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Pastor Mike reviews an article called The Gospel According To The Green Bible by Mark Christopher. Find out today what they think of this eco-friendly Bible.
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.
Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. Boy, do my headphones seem loud. I think Tuesday guy's been tampering with my stuff. I have a special panel here, and it's got host, guest, caller, and then lower cast Tuesday guy.
And so I think he's actually been playing around with the host. My name's Mike Abendroth, and I'm glad you're here today. We have a new feature, No Compromise Radio ministry, and that is called NoCo 90, NoCo 90.
And it's 90 seconds of me talking about no compromise issues with edges. That is to say, 90 degrees, acute angles, that kind of thing. Is 90 degrees an acute angle? I think it's a right angle, but it still would be sharp.
It'd be sharp to run into the end of that, wouldn't it? So anyway, you can go to YouTube, probably our website by now, and pull up those, the first, I don't know, 10 or up or so. So pretty soon we'll have the millionth download.
We'll be on to NoCo 180. We try to talk about issues here that are provocative, but first, biblical. How to see the world in a biblical fashion. We're happy for those emailers. I'd say probably the emails are positive 20 to one.
For every one zinger we get, we get 19 positive ones. So that's not too bad, is it? I think we're probably not blunt enough. We're probably not going after people enough. But anyway, I don't know. I think I'm getting just less pugnacious as I get older.
I don't wanna be pugnacious at all and just start fights for no reason. Be disqualified from being an elder because that's one of the qualifications, not pugnacious, not a fighter. But when fights come our way in evangelicalism, I think it's pretty cowardly not to stand firm, to act like men, to be strong, to be on the alert.
Of course, you have to do everything you do in love, 1 Corinthians 16, 13, and 14. But anyway, sometimes I get tired from the fight, the agonizo contending earnestly for the faith. So today I'd like to talk about a pugnacious topic.
Oh, that is so funny. Actually today, I'd like to talk about cheeseburgers because I'm on day three of this diet, no sugar and no meat, no meat, no fish. I did have a little cheese last night, does that count?
So anyway, it's a lot of oatmeal, it's a lot of salads, it's a lot of beans and rice, protein bars, protein drinks. So I'm hungry is what I am. I've had some coffee today, peach coffee, Starbucks coffee.
Had some iced tea today. Sorry, it was a little bit of splendors in there. So there you have it. But today I'd like to talk about the green Bible. Now, the green Bible came out a little while ago, but it's so fresh in my mind that I thought we would talk about the green Bible.
Now, my friend Mark Christopher lives in South Africa and he is a good writer and has published a lot of things. I think with day one actually, matter of fact. And let's see, Mark Christopher, Living Hope Bible Church, Cape Town, South Africa.
And I think you can find him at the radicalwatchman .blogspot .com. Unless it's been taken down because it's using up too much ozone. Radicalwatchman .blogspot .com. And I stayed with Mark before in his family in Cape Town.
And actually we went on a bike ride. He's a road biker, but he had a mountain bike that he loaned me. So I was trying to keep up next to him. He's on his road bike, his carbon fiber, and I'm on his mountain bike, but I was glad to be on any bike.
And he's the one that told me the story about how expensive bike jacking insurance is in South Africa. Because if you have a really nice bike, people know that. So they bike jack you. How's that? So he was gonna let me ride alone.
And then I could see his wife tell him, no, you got to go with him because there's strength in numbers. And so Mark and I were riding around the neighborhood and I did not get bike jacked in South Africa.
So today I'd like to talk about the gospel according to the green Bible. And I'm using Mark's article as a leaping off point, as a jumping off point. He's the one that compiled all this stuff. And so I might give him more credit.
I might not give him credit. If I give a cool quote, that's from Mark. If I ramble on and use Nebraska English or Missouri English, English, then that's me, okay? So they've got a green Bible out now.
And if you were going to have a green Bible, from what kind of materials would you construct it? Well, we know the answer. And the answer is out of eco-friendly materials. So how cool is that? You have a Bible, you know, in the old days, I remember you just had regular Bibles and they were probably cardboard material just all put together like press board, except instead of pieces of wood, it was pieces of cardboard and other paper with some laminate on top.
And then if you wanted to spend a little more money, you could get bonded leather. And that is basically chopped up leather with a little laminate on top. And it doesn't last very long. Or you could get genuine leather.
Now they've got the new poly stuff. I can't remember what it's called, and duotone and two-tone and stuff like that. I think my ESV is that actually. Let's see, the one that's in front of me though is not.
The one in front of me is genuine leather. So anyway, we've got eco-friendly materials. The cover's made in the green Bible. From the, in the green Bible, it's made of cotton and linen. Those poor plants, those poor cotton plants lost their lives.
The pages, oh, this is easy. Recycled paper. Now, what kind of ink do you think we should use in the green Bible? It's a soy-based with a water-based coating. So I don't know what that does, but it's soy-based.
And so you just think you can just read your Bible and you don't have to have any guilt anymore now, do you? Because spiritually, you'll be alleviated from guilt because a verse a day keeps the devil away.
No breakfast, no Devo's, no Devo's, no breakfast. First time I heard someone say that was here in New England. No Devo's, no breakfast. And so probably it's my pagan background, but when I hear Devo, I think of the band.
I actually saw the band Devo in Omaha, Nebraska in 19, I'm guessing 80-ish, 1979, 1980. I'll never forget, I drove down to the concert at the Omaha Civic Auditorium and that wasn't the Civic, it was someplace smaller than that.
And I forgot my tickets, had to drive back, drive back. And so I got up really close, I was right in the front and they had those yellow suits on, you know, we are Devo. And anyway, they threw them in the audience and I got one.
I don't know what I did with it. I kept it for maybe 20 years and I should have sold it online, but I used it for a dog toy. So when I hear Devo's, I think of the band Devo, but they meant devotion. See, Devo is short for devotion.
And so there's a thing going around, probably word of life type of deal where you don't have your devotions, you don't have breakfast. Now that's pretty legalistic, but here you can have your devotions with eco-friendly materials and soy-based ink.
Forget India ink, they probably use up too many environmental carbon fibers, back to the bike, carbons. And so we want ink that's soy-based, perfect for the Seventh-day Adventists down in Lancaster, Mass.
Well, you know, lots of times you'll use a Bible so much you have to get it recycled. That is the binding, you can get redone. So I wonder what you do now. I guess when you throw your Bible away. I have had to throw a couple Bibles away in my life, not my main Bibles.
I first got saved in Calvary Chapel circles and I used a New King James because Ralreese used New King James. Then I went to Grace Community Church and we used the New American Standard, 78. And then we moved to this New American Standard, 95.
Then I moved to Massachusetts, which we, and we had the NIV -84. And one year later we changed to the NIV, excuse me, the NAS -95. And then three years ago, we switched to the ESV. That's complicated, isn't it?
Now we're gonna switch to the Green Bible and it has, oh, so I did have to throw a couple of Bibles away, but there are always older Bibles, paperback versions. And even then I had a strong aversion from throwing away versions of the Bible.
Now the Bible translators for the New Revised Standard Version is the one that is used by the Green Bible because they didn't wanna make, they didn't wanna have a very conservative translation. You need to have some liberalism here, of course, because it fits along the same stream.
And so we have the NRSV, New Revised Standard Version for the Eco Gospel. Now let's just think through this. If you have a regular Bible, we don't wanna kill an animal for that. We don't, you want to use India ink for that.
And we also don't want to use red letters. Now, of course, all the scriptures are breathed out by God. The red letters are not more inspired, but I do like the red letter Bibles because when I'm looking at the dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees, it's easy for me to spot the words of Jesus because they're in red.
Now there are places like in John chapter three, you're gonna have to trust the translator, trust the Bible printer because you don't know if it's John writing words or if it's John quoting Jesus. But anyway, so if you had to have a eco Bible, you would want to have special verses, forget Jesus's words, special verses that are in green, highlighted in green.
If there's a verse in the Bible that relates to the environment, the eco Bibles for you because they're underlined or not underlined, but they're highlighted in green. And Mark tells us that there are over a thousand passages that are highlighted, Mark said.
In fact, there are many green passages that are actually prophetic in nature and relate to God's judgment on Israel due to their disobedience to his direct commands for them as a people and a nation, Deuteronomy 28.
But we've got to underline those anyway. And if you'd like more features and benefits for this green Bible, you can just go to the back and we've got a green topical index. I wonder if they have maps.
That's what would be cool, green maps. Maps showing drones. Where did that come from? You can also go to the green trail guide at the back. So you can learn how to be a green disciple and you can do proselytizing in your neighborhood as a green Bible study leader and take people down the green trail guide and discuss environmental issues.
You can also see in the back, there's a guideline on how to become a quote, deep green family, close quote. That's a deep green family. No, I'm verdant green. No, I'm lime green. I'm pea green. Aye yai yai yai yai.
All right. You can also find at the front of the green Bible because we wouldn't want to have this asymmetrical on its weight. We've got a lot of good things at the back. We've got to have some good things at the front.
And there are inspirational essays by several scholars, more liberal than conservative. And some, who knows, how could they even be saved? You've got N .T. Wright. He is one of the writers. That seems to be right up their alley here.
I don't trust N .T. Wright at all. If you like N .T. Wright, then you better watch out. And they have Brian McLaren. Brian McLaren, based on his words, I don't know how he can be born again in the biblical sense based on what he says about issues these days.
You've got Jewish clergy have written some things. You've got something written by the Pope. And best of all, allegedly, you've got Desmond Tutu, the Anglican archbishop in South Africa, writing, did I say Africa?
Writing the foreword. So we need to have a foreword written for this. And we might as well get a noted liberation theologian. Now let's pick some, let's see. Who do we want to have write some stuff for our Bible?
Well, let's find somebody that doesn't think Jesus is God. Let's find someone who doesn't believe that the scriptures are inerrant. Yeah, let's, hmm. Yeah, I think that'd be good. I don't know what people are thinking.
Now, when I first, well, let's back up. Before I was saved, I didn't really think about the environment. I never said to myself, I want to torch things. I want to pollute. Even in my depraved state of mind and soul and body, I never thought, I can't wait to pollute this world.
Who knows, maybe I littered from the car or something like that driving down the street in 1966, throwing a Coke pull can top out on the cement or something. Sadly, so some barefooted kid would walk on it.
Remember those pop taps, pop tap taps, pop tops? I don't even know what they call those anymore. I never really thought about that. And now after I'm saved, I still, I don't want to hurt the environment, although I see the environment as not the end.
The environment has been made by God. I distinguish between creature and creator. The one who creates and created things. I don't think all is God and God is all. I'm not a pantheist, I'm not an animist.
I don't want to worship creation. I'm thankful for creation. And even though creation has been tainted by the fall, much of creation is still very beautiful. When you look at Victoria Falls or if you go to Niagara Falls, or if you look at the Grand Canyon, or if you look out in the backyard when it's snowed afoot, there are stunning displays of God's wonderful goodness in creation.
And you look at the ocean, I mean, I could go on. I never say to myself, I can't wait to pollute. I can't wait to take a bunch of paint and pour it down in the stream. Well, I never thought of that before I was saved either, because that just didn't, my sin doesn't manifest itself in that way.
Desmond Tutu said this based on John 12, 32, lowercase b for based. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. So that's quoted from Jesus, not in red, probably not in green either.
Here's what Tutu said. As if in this cosmic embrace, Jesus would wish to enfold, E-N, all that God has created, the entire universe into unity. His supreme work is to reconcile us to God and to one another, and to reconcile us to all God's creation.
Well, there you have it. To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself and love God's verdant environment. Now, Mark Christopher says, I gotta send him the show.
To be blunt, he's never had a problem with that. He'd be a good guest for NOCO. This esoteric drivel sounds something like Deepak Chopra or the Dalai Lama. Christ is making a statement about the cross and his subsequent resurrection, which will pave the way of salvation for those who follow him.
Jesus was not making a statement about the environment, but about the sinful estate of man and the remedy for that sin, which is found exclusively in the cross. Only through the cross is fallen humanity reconciled and restored to a holy God.
Well, if you'd like to see some titles of the essays in the Green Bible, I don't want you to spend money on it, so let me save you some money. The Power of the Green God by J. Matthew Sleeth, MD. Reading the Bible through a green lens, Calvin DeWitt.
So you've got your hermeneutic, your green hermeneutic. It's green with envy, hermeneutic. All right, Jesus is coming, plant a tree! Exclamation point. That's by N .T. Wright, Anglican Bishop of Durham.
Isn't that amazing? Jesus is coming, plant a tree. Now, when I study 2 Peter 3, I look at Titus 2. When I look at the book of Revelation, and I think of the second coming, I think about a lot of things.
I think about how, if I'm on the earth, that I don't have to be afraid because Jesus, based on his work and his initiative, has made it so I'm not his enemy anymore, I'm his friend, and he's not coming to get me, and he's not coming after me, he's not coming to destroy me.
I think of that, I'm pretty happy about that. I'm sad to think that those enemies whom I love, I don't think I love all my enemies, sadly, but I have people that I love who are enemies with God because of their sin, because they won't bow the knee to Jesus.
I just think about 2 Thessalonians 1, and how God is going to get them. I think about the enemies of the cross, and how God will wipe them out. I think about 1 Corinthians 16. If you don't have any love for the Lord Jesus, you're to be accursed.
Maranatha, Lord, if people won't bow the knee, come and get them. Lord, come now. Come now and judge them. But I never, ever, ever, ever, ever think to myself, you know, I should plant a tree. Now, tree planting, I'm all for tree planting, especially if it's peach trees, especially if it's a cheeseburger tree.
Any kind of fruit tree, I like. So, I'm not against tree planting, and I'm sure he's trying to do this to make a point, but I don't like the point he's trying to make. Also found in the Green Bible, loving the earth is loving the poor.
You have it, there's a poor earth, by Gordon Eshleman. And you've got action ideas in the back of this Green Bible. And so, what are some of the action items? Well, you can host a Green Bible study. There's some pointers for that.
There are ways to find out how to set up a booth at Earth Day rallies. How could I make this up? I'm not, I can't make this up. 50 practical tips to get started. Maybe you want to turn off your light bulbs when you leave the room.
My father's favorite saying that I now incorporate is I don't work for the power company, but somebody like my friend Scott, he works for the power company. What does he tell his kids? Page 1237, consider vegetarian alternatives, which cause less pollution.
So, I don't know, why did they not put that? First Timothy chapter four, eat whatever you want as long as you give thanks. And Genesis chapter nine, where God lets us know it's okay to eat meat now after the flood.
What will we do with those verses? Do you know you can cut back on soft drinks by drinking tap water, the Bible tells you that. Don't eat fast food anymore. See, to bring up the ghost of Michael Horton, the gospel is needed.
We don't need the, excuse me, we don't need to be told, take it easy on the environment, be nice to people, lose some weight. There's a variety of things we don't need to be told because we can figure those things out.
That's why we need the gospel though, because it comes from outside of us. We actually do need to be told on who is the savior and how he saves. Maybe the great commission could be re-told in this Bible as the great emission.
Now, Christopher didn't say that, I'll take all the credit for that. Curbing CO2 emissions though, John 3, 16, that's in green, baby. God so loved the world. See, most people when they read that, they read it like an Arminian for God so loved each and every person who has ever been born, including Samson, excuse me, Goliath, and Judas, some of those people.
Now we've got to read it as the globe, the world, for God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Now, the best part about the green, friendly eco-Bible is not the stuff in the front, it's not the stuff in the back.
Even reading the new revised standard version, God could use those words to save sinners. And so I hope that happens. I hope people buy it. I hope people buy these Bibles, hoping for these red light, green light comments, looking for the thread of green recycling redemption starting in Genesis 3, 15, ending at the end.
See how dumb that is? And they see, by the grace of God, the real gospel. That's what I'm hoping will happen. And so when people have Bibles, I'm glad for that. It's the Steen Bible, it's the Cosmo Bible, it's the Green Bible, a variety of other kinds of Bibles that just kind of rub me the wrong way.
So Mike Abendroth today is reading. I see I talk about myself in third person now that I'm all flustered. The Green Bible. You want to get Mark Christopher's full article, if you'd like to see some of the things that I talked about today, you go to radicalwatchman .blogspot .com.
Mark Christopher, Living Hope Bible Church. So today on No Compromise Radio, I think we're going to have to work on our green website, our green microphones, our green Tuesday guy on Saturday, and our green NoCo 90.
Go to the YouTube channel, No Compromise 90. It's Mike Abendroth, 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 1015 and in the evening at six. 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.