"Star Trek" and "Sacred Dance"

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.

We're here to take your calls as well. Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

The Sufficiency of Scripture Versus Worship Dancewear

Welcome to No Compromise Radio Ministry. This is Mike Abendroth, and I'm your host. I think I start the show off that way every single time. I'm also proud to be on the station, WV &E, 760 AM. I'm also proud of the fact that I think we're the only show on the station that has a disclaimer at the end of it.

And so I think that's very exciting. And so today is Friday. Today is the day that we talk about whatever I'd like to talk about. And in the mail this week, I got something that basically helped me blow my proverbial gasket, and it was a little brochure from Spiritual Expressions.

And the subtitle to Spiritual Expressions, there's a woman on the front with a long dress on, and it's called Worship Dancewear 2010. So you can imagine as a pastor, I receive all kinds of different things for sale, VBS curriculum, some kind of special handouts for visitors to church.

And here now I've got a new catalog, Spiritual Expressions Worship Dancewear. And as I open it up, you can hear me opening it up. As I open it up, there's all these pictures of these ladies. Matter of fact, they all happen to be very attractive ladies.

At least they try to make them that way. And it says, liturgical dance has long been a physically glorious way to express your love of the Lord. For years, Spiritual Expressions has brought you garments to match your passion for liturgical dance.

And friends, I just don't know what to do with something like this. It just makes me crazy. I want to laugh, and then I want to cry. Earlier this week, I was admitted to UMass University Hospital. I have something wrong with my esophagus, and I was choking on something, and they had to take me to the GI lab and fix it.

I go back again next week. This is worse than my earlier choking experience physically. I'm choking spiritually now, and I need some kind of gastroenterologist to help fix my apoplexy that I have for such a farce, for such a charade.

Today I'm going to talk about if the Bible's not enough, nothing is enough. Is the Bible sufficient? Is it complete? Is it reliable? Is it authoritative? Is it inerrant? Is it God's word? Is it God's mind revealed to us?

And if it is, then we don't need, you don't need shenanigans. You don't need everything else. I wonder what our churches today would do if everything was taken away except the Bible. You had the Bible only, no programs, no skits, no dancing, no hootenannies, no Christian radio, no, I didn't mean radio, I meant rodeo.

That was a slip. I need Christian radio. The Christian rodeo, everything's gone except the Bible. How many churches would survive? Here in this brochure, we have more comments. This year you'll find reverent, colorful, and flowing garments in flattering and traditional cuts that are perfect enhancements to your music ministry.

Flattering to whom? Does this flatter God or flattering these 18-year-old women floating around with flowing dresses? And here it says, flattering princess seams. We have words like elegant. We have words like jerseys, flowing paneled skirts, versatile soft pollies.

It's just incredible. And as I'm flipping through the book, I just see all these different dances and dance dress. By the way, if your church does dance drama in your church, you ought to get a different church.

That is just ridiculous. That is infantile, that is immature. You don't need to have church dance. Where is that? And please don't go to Psalm 150 or some other reference in the Old Testament for church, for ministry in the local church.

Don't try to make some kind of illogical jump from David dancing to that's what we do in the corporate worship service. Let's not do that. Let's not do some kind of hermeneutical hopscotch to get us there because you won't have a hermeneutical leg to stand on.

I begin to flip through here. You have double layer chiffon skirts can be worn as a cape so you can spin around. We have stretch net leotards. I was at the Anaheim Vineyard one day when John Wimber was there preaching and I wanted to go and just check it out and they had these girls running up and down like ballerinas for some kind of spiritual dance.

No words to the music, no anything except, I guess you were supposed to say to yourself righteously, oh, isn't God good for making women and having them be attractive women? I think at worst people were probably sitting there lusting after some of these ladies.

I then turn to the next page in this book and I have leotards and unitards and then they're all skin color garments. We've got belleras, we've got seamless bras with smooth molded cups, all kinds of things.

I ought not to have this in my even office. This reminds me of the time when I first got to church and they would give me the Victoria Secrets catalog sent to the pastor of the church, just in general.

That wasn't even Pastor So-and-so, it wasn't the ex-pastor. It was just sent to the pastors of the church. Now, I guess if you want to send your wife something slinky for Valentine's Day and you're a pastor, I don't mind that, but I don't need this other kind of slinky stuff, these kind of ballerina things.

This is not good. This is basically, if the Bible's not enough, nothing is enough. And so I'm wondering today, do you think God's word is a fire? Jeremiah 23, is not my word like a fire, declares the Lord?

Do you think God's word is like a hammer? Like a hammer which shatters a rock, Jeremiah 23, 29 goes on to say. Do you think God's word is a seed to quicken the soul? For you have been born again, not of seed, which is perishable, but imperishable, that is through the living and abiding word of God.

First Peter 1, verse 23. Do you think God's word is like a light to show your path? Psalm 119, 105, thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Do you think God's word is like a laver to cleanse?

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, Ephesians 5, 25 and 26.

If you think the word of God is like a hammer, it is like a fire, it is like a sword, Hebrews 4, it is like a seed to quicken the soul, a laver to cleanse, a light to show the path, then you don't need any idiotic, asinine nonsense like this spiritual dancewear kind of thing.

Star Trek Sermons and Christian Marketing Gimmicks

And the list goes on. If you think that was the worst and now I'm gonna get better, it started off the best, now it gets the worst. How about this? You can get Star Trek sermons now, you know, when you got the new movie out.

This church has Star Trek sermons, faith fellowship in Alton, Illinois. Sadly, they don't have much faith and it's not a church, at least they named their place the right thing. It's called a fellowship, Alton, Illinois.

Here's from their website. I would call their website, when the Bible's not sufficient, when the Bible's not enough, then you just go your own way. Maybe we could sing some Fleetwood Mac song. Quote, Captain's Log, Stardate 050309.

While in standard orbit, those around the parenting enterprise are experiencing dramatic morphing of their offspring. Certain alien type characteristics have also developed in both the parents and children.

Close examination indicates a spatial rift may be eminent. Historical data confirms similar morphing patterns among previous generations of earth dwellers. And it goes on and on and on. Allow God to help you in parenting challenges by sharing in this new message series by Dr. Damon Talkington.

I only have words like stunned. I guess that would be fitting to be stunned, to be some kind of get my tricorder out. This is lame. This is horrible. This is, if the Bible's not enough, then you have to do something like that.

Friends, we're talking about God and his word. God is not boring. His word is not boring. God's word does not need some kind of crutch, some kind of means or device that keeps it stable or secure. The Bible is not limp.

The Bible is not unable to do its job. The Bible is complete. Psalm 138, the Bible says this. I like the King James Version. I will worship toward thy holy temple and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and thy truth.

I will praise you, God, for your truth. For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. That's the kind of value we should see in the word of God. And once the church doesn't believe that anymore, once she has pastors who are very feminine, and I'm talking about men pastors who act like women, and cave into the culture, like I always say, I don't mind femininity as long as it's in a woman.

Once pastors cave into the culture, then we have to say, well, it's anything but the Bible. And these people are basically ashamed of the Bible. Not basically, they are ashamed of the Bible. Damon Talkington is ashamed of the Bible.

I also see this other kind of marketing of the Christian church. I have Christian flip-flops in front of me. Can you imagine? Would you like to walk the walk with Christian flip-flops? We've got this whole marketing scheme because these marketers are smart.

They know that Christians can't just survive on their Bible, and so they have to make money on things like Christian flip-flops. Are you gonna grow in your Christian faith because you're wearing these flip-flops?

Does the devil hate these flip-flops when you wear them? Lit11 is an interesting website, and I got some of those crazy things from that website. I have on here as well, Jesus Rocks Air Freshener. Nothing smells better than Jesus rocking out to favorite metal tunes.

What are we doing? What has Christianity come to? Why are we doing this? And the answer is, if the Bible's not enough, nothing is enough. Some people go pick a church because there's a good kids program, because they like the music, because there's a cooking ministry, because the ladies get together and read Oprah books, because of this, because of that, because of the gymnasium.

Friends, if the Bible isn't enough, then what is enough? I like to tell people at Bethlehem Bible Church here in West Boylston, if Jesus is enough for you and the Word is enough for you, you'll like this church.

You'll be part of this church. But if you've gotta have your best friend be the pastor, if you've gotta have your hand held by the elders every moment, if you've got to have your hand held by making sure your kids are happy in some kind of youth program, this is not the church for you.

And matter of fact, the New Testament churches at Ephesus and Thessalonica would not be enough for you. Maybe the church at Corinth would be enough for you, but if you've gotta have Jesus Plus for local worship, then there is a problem.

Here we have the Bible, and the Bible is sufficient. The Bible is everything we need. And so I've got a question today on No Compromise Radio Ministry on 760 AMWVNE. Is the Bible enough? Or do we need things like this?

We're gonna use Leona Lewis's Bleeding Love to help share our Christian faith. Basically, it's how to marry the popular culture to try to somehow sell the Bible. A spoonful of medicine, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, and the sugar in this particular case is a slinky-looking Leona Lewis with the Bleeding Love song.

And you don't have to talk about the cross, you don't have to talk about the offense, you don't have to talk about the stone of stumbling, you don't have to talk about the scandal, you don't have to talk about Jesus dying for our sins.

All you have to do is talk about you're a victim, there's some kind of good-looking woman, forget wretched sinners, forget any of that stuff, and you can share your faith with the Bleeding Love. Or if you say, well, that's not good enough, and I'm not a man enough to go talk to people about who Jesus is and forgiveness and redemption of sins, maybe I can get a sneaky football Bible.

I've got a buddy who's a football player, or he likes football, or he likes to worship at the altar of the Patriots, and I'll give him his very own path-to-victory Bible specifically designed to reach football fans.

What? I mean, who knows what's going to be coming out, what they're gonna come out with next? Oh, hot off the press, End Time Survivalist Bible Cover. And so you've got this rugged, sturdy Bible cover, it will protect your Bible from even the harshest of end-time scenarios.

Made from olive drab, rapture-ready material, this cover also includes an analog GPS device and a compass. I really, I probably should go back to the UMass Memorial Hospital and get some more Versed or get a little more Ativan or something like that, because this is just crazy.

This reminds me of the church that was meeting in a elementary school, in an elementary school, and they were kicked out. Now, it would have been great if they were kicked out for preaching the gospel, preaching Jesus is the only way, the exclusivity of Christ, forgiveness found in no one else.

Like R .C. Sproul would say, it's even blasphemous to mention Buddha or Muhammad in the same breath as Jesus. There's only one Savior and Lord, Acts 4 .12. There's only one Messiah, John 14 .6. And so a church would get kicked out for preaching the gospel, which will happen eventually.

But oh no, that's not happening here at the Great Lakes Church. Great Lakes Church in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was kicked out of an elementary school that they were renting because of the gospel. No, because of their new sex series.

The new sex series, thank God for sex, along with many other churches across the country, falling into this gratuitous sex for seven days, sex for 40 days, great sex kind of thing. It's just ridiculous.

Kicking, getting kicked out of a school for being a Christian, or being a stupid wannabe Christian who says, do you know, by the way, we're gonna do all this other kind of profane talk. I'm not against sex.

God made it, and it was his design, and it's a wonderful thing in a Christian marriage and marriage in general, but we're not to defame it. Song of Solomon is cloaked in the right kind of language, and to do this is just cheap.

And I mean that literally cheap. Thankfully, Great Lakes Church has found a new venue to preach their faux gospel, and that is a movie theater. How fitting, maybe they should have it rated R. What about the Braveheart Bible study?

You know, you don't really wanna study the Bible, so the crutch is the Braveheart Bible study, and you could read that with your wild at heart book, and you could have a few pagan pursuits at the same time.

It is horrible. It's just like, I'm looking at my desk right now, there's a Sunday School musical. It's the knockoff of High School Musical, and this is Sunday School Musical. When the Bible's not enough, nothing is enough.

When the Bible is not sufficient, then nothing is sufficient, and you will add the proverbial golden calves forever and forever and forever. Just open up the Bible, preach it word by word, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and the people of God will be transformed.

If you're at a church that doesn't think the Bible is sufficient and inerrant and authoritative, it will flesh itself out in things like spiritual drama, spiritual dance, some kind of spiritual shenanigans that go on under the guise of Christianity.

Preaching the Word Without Entertainment

But what about the Bible? What if there was no singing? How about this? Let's pretend there was no singing in the local church, what people call worship. There was no dancing, there was no drama, there was no video, there was no electricity, there was no anything, and you had to be in some cave in the bowels of the earth in Rome.

The catacombs, and the only thing you had was preaching. How full would your church be then? How full would your church be if the pastor said, there's going to be no singing today, no giving, no offertory, no special music, no dancing, no spiritual expression, worship dancewear, there's nothing except I'm gonna preach for an hour.

How many people would come? Would you go to a church like that? Friends, the answer should be, I would love to go hear the word of the living God. I would love to go hear from the mouth person of God, the preacher, the words of God Almighty.

Thus saith the Lord. God, I want to know you. I want to be preached to and preached at in a corporate setting. I'd like to have the word of God preached in a public setting, transform me more into the likeness of Christ Jesus.

God, change me. God, mold me. God, encourage me. God, grant me repentance. God, let me to think about you like I ought to think about you. Friends, would you do that? Are you willing to go to a church that will only preach the word of God?

And I have people who come to Bethlehem Bible Church and they'll say, sadly, ignorant things like, well, I didn't really like the worship there. Thinking worship is music and drums and a bass guitar. I'm not against bongos, guitars, or anything else.

You'll probably find those at Bethlehem Bible Church. But here's what I'm against. I'm against thinking that somehow worship is everything but preaching, when the pinnacle of worship is when God speaks and God has chosen, God has ordained to speak through a pastor, a preacher, an elder, a man who's been called to himself, a man who's been called into ministry.

When I mean to himself, I mean to God himself, and then preaches. Friends, let's just toss everything out on a Sunday and see who would come for the preaching of the word of God. That's it. It's not for some kind of Andy Griffith Bible studies that I've seen out there, some kind of leave-it-to-beaver moralism Bible studies that are out there.

It's not like this new lady who says, well, let's meet in Nigeria, and we really like some of Islam, we really like some of Christianity, so let's blend the two, and they call it Chrislam. Friends, this is just a complete joke.

This is against the word of God. Psalm 19 says, the law of the Lord is boring, snoozing to the soul. Is that what it says? It says the law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. Can you imagine? The word of God is complete.

The word of God lacks nothing. Scripture is comprehensive. Holy writ is all-sided. It is exhaustive. It is all-sweeping. It is inclusive. If you think of the words opposite to that, you will realize what the Bible is not.

It is not partial. It is not incomplete. It is not shallow. It is not restricted. It is not limited. It is perfect. It is all-sided. And what does it do? It restores the soul. Isn't that what you need?

If you're not a Christian, you need salvation. If you're a Christian, you need your soul restored as you begin to ponder who Christ is, the risen King who will soon return, understanding sin and salvation, sanctification, glory, the person and work of God, how he created things, what pleases him.

You say, Mike, you might as well just slow down and calm down. How can I calm down when I get a thing in the mail with spiritual expressions? Practically half-nude ladies in here swinging around dancing and doing things that they ought not to do except at home maybe for their husband at nighttime or on their honeymoon.

I mean, this is just ridiculous. When are people going to stand up and say, I'm just not gonna take this anymore. Pastor, give me the Bible. I dare you. Go to your pastor today and say, Pastor, or Sunday, you don't preach long enough.

You don't preach deep enough. I have so many problems in my life. This weak spiritual dance won't do anymore. Give me deep theology. Give me the deep word. Give me the kind of stuff that will transform me when I have to bury my kids or my mother or my father or I'm laying there on my deathbed.

Give me something deep. When I had this esophagus thing a couple days ago, I thought, you know, this might be the day I die. And if I die today at age 49, how will I die? How will God receive me? What's important in life?

And I'll tell you what never came across my mind. Star Trek Bible studies, Jesus flip-flops, spiritual expression, worship, dancewear, none of that came across. I wasn't even thinking about a song, although I could have probably thought of, on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

But I was just thinking about the character and nature of God. That's my only hope, who God is. So pastor, why don't you spend less time promoting dancewear, spiritual dance, having people, by the way, what are the requirements to do spiritual dance?

What kind of spiritual gifts would you need? Answer is, to ask the question is to answer it. Friends, we have the comprehensive word of God, that all scripture is God-breathed, it's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God, the preacher, may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

And then he equips his people for every good work. Friends, 2 Peter 1, seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness. Show me an issue in life, show me an issue where you want to be godly, and I'll show you the word of God through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence.

We have the word of God, it's perfect, it's sufficient. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. That is Psalm 19, verse seven. We have the word of God, so let's preach it. And if you don't preach it, then you don't really believe its claims.

Friends, what you do tells me what you believe. Mark that down, what you do tells me what you believe. And if you believe that you've got to get the people in with Sunday School Musicals, or the next fad, or whatever, I'm trying to think of some new movie that's out there, maybe it's the Up movie, the digital movie, or the Ice Age 3D, or some movie like that, you have to twist it around, then there is a problem.

Here is the word of God. Proclaim it, you preach it, you ask God to bless it, and then stand back and watch it go. Luther was asked, well, how'd you start the Reformation? And Luther said, I preached the word of God, and then I went home and went to bed, slept.

What was he saying? The Holy Spirit takes the word of God and makes it run. That's why Paul says in 2 Thessalonians, God, make your word run. Friends, if the Bible's not enough, nothing's enough. So I commend you for listening to this show, I commend you for listening to WVNE 760, these great preachers on the radio, like Alistair Begg, and like John MacArthur, and R .C. Sproul, to teach you the word of God.

You don't need gimmicks. If you need gimmicks, then there is a problem. Don't order things from worship dancewear. Say to your pastor, I want the word. Preach longer, preach harder, preach deeper. I wanna understand God as he shows himself, not just in nature, but also in special revelation.

Friends, you can email me at info at nocompromiseradio .com. If you've got a question about life or the scriptures or anything else, something interesting, email me at info at nocompromiseradio .com. Other than that, today is Friday, October 16th, and we're talking about the sufficiency of the scripture.

If the Bible's not enough, nothing's enough. If Jesus is not enough, nothing is enough, including Spiritual Expressions Worship Dancewear, No Compromise Radio, God bless.

Closing Disclaimer and Station Information

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.