. Now, if you knit or scrap, that�s fine, but God�s not knitting and scrapping regarding us.

�Modern evangelicals no longer carry the burden of intellectuality or doctrine. Instead, they have abandoned them and are traveling light. Stabbed to the heart. Stabbed in the gizroid. Man, that hurts.

Forget doctrine. I mean, you�ve got to get rid of doctrine and the intellect to have such Mawkish, Maudlin, syrupy, saccharine tropes about God as Father. He�s exactly right. They�re traveling light. They�re checking their bags.

Small little carry-ons. Quote Theocratic. I keep thinking about social justice. No such thing enlists the theocracy. See? So let�s do four shows today. I�m never going to make it. Therapeutic evangelicalism is evangelical in the sense that evangelicalism provides the religious framework for understanding psychological concerns.

And here�s what he�s saying. In this genre of books, they�re called inspirational, but it�s really got the backdrop of psychology. And if you would like to read a book that puts its spin on the homespun gospel, I think you�d like it.

What else does he say? The only groups that are growing are the support groups oriented primarily to the needs of individuals. Quoting sociologist Robert Bella in his book Habits of the Heart about Individualism in the United States.

Nobody likes any groups anymore unless they�re groups to talk about me. That�s what I�m after. Grip of Grace, Max Zucato. If God had a calendar, your birthday would be circled. If he drove a car, your name would be on his bumper.

If there�s a tree in heaven, he�s carved your name on the bark. Joe Osteen. God wants to show you his incredible favor. God has so much more in store for you. My attitude, Osteen says, I�m a child of the Most High God.

My Father created the whole universe. He has crowned me with favor. Therefore, I can expect preferential treatment. Rick Warren. God was thinking of you even before he made the world. In fact, that�s why he created it.

This is how much God loves and values you. I guess he could have talked a lot about Bruce Wilkinson and the prayer of Chavez, but he only makes a small little note. Chapter title, In Homespun Gospel, Todd Brenneman.

I used to be getting a free copy of this book. I had to pay for mine. How does that work? I used to get all the free copies, but then I felt obliged to read them and then have the people on the show and just made more work.

So, Robert Festa, how do you like that? Just kidding. When he sends me authors, I interview most of them. Here�s the chapter title. God is in the business of giving mulligans. He is in the business of giving mulligans.

I�ll take a mulligan. I think Rick Warren, I could be corrected, but I think he talks about do-overs, right, instead of repentance. We�re going to have some major do-overs to do. So, VeggieTales, he talks about Mr. Nezer.

That�s all I got for today. It�s a free show. My name is Mike Abrams. This is No Compromise Radio. There is a place for emotion, obviously, and it�s tied to doctrine. It�s tied to who God is, and we respond to natural revelation with a great emotion of joy and wonder and amazement and, ah, who�s a God like God?

And then how much more with special revelation when we think of the Lord Jesus Christ, the depth and the knowledge and the riches and the wisdom of God, right? That�s how we respond, like at the back end of Romans 11.

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 WVNE, its staff or management.