Book Recommendations And Such

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.

Michael Brown, Benny Hinn, and the Problem of Charismatic Defense

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, my name is Mike Abendroth. And we are back on WVNE, glad for that. This may be a dated comment here, but I listened to the Michael Brown interview as he was trying to defend himself for being on Benny Hinn's show five times.

Now I don't think there's anything wrong with being on Benny Hinn's show, but if you said something to him that was biblical and appropriate, and you talked about his repentance and his lying and his false teaching and his heretical beliefs, there wouldn't be five shows.

In other words, if Benny Hinn asked me to be on a show, I don't think I'd say yes. I'd probably say, if I can ask you questions about the relationship you had with this other lady and your, what's more important to me, are these false teachings that you've had, I don't think I'd probably be on.

And then if I was on one time, I wouldn't be asked on again and again and again. And so Brown had his apologetic, and it reminded me of Piper with Warren sitting there trying to make everyone believe that the purpose-driven life was actually a godly book.

Anyway, over and over and over, Michael Brown was defending his actions and trying to say, well, then now I have entree. Somehow, you don't know what Benny Hinn teaches? I mean, I find that really, it's unfathomable to me that you can say, if you go to Michael Brown's Twitter site, and you go to his show, Ask Dr. Brown, the Twitter site says, you know, married 37 years, great, author of 22 books.

So making sure everybody understands, you've written 22 books, plastered that on there, worldwide speaker, I think it says, and you don't know that Benny Hinn is a line heretic? And then you're going to get on there and say a bunch of good things about him?

In Michael Brown's show on Friday, January 3rd, 3rd or 4th, whatever the day was, it was an apologetic for Benny Hinn, and why he went on the show, and Benny Hinn was humble, and he was kind, and he was this and he was that.

What a shame. Many other people have said it, but I haven't said it yet, so I will. This is exactly what people were saying at Strangefire. This is the problem with the charismatic movement. Besides its theology, the charismatic movement's theology then will not allow her main conservative voices to have any displeasure, to show any displeasure toward other people in the camp, no matter how crazy, no matter how abhorrent or abherent these people are, theologically, in my opinion.

Someone told me that you never can get sued if you say something about someone and then say, in my opinion. No one sues me because they don't know who I am, and they know I don't have any assets. So I do have a DoNotBeSurprisedMugHere .com that my friend sent me.

I'm glad. All right, well, speaking a little bit more about Dr. Brown. He wants to say that he's conservative. He comes across, of course, as kind and nice, and he probably is kind and nice, in my opinion.

But I am beyond belief. I'm nearly apoplectic. I almost have to use my EpiPen, as they call it in Poland, my Adrenalina, in my opinion. Because who in their right mind is going to defend Benny Hinn? You know, I give a little more slack to the Sam Storms of the world who, you know, are going to try to defend other folks, although Sam will defend Mike Bickle, I believe.

And Francis Chan with Mike Bickle. I mean, this is why Strange Fire happened. And this is why now Phil Johnson is a prophet. I think he doesn't think prophets are for today, but now he is a prophet. Just kidding, in my opinion.

But Phil was right. And, you know, this whole baby in the bathwater argument has shot itself in the proverbial foot, in my opinion, because this is exactly what happens. They cannot say Benny Hinn is a liar.

Benny Hinn theologically sells strychnine. Benny Hinn is a false teacher. Benny Hinn is the kind of person that 2 Peter is written about, that Jude is written about. This is the kind of person that elders that have any salt need to stand up and warn their people against.

We're not talking about someone who is an Arminian or someone who is a conservative charismatic. We're not talking about those kind of people. We're talking about people that harm others, that rob widows.

And Michael Brown can't say, you know what, Benny Hinn—all he had to do was say, you know, I got caught up in it. I was in Orlando and I got asked, and one of my guys said that Benny Hinn was really good.

And so I went, but I realized the opposite. But I don't think you're going to see that. I hope it's true, but I don't think you're going to hear that any time soon. Just a couple book recommendations here on No Compromise Radio.

Book Recommendations for Women, Men, and Busy Christians

My friend wrote with his wife, Byron and Robin Yon, what every woman wishes her father had told her. I think that I have had Byron on a couple different times. One, in regard to his book about what every man wishes his father had told him.

Something close. But anyway, you're going to see content chapters here, spiritual leader, marriage, freedom, beauty, husbands. I love the husbands chapter. Husbands, seriously, you cannot change him. So, what to teach young daughters about husbands.

You cannot change him. So anyway, I recommend that book. I also recommend Crazy Busy, a book by Kevin DeYoung, a mercifully short book about a really big problem. I read it in basically one day. I love Kevin DeYoung's stuff.

I think he's an excellent writer. He's an excellent speaker. I have a lot of respect for him. I don't know who decided, either him or Crossway, to put some of these endorsements on here. Of course, Olasky, I understand and would have no problem with.

Moeller, kudos. Shy Lin, Trip Lee. I get that. I guess it's cool now to have some rap guys endorse your book. But on the top front, you can't afford to miss what Kevin DeYoung says here in Crazy Busy.

Rick Warren. But it's still worth the read. Maybe one of my all-time favorite books that I read. I don't think it was published, let's see, in 2013. Everybody has these books, you know, that they think you should read.

This is not my all-inclusive list. I'm just pulling up a couple more here that I'm going to recommend. But these are some that I would recommend for you to read in 2014 that I read in 2013 and benefited from.

The Humanity of Christ and the Spirit's Work in Jesus

This book is written in 2013, at least published in 2013, by Bruce Ware, W-A-R-E. And it's called The Theological Reflections of the Humanity of Christ. That's the subtitle. The main title is The Man, Christ, Jesus.

The Man, Christ, Jesus. What does it mean for Jesus to be human? And so if you've got questions about how did Jesus learn and grow? Could Jesus sin? Impeccability, peccability issues. What role did the Spirit of God play in Jesus' life?

Did Jesus have to rely on the Spirit of God like every Christian today would have to rely on the Spirit of God? Very, very excellent book. We sometimes, I think, well, let me strike that, in my opinion.

We so misunderstand this, and I have been a Christian for quite a while. I have taught at 22 theological seminaries. And I still didn't quite get this to the extent that I do now with Bruce Ware's help.

So I really, I highly commend this crossway book, The Man, Christ, Jesus. I will read page 36, a portion of it. Whereas the prophecy of the Spirit-anointed Messiah in Isaiah 11 focuses on Jesus' character qualities, knowledge, and wisdom, the prophecy here in Isaiah 61 focuses more directly on the Messiah's role as prophet.

The Spirit will be upon him to preach the gospel and proclaim release to the captives. So, Ware says, when you put these two texts from Isaiah together, you realize that the role of the Spirit on the coming Messiah will be to empower his inner life and character and to fill his mind and knowledge and wisdom—with knowledge and wisdom, excuse me— but also to empower the ministry he will conduct outwardly as he proclaims the message God has for him to give.

Both inward character and outward conduct, then, are tied to the empowering work that the Spirit will perform on this coming anointed one of God. Very, very interesting. Jesus does miraculous things, and then Ware says, Jesus does not claim to perform this miracle by divine power and authority as God.

Rather, he attributes the power used in this miraculous exorcism and healing to the Spirit at work in him and through him. Very, very good stuff. So I would really commend you reading The Man, Christ, Jesus, Bruce Ware.

Charles Hodge, Henry Ward Beecher, and the Value of Christian Biography

Number four, Charles Hodge, The Pride of Princeton, Hoffnecker's book, W. Andrew Hoffnecker. This is PNR, Presbyterian and Reformed, in that order. Charles Hodge, The Pride of Princeton, Hoffnecker. Now, another book on Hodge came out the same year.

I'm trying to remember the guy's name. I haven't read that one yet, but I really like this one. And so you could see, especially in this book on Charles Hodge, how his mother and his father influenced him in different ways, intellectually or academically or pietistically.

And when you read this, you will find out very quickly the Lord using Charles Hodge. And I think you'll be encouraged. It will help you in your growth and sanctification. I love to read biographies. Then on the flip side, the last book that I'm going to recommend today, although there are others I could recommend, 22 of my other books I'll recommend.

This one is not written about a Christian man, although he's a professing Christian man. Maybe he got saved at the end of his life. I'm not sure. But it is entitled The Most Famous Man in America, The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher.

This is by Debbie Applegate, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. And this is on Doubleday, The Most Famous Man in America, Henry Ward Beecher. Now, he learned very quickly from his father, who, according to Applegate, was Calvinistic, that if you tone down the hard corners and edges of Calvinism and talk more about the love of God, you could get more people into your church.

Fascinating passage. It says here in the back, No one predicted success for Henry Ward Beecher at his birth in 1813. The boisterous son of the last great Puritan minister, he seemed destined to be overshadowed by his brilliant siblings, especially his sister Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

But pushed into ministry, the charismatic Beecher found international fame by shedding his father's fire and brimstone preaching for a new revolutionary gospel of love, becoming founding father of modern Christianity.

Isn't that amazing? The back cover of Doubleday goes on to say, Charming, mercurial, and irreverent, Beecher thrust himself into nearly all the great battles of the era, including anti-slavery, women's suffrage, and Darwinism.

Then in 1872, Beecher was accused of seducing one of his most pious parishioners. The salacious scandal and sensational civil trial created more newspaper headlines than the entire Civil War. Beecher survived, but his reputation and his causes suffered devastating setbacks that echo to this day.

In our own time, when religion and politics are again colliding and adultery in high places still commands headlines, Beecher's spellbinding story sheds new light on the culture and conflicts of contemporary America.

So, five books I want to recommend today. The Most Famous Man in America, Biography of Henry Ward Beecher, Charles Hodge, The Pride of Princeton, Hoffnecker, The Man, Christ, Jesus, Bruce Ware, Crazy Busy, Kevin DeYoung, What Every Woman Wishes Her Father Had Told Her, Byron and Ion, Boo, You Owe Me.

Repentance, Facebook, and the Call to Self-Examination

All right, what else do we have today? I've been thinking a lot about... Oh, there's so many things on this book stack of mine. Let me give you one more book to read. Nah, I've been thinking a lot since I've been laying in my sick bed.

Kind of a theology of sickness. I'm very, very thankful for the days that I am not sick now. I mean, you just take them for granted. You have everything all planned out and very thankful for those days when I'm not so sick.

Okay, what else do I have here? All right, Let Me Bomb on Radio. Okay, see, what are we doing? Repentance. How would you define repentance? Well, we've been doing a several part series on repentance, and so now since I need something to bail me out, we're going to continue along those very lines.

Oh, I know what I wanted to tell you, Facebook. Now, I do not want to come across as a legalist. I don't want to do that at all. But it seems to me that most people cannot control themselves on Facebook.

So what do you have to do? So just realize that you can't control yourself on Facebook, and then I would suggest for the most part avoiding putting comments on there that you think you should put on there.

Now, of course, I have to say that if you're going to use Facebook because you're a grandma and you want to see pictures of your grandkids, can't they just send them to you? But I understand. Do we have a Facebook no-compromise site?

Yes, we do. Why? Just kidding. No, Ben does a great job of that. But the comments about self and the comments about what you're doing and the comments about what you got or your achievements and all that stuff, comments about other people, slandering, bragging, pride.

I wonder how much of that could just be ixnayed if you just got off Facebook, if you just didn't place those things, if you just put pictures of the grandkids on there so grandparents could see. And that would kind of be the end of it.

I don't know, but I even as a pastor, I have to be careful what I say and what I don't because I know private personal things about people that are not supposed to be known. And then I'll find out that it's on Facebook.

I don't know. I just don't know how to attack this because in and of itself it's not the problem. TV isn't the problem. Radio isn't the problem. Alcohol isn't the problem. But I think Facebook, I think it's got a lot of problems.

Michael Horton is one of my favorite authors. For a long time I just struggled with Horton because I think he's kind of a Lutheran deep down. But so appreciate his ministry and pretty much read everything he puts out and really would commend to you the White Horse Inn.

People ask me what I listen to. I listen to S. Lewis Johnson on the bicycle. And then on my computer for podcasts I have just a few. My friend's a pastor in Hercules, California, and I listen to him there at Valley.

And I listen to Crisis Center, my friends over there. They asked me to be on, but that was a year ago. I listen to White Horse Inn. I don't know. That's probably about it. Listen to MacArthur once in a while.

Repentance as Metanoia and Turning from Sin

Horton, Pilgrim Theology. The Greek word translated repentance, metanoia, denotes change of mind. It is not only modifying a few convictions here and there, but realizing that your whole interpretation of reality, God, yourself, your relation to God, and the world is misguided.

It is not finding your way back to the straight and narrow after wandering off the beaten path a bit, but acknowledging before God that you are not and have never been even in the right vicinity. That's a good way to think of repentance.

And this is an important topic, so much so that Chrysostom, the golden speaker, the great preacher, thought that it was the subject to talk to the emperor about. So it is fit for an emperor to talk about repentance.

Spurgeon said, It is, in fact, a change of mind of a very deep and practical character, which makes the man love what he once hated and hate what he once loved. Sounds very much like Edwards. So today we're just going to finish up with a few more discussions of repentance, because this is going to fill in the gaps, since I thought I was going to talk more about the books, but didn't quite make it.

What about Martin Lloyd-Jones and his quote for repentance? Repentance means that you will realize that you are a guilty, vile sinner in the presence of God, that you deserve the wrath and punishment of God, that you are hellbound.

It means that you begin to realize that this thing called sin is in you, that you long to get rid of it, and that you turn your back on it in every shape and form. You renounce the world, whatever the cost, the world in its mind and outlook as well as its practice, and you deny yourself and take up the cross and go after Christ.

Your nearest and dearest and the whole world may call you a fool, or say you have religious mania. You may have to suffer financially, but it makes no difference. This is repentance. So when you think about turning from your sin, turning to God, that is repentance.

And man is responsible to repent. We've been talking about that on our Little Repentance series. Even though man is unable to repent, man is responsible to repent. The fall did not cancel out man's responsibility before God.

A man must repent and believe. And no one in the entire universe has ever been forgiven for their sins. No one has been adopted into the kingdom of God without repentance. You cannot be saved without faith.

You cannot be saved without repentance. And you particularly have to do it. I love S. Lewis Johnson as he talks about things that you can have other people do for you. And you can hire tax accountants.

You can hire lawyers. You can hire people to stand in your stead. You can do things by proxy, and you can get to have folks vote for you at corporations and get shares of stocks by voting via proxy. But you can't have someone die for you.

That is to say, you have to die. You are the one that will have to stand before God. Short of Christ coming back in our lifetime, everyone who's listening to this show will die and stand before God. It's appointed for man once to die, and after this comes the judgment.

And we need to have a Savior. And so, what do we do when it comes to repentance? We have to think differently about ourselves and about God. Those would be the two big categories. Ourselves, how sinful we are, how weak we are, how helpless we are, how ungodly we are, to use Romans 5 language, and how righteous God is.

We need to repent. And instead of finding somebody else who's worse, finding somebody else who's better, we need to think differently. And so, for a long time here on No Compromise Radio, we've talked about how important the doctrine of repentance is.

I have not come to call the righteous, Jesus said, but sinners to repentance. We face God's judgment, and everyone is going to die. And so, we better make sure that we have repented. Psalm 7, My shield is with God who saves the upright in heart.

God is a righteous judge and a God who feels indignation every day. If a man does not repent, God will wet his sword, W-H-E-T. He has bent and readied his bow. He has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.

And so, we will all, as Jesus said in Luke 13, likewise perish. It is important for people to repent. And so, lots of folks out there saying we can't tell people to repent, and lordship, non-lordship, anti-lordship.

Jesus preached repentance. John the Baptist preached repentance. Peter preached repentance. People need to repent. So, I could ask you the question, have you repented? One day you're going to die and stand before God and you need to repent.

Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him, Jesus, from the dead.

God's kindness should draw you, the unbeliever, to repentance. Romans 2, 4,. Or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

My name is Mike Abendroth, this is No Compromise Radio, and today is just a variety of different subjects as I try to get over this cold of mine and please pass the Cipro. You can write me at info at nocompromiseradio .com.

You can go to noconinety .com for some YouTube. Noconineties, I need to do a few more of those, but they've just been too under the proverbial weather. You can also pick us up on Facebook. 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 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .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.